Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Simon Spillett: “ Bebop and hard bop came naturally to him [Tubby Hayes]". Morning Star, March 28, 2024.

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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Josh Weir: I love the writing on bebop spoken here... I think the work you are doing is amazing.

Postage

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Fri 29: FILM: Soul @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 12:30pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free. POSTPONED!
Fri 29: Thundercat @ Newcastle City Hall.
Fri 29: John Logan @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Fri 29: True Colours @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 9:00pm. Blues, jazz & swing.

Sat 30: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 30: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Whitley Bay Library, York Road, Whitley Bay. 8:00pm.

Sun 31: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields NE30 1HJ. 3:00pm. Free. Lambert, Alan Law & Paul Grainger.
Sun 31: Sid Jacobs & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. USA/London jazz guitar duo.
Sun 31: Bellavana @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

April
Mon 01: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 01: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.

Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Dean Stockdale, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 04: FILM: Soul @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 2:00pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Thu 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 04: Funky Drummer @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 04: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 04: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Tuesday, January 08, 2019

CD Review: Alan Pasqua - Soliloquy

Alan Pasqua (piano).
(Review by Lance)

Alan Pasqua comes to the Hamburg Steinway in his Santa Monica studio with a c.v. so impressive that to describe him as a legend is surely no more than he deserves.

A former member of Tony Williams' New Lifetime appearing on the albums Believe it and Million Dollar Legs, Pasqua has also worked with Jack DeJohnette, Paul Motian, Dave Holland, the Brecker Brothers, Joe Henderson, Stanley Clarke, Gary Burton, James Moody, Jones/Lewis Jazz Orchestra and many others. Away from Jazz (but not too far away), he has also recorded with Bob Dylan and Carlos Santana.

Solo piano albums can sink or swing depending on the material and the ability of the performer to escape the clichéd path set by his musical ancestors. Waller, Tatum, Peterson, Garner, Hines Wilson, Powell, Evans, Jarrett etc. practically etched the parameters in stone and few, with the exception of Monk, were able to transcend them. 

Pasqua does it in his own way. Harmonically and melodically his chord voicings are a joy to the ear. Exploring, leisurely, expansively, he takes nine standards and a Bob Dylan composition (Girl From the North Country) and turns them into even greater works of art than they already were. Sometimes it's just a couple of unexpected inversions that suddenly seem so absolutely right and you wonder, was this what Arthur Sullivan and Jimmy Durante were looking for when the former was 'sitting one day at the organ, weary and ill at ease' and the latter was 'cracking walnuts with his foot'?

If ever there was any doubt about Pasqua's legendary status this album confirms it 110%.
Although it was released on November 18, 2018*, as I only received it this month, it's bound to be among my 2019 frontrunners.
Lance.
Hello Young Lovers: I Got it Bad; Lotus Blossom; I See Your Face Before Me; In a Sentimental Mood; Embraceable You; Isn't it Romantic?; Girl From the North Country; A Time For Love; There Are Such Things.
* Available from all the usual suspects.

No comments :

Blog Archive