Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Wendell Brunious: "Because the blues is not 1,4 and 5 or 1,4,5,2,1. You could wake up with a flat tyre or a headache this morning, that's the blues, man" - (DownBeat, Oct. 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

15878 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 885 of them this year alone and, so far, 83 this month (Sept. 30).

From This Moment On ...

October

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Paul Skerritt @ Vespa Italian Bar & Steakhouse, Primrose Hill, Jarrow. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 483 3355.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Sound the Trumpets @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 05: Hot Club du Nord @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00. POSTPONED!
Thu 05: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Tommy Bentz Trio + Mark Croft Duo + George Shovlin & George Lamb @ The Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Harbour View Speakeasy's USA blues double bill + Shovlin & Lamb!
Thu 05: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 06: Alcyona Mick @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 2:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Balo @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Fri 06: Lexer/Mayes/Noble + Semay Wu + Miman @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Dulcie May Moreno @ The Vault, Hexham. 7:30pm. £20.00. Book in advance. Moreno with Alan Law, Paul Grainger & John Bradford.
Fri 06: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. 'Celebrating Oscar'.
Fri 06: Nu Brass Sounds: Big Brass Bash @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: King Bees @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 07: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 10:15am. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Hot Club du Nord @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 07: Bugge & Niccols + Moore & Fairhall @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - All the Things You Are. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 07: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 07: Rie Nakajima @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Sat 07: Boys of Brass @ Salt Market Social, Liddell St., North Shields. From 7:00pm. £9.00. + bf.
Sat 07: Samuel Blaser Trio + Toxvaerd & Zeeberg + Muramatsu & Welch @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sat 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 08: Zoë Gilby Quintet + Ubunye @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Line-up inc. Tony Kofi. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 08: Tommy Bentz Band @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. USA blues band.

Mon 09: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 09: Cherise Adams-Burnett @ The Grove, Byker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. .

Tue 10: Abbie Finn Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:30pm.

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!

Blog Archive