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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.

Wednesday, October 07, 2020

Album review: Ella Fitzgerald - ELLA: The Lost Berlin Tapes

Ella Fitzgerald (vocals); Paul Smith (piano); Wilfred
Middlebrooks (bass); Stan Levey (drums)

Two years previous (1960), Ella had played Berlin and famously forgot the words to Mack the Knife. The result was a best-selling album! Two years later she remembered the words, although she did keep the previously improvised line but didn't know which city she was in. When you're on the road I guess one place is the same as the next - Berlin today, Newcastle tomorrow. This may well have been the case as she did play Newcastle's City Hall on that tour as part of JATP.

I was there and I don't recall her mistaking Newcastle for Gateshead (or vice versa as so often happened later when big names played Sage Gateshead). Obviously Newcastle made a more lasting impression on her than Berlin did.

Ella also made a lasting impression on me 58 years ago, and, if I close my eyes, I'm still sitting there in awe of what I'm hearing perched on the edge of seat F23 (poetic licence!)

Although I didn't take notes, I'm fairly sure that at least some of the numbers she sang then would be among these classics taken from a newly discovered tape found in Herr Granz's Verve bunker.

As always, the First Lady gives each number her own individual take. A typical example being the gender reversed Matt Monro hit, My Kind of Boy in which she credits the boy with the combined attributes of Sinatra, Eckstine, Belafonte, Como, Cole and Basie - no wonder he was her kind of boy!

Sixteen numbers, well actually seventeen as Hallelujah, I Love Him So was so good she sang it twice, that had me as hooked now as I'd been way back then. Even Summertime and Cry me a River don't spoil the mood - it's as if I'm hearing them for the first time!

On piano, Paul Smith proved to be the ideal accompanist even though in the March 1962 edition of Jazz Journal Sinclair Traill wasn't impressed. Stan Levey's drum solo on Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie gave him the contender status he didn't achieve as a fighter whilst Middlebrooks was the ideal bassist - he had to be - Ella's ex-husband was Ray Brown!

One number I distinctly recall from the City Hall was Mr. Paganini. It brought the house down then and it does just that here.

Mack the Knife, naturally, also had both audiences on their feet. Even Louis and Bobby Darin never quite hit this groove. The final Wee Baby Blues had Ella in the unfamiliar role of blues singer. Like Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan Ella was never an out and out blues mama but she has a fair crack at it here.

The other tracks are Cheek to Cheek; I Won't Dance; Someone to Watch Over Me; Jersey Bounce; Angel Eyes; Taking a Chance on Love; C'est Magnifique & Good Morning Heartache.

If, inexplicably, you haven't any Ella in your collection this is a good place to start. If you are well-stocked then I suggest you make room for one more. In the words of Bing Crosby "Man, woman or child ..." you know the rest and it's true, she is "The Greatest!"

Lance.

Available now on CD, vinyl etc.

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