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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.

Friday, March 19, 2021

KSTV: Playback session - Xhosa Cole Trio play "Lester Young Trio". March 19

Xhosa Cole (tenor sax); Joe Webb (piano); Jason Brown (drums)

A gem - as most of these playback sessions are. If you're going to playback something make sure it's worth playing back and, if it is, make sure you've got the musicians who can do it.

Tonight ticked both boxes.

Lester Young, Nat Cole (his "title" was rarely used in jazz circles) and Buddy Rich recorded eight tracks for Norman Granz over a couple of sessions in 1951 and 1953. They stood the test of time but, how would today's young Turks cope with music recorded before their fathers - their grandfathers maybe - were born?

That's the beauty of music and jazz in particular that, other than the tunnelled visioned few, it is timeless. Tonight's guys didn't "fill their boots" at the prospect of the task in front of them but stood in the boots of their predecessors with pride and paid tribute without fawning simulation.


In a world that is seeing so many hot shot tenor players,  Xhosa Cole stands tall. He can be Coltrane one night, Rollins the next and, tonight, Lester. As if that wasn't enough he does it without losing his own identity - amazing for one so young (no pun intended). Anyone who doubts the value of the BBC Young Jazz Awards need only look at those who have appeared on KSTV! Will Alexander Bone show up on one of these fine evenings?

Likewise, Joe Webb  can move from Jelly Roll, to Fats, to Tatum, to Erroll, to Oscar, to Keith - you name it. Jason Brown had the easy bit - he just had to play like Buddy Rich!

Lester was perhaps the first jazz musician to say he liked to know the words of a song he's playing so, not surprisingly, apart from the opening blues, Back to the Land, all tonight's numbers had nice easy lyrics: Peg O' My Heart; I Want to be Happy; I Cover the Waterfront (superb coda/cadenza from Xhosa); Rosetta; I Found a New Baby (big drum bash); Mean to Me; Sweet Lorraine & The Man I Love. 
(Collage by Ken Drew)

Stone-Lonergan last night, Xhosa tonight and, tomorrow, I'm going AWOL to catch Mornington at The '606' - it's enough to make me start practising again!

Lance
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