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Bebop Spoken There

Spasmo Brown: “Jazz is an ice cream sandwich! It's the Fourth of July! It's a girl with a waterbed!”. (Syncopated Times, July, 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

17328 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 612 of them this year alone and, so far, 17 this month (Sept. 5).

From This Moment On ...

September

Wed 11: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 11: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. A ‘second Wednesday in the month’ jam session.
Wed 11: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 12: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 12: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:30pm. £4.00. ‘A Great Day in Harlem’.
Thu 12: The Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Pete Tanton & co.
Thu 12: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. THC with guests Donna Hewitt, Bill Watson, Dave Archbold, Adrian Beadnell, Mark Hawkins.

Fri 13: Jeff Barnhart & Neville Dickie @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Two pianos, two pianists! SOLD OUT!
Fri 13: Noel Dennis Quartet @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 13: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Dilutey Juice @ Old Coal Yard, Byker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £11.00. adv..
Fri 13: Ray Stubbs R & B All-stars @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm. Classic blues.

Sat 14: Jeff Barnhart’s Silent Film Fest @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 14: Customs House Big Band w. Ruth Lambert @ St Paul’s Centre, St Paul’s Gardens, Spennymoor DL16 7LR. 7:00pm (6:45pm doors). Tickets £10.00. from the venue or tel: 01388 813404. A ‘BYOB’ event.
Sat 14: Emma Wilson @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. £12.00. Acoustic blues.
Sat 14: Rat Pack - Swingin’ at the Sands @ Billingham Forum. 7:30pm.

Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Jude Murphy, Steve Chambers & Sid White @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 15: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Panharmonia @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 16: Swing Manouche @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Mon 16: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 16: John Hallam with the James Birkett Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00. A Blaydon Jazz Club 40th anniversary concert!

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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