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Bebop Spoken There

David Hadju: "It was kind of a lightning bolt [seeing a photo of a hi-fi store that's now occupied by a phone store]. Everyone had hi-fi systems, now everyone has a phone" - (DownBeat May 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!"

Postage

15478 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 499 of them this year alone and, so far, 120 this month (May 27).

From This Moment On ...

May 2023

Sun 28: Bradley Creswick's Western Swingfonia @ Whitley Bay Carnival. Free. Plaza Arena stage. 12 noon.
Sun 28: MSK @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 12:15pm. Free. Marquee stage. MSK - Steve Glendinning, Katy Trigger, Martin Douglas.
Sun 28: Musicians Unlimited @ The Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Back Chat Brass @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 1:30pm. Free. Marquee stage.
Sun 28: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Tim Kliphuis Trio @ St Mary's Church, Wooler NE71 6BZ. 3:00pm. £15.00 standard; £5.00 student/unwaged; free under 18. Afternoon Cocktail, a Wooler Summer Arts' concert promotion. Kliphuis (violin); Nigel Clark (guitar); Roy Percy (double bass).
Sun 28: Back Chat Brass @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 3:00pm. Free. Plaza Arena stage.
Sun 28: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 28: King Bees @ The Delaval Arms, Old Hartley NE26 4RL. 5:00pm. Free. Chicago blues at its best!
Sun 28: Matt Anderson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Anderson (saxophones); Jamil Sheriff (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Dave Walsh (drums).

Mon 29: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 30: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 30: Big Chris Barber Band @ Whitley Bay Playhouse. 7:30pm.

Wed 31: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 31: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 31: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 31: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

June
Thu 01: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 01: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations.
Thu 01: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 01: Jake Leg Jug Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: Joseph Carville Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 02: Claire Martin & Her Trio @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £25.00., £20.00. Feat. Jim Mullen, Alex Garnett & Jeremy Brown.
Fri 02: Guy Davis + Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. Doors 7:30pm. Blues double bill.
Fri 02: Anders Ingram @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. Country blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 03: Newcastle Record Fair @ Northumbria University, Newcastle NE8 8SB. 10:00am-3:00pm. Admission: £2.00.
Sat 03: Pedigree Jazz Band @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Sue Ferris. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

CD Review:O'Higgins & Luft Play Monk & Trane

Dave O'Higgins (tenor sax); Rob Luft (guitar); Scott Flanigan (organ); Rod Youngs (drums).
(Review by Lance).

If you're going to make a tribute album then Monk and Trane are as good a choice as any - providing you've got the chops to see it through. These guys have got the chops!

Despite the tenor, guitar, organ, drums set-up this isn't a walkin' the bar juke jam. The material, like the musicians, is on a much more cerebral level although this doesn't mean it's too hi-falutin'! Far from it, it swings like crazy - if that expression isn't passé and, even if it is you know what I mean.

A mix of tunes either composed by or associated with the two giants and given respect without loss of individuality. O'Higgins comes in the middle of an avalanche of CDs by top tenor players and loses nothing by comparison with what's gone and what's to follow. Luft is undoubtedly one of the most outstanding guitarists to have emerged in recent years. 'Round Midnight is pure magic, with Luft getting into Monk's signature dish and making it his own.   

Rodgers and Hart's Spring is Here began life in somewhat dirgelike fashion in a Broadway Show. Trane resuscitated it on Prestige's Standard Coltrane album whilst O'Higgins opted for guitar and tenor to give a lighter sound than the trumpet and tenor frontline on Trane's recording and, at the same time, visualising how the great man may have played it later in his career. All four solo and, contrary to Hart's lyric, their hearts do go dancing - at least mine did!

Monk's Dreamland simply oozes lyricism - delicate chording, no sheets of sound, laid back organ, drums subdued, in other words, as relaxed as the title suggests

Tommy Flanagan's Minor Mishap is another gem with Luft setting the mood with the opening solo  - he really is something and fully deserving of the awards that have already come his way. O'Higgins takes over with another knockout solo. Flanigan handles Flanagan's opus expertly and Youngs puts the boot in.

The album is released on October 4, Launched at Pizza on October 7 and, this past weekend, the quartet embarked on a 35-day tour of England and Wales with a gig in Hamburg thrown in for good measure. Now that's what I call a tour particularly as it includes a northeast gig in Great Broughton Village Hall which is down Teesside way  - see poster in right hand column (October 18).         

Recommended (highly).
Lance.

Naima; Little Melonae; Locomotive; Minor Mishap; I'll Wait and Pray; Trinkle Tinkle; Like Sonny; 'Round Midnight; Spring is Here; Dreamland; Locomotive (duo).

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