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Bebop Spoken There

Ambrose Akinmusire: “ I am certainly always aware of what the masses are doing. And when I see too many people going one way, I'm going another way - even when I don't know what's over that way". DownBeat, March, 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

Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.

Wed 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 20: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Castillo Neuvo Trio + Conor Emery & His ‘Bones Band @ The Grove, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00. (£7.00. student).
Thu 21: Remi Banklyn + Chris Corcoran Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.50. Chicago blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime piano.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Nauta + Remy CB + Last Orders @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). Free.
Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 22: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 23: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Free (ticketed). End of term performance in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 23: Red Kites Jazz @ Rowlands Gill Community Centre NE39 1JB. 7:00pm. Tickets: £12.00. (gibsidecommunityfarm@gmail.com). A ‘Build a Barn’ fundraiser. BYOB, tea/coffee available.
Sat 23: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. + bf (book in person at venue - no booking fee!). Featuring pianist Martin Litton.
Sat 23: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 24: Luis Verde @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Verde (alto sax); Joe Steels (guitar); John Pope (double bass); John Hirst (drums). Alto sax brilliance!
Sun 24: Elsie Franklin @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Country blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Sun 24: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Las Vegas Live with the Rat Pack @ The Forum, Billingham.
Sun 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Otterburn Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sun 24: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Note start time - 7:00pm.
Sun 24: Bold Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Friday, August 07, 2020

Emma Smith's A Portrait of Ella @ Ronnie Scott's - August 6

Emma Smith (vocals); Jamie Safir (piano); Conor Chaplin (double bass); Luke Tomlinson (drums)

Live streaming of indoor performance continues apace pending further government announcements. It is possible indoor gigs will resume a week tomorrow (Saturday 15), we shall see. Ronnie Scott's live streams, as one would expect, have been of the highest quality, ranging from the house trio led by James Pearson to Ronnie's regulars Liane Carroll and Ian Shaw to last night's quartet, Emma Smith's Ella Fitzgerald revue.  


Emma Smith is a life-long fan of Ella - who isn't?! - and this live stream attracted hundreds of listeners/viewers from around the world. The band - Jamie Safir, piano (superb, swinging piano playing), Conor Chaplin, bass (great sound, in demand across the spectrum) and drummer Luke Tomlinson (young, supremely talented) - swung non-stop on a veritable treasure trove of GASbook gems. 

An Ella medley centred round A-Tisket, A-Tasket set the standard. Four young musicians, each of them possessing more than their fair share of chops,  this was great to see and hear. Ms Smith referred to Ella's live album recorded in 1974 on the very stage she was standing. Ella in London on the Pablo label (Ella, Joe Pass, Keter Betts and Bobby Durham, is, to this day, often on your reviewer's turntable) inspired Smith and, indeed, more than one selection from the album made this live stream set.

Smith's assured vocals were quite something, at times recalling Cleo Laine, Sarah Vaughan and the recently departed Annie Ross. Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye, Ray Noble's The Very Thought of You (Jamie Safir noting he'd recently discovered the composer studied at the Royal College of Music just as he and Emma did, although Mr Noble's student days were back in the late 1920s!), Cheek to Cheek, a cuplet, Makin' Whoopie and a swinging original titled Monogamy Blues, this was a well-paced set with plenty of space for the boys to demonstrate their undoubted abilities as soloists. 

One Note Samba may well be rooted on one note but, good musicians as they are, the quartet did a lot with it! Safir and Tomlinson departed the stage as Smith sidled up to Conor (they're from the same household 'bubble') to put their stamp on Satin Doll. Smith and her band's interpretation of the Ella Songbook didn't take liberties (how dare they/anyone?!) yet their twenty first century lived experience brought something fresh to the tunes and all the better for it.

As the one hour plus live stream neared its end Emma did Ella proud with a breakneck take - à la Ella - on How High the Moon? Ella could sing, that's a statement of the bleedin' obvious, and on the evidence of this performance at Ronnie Scott's, Emma Smith is one of the finest singers of our times.      
Russell

1 comment :

Jen said...

Yes I agree with Russell that this was a superb show. Performances by all musicians was top notch but particularly Emma and Jamie. Also the sound and video was excellent - their technicians must be working with expensive technology! No problems whatsoever were apparent to the listener.

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