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Bebop Spoken There

Dee Dee Bridgewater: “ Our world is becoming a very ugly place with guns running rampant in this country... and New Orleans is called the murder capital of the world right now ". Jazzwise, May 2024.

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...

Josh Weir: I love the writing on bebop spoken here... I think the work you are doing is amazing.

Postage

16382 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 262 of them this year alone and, so far, 59 this month (April 20).

From This Moment On ...

April

Fri 26: Graham Hardy Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 26: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 26: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 26: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 26: East Coast Swing Band @ Morpeth Rugby Club. 7:30pm. £9.00. (£8.00 concs).
Fri 26: Paul Skerritt with the Danny Miller Big Band @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Fri 26: Abbie Finn’s Finntet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 27: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 27: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 28: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: More Jam Festival Special @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. A ’10 Years a Co-op’ festival event.
Sun 28: Swing Dance workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Free (registration required). A ’10 Years a Co-op’ festival event.
Sun 28: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox: The '10' Tour @ Glasshouse International Centre for Music, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £41.30 t0 £76.50.
Sun 28: Alligator Gumbo @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ’10 Years a Co-op’ festival event.
Sun 28: Jerron Paxton @ The Cluny, Newcastle. Blues, jazz etc.

Mon 29: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 29: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30-8:30pm. Free. ‘Opus de Funk’ (a tribute to Horace Silver).

Tue 30: Celebrate with Newcastle Jazz Co-op. 5:30-7:00pm. Free.
Tue 30: Swing Manouche @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. A Coquetdale Jazz event.
Tue 30: Clark Tracey Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ’10 Years a Co-op’ festival event.

May

Wed 01: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 01: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 01: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 02: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 02: The Eight Words - A Jazz Suite @ Newcastle Cathedral, St Nicholas Square, Newcastle NE1 1PF. Tel: 0191 232 1939. 7:30pm. £20.00. (£17.00. student/under 18). Tim Boniface Quartet & Malcolm Guite (poet). Jazz & poetry: The Eight Words (St John Passion).
Thu 02: Funky Drummer @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 02: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 02: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Thursday, May 21, 2020

Album Review: Joan Watson-Jones - Choices

Joan Watson-Jones (vocal); Frank Wilkins (piano); Dave Zox (bass); Alvin Terry (drums).

To describe Joan Watson-Jones as late blooming is perhaps an under statement - her mother was dancing and boxing at the Parisian nightspot Moulin Rouge as far back as 1924! So, whilst I don't know JWJ's age she's certainly no ingénue. Which of course is totally irrelevant and I'm ashamed for even mentioning it! Much more important is that she can sing - and how!

Choices is her fourth album and the first one to contain predominately original songs.


Apart from her mother's ability to pre-date The Ali Shuffle and throw a mean left hook, her dad was a founding doctor in the Upper Manhattan Medical Group - perhaps he'd been on the receiving end of one of his wife's jabs - the institution that inspired Strayhorn's U.M.M.G.

However, that's enough of the facetiousness. Getting down to the nitty -gritty, the songs are full of meaningful lyrics about items that matter. Choices (her mother); My Child's Dreams (her father); Let Me Go (the graceful departure of a loved on); Talking With Martin (civil rights); The First Time We Met (an enduring romance); It's Been a Long Time Comin' (a new-found love).

Other tracks are: I Ain't Just a Pretty Face; A Glass of Wine and Time Passes.

The two non-originals are Topsy 2 and Here's to Life. The latter is a natural and fits seamlessly in with the originals making it the perfect final track. Topsy 2 I'm not so sure about. It's a great track grooving along nicely and setting off her jazz chops but, somehow, it doesn't quite quite gel with the overall mood. I look forward to hearing Joan on an album where it does slot in.

The supporting trio are more than just that - the singer gives them plenty of space and they don't drop the baton approaching the home straight.

I look forward to hearing more from this lady.
Lance

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