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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Postage

16034 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1041 of them this year alone and, so far, 73 this month (Nov. 27).

From This Moment On ...

December

Tue 05: Customs House Big Band @ All Saints Church, Cleadon. 7:00pm. Concert in the church hall. BYOB.
Tue 05: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Sid White. The best free show in town!

Wed 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 06: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 8:00pm. Free. Note later start time, concert performance (open to the public).
Wed 06: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay, Newcastle. 12 noon - 4:00pm. £26.00 (inc 3-course meal in in St Mary's Lighthouse Suite). SOLD OUT!
Thu 07: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 07: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.Donations. Feat. Mark Sanders. CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00. Downstairs.
Thu 07: Tees Hot Club: Just Friends @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. Guest band night w. Richie Emmerson, Ian Bosworth, Dave Archbold, Ron Smith, Mark Hawkins. 9:00pm.

Fri 08: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle. 1:00pm. £7.00.
Fri 08: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Woodland Village Hall, Bishop Auckland. 7:00pm. £12.00.
Fri 08: Sleep Suppressor + Redwell @ Head of Steam, Neville St., Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv); £5.00. student.
Fri 08: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert's Church, Shadforth, Co. Durham.
Fri 08: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £8.00.

Sat 09: Prudhoe Community Band @ Central Station, Newcastle. 10:00am - 12 noon. Charity fundraiser.
Sat 09: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Skinnergate, Darlington. 1:00pm.
Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 09: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Middleton & Todridge Village Hall, Morpeth. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sat 09: Paul Skerritt @ Slaley Hall, Hexham NE47 0BX. 7:30pm. From £42.00.

Sun 10: Musicians Unlimited’s Xmas Party with Zoe Gilby Quartet @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. MU 1:00-3:00pm; Zoë Gilby Quartet 4:00-6:00pm. Tickets: £7.50.
Sun 10: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Funk Soul Sista @ Stack, Seaburn. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Beth Clarke @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 10: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Whittingham Memorial Institute, Alnwick. 7:30pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 10: Tele-Port @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Zhenya Strigalev.

Mon 11: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Interim Final Recitals @ Newcastle University. Details TBC.

Tue 12: Stu Collingwood Organ Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £10.00.

Friday, November 22, 2019

CD Review: Joy Ellis – Dwell


Joy Ellis (piano, Fender Rhodes, vocals); Rob Luft (guitar); Henrik Jensen (double bass); Ferg Ireland (electric bass); Adam Osmiandski (drums); Helen Burnett (sound bowls on Daffodils)
(Review by Ann Alex)

Here is the first of three humdinger CDs received for review – I feel lucky. I've already seen Joy Ellis and her band at the Globe and have heard some of these actual songs. All the songs were written and produced by Ms Ellis and her lyrics are supplied on the CD insert, a bonus we didn't get in the live performance, so I was well primed to enjoy the album, and I certainly did.


The songs relate to a sense of place and reflections on life in general, such as thoughts on the birth of a new baby as winter ends; ideas about the family; an incident in Manchester; an atmospheric portrayal of ice on a river. The music is influenced not only by jazz but also elements of groove and dance music and her classical piano training.

The overall effect is freewheeling, varied, lively music, perhaps best described by a rundown of track 10 Let Sleeping Dogs Lie, which is one of the 2 instrumentals. First we hear a rippling riffing piano with comments from Jensen on bass. The piano develops a strong theme and the whole tune moves along the line, gentle drums crop up, piano gets bolder with more variations, then ripples to the end. An inadequate description, I know, which doesn't do the music justice.

Our singer has a naturally musical tone, and the lyrics are pleasingly descriptive, especially on tracks such as Ice On The River, with its short lines suggesting coldness 'Ice on the river, frost on the field, cold tide lapping, 'gainst the boards of the pier.' These lyrics are accompanied by Rhodes-like tones which manage to sound cold. The other track titles are: Daffodils; Pollyanna; Family Tree; Castles; Dwell; One Minute In Manchester; Boy; Mick Coady Says Hello (Instrumental).

The presence of the outstanding guitarist Rob Luft adds to the overall sound as does the stellar rhythm section.

Joy Ellis graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and has toured widely to such places as Ronnie Scott's, the Barbican, The Cork Jazz Festival and No Black Tie Jazz Club in Kuala Lumpur. Her previous album, Life On Land, (2017) was reviewed on BSH. She also performs Brazilian music with the Samba Azul group.  

A promotional tour featuring the album is planned but if you wish to see her you'll have to go to the nearest places, Edinburgh on February 23, or Leeds on March 14 next year. Better to ask Santa for the CD for Christmas, as it is released on November 29 on Oti-O Records. Or you could get  along to the album launch at the Vortex, London on December 14.

Ann Alex





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