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Bebop Spoken There

Simon Spillett: “ Bebop and hard bop came naturally to him [Tubby Hayes]". Morning Star, March 28, 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

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm.
Thu 28: Richard Herdman Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Josh Bentham (alto sax); Alan Marshall (tenor sax); Neil Brodie (trumpet); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Graham Thompson (keys); Steve Hunter (drums).

Fri 29: FILM: Soul @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 12:30pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free. POSTPONED!
Fri 29: Thundercat @ Newcastle City Hall.
Fri 29: John Logan @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 30: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 30: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Whitley Bay Library, York Road, Whitley Bay. 8:00pm.

Sun 31: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields NE30 1HJ. 3:00pm. Free. Lambert, Alan Law & Paul Grainger.
Sun 31: Sid Jacobs & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. USA/London jazz guitar duo.
Sun 31: Bellavana @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

April
Mon 01: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 01: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.

Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Dean Stockdale, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thursday, September 10, 2020

Album review: Thelonious Monk Quartet - MONK: Palo Alto - New date for release!

Charlie Rouse (tenor sax); Thelonious Monk (piano); Larry Gales (bass); Ben Riley (drums).

Last year saw some previously unreleased Coltrane albums surface, this year it's Monk's turn.

All the great jazz musicians from Louis to Bird to Trane to Ornette and beyond had periods when, rightly or wrongly, it was defined as being their classic line-up. Although Monk recorded with Bird, Diz, Trane and Rollins among others it was his long association with Rouse where it all seemed to come together and this live recording from October 1968 is proof if indeed further proof should be needed.

Monk and Rouse, like Desmond and Brubeck, Mulligan and Baker. Brown and Land, are among the great modern jazz partnerships and to turn up a gem such as this, 50 years on, makes me wonder how much more is gathering dust in vaults and attics.

A mix of Monk classics and a couple of standards delighted the lunchtime high school audience in Palo Alto, California. How the Monk Quartet came to be playing at a school in Palo Alto is one of those jazz moments that will be go down in legend and, even now, I bet there are many elderly Americans saying "I was there" even if they happened to be in New York at the time!*

All  47 minutes of the concert are on the album: Ruby, My Dear; Well You Needn't; Blue Monk and Epistrophy are by the quartet whilst Don't Blame Me and I Love You (Sweetheart of All My Dreams) are piano solos - the latter quite dazzling, the former a little bit tongue in cheek! The 14 minutes of Blue Monk surely ranks as the definitive with Rouse in blistering form. Gales and Riley also shine solowise. 
Tremendous!

Impulse have the album scheduled for release on Sept. 18. Order now online or from your friendly neighbourhood record shop.
Lance

In the autumn of 1968, a sixteen-year-old boy named Danny Scher had a dream. He wanted to bring the renowned jazz pianist Thelonious Monk and his quartet to play a benefit concert at his high school in Palo Alto, California to raise funds for his school and to help bring about racial unity in his community. Armed with little more than a telephone, posters, a persuasive pitch, an impressive knowledge of jazz and an iron-willed determination, Scher made the concert happen.

After miraculously securing Monk’s services to perform on Sunday,  October 27, 1968, for $500, Scher initially had trouble selling tickets and convincing people that Monk would even show up. With many twists and turns along the way, including Scher’s older brother having to drive to San Francisco to bring the quartet to the school, and hundreds of people waiting in the school’s parking lot to await Monk’s arrival before purchasing their $2 tickets, the concert went ahead, sold out, and was a triumph. 

“It was a total pleasure,” says Scher, whose two idols in his youth were Monk and Duke Ellington. “There was nothing odd. I loved Monk, I loved his music, and I loved producing. It was great seeing Monk dancing around the stage and then coming back to the piano when it was the right time. There was zero drama.”

1 comment :

Mike Farmer said...

Great review and being a Monk and Charlie Rouse fan ever since I saw them at the Free Trade Hall Manchester I can't wait to hear this CD. This reminds me of a series of concerts years ago at the Octogon Theatre Bolton which were promoted by a sixteen year old schoolboy. He put on poets,be-bop, avant guard, trad bands etc. They were well attended. Keep the bop flame burning Lance!

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