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Bebop Spoken There

Spasmo Brown: “Jazz is an ice cream sandwich! It's the Fourth of July! It's a girl with a waterbed!”. (Syncopated Times, July, 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

17372 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 656 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (Sept. 17).

From This Moment On ...

September

Wed 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 18: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 18: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 18: Hot Club of Heaton @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘third Wednesday in the month’ session.

Thu 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 19: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 19: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. THC with guests Kevin Eland, Dan Johnson, Jeremy McMurray, Ron Smith.

Fri 20: Lindsay Hannon’s Tom Waits for No Man @ Gala Theatre, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 20: Rob Hall & Chick Lyall @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free (donations). SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: Leeway @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. The Old Black Cat Jazz Club. CANCELLED!
Fri 20: Gaz Hughes Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 21: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 1:00-2:45pm. Free.
Sat 21: Vieux Carré Hot Four @ The Beehive, Hartley Lane, Earsdon Whitley Bay NE25 0SZ. 4:30pm-6:30pm.
Sat 21: Baghdaddies @ Two by Two, Albion Row, Byker, Newcastle NE6 1RQ. 6:00pm.
Sat 21: Jude Murphy & Alan Law @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 22: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 2:30-4:30pm. Free.
Sun 22: Dulcie May Moreno Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Richard Herdman @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 22: Remy CB Band @ Blues Underground, Nelson St., Newcastle. 8:30pm. Free. Remi, 2024 Newcastle Uni graduate, superb soul/blues voice!

Mon 23: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 23: Paul Booth with the Paul Edis Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00. A Blaydon Jazz Club 40th anniversary concert! SOLD OUT!

Tue 24: Dulcie May Moreno Quartet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £12.00. (£10.00. adv. from Tully’s of Rothbury). Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 24: Sarah Gillespie @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £16.50. Duo performance with Chris Montague.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

CD Review: Buddy Rich - Just in Time: The Final Recording

(Review by Lance). 

This is a monster of an album and, if you want to remember the world's greatest drummer leading what many consider to have been one of the world's greatest big bands ever, then your Christmas present problems are solved. Buy one, gift wrap it and post it to yourself. 

So many of the greats, sadly, didn't leaves us on a high - age is cruel in that respect - but with Buddy he left on as high a note as is possible.

Swingin' New Big Band, Big Swing Face, Mercy, Mercy, Mercy and all those other albums are great and belong in any big band buff's collection - as does this!

I well remember first hearing the band live at Ronnie's in the early '70s. The club was undergoing renovation work and it was far removed from the suave establishment it is today. Buddy quipped: "First time I've played on a building site."

I heard the band several more times at venues such as City Hall, Newcastle, Dominion Theatre, Tottenham Court Rd. and, of course, that legendary appearance at Ayresome Park, Middlesbrough. They were great concerts but didn't quite match that memorable evening at Ronnie Scott's.

On this CD the band is back at Ronnie's and, with the builders and the scaffolding long gone, Buddy lays down his legacy with what must surely be one of the best big band albums   outside of Ellington - and maybe not that far away either!

Greg Gisbert blows great trumpet and Steve Marcus sizzles on tenor, particularly on Good News which was missing from my promo but which I tracked down - Buddy has a bash too!  -whilst the alto solos by Bob Bowlby are, for a better word, fantastic!

Recorded in 1986 it blows just about every big band from around that time  - including Woody Herman - out of the water and Woody had a great band too!

Yes, there is no West Side Story medley but yes, there is a Porgy and Bess medley which follows the same formula. The greatest ever drummer? Certainly the greatest I've ever heard.

Buddy's daughter Cathy, apart from writing about her dad in the notes*, sings Twisted - a voice far removed from the precocious teenager who sang The Beat Goes on back in the early days. The girl in 1986 was now a young woman who gives Twisted the best work out since  Annie Ross added the words.

The music is available December 6 via the usual outlets.
Lance

Buddy Rich (drums); Eric Miyashiro, Kevin Richardson, Greg Gisbert, Dana Watson (trumpets);  Rick Trager, Tom Garling, Jim Martin (trombones); Bob Bowlby, Mike Rubino, Steve Marcus, Chris Bacas, Jay Craig (reeds); Matt Harris (piano); Rob Amster (bass); Cathy Rich (vocals).

* [Cathy] Speaking about the album and the night of its recording, pianist Matt Harris, says that the lead trumpet player, Eric Miyashiro, had split his lip a week or so before that gig and was in a lot of pain when he was playing. You certainly can’t hear it on the recording... Like any of the road bands in that time period, it was always very exciting to record with the band. It made a lot of the other gigs worth it when you finally recorded, and it also documented the band in its true element.

Recording studios can be very intimidating for musicians as opposed to a live gig where you’re putting it all on the line. I’m also vividly remembering Greg Gisbert’s amazing playing night after night. He always was trying different things which is extremely difficult when you play the same tune night after night.

I think this recording showcases the band at its highest level. You cannot get great studio musicians to sound like this. This recording is the sound of a “road band” unlike any other! 

Just In Time: The Final Recording will be available across 4 physical formats and digitally.

As well as standard double LP and standard CD, there will also be a special collector’s edition of the album, on triple gatefold vinyl and double gatefold CD, with over 30 minutes of bonus content from the night of the performance, including the incredible extended drum solo from the show’s encore.
Cathy.

3 comments :

Anonymous said...

The worlds greatest drummmer? Obviously it's an opinion but Elvin? Tony?

Lance said...

The Buddy Rich Orchestra toured the UK in December1986. The tour, which ran from Dec.17 -22 culminated at Ronnie's on December 22 which suggests that to be the actual date of the recording. Info from Jazz Express magazine.

Jack said...

I just listened to this cd. It is a really good cd. Buddy's perfomance of course is perfect as usual. There is no way you could tell he was 69 as opposed to say....49..still had the speed and cleanliness that he always had and the band is very tight! I would suggest buying this to everyone!

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