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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

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. CANCELLED!
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: 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.

Thursday, May 30, 2019

CD Review: Tierney Sutton Band - Screenplay


Tierney Sutton (vocals); Christian Jacob (piano); Serge Merlaud (guitar); Kevin Axt (electric bass); Trey Henry (acoustic bass); Ray Brinker (drums) Alan Bergman (vocals track 12); all arrangements by Sutton, Henry, Jacob, Axt and Brinker.
(Review by Ann Alex)

Well, I think I may now have been promoted to blog detective for BSH! Unlike most of the albums sent for review which come in lavishly packaged jewel cases with notes that require 20:20 vision to decipher, this promo CD came with only a cardboard insert showing a list of tunes, arrangers and some featured musicians. I listed the musicians, thinking this was a big band of unnamed personnel. On finding a website I discovered it was actually a sextet, led by female singer Tierney Sutton, whom I had supposed to be a man. So much for my feminist credentials. And what a fine singer indeed! This may well be my CD of the Month, or even of the Year.

Ms Sutton hails from Omaha, USA and has already had 8 Grammy nominations as well as finishing only 2 votes behind Diana Krall in the 2018 DownBeat Critics Poll. She trained at Berklee College of Music and is a jazz educator as well as an arranger. Previous CDs have included one based on the music of Sting. The band wrote the music for the Clint Eastwood film Sully. This is their ninth CD.

All the tunes are songs from films, so we have the music of composers such as Michel Legrand, Paul Simon and Stephen Sondheim. But each tune is skilfully arranged as jazz, so well that it's hard to believe that they were ever played any other way. The singing is beautiful, Ms Sutton really knows how to use her voice as an instrument, and each song tells a story, acted out well. It goes without saying that the musicians are stellar. It is impossible to convey the quality of the music in print so I'll mention some favourite tracks, and list all the tracks and the films that they came from.

Calling You and Moon River are two songs woven together seamlessly, slow and contemplative.

I've Got No Strings cleverly becomes a strong, feminist song, sung slowly to a military beat from the drums.

If I Only Had a Brain is sung saucily with word play and features the music of both basses.

Diamonds Are a Girls Best Friend is perky with voice and drums. I didn't realise how amusing the lyrics are, e.g. 'It's then that those louses go back to their spouses'.

Track list: The Windmills of Your Mind (The Thomas Crown Affair); Moon River/Calling You (Breakfast At Tiffany's/Baghdad Cafe); On a Clear Day (On A Clear Day You Can See Forever)
What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life (The Happy Ending); I've Got No Strings (Pinocchio);
If I Only Had A Brain (The Wizard Of Oz); The Sound Of Silence (The Graduate); Goodbye For Now (Reds); Diamonds Are a Girls Best Friend (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes); Hopelessly Devoted To You (Grease); You're The One That I Want (Grease); How Do You Keep The Music Playing (Best Friends); Ev'ry Now And Then (not the pop song, Mulholland Falls); It Might Be You (Tootsie); Arrow (Sully).

Screenplay is now available - see www.tierneysutton.com
Ann Alex

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