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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

16051 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1058 of them this year alone and, so far, 12 this month (Dec. 6).

From This Moment On ...

December

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 Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. MU 1:00-3:00pm; Zoë Gilby Quartet 4:00-6:00pm. Tickets: £7.50.
Sun 10: Alan Law, Paul Grainger & Abbie Finn @ Darlington Market, Market Square, Darlington. 1:00pm. Free. A ‘Christmas Market’ outdoor gig. Wrap up warm!
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.

Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Wed 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Hot Fingers @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 14: After Hours Student Jazz Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. . Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 14: Niffi Osiyemi Trio @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Mo Scott ‘Little Mo’s Festive Appearance’ @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Tees Hot Club w. Kevin Eland, Josh Bentham, Garry Hadfield, Adrian Beadnell @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

CD Review: Pete McGuinness Jazz Orchestra - Along For the Ride.

(Review by Lance)

The big bands will never come back - we're told! In actual fact, they've never really been away. True, the days of dinner-jacketed ensembles in hotels, dancehalls and concert halls are no longer a commercial proposition, nevertheless, the excitement of playing in a big band still proves irresistible for both student and star and audience. There's a thrill, playing in a large ensemble, that's beyond compare with (almost) anything else.

The challenge of mastering the arrangement, wallowing in the harmonies,  soloing on top of it all, the excitement when it all gels, the shared deprecation when it goes wrong, safe in the knowledge that next time you'll nail it.

Sammy Nestico, Maria Schneider and Gordon Goodwin stand on the podium when it comes to contemporary big band composers and arrangers - justifiably so. However, anyone who has climbed the ladder of success knows that their position isn't impregnable and that there are always others snapping at their heels and, in this case, much higher than their heels...

Pete McGuinness is one of the comers. Along For the Ride - the band's third album - puts his and their hats firmly in the ring when polling time comes around over at DownBeat.

The trombonist-leader cut his chops with the legacy bands of Buddy Rich and Woody Herman as well as with bands led by Lionel Hampton and Jimmy Heath. Various stints with the aforementioned Schneider Orchestra, study with Bob Brookmeyer and his developing trombone technique put him in the position to form a band that can now hold its own with any big band in New York City which, translated, means any band in the world.

And it doesn't end there. Listen to his vocal on May I Please Come In? Look over your shoulders Bennett/Bublé. Most of the personnel listed have solos to die for. Owens and Kadleck don't solo but provide the split lead trumpet a big band depends on. At the other end, Jeff Nelson's bari provides a Carney-like foundation.

If I'm ever able to persuade our local big band aficionado, Tony Eales, to review albums, this one has his name on it!
Lance.

Put on a Happy Face; You Must Believe in Spring; Old Roads; Point of Departure; Aftermath; May I Come in?; Jive Samba; Who Cares?; One For the Maestro.

Pete McGuinness (trombone/vocals/leader/composer/arranger); Bill Mobley, Jon Owens, Tony Kadleck (trumpet) Chris Rogers (flugelhorn); Matt Haviland, Mark Patterson, Bruce Eidem (trombone); Jeff Nelson (bass trombone); Dave Pietro (soprano/alto sax); Mark Phoneuf (alto sax); Tom Christensen, Ron Middleton (tenor sax); Dave Reikenberg (bari sax); Mike Holober (piano);  Andy Euloy (bass); Scott Neumann (drums).
Available June 7 - Summit Records.

1 comment :

Victor P said...

Agreed. A very exciting and varied outing, to my ears, surpassed this year, only by "Hiding Out", the stunning big band recording led by Mike Holober, the pianist here. Inventive and meticulously realized big band tone poems that excite the mind and move the heart.

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