Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 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

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

June

Sat 03: Newcastle Record Fair @ Northumbria University, Newcastle NE8 8SB. 10:00am-3:00pm. Admission: £2.00.
Sat 03: Pedigree Jazz Band @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Sue Ferris. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 04: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 04: Central Bar Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. £5.00. The Central Bar Quintet plays Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus. Featuring Lewis Watson.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 04: Struggle Buggy + Michael Littlefield @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues.
Sun 04: Swinging at the Cotton Club: Harry Strutters' Hot Rhythm Orchestra @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.
Sun 04: Richard Jones Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 04: Jam No. 18 @ Fabio's Bar, Saddler Street, Durham. 8:00pm. Free. All welcome. A Durham University Jazz Society event.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED! BACK ON JUNE 15.
Thu 08: Easington Colliery Brass Band @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 08: Faye MacCalman + Blue Dust Archive @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Dilutey Juice + Ceramic @ The Ampitheatre, Sea Road, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. A South Tyneside Festival event.
Thu 08: Lara Jones w. Vigilance State @ Lubber Fiend, Blandford Square, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Michael Littlefield @ the Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Country blues.
Thu 08: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 09: Emma Rawicz @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Tuesday, January 07, 2020

CD Review: Laura Noejovich - Laura Has New Standards

Laura Noejovich (voice); Takeshi Asai (piano)
(Review by James Henry)

Laura Has New Standards is a clever play on words, and in this debut album Laura Noejovich gives us a mixture of old standards in new ways, and other less familiar songs that might become new standards.

Laura Noejovich has an unusual background for an aspiring jazz singer. Originally trained as an opera singer, she then completed a degree in neurosciences in Skidmore College, NY, where she is currently a laboratory associate.  In this debut album Laura Noejovich is accompanied on piano by Takeshi Asai, originally from Japan but now based in New York, and an alumnus of Berklee College. Restricting the accompaniment to piano without a conventional rhythm section is a bold thing to do on a debut album, and Noejovich’s classical training and presence help her carry this off.

Noejovich has a strong vocal presence, with incredible power and dynamic range, as well as a phenomenal vocal range: she is able to hit long low dusky notes and then soar to great heights without becoming shrill. Takeshi Asai matches Noejovich’s vocal strength with an intense but sensitive piano accompaniment.

There are some lovely surprises in this selection. Why Don’t You Do Right by Kansas Joe McCoy is a hard times blues from the 1930’s which Noejovich begins confidently a capella and rubato, to be joined after six bars by Takeshi.  Noejovich is at her best in the more bluesy numbers, and Dreamer’s Ball (Brian May/Queen) is an utter treat. She also has a feel for show tunes, and Funny Honey from Chicago gets the full theatrical treatment. Quieter and more lyrical moments include a folksy interpretation of Lennon and McCartney’s The Fool on the Hill, with a quirky accompaniment by Asai. Once Upon A Dream (Wildhorn, from Jekyll and Hyde) and On My Own (Les Miserables) get the full wistful but hopeful stage treatment.  Standards don’t get much more standard than Gershwin tunes, and there is a huge powerful version of Summertime balanced by a lyrical and at times operatic Someone to Watch Over Me.

Laura Has New Standards is an impressive debut album. It is difficult to classify in many ways. Bits of it would be jazz in anyone’s book, some of it has to be musical theatre, and some of it is frankly operatic. Likewise, Noejovich’s vocal range is so huge I can’t decide whether she is an alto or a soprano.  But does it matter if we can’t slot music into pigeonholes?  Not a bit: just enjoy it for what it is.  Eclectic and classy sums this album up best of all.
James Henry     
Enchanted Meadow Records, November 2019

No comments :

Blog Archive