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Bebop Spoken There

Abbie Finn: "Even though there's a lot of great work being done to promote women in jazz, I still come up against some attitudes! I pulled up at a recording session with my drums in the car and the studio owner said, 'I'm sorry, this space is reserved for the drummer!'" - (Jazzwise April 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

15245 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 264 of them this year alone and, so far, 77 this month (March 25).

From This Moment On ...

March

Tue 28: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 28: Sanaz Lavasani Trio + Abbie Finn @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv).

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 30: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. Back to 1:00pm stomp off. Free.
Thu 30: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Thu 30: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 30: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm.
Thu 30: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 31: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 31: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 31: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 31: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. CANCELLED! Back next week (April 7).
Fri 31: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 31: Jasmine Myra + Waclaw Zimpel @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Fri 31: The Revolutionaires @ The Shack, Boldon Colliery. 7:30pm. £10.00. The Revolutionaires' big band (horn section) line-up.
Fri 31: Andrew McCormack @ Maltings, Berwick. 8:00pm. £20.00.

April
Sat 01: The Big Easy @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - In a Minor Key. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington Covered Market, Darlington DL1 5PN. 6:00pm. New venue, live jazz!
Sat 01: Boys of Brass @ Stack, Seaburn. 7:00-9:00pm.
Sat 01: Hot Club du Nord @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth. 8:00pm. £79.00. A charity fundraising event.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED to next week (Sat 08).

Sun 02: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny. 12:45pm.
Sun 02: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.

Mon 03: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Friday, October 25, 2019

CD Review: When We Were Young – Kelley Suttenfield


Kelley Suttenfield (vocals); Tosh Sheridan (guitars, backng vocals, arrangement, production); Matthew Fries (piano, Fender Rhodes); Phil Palombi (bass); Eric Halvorson (drums, percussion); Derek Ratzenboeck (violin); Vincent Lionti (viola); David Calhoun (cello).
(Review by Ann Alex).

Yet another woman singer doing something out of the ordinary, bravely reimagining the songs of Neil Young as jazz. A regular on the New York jazz scene and around the East Coast, Suttenfield has performed at the Iridium and  Jazz at Kitano, at Ronnie Scott's in London and also toured Europe. This is her third album and her band includes Tosh Sheridan, guitarist and graduate of Berklee College of Music and the rhythm trio 718. I found the bass player of this outfit particularly good. The line-up is completed by the Memling Ensemble String Trio on 5 of the 11 tracks.

An exquisite rendering of Harvest Moon, airy cymbals and light drums give an ethereal sound which is definitely jazz, skilled bass, with improvising solos from piano and guitar. The Needle and the Damage Done, a powerful song about drug-taking, is a really interesting version, with strong bass, haunting guitar, clanking drum effects to set the scene and a rise in tension towards the end of the track. However I found the strings a bit too romantic-sounding for the subject in hand.

The Losing End is a real swinger; Love Is A Rose, which concerns the thorny parts of love, is done appropriately with funky guitar; Down By The River is a countryish version of the standard folk song about drowning your beloved; and Barefoot Floors, which was never actually released by Young, is a charming song written for a child, with suitably relaxing, laid back guitar. The rest of the tracks are: Heart of Gold; Only Love Can Break Your Heart; Flying on the Ground; Fool for Your Love; Old Man.  

The CD is very enjoyable and successfully transfers Young's music from rock to jazz, which made me wonder if our standard genre divisions are really of any use. If the songs had been firstly treated as jazz and we'd never heard them sung by Young, would we have liked the music any less?  I love Young's voice, which has a very pleasing haunting tone with a certain tense quality which adds meaning to the lyrics, and this is what I missed from the CD. But comparisons are difficult and I enjoyed the CD for its own merits.

The album is currently available in stores and online.
See www.kelleysuttenfield.com and also Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, using the artist’s name.
Ann Alex    

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