Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey: "You [Bobby Watson] don't want to play too long, because you don't know they're clapping because they're glad you finished!" - (JazzTimes, Nov. 2019)..

The Things They Say!

Hudson Music: Lance's "Bebop Spoken Here" is one of the heaviest and most influential jazz blogs in the UK.

Rupert Burley (Dynamic Agency): "BSH just goes from strength to strength".

'606' Club: "A toast to Lance Liddle of the terrific jazz blog 'Bebop Spoken Here'"

The Strictly Smokin' Big Band included Be Bop Spoken Here (sic) in their 5 Favourite Jazz Blogs.

Ann Braithwaite (Braithwaite & Katz Communications) You’re the BEST!

Holly Cooper, Mouthpiece Music: "Lance writes pull quotes like no one else!"

Postage

15867 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 874 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (Sept. 25).

From This Moment On ...

September

Sat 30: John Pope Quintet + Late Girl + Shapeshifters @ Bobik's, Jesmond, Newcastle.
Sat 30: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

OCTOBER

Sun 01: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 01: Dulcie May Moreno sings Portrait of Sheila @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Moreno sings Sheila Jordan with Giles Strong, Mick Shoulder & John Bradford.
Sun 01: Middlesbrough Jazz & Blues Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 2:00pm.
Sun 01: The Easy Rollers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.70., £11.55.
Sun 01: Brand/Roberts/Champion/Sanders @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 01: Papa G's Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 02: FILM: Wattstax; 50th Anniversary @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 8:00pm.

Tue 03: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. House trio: Michael Young (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums). CANCELLED!

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Paul Skerritt @ Vespa Italian Bar & Steakhouse, Primrose Hill, Jarrow. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 483 3355.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Sound the Trumpets @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 05: Hot Club du Nord @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00. POSTPONED!
Thu 05: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Tommy Bentz Trio + Mark Croft Duo + George Shovlin & George Lamb @ The Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Harbour View Speakeasy's USA blues double bill + Shovlin & Lamb!
Thu 05: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 06: Alcyona Mick @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 2:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Balo @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Fri 06: Lexer/Mayes/Noble + Semay Wu + Miman @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Dulcie May Moreno @ The Vault, Hexham. 7:30pm. £20.00. Book in advance. Moreno with Alan Law, Paul Grainger & John Bradford.
Fri 06: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. 'Celebrating Oscar'.
Fri 06: Nu Brass Sounds: Big Brass Bash @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: TBC @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

CD Review: One O'Clock Lab Band - Lab 2018: The Rhythm of the Road.

The North Texas One O 'Clock Lab Band was perhaps the first American college big band to make a worldwide impact on the jazz scene. Although the University of North Texas' music department can be traced back to the 1920's, maybe even earlier, it was in 1940, at the height of the big band era, that it first came to the notice of a wider public other than friends, parents and fellow students. Just as most American Universities cossetted their track and field stars, North Texas, I guess, nurtured their instrumental students. I recall hearing the band on Willis Conover's VOA shows some years later and being knocked out thinking this was maybe Kenton or Herman.
Fast forward to today and blindfold test someone with a Kenton or a Herman record and they'd probably say, "North Texas One O'Clock Lab Band".
School, college, university bands have multiplied in numbers and ability but I doubt if any have surpassed this current intake. They know how to swing, to solo and to put the boot in.
Wow!
Tremendous solos, Nathman and Newman, who are also the two youngest members set the benchmark on the opening Hey, It's me You're Talkin' to.
They blow up a storm. Giving these two the first solos is like giving Man City a 2 goal start.

Having said that, the other soloists are far from being Huddersfield Town!* Woodbury's trombone on the title track is blistering without blasting, Kazunori Tanaka's plunger solo on Blues for Kazu is worthy of Cootie/Bubber or any of the other Ellington plumbers, dare I say it, even better?

A Flower is a Lovesome Thing, imaginatively arranged by Kyle Gordon and winsomely sung by Marion Powers. It also has some effective piano by Paul Lees.
I could wax eloquent about all the soloists but, you've probably got the message by now that this Train (track 3) don't carry no passengers least of all Powers whose voice is once again woven into the tapestry. Arranged by Moore, he also plays a very lyrical tenor solo on the tune composed by Chris Potter.

Birds of a Feather has Bellaire sizzling on soprano; Without a Doubt, a tricky arrangement but, without a doubt, Sam Cousineau on alto and Brett Lamel sail through it individually before having a four-bar joust to the death.

Villa-Lobos' Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 was arranged by Woodbury but he unselfishly cues in the trombone solo for section-mate DJ Rice. Bass player Reyes is also prominent.
After the Rain, by 'Trane, arranged by Moore, features Wilkins on flute drawing a comment from MD Blaylock - "In almost 25 years in front of big bands I've never heard a flute sound as gorgeous as Brendon's". He could have said the same about Newman's flugelhorn solo.

A rhythm section that sparkles and an arranging team that provides charts that only the very best can handle make this one of the best big band albums around.
Lance.

Available from Sept. 26 via the usual suspects.
Alan Blaylock (MD); Kyle Bellaire, Sam Cousineau, Brandon Moore, Will Nathman, Brendon Wilkins (reeds); Nick Owsik, Adam Horne, Huang-Hsiang Chang, Kazunori Tanaka, Gregory Newman (trumpets); Brian Woodbury, DJ Rice, Brett Lamel, Tommy Barttels, Kenny Davis (trombones); Paul Lees (piano/keys); Daniel Pinilla (guitar); Raul Reyes (bass); John Sturino (drums); Marion Powers (voice).
*Manchester City had just beaten Huddersfield Town 6-1 at the time of writing.

No comments :

Blog Archive