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Bebop Spoken There

Willie Jones lll: "I often wondered what it would be like to play with Clifford Brown or Lee Morgan. For me, Roy Hargrove was the closest thing to that." - (JazzTimes, November 2021)

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! --

Postage

14757 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 13 years ago. 1376 of them this year alone and, so far, 92 this month (Nov. 29).

From This Moment On ...

December

Fri 03: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay. 12 noon. £22.00. Xmas lunch. Tel: 0191 691 7090.
Fri 03: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 03: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm Fri 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 03: Classic Swing @ Saltburn Community Theatre. 7:30pm..
Fri 03: King Bees @ The Hotspur, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Chicago blues.
Fri 03: Jack Logan & Sax Appeal @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. 'Rat Pack & Bublé'.

Sat 04: Play Jazz! Workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Clark Tracey. £25.00., book at: www.jazz.coop. .
Sat 04: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert’s, Hebron, nr. Morpeth. 7:30pm. Festive Special! SOLD OUT!.
Sat 04: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Greenside Community Centre, Ryton. 7:30pm. £5.00..
Sat 04: Clark Tracey Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £15.00. .
Sat 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon, North Tyneside. 8:00pm. £3.00. Xmas party.

Sun 05 Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay. 12 noon.
Sun 05: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 05: Musicians Unlimited @ South Durham Social Club, Hartlepool. 1:00pm.
Sun 05: Foundry Jazz Ensemble @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 05: Glenn Miller Orchestra UK @ Stockton Globe. 3:00pm. Ray McVay & co.
Sun 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, North Tyneside. 7:00pm.
Sun 05: Knats @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 06: Jazz in the Afternoon @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 06: Northern Monkey Brass Band @ o/s The People’s Kitchen, Bath Lane, Newcastle 7:00-7:30pm.

Tue 07: Classic Swing @ The Ship Inn, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Tue 07: Customs House Big Band @ All Saints Church Hall, Cleadon. 7:00pm.
Tue 07: Dilutey Juice @ Little Buildings, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Tue 07: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Dean Stockdale; Paul Grainger; Tim Johnston. NOTE EARLIER START!

Wed 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 08: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Club, Darlington. 8:00pm. Concert performance. Free admission.
Wed 08: Four @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00-9:30pm. In the bar.
Wed 08: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Wed 08: Durham Uni Big Band + Durham Uni Jazz Soc Big Band @ Durham University Students' Union. 8:00pm.

Thu 09: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay. 12 noon. £22.00. Xmas lunch. Tel: 0191 691 7090.
Thu 09: Hot Club du Nord, Lubetkin Theatre, East Durham College, Peterlee. 7:00pm (doors). £10.00. + bf.
Thu 09: Tenderlonius + Knats @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £7.00. (£10.00. inc food).
Thu 09: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 09: Maine Street Jazzmen @ Sunniside Social Club, Gateshead. 8:30pm.
Thu 09: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Friday, June 12, 2020

Album Review: Walter Smith III & Matthew Stevens - In Common 2

Walter Smith III (tenor sax); Matthew Stevens (guitar); Micah Thomas (piano); Linda May Han Oh (bass); Nate Smith (drums).

The blurb describes it as "... being at once free and highly structured, melodically accessible yet thoroughly contemporary." Come to think of it, I couldn't have phrased it better myself!

Apart from the opening number - Roy Allan - composed by the late Roy Hargrove and played as a homage to him by the two leaders, the remaining tracks were all by either Walter Smith or Matthew Stevens.

Like the earlier recording, In Common, the aim is simplicity which, as any musician will tell you, is much more difficult to do effectively than is complexity where the lack of substance can sometimes be disguised by a flurry of notes, multi-tempo passages and fashionably dissonant sounds.

 Smith III plays beautiful tenor, just as I remembered him doing at a memorable concert at Sage Gateshead back in 2013. Stevens was also on that gig and he was as magnificent then as he is now - the gig was in the running for gig of the year - maybe it won, I can't remember now but, if it didn't, it should have done!

 I'm not going to claim this to be my CD of the Year but it will be closer to the top than to the bottom - a lot closer!

 Check it out - it's available on Whirlwind Recordings WR4755.
Lance.
PS: Not my album cover of the year!

 Roy Allen; Lotto; Cowboy; Clem; Van Der Linde; Provinces; General George Washington; Little Lamplight; Opera; Type Rider.
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