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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

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Mar 26: Pop Jazz @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. 'Jazzified' tunes by the likes of Sylvester, Bowie, the Monkees etc., feat. Alan Law, David Gray, Richard Herdman & Jude Murphy.
Sun 26: Outlines @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE promotion (upstairs).

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

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 @ 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: '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: 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: Hot Club du Nord @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth. 8:00pm. £79.00. A charity fundraising event.
Sat 01: Boys of Brass @ Stack, Seaburn. 7:00-9:00pm.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED to next week (Sat 08).

Monday, November 18, 2019

CD Review: Ronny Whyte - Whyte Witchcraft

(Review by Lance)

Cy Coleman ranks alongside the big hitters such as Kern, Porter, the Gershwins, Rodgers and Hammerstein/Hart. and, of course, Irving Berlin, However, whereas the aristocracy of the GASbook's great compositions needed some redefining for the jazz world, Coleman's music needed no tweaking they were there for the taking by any musician or singer who had the chops to handle them. Ronnie Whyte is just such a singer, not least because he was a buddy and often got the songs first hand.

With words, in the main, by Caroline Leigh the material is first rate and with a belter of a big band behind him this must surely rate as one of the all-time classic vocal records.

File it alongside your albums by Sinatra, Bennett, Tormé and Ella albums and, not necessarily in that order.

Let's take a closer look...

Too Good to Talk About: The voice swings - ring-a-ding-ding - with  a Daniel Claude alto solo and a John Eckert trumpet blast to boot it along. 

It Amazes Me; Listen to the verse - My height.... just average, my weight.... just average, and my IQ is what you'd estimate, just average. But evidently she does not agree, consequentially, if I seem at sea .... It amazes me.

The Best is yet to Come: Most of the saloon/cabaret singers have done this one and Whyte's version stands proudly alongside them with the bonus of some vocalese by Eddie Monteiro.

I'm Watching You: Another bouncy ballad with some Whyte piano thrown into the mix.

Sometime When You're Lonely: One of those romantic ballads that you wonder why you haven't heard it more often. Justin Wood slots in a few bars of tasty flute.

Witchcraft: Sinatra put his stamp on this one - or did he? Frank forgot to sing the verse and it's a cracker!

Shades of Old Lucretia Borgia, There's a devil in you tonight
And although my heart says I adore you, my head says this ain't right
Right to have you make advances, oh no
Under normal circumstances I'd go - but oh...

No, I guess Frank didn't forget, more likely some morality group stepped in. It's rather like the fuss they're making - after all of these years - over Baby its Cold Outside!

Sweet Talk: Floyd Huddleston wrote the lyric on this trio number.

On Second Thought: Regrets on breaking up - more nice piano.

Why Try to Change me Now?: Lyric by Joseph A. McCarthy. Sinatra owns this one although Whyte makes a decent fist of it. Surprisingly, after Old Blue Eyes, the best version I've heard of this tune which will probably never be recorded is by local lass Lindsay Hannon and pianist Alan Law! Request it on a gig.

I've Got Your NumberI'm Not in Love Again; Rules of the Road; I Walk a Little Faster; You Fascinate Me So; Don't Ask a Lady; Here I Go Again; All Right, I Love You. These finish up the album. I haven't detailed them individually as the superlatives would make War and Peace seem like Mills & Boon.

To sum up - I like it! - not least, with all due respect to Ronny, because it helps to remind the world that Coleman/Leigh were a team to rate alongside any of the Broadway hotshots.
Lance

Currently available on Audiophile.
Sample, personnel details.

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