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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.

Sunday, February 14, 2021

Album review: Tommy Flanagan - In His Own Sweet Time

Tommy Flanagan (piano).

By 1994 Tommy Flanagan had played and recorded with just about anyone who was anyone in jazz. Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge, Ben Webster, Harry Edison - a seemingly endless list. And yet, incredible as it may seem, until that October day 26 years ago he'd never given a solo concert. It took a lot of persuasion, with his wife and manager Diana at the negotiating table, to get him to agree to appear at the small Bavarian town of Neuberg on the Danube but, eventually, he gave in although his post concert reaction was in direct contrast to what was heard by the audience.

"It was horrible, I will never do something like this again," he said afterwards adding that he thought the audience were just being sympathetic and generous with their applause and, as a result, the recording lay gathering dust in the record company's vaults until now, almost 20 years after his death.

After listening, I find it incredible that he could sell himself so short. Flanagan doesn't deliver a Peterson or a Garner style blockbuster. You don't gasp in awe at his technique. Instead you appreciate the depth of his harmonies, his reconstruction of the melody, the sheer beauty, the magic that flows from his heart, his head and his hands via the  Bösendorfer Grand. If he was effected by nerves that night, and by his comments he must have been a bundle of them, they certainly don't show.

It's over 50 years since I last heard Tommy Flanagan with Ella and JATP. It's been a long time but this solo album was well worth waiting for.

There's a YouTube video of him being interviewed by Billy Taylor in which he gives a beautiful rendition of Tadd Dameron's Smooth as the Wind which is also the opening tune on the album.

Lance

Available on the ENJA label from Feb. 21.

Smooth as the Wind; If You Could See me Now; Untired Blues; Some Other Spring; How Long Has This Been Going On?; Who Can I Turn To?; Just Squeeze me; Day Dream; Valse Hot; Good Bye*.

* Spelling as per sleeve/booklet. Note: Some sites list an additional track - Dance of the Infidels but it's not on my copy!

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