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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 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

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

June

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: Joseph Carville Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 02: Claire Martin & Her Trio @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £25.00., £20.00. Feat. Jim Mullen, Alex Garnett & Jeremy Brown.
Fri 02: Guy Davis + Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. Doors 7:30pm. Blues double bill.
Fri 02: Anders Ingram @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. Country blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 03: Newcastle Record Fair @ Northumbria University, Newcastle NE8 8SB. 10:00am-3:00pm. Admission: £2.00.
Sat 03: Pedigree Jazz Band @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Sue Ferris. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 04: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 04: Central Bar Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. £5.00. The Central Bar Quintet plays Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus. Featuring Lewis Watson.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 04: Struggle Buggy + Michael Littlefield @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues.
Sun 04: Swinging at the Cotton Club: Harry Strutters' Hot Rhythm Orchestra @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.
Sun 04: Richard Jones Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 04: Jam No. 18 @ Fabio's Bar, Saddler Street, Durham. 8:00pm. Free. All welcome. A Durham University Jazz Society event.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 08: Easington Colliery Brass Band @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 08: Faye MacCalman + Blue Dust Archive @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Dilutey Juice + Ceramic @ The Ampitheatre, Sea Road, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. A South Tyneside Festival event.
Thu 08: Lara Jones w. Vigilance State @ Lubber Fiend, Blandford Square, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Michael Littlefield @ the Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Country blues.
Thu 08: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Saturday, May 22, 2021

Album Review: Dara Tucker – Dreams Of Waking, Music For A Better World

Dara Tucker (vocals); On  various  tracks: Cyrus Chestnut,  Sullivan  Fortner (piano); Dezron Douglas, Vicente Archer (bass); Johnathan Blake, Joe Dyson (drums); Giveton Gelin (trumpet); John Ellis (saxophone)

The worst thing about reviewing this album was finding biographical details – I had to resort to Wikipedia. The best thing was everything else, especially Ms Tucker's warm, expressive, voice, and her obvious genuine belief in what she was singing about.

Dara Tucker hails from Tulsa, Oklahoma, was born to a musical family, has won many awards in the USA, and has performed internationally since 2009. She has previously issued four studio albums but this album is different. It consists of fresh, jazz arrangements of singer-songwriter and soul compositions, protest songs from the 1960s and 1970s. So we get songs by the likes of James Taylor, Stevie Wonder, and Paul Simon, plus the traditional Wade in the Water and Ms Tucker's own song Do We Sleep?

Ms Tucker's intention was to give voice to the cry for change and social justice which has swept the USA since the death of George Floyd. She is well assisted in this by her skilled instrumentalists, especially the pianists, and they get lots of solo work. Do We Sleep? is sung with feeling, lyrics such as 'Do we hear the cries of the broken, or do we sleep?' The clarion cry of You Haven't Done Nothing is emphasised by the saxophone playing between the lines of song, Bridge Over Troubled Water is sung very slowly over rich jazzy accompaniment; Make Someone Happy, by contrast is performed intimately with just voice and piano trio.

Wade In The Water gives us a gospel sound and a short bass solo. (Did you know about the fascinating secret code in this song? It is said that slaves escaping from the plantations were advised to swim in water so that they would lose scent and the slave owner’s dogs wouldn't be able to track them.).

The CD ends in thoughtful, sombre fashion with Randy Newman's pessimistic ironic song about 'human kindness', I Think It's Going to Rain Today, well-illustrated by heavy, low piano chords.

The album is highly recommended and available everywhere from May 28 on the Green Hill Productions label. Ann Alex

Secret Of Life; You Haven't Done Nothin; Someday We'll All Be Free; Do We Sleep?; Bridge Over Troubled Water; Make Someone Happy; What The World Needs Now; What's Going On; Love's In Need Of Love Today; You've Got A Friend; Wade in the Water; I Think It's Going To Rain Today.

2 comments :

Russell said...

Ann, you need to burn the midnight oil. Four or five of these guys are regulars at Smalls in NYC (all gigs are livestreamed, 23:00, 00:30 etc BST). Cyrus Chestnut played Newcastle's Riverside with Wayne Shorter and Sullivan Fortner works with Cecile McLorin Salvant.

Ann Alex said...

RuRussell, Thanks for all the information but I checked out only Dara Tucker on Wikipedia. I rarely include any biographies of the instrumentalists as it would make the review too long for a CD which features the singer mainly

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