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Bebop Spoken There

Delfeayo Marsalis: "Slide Hampton once told me that it's not always the person that is playing the highest or playing the fastest that's making the greatest impact." - (DownBeat March 2023).

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

15229 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 248 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (March 20).

From This Moment On ...

March

Mon 20: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 20: Central Bar Quintet plays Wes Montgomery @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:30pm. Feat. Joe Steels.

Tue 21: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 21: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Jacob Egglestone (guitar); Jamie Watkins (bass guitar); Bailey Rudd (drums).

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller's Rest, Cockerton. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public). Note change of venue - this week only.
Wed 22: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Thu 23: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcasatle. From 6:30pm 'til late. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra jam session. All welcome (students & non-students).
Thu 23: Kerrin Tatman + John Garner & John Pope @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 23: Sunna Gunnlaugs & Julia Hülsmann @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm. A two-piano gig. A Sage Gateshead-JNE promotion.
Thu 23: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano.
Thu 23: Sleep Suppressor @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00., £8.00. adv. Upstairs.
Thu 23: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: FILM: Mo' Better Blues @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Fri 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Scarth Hall, Staindrop, Co. Durham. 8:00pm. £10.00.
Fri 24: Archipelago + Bulbils @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.

Sat 25: Vermont Big Band @ Walker Community Centre, Walker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Fundraiser for Benfield Juniours Football Club. Hot food available, BYOB.
Sat 25: John Logan & Friends @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rat Pack, Motown etc. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Outlines @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE promotion (upstairs).

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Sunday, January 24, 2021

Album review: A second review* of The Royal Bopsters - Party of Four

Jazz vocal group, The Royal Bopsters, have just produced their second release - Party Of Four - which also includes veteran vocal bopsters, Bob Dorough and Sheila Jordan as well as bass giant Christian McBride on selected tracks. 

A master class of vocal jazz artistry, The Bopsters project vocalese in tight, intricate harmonies on a disc containing drama and  multi-layered harmonies that draw much inspiration from classic vocal groups of yore. These include Lambert, Hendricks and Ross (The Bopsters' 2015 debut CD, included guest spots from both Ross and Hendricks), the Hi Los, and The Manhattan Transfer. POF exudes  a deeply swinging  amalgam of vocal virtuosity with precise but fully breathing arrangements that effectively combine the yin and yang of this discipline.

The CD is dedicated  to founding member and alto singer, Holli Ross, who sadly succumbed to cancer in May 2020. Her vocal feature on Cuando Te Veal (When I See You) also includes her  English translation of the lyrics of this Tito Puente mambo classic. She also  contributed additional lyrics for Pete McGuinness' skillful and swinging  arrangement of But Not For Me. Her lyrics were implemented in a soli section based on a classic Chet Baker  scat solo where her lyrics question the song's loveless melancholic that wastes so much time on a fruitless endeavour like love.

As space does not enable one to discuss and cite  each track, one can be assured that each of the twelve entries are  gems. A rich and  effective blend of classic Broadway standards, epic jazz compositions, the aforementioned Puente mambo, down and  dirty blues swaggerings and an original song penned  by Pete McGuinness. All of which tot up to a seamless array of "old, then and now" repertoire.

The individual uniquenesses and strengths  of the Bopsters go a long way to making this foursome such a party. In the 1990s, as well as releasing four critically acclaimed solo albums, soprano Amy London spent three years singing lead in the vocal quartet in the hit Broadway show City of Angels. She also contributed lyrics to pianist, Steve Schmidt's song, Why'd You Do Me The Way You Did? as well as McGuinness' Our Spring Song. 
The aforementioned Holli Ross was a member of two other NYC vocal groups, String Of Pearls and Mad Romance. She was a highly accomplished lyricist having penned lyrics to Gil Evans' tune, Boplicity (Bebop Lives) recorded by Mark Murphy as well as Sarah Vaughan's I Have Waited So Long, recorded by Janis Siegal with the Count Basie Orchestra.
Bass singer and arranger, Dylan Pramuk delivers a vocalese solo based on Bill Evans' solo on Lucky To Be Me from his 1959 album "Everybody Digs Bill Evans". The workhorse of the group, he arranged eight of the twelve titles including Daydream, with an acapella treatment containing subtle harmonic shifts evincing a pristine clarity which delivers this Strayhorn gem with aplomb.
Tenor voice, Pete McGuinness is also a fine trombonist, composer/arranger and bandleader having released three exemplary CDs to date. His arrangement of Wayne Shorter's Infant Eyes, sparkles handsomely in its subtle and haunting splendour. His tour-de-force scatting and arrangement of My Shining Hour, brings the CD to a fervent close.
The Royal Rhythm Section includes pianist and Cincinnatian pal of London, Steve Schmidt. A longtime member of The Blue Wisp Big Band, Steve is a distinctive soloist and arranger/composer to boot.
Veteran stalwart NYC bassist, Cameron Brown,  has played with just about everyone including Dewey Redman, Don Cherry and Jim Pepper. 
Steve Williams, was Shirley Horn's drummer for 25 years having recorded fifteen discs with her. He brings the same sensitivity and flexibility (that he demonstrated with arguably the greatest jazz singer/pianist that ever was) to the musical needs of the Bopsters.
An epic release indeed, Party Of Four, is a must acquisition for fans, students and historians of jazz vocal groups. Grab it!
Frank Griffith

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