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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, May 21, 2019

CD Review: Jordon Dixon - On!

Jordon Dixon (tenor sax); Allyn Johnson (piano); Herman Burney (bass); Carroll V. Dashiell III (drums) + J.S. Williams (trumpet on 2 tracks)
(Review by Lance).

The CDs arrive daily via the mailman. They turn up in such abundance that I feel sorry for the postie whose back must surely be near breaking point. The sad thing is that such is the volume that, even after farming out a large percentage, so many of them don't get heard so - maybe I'm missing the next Kind of Blue - maybe not.

The moment that makes it all worthwhile is when you play a CD and, from the first note of the first bar you say, "This is for me!" Which is what happened here.
All the great, big sound, soulful tenor players have settled in Dixon's jeans - sorry genes! - and, whilst the presence of Grover, Dexter, Curtis Amy, Turrentine, and others may be part of his DNA, had time been reversed, Dixon would certainly have been a part of theirs.

This is the tenor playing I want to hear when I go into a jazz club. Keep your impressionistic explorations and all that non-jazz for the concert halls and the cultural, arts-granted salons - I'll stick with the saloons.

Straight down the middle blowing - it could be 1950 or (hopefully) 2050. Dixon composed all of the numbers and he takes them to a cut-price laundrette. Goes for the cheapest, quickest option - maybe a 30-minute wash and a spin dry. Anything more would lose the soul of the material and come out like an emasculated Kenny G.

Yes, this is gutsy playing but not without subtlety. Blues-drenched phrases a-plenty, I agree, but he also reaches the parts similar players often miss out on like the unexpectant nuance that turns a routine phrase into something totally his own!

A rhythm section to die for. Dixon met Johnson when both were studying at the University of the District of Columbia prior to which Dixon had spent 11 years in the Marines - a 'Tough Tenor' as the late Chris Yates may have described him!

Bass and drums are never less than superb and, as a bonus, we have J.S. Williams blowing trumpet on a couple of tracks - more wouldn't have been less!

Bring on the next DownBeat Poll!
Lance
Release date June 7, 2019.

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