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Bebop Spoken There

Simon Spillett: “ Bebop and hard bop came naturally to him [Tubby Hayes]". Morning Star, March 28, 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

Fri 29: FILM: Soul @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 12:30pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free. POSTPONED!
Fri 29: Thundercat @ Newcastle City Hall.
Fri 29: John Logan @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Fri 29: True Colours @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 9:00pm. Blues, jazz & swing.

Sat 30: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 30: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Whitley Bay Library, York Road, Whitley Bay. 8:00pm.

Sun 31: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields NE30 1HJ. 3:00pm. Free. Lambert, Alan Law & Paul Grainger.
Sun 31: Sid Jacobs & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. USA/London jazz guitar duo.
Sun 31: Bellavana @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

April
Mon 01: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 01: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.

Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Dean Stockdale, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 04: FILM: Soul @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 2:00pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Thu 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 04: Funky Drummer @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 04: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 04: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Thursday, January 07, 2021

Alec Harper & Will Barry live streaming People Time from Kansas Smitty's - Jan. 7

Alec Harper (tenor sax); Will Barry (piano)

(Screenshots courtesy of Ken Drew)

Kansas Smitty's is/was a venue, Kansas Smitty's is/was a band, it's a collective, of which every member is a superlative musician. Two of them were on duty this evening - Stan Getz and Kenny Barron. 

Getz and Barron recorded several sides in Copenhagen back in '91 and this evening Alec Harper blowing tenor and Will Barry at the piano revisited those evenings in the Jazzhus Montmartre. Getz was nearing the end of his life, Barron, some twenty years his junior, was entering his prime and, happily, still with us. Harper and Barry are very much alive and kicking. 
For those residing in BSH's heartland this Kansas Smitty's session perhaps brought to mind Paul Edis' duo performances with reedsmen Alan Barnes, Greg Abate, Graeme Wilson and Vasilis Xenopoulos - an outstanding pianist working with a master saxophonist. Alec Harper's tenor playing is indeed masterful, the amazing thing is, the New York-based Brit, temporarily back home in Dear Old Blighty, is hugely impressive whatever the context. 

East of the Sun (and West of the Moon)Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise (stonking solos from both men), Gone with the Wind (first Barry striding into Cheek to Cheek, Harper quoting Tea for Two), these Kansas Smitty's sessions never fail to deliver. 

Mal Waldron's ballad Sole Eyes, a feature for Harper, Barry, ear cocked, as our tenor man conjured a magical cadenza, this was great stuff. Benny Golson's Stablemates upped the pace, Like Someone in Love threatened to steal the show and then...and then, a Desert Island tune, Night and Day. If Getz was listening up there in the Jazz Club in the Sky he'd be applauding, and if Kenny Barron was online, he'd be thinking: Damn! I'd better up my game!  
Russell

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