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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

16051 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1058 of them this year alone and, so far, 12 this month (Dec. 6).

From This Moment On ...

December

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 Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. MU 1:00-3:00pm; Zoë Gilby Quartet 4:00-6:00pm. Tickets: £7.50.
Sun 10: Alan Law, Paul Grainger & Abbie Finn @ Darlington Market, Market Square, Darlington. 1:00pm. Free. A ‘Christmas Market’ outdoor gig. Wrap up warm!
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.

Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Wed 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Hot Fingers @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 14: After Hours Student Jazz Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. . Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 14: Niffi Osiyemi Trio @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Mo Scott ‘Little Mo’s Festive Appearance’ @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Tees Hot Club w. Kevin Eland, Josh Bentham, Garry Hadfield, Adrian Beadnell @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 15: Paul Edis @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 15: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: Paul Skerritt @ Black Horse Inn, Crook. From 7:00pm.
Fri 15: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ St Cuhtbert's Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00. SOLD OUT! Waiting list open.
Fri 15: Zoë Gilby Trio @ Seventeen Nineteen, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £12.00. POSTPONED!
Fri 15: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. First night of two.
Fri 15: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £10.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 15: Baghdaddies @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00.; £10.00.

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

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