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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

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

Postage

16034 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1041 of them this year alone and, so far, 73 this month (Nov. 27).

From This Moment On ...

December

Tue 05: Customs House Big Band @ All Saints Church, Cleadon. 7:00pm. Concert in the church hall. BYOB.
Tue 05: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Sid White. The best free show in town!

Wed 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 06: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 8:00pm. Free. Note later start time, concert performance (open to the public).
Wed 06: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay, Newcastle. 12 noon - 4:00pm. £26.00 (inc 3-course meal in in St Mary's Lighthouse Suite). SOLD OUT!
Thu 07: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 07: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.Donations. Feat. Mark Sanders. CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00. Downstairs.
Thu 07: Tees Hot Club: Just Friends @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. Guest band night w. Richie Emmerson, Ian Bosworth, Dave Archbold, Ron Smith, Mark Hawkins. 9:00pm.

Fri 08: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle. 1:00pm. £7.00.
Fri 08: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Woodland Village Hall, Bishop Auckland. 7:00pm. £12.00.
Fri 08: Sleep Suppressor + Redwell @ Head of Steam, Neville St., Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv); £5.00. student.
Fri 08: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert's Church, Shadforth, Co. Durham.
Fri 08: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £8.00.

Sat 09: Prudhoe Community Band @ Central Station, Newcastle. 10:00am - 12 noon. Charity fundraiser.
Sat 09: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Skinnergate, Darlington. 1:00pm.
Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 09: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Middleton & Todridge Village Hall, Morpeth. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sat 09: Paul Skerritt @ Slaley Hall, Hexham NE47 0BX. 7:30pm. From £42.00.

Sun 10: Musicians Unlimited’s Xmas Party with Zoe Gilby Quartet @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. MU 1:00-3:00pm; Zoë Gilby Quartet 4:00-6:00pm. Tickets: £7.50.
Sun 10: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Funk Soul Sista @ Stack, Seaburn. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Beth Clarke @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 10: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Whittingham Memorial Institute, Alnwick. 7:30pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 10: Tele-Port @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Zhenya Strigalev.

Mon 11: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Interim Final Recitals @ Newcastle University. Details TBC.

Tue 12: Stu Collingwood Organ Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £10.00.

Sunday, April 21, 2019

CD Review: Nat King Cole - For Sentimental Reasons.

Nat King Cole (piano/vocals); Irving Ashby/Oscar Moore (guitar); Johnny Miller/Joe Comfort (bass); Jack Costanzo (bongos) + Billy May/Stan Kenton Orchestras - 1 track each).
(Review by Lance).

A master class, not only in singing but in jazz piano. This is what begat Oscar Peterson and provided the groundwork for the Shearing Quintet. Apart from that, the smoothest voice you'll ever hear. Strangely, Sinatra moved from fairly straight ballad singing to the most swinging cat on the block whereas Cole moved in the opposite direction.

Fortunately, the 21 tracks here, dating from 1943 to 1951, are predominantly jazz orientated with Cole's vocals and bop piano licks as delectable now as they were 70 plus years ago. The instrumentals - Cole Capers and Bop Kick - rubber stamp his piano credentials. Brief snatches of guitar from Moore and Ashby add to the mix. Peterson later used the piano, guitar and bass format for many years and, if memory serves me right, I think Ashby also had a spell with Oscar prior to Kessel and Ellis. The Canadian also recorded some vocal tracks and guess who he sounded like? Got it in one!

Walking My Baby Back Home and Orange Colored Sky both charted. The former with Billy May and those slurping saxes, the latter with Kenton's brass-heavy ensemble which did no harm at all. Nor did Pete Rugulo's arrangement of That's my Girl deserve the ignominy of being the B side to one of Cole's biggest hits - Too Young. I remember buying the 78 as a kid and playing the B side more than Too Young. After all, it was an Ellington tune. It was only when I received this album that I discovered that the Ellington in question was not Duke but the Britisher Ray Ellington!

If you like classic singing, swinging piano and, in Oscar Moore and Irving Ashby, two of the most underrated of the post-Charlie Christian guitarists then this is an absolute must.

Like the rest of the series, the re-mastering is simply magnificent.
Another one of the essential BMG Dreyfus Jazz releases due out on May 10.
Lance.
This is my Night to Dream; (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons; I've Got a Way With Women; I'll String Along With You; Walking My Baby Home; Portrait of Jennie; If You Can't Smile and Say Yes; I Used to Love You; If I Had You; I'm in the Mood For Love; 'Deed I Do; Don't Blame Me; Orange Colored Sky; On the Sunny Side of the Street; Bop Kick; I'm an Errand Boy For Rhythm; That's My Girl; You're the cream in my Coffee; It's Only a Paper Moon.

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