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Bebop Spoken There

Kelly Sill: "Just because everyone is playing through the changes in the same time doesn't mean they're actually playing together" - (JazzTimes March/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

15260 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 279 of them this year alone and, so far, 92 this month (March 29).

From This Moment On ...

April

Sun 02: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny. 12:45pm.
Sun 02: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.

Mon 03: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 04: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 04: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Bradley Johnston (guitar); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums).

Wed 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 05: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 05: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 05: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 06: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations. Feat. John Pope, Marie Shreer, John Garner.
Thu 06: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibtion Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 06: Darlington Big Band @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Note earlier start time.

Fri 07: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 07: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 07: Gaz Hughes Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 07: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Traveller's Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 07: Finntet + Zoë Gilby & Andy Champion @ Bobik's, Punch Bowl, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.
Fri 07: TBA @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig. Blind Pig Blues Club.

Sat 08: Me Lost Me + Ceitidh Mac + Heather Ferrier @ Bobik's, Punch Bowl, Newcastle. 7:30pm. JNE.
Sat 08: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington Covered Market, Darlington DL1 5PN. 6:00pm. New venue, live jazz!
Sat 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED from last week (Sat 01).
Sat 08: Robbie Reay @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Acoustic blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Sat 08: Anth Purdy @ Mr Tighe's, Bebside, Northumberland. 8:30pm.

Friday, August 28, 2020

Album Review: Schapiro 17 - New Shoes: Kind of Blue at 60

This one has class written all over it. Jon Shapiro formed the Schapiro 17 in 2012 and, as a member of the BMI Jazz Composers' Workshop (established in the 1980s by Bob Brookmeyer and Manny Albam alongside author Burt Korall) and a long-time professor at Yeshiva University, NYC, the band leader knows what he's about and this debut album is a gem. 

Reworking Miles Davis' classic material isn't a new idea and this one, taking its inspiration from Kind of Blue, prompted the thought: Go on then, impress me. That was before listening to the first of the two discs on this Summit Records' double CD. 

A few bars in your reviewer was impressed, big time! The famous numbers on Davis' best-selling album from 1959 form the basis of Schapiro's project, sitting, as they do, alongside seven original compositions (six of them by the band leader, one by pianist Roberta Piket)*. The arrangements are typically contemporary, embracing stylistic developments from Gil Evans' modal pastel hues with Davis, through to new century grooves, all the time underpinned by the ensemble's sense of swing. All soloists are from the top drawer. If you're into big bands with a contemporary edge consider New Shoes: Kind of Blue at 60 an essential purchase.      

The compositions are variously titled Boiled FunkBoiled Funk 2Foiled Bunk etc. Re-arrange the letters which form Kind of Blue and you'll see how the titles came about. Had it not been for the press release pointing to this quirky fact it could/would have taken many years before the penny dropped!   
Russell   

New Shoes: Kind of Blue at 60 is available on Summit Records (DCD 756)

Schapiro 17: Jon Schapiro (composer, conductor, arranger); Bryan Davis, Andy Gravish, Eddie Allen, Noyes Bartholomew (trumpets); Deborah Weisz, Alex Jeun, Nick Grinder (trombones); Walter Harris (bass trombone); Rob Wilkerson (alto sax, tracks 1-4); Ben Kono (alto sax, tracks 5-12); Candace DeBartolo (alto sax); Paul Carlon, Rob Middleton (tenor sax); Matt Hong (baritone sax); Sebastian Noelle (guitar); Roberta Piket (piano); Evan Gregor (bass); Jon Wikan (drums)

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