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Bebop Spoken There

Pat Thomas: “He’s definitely one to watch, he's going to be a breath of fresh air for the jazz scene. What I like is he [Xhosa Cole] plays like Dexter Gordon and Sonny Rollins - you don't hear anybody come from that. He knows tunes like "Fried Bananas" by Dexter Gordon and he can play free as well." - (The Wire September 2021)

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! --

Postage

13,698 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 13 years ago. 1115 of them this year alone and, so far, 59 this month (Sept. 17).

From This Moment On ...

September

Fri 17: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 17: Rendezvous Jazz @ Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 17: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm.
Fri 17: Abbie Finn's Finntet @ Traveller's Rest, Cockerton, Darlington. 8:00pm.

Sat 18: Baghdaddies @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sat 18: David Gray Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Sun 19: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay. 12 noon.
Sun 19: Musicians Unlimited @ South Durham Social Club, Westbourne Road, Hartlepool TS25 5RB. 1:00pm. South Durham Social Club aka Steelworks or Steelies. New venue for Teesside's premier big band.
Sun 19: Hand to Mouth: Lindsay Hannon & Bradley Johnston @ St James' & St Basil's Church, Newcastle. 3:00pm.
Sun 19: Green Tangerines + Knats @ Punch Bowl Hotel, Newcastle. 3:30pm.
Sun 19: Alice Grace Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 20: Jazz in the Afternoon @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public)
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Celebrating TITTB's 20th anniversary & Dave Weisser's forthcoming birthday! Limited gig tickets (£1.00.). Free live stream. www.jazz.coop.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, North Tyneside. 1:00pm.
Thu 23: Jeremy McMurray & the Jazz Pocket Orchestra @ Middlesbrough Town Hall 8:00pm. .
Thu 23: Maine Street Jazzmen @ Sunniside Social Club, Sunniside, Gateshead. 8:30pm. .

Fri 24: Sue Ferris Quintet @ Gala Theatre, Durham. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band, Stockton. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: FILM: Jazz on a Summer's Day + Swing Bridge Trio (in the bar) @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 7:00pm.

Saturday, December 08, 2018

CD Review: Various Artists - Jazz City UK (Volume 1).

(Review by Lance).
Whilst few albums this year (or any other year within recent memory) will match JCUK Volume 2: The Jam Sessions, this compilation runs it close. A choice selection from some of the Big Bear label's back catalogue, it serves its purpose well inasmuch as you will be wanting some, if not all, of the source material.

Thus we have tracks from the following albums: Bruce Adams (One Foot in the Gutter); Bruce Adams/Alan Barnes Quintet (Side-Steppin' & Let's Face the Music); Alan Barnes All Stars (The Marbella Jazz Suite); Lady Sings the Blues (Laughing at Life); King Pleasure & the Biscuit Boys (Live at Last & Hey Puerto Rico); Nomy Rosenberg Trio (Nomy Rosenberg Trio); Tipitina (I Wish I Was in New Orleans & Taking Care of Business) and The Whiskey Brothers (Bottle Up & Go).

The above listing is semi-alphabetical and not in order of merit.

The blistering trumpet of Bruce Adams from, like most of these tracks, the mid 'nineties showcases at him at his best. As an out and out swinger on One Foot in the Gutter and a sensitive balladeer when he begs us to Blame it on my Youth he never falters. Couple him with Alan Barnes and the possibilities are endless. Hollywood Stampede is living proof of the empathy between the two.

Barnes too is in scintillating form whenever he pops up not least on California Fish Fry, inexplicably from his Marbella Suite, a 9-minute rave-up. Alex Garnett (tenor sax) and Mark Nightingale (trombone) join Adams and Simon Gardner on trumpets; John Donaldson on piano; Matt Miles (bass) and Ralph Salmins (drums) to make this literally what it says on the tin - The Alan Barnes All Stars.

Val Wiseman's Lady Sings the Blues consists of Digby Fairweather and what was ostensibly the remnants of the Alex Welsh Band (Williams, Al Gay, Lemon, Douglas, Skeat and Eddie Taylor) behind Wiseman's vocals. Val pops up again with the Biscuit Boys and Since I Fell For You - I never realised this Buddy Johnson song had such an evocative verse!

We move up in time (2009), if not in feeling, for The Nomy Rosenberg Trio and their brand of Djangology. Tipitina visited Birmingham's Hotel du Vin (honest!) in 2011 although their hearts were in a New Orleans honky tonk whilst the Whiskey Brothers took us to the American juke joints of the 1930s and '40s as recently as 2009.

Truly an album for just about everyone.
Lance.

For further details of Jazz City UK and the complete Big Bear Records catalogue visit here.
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