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Bebop Spoken There

Béla Fleck: “ And that's the great thing about live performances, you take people on a journey. It doesn't have to be like something else they've heard. It's not supposed to be". DownBeat, April, 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

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm.
Thu 28: Richard Herdman Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Josh Bentham (alto sax); Alan Marshall (tenor sax); Neil Brodie (trumpet); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Graham Thompson (keys); Steve Hunter (drums).

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.

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.

Monday, July 08, 2019

CD Review: Larry Fuller - Overjoyed


Larry Fuller (piano), Hassan Shakur (bass), Lewis Nash (drums).
(Review by Dave Brownlow).

What a pleasure it is to come across an album such as this which incorporates many of the best qualities of jazz music – swing, the blues, chops, flair, humour, drive, surprise, good taste, invention, and sheer joy. Larry Fuller has worked with many notable musicians - Ray Brown, Ernestine Anderson, Harry Edison, Phil Woods, Clark Terry, John Pizzarelli - and he brings the experience gained to the piano keyboard in his own soulful style on this CD.
Fuller likes to connect with the audience emotionally through the ‘joie de vivre’ of his playing much as Oscar Peterson did and indeed there are connections to Oscar’s famous trio throughout. Larry played long-term in the Ray Brown Trio, also including a Peterson composition here. The trio arrangements are tight and well rehearsed, and the exuberance and élan of his playing is reminiscent at times of O.P. himself. Standards, blues, jazz, pop, bossa-nova – Fuller is comfortable and expert in all of those genres with excellent support from Shakur and Nash.

Wes Montgomery’s Fried Pies gets us off to a ‘groovy’ start with plenty of grits and gravy. Stevie Wonder’s Overjoyed has a flowing, delicate interpretation in ‘bossa’ style with lots of filigree upper-register runs from the pianist, anchored by sturdy support from bass and drums. A “bluesy” Ray Brown composition, Lined with a Groove, includes fine, agile work from the bassist very much in the style of Ray himself. Two Fuller originals follow. Jane’s Theme features a tightly arranged trio head with statement and performance on an attractive chord sequence. A soulful The Mooch charges along in a joyful examination of an age-old chord sequence so beloved of jazzers. The Gershwin’s standard How Long Has This Been Going On, unaccompanied, has a typical Peterson out-of-tempo theme, leading to a ‘stride’ solo which swings irresistibly.

Cubano Chant, from the pen of Ray Bryant, charges along joyfully with Fuller mining many of the traditional blues phrases. Mona Lisa (Evans and Livingstone) is charmingly, unpretentiously played in ballad style (a far cry from Conway Twitty’s 1959 version!) Peterson’s fast, intricate Bossa Beguine is a tour-de-force for the group and after a tightly arranged theme segment, Larry shows off his fine technique and Nash also shines on the fours.

Richard Evans’ slightly melancholic Bossa Nove De Marilla is tastefully played with classical influences throughout. More glittering right-hand runs enhance this track. Never Let Me Go (also by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston) is a thoughtful, sensitive, unaccompanied piece where Larry digs deep in an emotional rendering of the well-known song. A lively work out on Preston Foster’s Got My Mojo Workin’ and the CD ends with a good dose of the foundation of jazz – the blues.

Larry Fuller’s own philosophy sums up this release accurately – “To uplift people with the joyous spirit of the music. “To play with joy, to swing and play the blues. These are the hallmarks of jazz that inspired me and are the traditions I continue to aspire to”
Dave B
Available now on Capri Records - #74155-2 from: caprirecords.com or
larryfuller.com/about/

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