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Bebop Spoken There

Béla Fleck: “ And that's the great thing about live performances, you take people on a journey. It doesn't have to be like something else they've heard. It's not supposed to be". DownBeat, April, 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

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm.
Thu 28: Richard Herdman Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Josh Bentham (alto sax); Alan Marshall (tenor sax); Neil Brodie (trumpet); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Graham Thompson (keys); Steve Hunter (drums).

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.

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.

Sunday, March 14, 2021

Album review: Dean Stockdale Trio - Promise the Moon

Dean Stockdale (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums)

In recent (pre-pandemic) times Dean Stockdale has been working from his County Durham base with frequent engagements across the Pennines in the Greater Manchester area. The pianist's new trio album, Promise the Moon, features bassist Mick Shoulder and drummer Abbie Finn, themselves resident in the Land of the Prince Bishops. This self-released recording, comprising four of Stockdale's compositions and five standards, is one of first class musicianship and choice material.   

The first of nine tracks, a delightful take on Henry Mancini's Moon River, cleverly references Stockdale's recording of Charles Mingus' Nostalgia in Times Square (the opening track on the pianist's Origin album from 2017).  Listening to this 2020 CD, review notes consistently read: 'elegant', 'swinging' and 'tasteful'. Indeed, the album's foundation is built upon Stockdale's innate sense of elegant swing, a quality shared by Mick Shoulder and Abbie Finn.  

It would appear Stockdale takes great care with a composition's intro, perhaps thinking about it for some time, reworking and refining ideas until he is ready to take it into the recording studio. The album's title track, Promise the Moon, illustrates the trio's subtle, swinging sensibilities, the contribution of Shoulder and Finn wholly empathetic to the composer's musical vision. Mia's Lullaby follows, and, by accident or design, the placement of the two numbers, one after the other, works well.  

The trio's swinging take on Gershwin's They Can't Take That Away from Me and again on an effective arrangement of On the Sunny Side of the Street are particular highlights, and the closing selection, Witchcraft, with its fleeting echoes of Moon River, make Promise the Moon a fine album. To purchase a copy, visit: www.deanstockdalemusic.com or Bandcamp.                                 

Promise the Moon was recorded at Simpson Street Studios near Rothbury, Northumberland in November 2020. Ian Stephenson recorded, mixed and mastered the album, hats off to Mr S for making such a good job of it. The marvellous cover art is by none other than Mr Dean Stockdale. 
Russell

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