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Bebop Spoken There

Abbie Finn: "Even though there's a lot of great work being done to promote women in jazz, I still come up against some attitudes! I pulled up at a recording session with my drums in the car and the studio owner said, 'I'm sorry, this space is reserved for the drummer!'" - (Jazzwise April 2023).

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

15229 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 248 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (March 20).

From This Moment On ...

March

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Thu 23: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcasatle. From 6:30pm 'til late. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra jam session. All welcome (students & non-students).
Thu 23: Kerrin Tatman + John Garner & John Pope @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 23: Sunna Gunnlaugs & Julia Hülsmann @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm. A two-piano gig. A Sage Gateshead-JNE promotion.
Thu 23: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano.
Thu 23: Sleep Suppressor @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00., £8.00. adv. Upstairs.
Thu 23: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: FILM: Mo' Better Blues @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Fri 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Scarth Hall, Staindrop, Co. Durham. 8:00pm. £10.00.
Fri 24: Archipelago + Bulbils @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.

Sat 25: Vermont Big Band @ Walker Community Centre, Walker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Fundraiser for Benfield Juniours Football Club. Hot food available, BYOB.
Sat 25: John Logan & Friends @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rat Pack, Motown etc. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Outlines @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE promotion (upstairs).

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 28: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 28: Sanaz Lavasani Trio @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv).

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

CD of the Year - 14 discs forecast to tie for first place! - Part one

The arrival of 14 CDs in one drop would normally have me phoning all and sundry of my reviewers begging them to share the load. However, this Magnificent Seven x 2 aren't new kids on the block who couldn't swing if they were dangling by a rope from a lampost, these are singers and instrumentalists who were the front-runners of their day which, in this case, was pre-1960.

The material isn't new and most seasoned collectors will have some if not all of the tracks in one form or another. I have several on 78, some of them on 45rpm EP, quite a few on LP which was what we called them before they were even referred to as vinyl let alone vinyls and, of course, on CD and tape cassette. Nevertheless, I still welcome their arrival as they've been lovingly restored by the late Francis Dreyfus and the sound is superb.

Approximately 20 tracks per CD (presumably the LPs are double albums) these 14, along with the previous 14 that were released last year, could arguably be said to be all you need to have a comprehensive collection of jazz as it was in the years before Ornette.

Blue Lester (1942-1949) has 'the President' Lester Young at his very best away from the Basie Band. Effortless swing with support from pianists such as Nat Cole, Johnny Guarnieri, Hank Jones, Dodo Marmorosa, Joe Albany, Joe Bushkin and Basie himself. Hearing Lester without the snap, crackle and pop is like hearing him as he must have sounded live. Polka Dots and Moonbeams - did any instrumentalist ever sound this good on this tune? The first couple of bars are just a major scale but Lester makes the moment his and that's just the start. Hank on piano and Buddy on drums...

Imagination (1949-1950) features the heir apparent - Stan Getz. Playing the two albums back to back emphasises both the similarities and the differences between the two tenor masters. Certainly, without Lester Young there wouldn't have been the Stan Getz we have here and yet, whereas the sound is easily traceable to Lester, the phrasing is different, more notes, boppier - I wouldn't want to be without either.

Originally, I acquired them on EPs and the recording has been so well cleaned up that, in this case, it gives credence to Steve T's championing of the CD format. Getting back to comparing Lester and his disciples, on Five Brothers, where Getz is joined by Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, Brew Moore and Allen Eager, Moore is the closest in both sound and style, Cohn is slightly heavier-sounding whilst Zoot and Eager are perhaps influenced as much by Bird as they are by Pres.

So that's the first two albums - a kid in a chocolate factory? You betcha!
Lance
Release date is May 10 - on BMG Dreyfus Jazz - watch this space there is much more to come... oh, and by the way, the prices are way under the top!

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