Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey: "You [Bobby Watson] don't want to play too long, because you don't know they're clapping because they're glad you finished!" - (JazzTimes, Nov. 2019)..

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

15867 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 874 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (Sept. 25).

From This Moment On ...

September

Tue 26: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Alice Grace Quartet @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 28: Faye MacCalman + Snape/Sankey @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 28: Zoe Rahman @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Thu 28: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm.
Thu 28: Speakeasy @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £15.00. A Southpaw Dance Company presentation. Dance, audio-visuals, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, swing dancers etc.
Thu 28: Mick Cantwell Band @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Ace blues band.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.

Sat 30: John Pope Quintet + Late Girl + Shapeshifters @ Bobik's, Jesmond, Newcastle.
Sat 30: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

OCTOBER

Sun 01: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 01: Dulcie May Moreno sings Portrait of Sheila @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Moreno sings Sheila Jordan with Giles Strong, Mick Shoulder & John Bradford.
Sun 01: Middlesbrough Jazz & Blues Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 2:00pm.
Sun 01: The Easy Rollers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.70., £11.55.
Sun 01: Brand/Roberts/Champion/Sanders @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 01: Papa G's Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 02: FILM: Wattstax; 50th Anniversary @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 8:00pm.

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

CD Review: Troy Roberts - Stuff I Heard

Troy Roberts (soprano/alto/tenor sax/ double bass/ electric bass); Jimmy Macbride (drums)
(Review by Chris K)

The twelfth release from this multi-instrumentalist and composer as a leader. Roberts was new to me, my first impressions were of a modern “American” sound (he is a US based Australian) – muscular but smooth.

I’ll own up to a certain suspicion of the undoubtedly gifted sax player taking on bass duties, with multi-tracking of (sometimes all three) sax voices.  In pre-Covid days, why multi-track one player when you can have a real live band?!  I did find the bass on the first track, Little Room, a bit plodding, but the rest of the album proves him a fluent and versatile bass player too!  I have warmed to the album on repeated listening, as any feel lost in the studio construction is compensated by the clever composition and arrangement, and the sparkle put back in by the excellent and agile drumming of Macbride,  a young NYC based sideman deluxe.    

The album title alludes to Roberts’ working routine of writing down “stuff he heard” in his head wherever he might be, and results here in a real variety of styles, moods and arrangements.

The substantial,  in length and content,  Harry Brown (after Michael Caine, apparently) sees Roberts lay down a long acoustic bass intro, with a glorious whooshing entry on drums (worth replaying!) before he stretches out with some cool tenor over walking bass.  Further fantastic sax soloing, with expressive bends and stretches (vibes of Brecker) to be heard in Lifeline.   
     
Prayer of Hope has a fresh and genuinely uplifting major key feel, with classical overtones in a peaceful interlude, before turning up the heat for Rejekt, an uncompromising funky frolic, driven by showy electric bass with an almost big-band sound achieved by tight multiple sax voices.

Hightail is a favourite, with insistent electric bass and skittering drums, unfolding into late Weather Report repeated and melodic sax phrases.  Aeonian is slower, with polyphonic interweaving sax lines over ponderous acoustic bass, with some Garbarek style emotion emerging through the doom before fading away. Solar Panels is also very strong, with acoustic bass and sax doubling leading into angular soprano rambling, with outstanding freely blowing drums,    reminiscent of some of Julian Costello’s recent work.

Overall,  a rich showcase of Roberts' composition and playing, with some staggering blowing over clever and propulsive drums. While he can clearly write, play with great power and subtlety, and produce, I’m left a little puzzled from this impressive and clever smorgasbord as to who the real Troy Roberts is?
Chris Kilsby

Released April 10, 2020. Recorded NYC January 2019

No comments :

Blog Archive