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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Postage

16034 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1041 of them this year alone and, so far, 73 this month (Nov. 27).

From This Moment On ...

December

Sun 03: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:30pm. £7.50.
Sun 03: The Central Bar Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. The Central Bar Quartet plays Lou Donaldson’s Gravy Train. Featuring Jamie Toms.
Sun 03: Revolutionaires @ The Water House, North Road, Durham. 4:00pm. Rock 'n' roll excellence! Line-up inc. Pete Tanton.
Sun 03: Paul Skerritt @ Smith’s Arms, Carlton, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:00pm.
Sun 03: Johnny Hunter Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 03: Jam session @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.

Mon 04: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 04: Northern Monkey Brass Band @ People’s Kitchen, Bath Lane, Newcastle. From 5:30pm. On-street gig supporting the work of the People’s Kitchen charity. Wrap up warm! Donate!
Mon 04: Michael Young Trio w Lindsay Hannon @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm. Free.
Mon 04: James Birkett Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £8.00.
Mon 04: Durham University Jazz Orchestra + Durham University Big Band @ Durham Castle DH1 3RW. 8:30pm. £6.00.; £5.00. concs; £4.00. DSM. ‘Jazzy Christmas’.

Tue 05: Customs House Big Band @ All Saints Church, Cleadon. 7:00pm. Concert in the church hall. BYOB.
Tue 05: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Sid White. The best free show in town!

Wed 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 06: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 8:00pm. Free. Note later start time, concert performance (open to the public).
Wed 06: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay, Newcastle. 12 noon - 4:00pm. £26.00 (inc 3-course meal in in St Mary's Lighthouse Suite). SOLD OUT!
Thu 07: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 07: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.Donations. Feat. Mark Sanders. CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00. Downstairs.
Thu 07: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 08: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Woodland Village Hall, Bishop Auckland. 7:00pm. £12.00.
Fri 08: Sleep Suppressor + Redwell @ Head of Steam, Neville St., Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv); £5.00. student.
Fri 08: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert's Church, Shadforth, Co. Durham.
Fri 08: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £8.00.

Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 09: Abbie Finn Trio @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm.
Sat 09: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Middleton & Todridge Village Hall, Morpeth. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sat 09: Paul Skerritt @ Slaley Hall, Hexham NE47 0BX. 7:30pm. From £42.00.

Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Album Review: Lucinda Fosker – I Get Along

Lucinda Fosker (vocals); Piera Onacko (piano); Stuart Barker (bass); Maxim Tomlinson (drums); Chris Young (tenor sax)

I've been moaning that I couldn't find enough to say about these singers, then along comes a great CD which is different and gives me more than enough to comment on. I could of course just simply quote no less a person than Lauren Kinsella, who says of Ms Fosker 'A talented vocalist with an original flair for song writing that blends an array of styles from jazz to soul to groove composition'.

I could finish the review there, but I'd be sacked by Lance!

Pennies From Heaven is nothing like Sinatra. First we have Tomlinson drumming up a storm, then a bit of swing and angular vocal scatting, drum and bass exchanging fours, then back to the head to finish. Young is featured on Frishberg's satirical I'm Hip with a deliberate off key effect, and amusing lyrics such as 'I even call my girlfriends man'.

Say It Isn't So is pared back and groove-based which brings out the pathos; On The Street Where You Live begins with a calypso style introduction, so unusual. There are three original songs, whose lyrics are effectively sparse but full of meaning: For a Fool is a pleading love song, Rose That Spoke is short and sweet and Birds Are Beautiful simply repeats that idea to the accompaniment of the soaring tenor sax.

The title track ends the album, beginning with just voice and bass suggesting a feeling of loneliness, then after a piano solo, we have the killer line which ends the song, performed poignantly, 'Break my heart in two'.

This is Ms Fosker's debut solo album although she was featured on the extended play Walking Blind with Soweto Kinch. A graduate of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, she aims to produce music which is related to both pop and jazz, as shown by this CD which has a very contemporary feel. I'd love to see her at The Globe sometime soon.

Having already played at leading events such as Cheltenham Jazz Festival and honed her craft alongside such artists as Anita Wardell and Norma Winstone, it comes as no surprise that, in 2020, Lucinda Fosker was awarded a Jazz South commission.

The album is available now from the usual suspects. Link.

Ann Alex

Pennies From Heaven; I'm Hip; Say It Isn't So; On The Street Where You Live; For a Fool; Rose That Spoke; Don't Explain; The Very Thought Of You; Birds Are Beautiful; I Get Along Without You Very Well.

2 comments :

Patti said...

Ah - I Get Along (Without You Very Well) is such a gorgeous song, with those poignant lyrics. I remember my young grandson listening to this, on one of my 1950's Chet Baker recordings - he was only 4, but listened so carefully - after the song finished, he turned to me and said 'Nana, this is a really sad song'. It is indeed - young Sam was quite right.

Ann Alex said...

Patti, Sam sounds like a very perceptive child, how clever. I'd like to bet that he will/ has gone on to do something creative.

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