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Bebop Spoken There

Charles McPherson: “Jazz is best heard in intimate places”. (DownBeat, 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

16611 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 1504 of them this year alone and, so far, 50 this month (July 23).

From This Moment On ...

July

Sat 27: BBC Proms: BBC Introducing stage @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 12 noon. Free. Line-up inc. Nu Groove (2:00pm); Abbie Finn Trio (2:50pm); Dilutey Juice (3:50pm); SwanNek (5:00pm); Rivkala (6:00pm).
Sat 27: Nomade Swing Trio @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sat 27: Mississippi Dreamboats @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sat 27: Milne-Glendinning Band @ Cafédral, Owengate, Durham. 9:00pm. £9.00. & £6.00. A Durham Fringe Festival event.
Sat 27: Theon Cross + Knats @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 10:00pm. £22.00. BBC Proms: BBC Introducing Stage (Sage Two). A late night gig.

Sun 28: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm.
Sun 28: Miss Jean & the Ragtime Rewind Swing Band @ Fonteyn Ballroom, Dunelm House (Durham Students’ Union), Durham. 2:00pm. £9.00. & £6.00. A Durham Fringe Festival event.
Sun 28: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Nomade Swing Trio @ Red Lion, Alnmouth. 4:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 28: Jeffrey Hewer Collective @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 28: Milne Glendinning Band @ Cafédral, Owengate, Durham. 9:00pm. £9.00. & £6.00. A Durham Fringe Festival event.

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

Tue 30: ???

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

August

Thu 01: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:30pm. £4.00.
Thu 01: Funky Drummer @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 01: Elsadie & the Bobcats @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 02: Mainly Two @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free (donations). SOLD OUT! Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. POSTPONED!

Sunday, November 24, 2019

CD Review: Joachim Caffonnette Trio - Vers L'Azur Noir

Joachim Caffonnette (piano); Alex Gilson (bass); Jean-Baptiste Pinet (drums)
(Review by Lance)

Sadly, non-jazz pressures caused me to delay my review of this very enjoyable album by Belgium pianist Caffonnette and his two French confrères. Doubly sad as it meant not being able to draw attention to their recent UK tour which, although it bypassed Newcastle, given the number of mainland Europe bands that do turn up on Tyneside, was something of a surprise. However, the tour did include Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester, Nottingham, Luton, Hove and, of course, London at no less a place than Kansas Smitty’s.

So, if you live within a close radius of the above towns and cities then you will probably have caught the gig and bought the CD already. If you didn’t make it - maybe you caught one of those bugs that always seem to be going around - then this is the chance to find out what you missed.

The fact that they played at Smitty’s tells you it isn’t going to be exit jazz (way out) although, by the same token, it is far from being dated.

Caffonnette has a gentle touch, reflective, searching. Bill Evans meets Debussy and Thelonious Monk. Monk’s Dream – one of three non-originals – shows that this pianist can swing with his own voicings building upon Monk’s foundation. Great number – great rendition.

Another surprise is Hey Jude which, like so many Beatles’ tunes, proves to be receptive to instrumental interpretations and, in many cases, better without the sometimes mystic and meaningless words!

Caff’s originals are captivating, delving into the harmonic possibilities which he knows are there – well he should do as he composed them! They all have deep meaning and relate to events the composer found inspiration from. Too complex to relate here but the album notes add to our understanding of the music.

Bass and drums do the necessary and have their moments to shine which they take at the cusp. However, this isn’t the Lord of the Manor throwing crumbs to his hirelings, it’s an integrated unit where each man’s contribution is neither less nor more than that of the others and, as such, it works beautifully.
Lance.
Perspectives; Inner Necessity; Tripoli’s Sorrow; Hey Jude; Vers L’Azur Noir; Sugar Man; A Mawda; Monk’s Dream; Jax and Reddy.

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