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Bebop Spoken There

Abbie Finn: "Even though there's a lot of great work being done to promote women in jazz, I still come up against some attitudes! I pulled up at a recording session with my drums in the car and the studio owner said, 'I'm sorry, this space is reserved for the drummer!'" - (Jazzwise April 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!"

Postage

15229 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 248 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (March 20).

From This Moment On ...

March

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller's Rest, Cockerton. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public). Note change of venue - this week only.
Wed 22: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Thu 23: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcasatle. From 6:30pm 'til late. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra jam session. All welcome (students & non-students).
Thu 23: Kerrin Tatman + John Garner & John Pope @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 23: Sunna Gunnlaugs & Julia Hülsmann @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm. A two-piano gig. A Sage Gateshead-JNE promotion.
Thu 23: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano.
Thu 23: Sleep Suppressor @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00., £8.00. adv. Upstairs.
Thu 23: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: FILM: Mo' Better Blues @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Fri 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Scarth Hall, Staindrop, Co. Durham. 8:00pm. £10.00.
Fri 24: Archipelago + Bulbils @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.

Sat 25: Vermont Big Band @ Walker Community Centre, Walker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Fundraiser for Benfield Juniours Football Club. Hot food available, BYOB.
Sat 25: John Logan & Friends @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rat Pack, Motown etc. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Outlines @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE promotion (upstairs).

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 28: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 28: Sanaz Lavasani Trio @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv).

Saturday, August 15, 2020

Album review: The Dime Notes - Daylight Savin'

Andrew Oliver (piano); David Horniblow (clarinet); Dave Kelbie (guitar); Louis Thomas (bass).

The name that sprung to my mind after the opening bars was Good Time Jazz. The label based on the West Coast that operated from 1949 - 1969 and featured Dixie bands such as The Firehouse Five + Two, Turk Murphy, Bob Scobey and other American revivalists. Bands who, if nothing else, made a fair fist of recapturing the feel of New Orleans better the European bands who were, despite the inconvenience of the Atlantic Ocean, working the same side of the street.

And so they should, Frisco and L.A are closer to New Orleans than say, London, Bristol or even Newcastle. 

That was then. This is now and, whilst America may still hold the crown at the very highest level, there are plenty snapping at their heels and, in the more historic idioms such as this fine album, the contenders are way past the heels and heading for the jugular!

Good Time Jazz indeed and, just as the aforementioned revivalists took their inspiration from Louis Armstrong, King Oliver and Jelly Roll Morton so do The Dime Notes with Jelly Roll being their prime influence. Not surprising as Oliver has assimilated Jelly Roll in everything but the braggadocio and the gold teeth. In Horniblow he has a running mate with the feel of Jimmy Noone and the technique of Barney Bigard - in traditional circles that is a lethal combination. With Kelbie and Thomas rounding off the quartet the result is both tight and yet loose at the same time. 

If that seems to be a contradiction in terms so be it. The Dime Notes are tight like that when they want it to be like that and yet there's a sense of freedom in that they know that whatever happens they have a safety net in each other.

You don't have to be a purist to enjoy this foot-tapping album. As Oliver points out in his notes, Morton's Fickle Fay Creep foreshadowed the extended one chord vamp innovation of Miles and Gil in the 1950s.

Other Morton tunes on the album are Grandpa's Spells, Pep and Why? (The sleeve omits the question mark although Cusack's JRM discography includes it). The Chant was composed by Mel Stitzel but will forever be remembered by the version recorded by the Red Hot Peppers in 1926 - chances are this version will too achieve immortality.

El Rado Scuffle (Jimmy Noone); Daylight Savin' Blues (Perry Bradford); The Dream (Jesse Pickett); Worried & Lonesome Blues (James P. Johnson); Jubilee Stomp (Ellington); San (McPhail & Michels) and Ten Cent Rhythm (an Andrew Oliver original) complete a most enjoyable album.
Lance
PS: Special mention for Kelbie's solo on Grandpa's Spells and Loui Thomas' bass playing throughout.

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