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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

15867 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 874 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (Sept. 25).

From This Moment On ...

September

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.

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Alice Grace Quartet @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 28: Faye MacCalman + Snape/Sankey @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 28: Zoe Rahman @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Thu 28: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm.
Thu 28: Speakeasy @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £15.00. A Southpaw Dance Company presentation. Dance, audio-visuals, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, swing dancers etc.
Thu 28: Mick Cantwell Band @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Ace blues band.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.

Sat 30: John Pope Quintet + Late Girl + Shapeshifters @ Bobik's, Jesmond, Newcastle.
Sat 30: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

OCTOBER

Sun 01: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 01: Dulcie May Moreno sings Portrait of Sheila @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Moreno sings Sheila Jordan with Giles Strong, Mick Shoulder & John Bradford.
Sun 01: Middlesbrough Jazz & Blues Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 2:00pm.
Sun 01: The Easy Rollers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.70., £11.55.
Sun 01: Brand/Roberts/Champion/Sanders @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 01: Papa G's Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 02: FILM: Wattstax; 50th Anniversary @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 8:00pm.

Sunday, November 22, 2020

Album review: Amber Weekes – The Gathering

Well here it is, the first of the Christmas CDs. I approached it with some trepidation, would it be the usual sentimental offering that singers seem to feel obliged to issue at this time of year? No problem, this CD is just that bit different from the rest, no doubt helped by the loveliness of Ms Weekes' voice, which has a beautiful warm and tender tone. We get nine standards, including one I'd never heard before, plus the final track, The Gathering, an original with lyrics by our singer.

The song I didn't know is Some Children See Him, a truly poignant lyric about how children picture the Christ child as one of their own race ('with almond eyes' or 'dark as day'). The song opens with a haunting tune of drums and bagpipes (yes, bagpipes!) and ends with a long orchestral coda. Another poignant song is I'll Be Home For Christmas, enhanced by a short guitar solo. Poignant because I thought of all the people who won't be able to meet at Christmas this year.

The Christmas Waltz is made a little different by Ms Weekes' rather flirtatious spoken remarks at the end; Winter Wonderland is a swinger with brief sax comments during the song; The Gathering reminds us that Christmas is a time to gather and forget resentments of the past. My Romance becomes a slow wonderfully out-of time ballad.

CV: Hails from Los Angeles. Parents both singers. Studied with many teachers, including Sue Raney. Sung in countless clubs and venues in Southern California. Performed at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. Recently issued an album Pure Imagination.

Available from the usual suspects. This would make a good Christmas gift, or you could buy it as a gift to yourself!

Ann Alex

The Christmas Waltz; I'll Be Home For Christmas; My Romance; I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus; Some Children See Him; What Are you Doing New Year's Eve?; Winter Wonderland; Silent Night; Let It Snow; The Gathering 

Amber Weekes (vocals); musicians on various tracks: Josh Nelson, Tony Campodonico, Eddy Olivieri (piano, Rhodes); John B Williams, Adam Cohen, Kevin Brandon (bass); Fritz Wise, Sinclair Lott, Nathaniel Scott (drums); Paul Jackson Jr, Doug MacDonald, Jacques Lesure (guitar); Rickey Woodward (sax); Andrew Carney (trumpet); Richard Heath, Munyugo Jackson (perc); Ernie Fields Jr (bagpipes); Gregory Cook (celeste); Nio Wilson, JoAnn Tominaga, Marcus D Cargill, Gregory Cook, (background vocals); Mark Cargill (violin, string arrangements, conductor strings and horns). 

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