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Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey: "You [Bobby Watson] don't want to play too long, because you don't know they're clapping because they're glad you finished!" - (JazzTimes, Nov. 2019)..

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

15848 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 855 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Sept. 18).

From This Moment On ...

September

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: La Malbec Orchestra @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 21: Linsday Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Ray Stubbs R & B All Stars @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:30pm. Free.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: Brief Encounter @ Bardon Mill Village Hall, Northumberland. 7:00pm. Tickets: £10.00. adv from 07885 303166; £12.00. on the door. Chris & Veronica Perrin improvising to a screening of the 1929 'Jazz Age' silent film Piccadilly (Dir. Ewald André Dupont).
Fri 22: Paul Edis & Graeme Wilson + Three Tsuru Origami @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 22: Crooners @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 22: Abbie Finn's Finntet @ Traveller's Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 23: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Tanfield Railway, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. Free. A '1940s Weekend' event.
Sat 23: Jason Isaacs @ Stack, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 23: Andrew Porritt & Keith Barrett @ Cullercoats Watch House, Front St., Cullercoats NE30 4QB. 7:00pm.
Sat 23: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig. Country blues.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm.

Tue 26: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

Album review: Fred Hersch - Songs From Home

Fred Hersch (solo piano)

At the beginning of ‘lockdown’ in March, jazz pianist extraordinaire Fred Hersch embarked on a series of solo performances known as his “Tune of the Day”.

Each afternoon for sixty days, Fred checked in with one song which was broadcast live from his home on Facebook. This effort became very important for many people around the world struggling with their daily structure within a Pandemic which was restricting everyone’s life.

Songs From Home collates eleven of these selections which are ‘covers’ of songs which are meaningful for Fred as he surveys his personal history now that he has reached sixty-five years, in a nostalgic way with warmth and personality. He felt that in order for him to be able to continue to play, he had to find a new way of connecting which would for the time being be a different ‘normal’ and a way of making a partial “living” from his music – as many other musicians are now doing.

Lerner and Loewe’s Wouldn’t It Be Loverly is a wistful evaluation which seems to point to a time to come when we can be together again (Yes indeed!). Jimmy Webb’s Wichita Lineman has a rambling, free-flowing examination of an interesting chord sequence.

Jazz Standard After You’ve Gone is played in a jaunty, ‘stride’ manner appropriate to the style and times of 1918. All I Want by Joni Mitchel is a lengthy, thoughtful, evocative, out-of-tempo reading where Fred uses the whole keyboard to good effect. Cole Porter’s up-tempo Get Out Of Town bounces along with just a hint of menace in a two-handed jazzy style. West Virginia Rose/The Water Is Wide pairs the Hersch original with a well-known folk song in which Fred re-harmonises and changes key effectively. Sarabande another original from the pianist has a lovely chord structure which he develops imaginatively – the late Charlie Haden was on bass when this piece was first recorded on 1986.

Kenny Wheeler’s gorgeous Consolation (A Folk Song) follows in a graceful rendition which Fred gives this rarely heard composition total respect as he dips in and out of major/minor keys – a standout track. Rarely can Duke Ellington’s Solitude have been played with such simple, fragile beauty at such an apt moment in time when so many are suffering isolated conditions. Lennon/McCartney’s When I’m Sixty four is played in a care-free, dancing, music hall style in stride mode to end the album on a cheerful note.

Overall, a sincere attempt by Fred Hersch to bring warmth to our days, for us to stay well and walk in peace – admirable sentiments I think.

Dave Brownlow.

Available from Palmetto Records – PM2197. Release date November 6.

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