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Bebop Spoken There

Ambrose Akinmusire: “ I am certainly always aware of what the masses are doing. And when I see too many people going one way, I'm going another way - even when I don't know what's over that way". DownBeat, March, 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

Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.

Wed 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 20: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Castillo Neuvo Trio + Conor Emery & His ‘Bones Band @ The Grove, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00. (£7.00. student).
Thu 21: Remi Banklyn + Chris Corcoran Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.50. Chicago blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime piano.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Nauta + Remy CB + Last Orders @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). Free.
Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 22: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 23: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Free (ticketed). End of term performance in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 23: Red Kites Jazz @ Rowlands Gill Community Centre NE39 1JB. 7:00pm. Tickets: £12.00. (gibsidecommunityfarm@gmail.com). A ‘Build a Barn’ fundraiser. BYOB, tea/coffee available.
Sat 23: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. + bf (book in person at venue - no booking fee!). Featuring pianist Martin Litton.
Sat 23: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 24: Luis Verde @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Verde (alto sax); Joe Steels (guitar); John Pope (double bass); John Hirst (drums). Alto sax brilliance!
Sun 24: Elsie Franklin @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Country blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Sun 24: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Las Vegas Live with the Rat Pack @ The Forum, Billingham.
Sun 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Otterburn Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sun 24: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Note start time - 7:00pm.
Sun 24: Bold Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Saturday, May 01, 2021

Album review: Frank Morelli, Keith Oxman - The Ox-Mo Incident

Keith Oxman (tenor sax); Frank Morelli (bassoon); Jeff Jenkins (piano); Ken Walker (bass); Todd Reid (drums).

When you think of a modern jazz quintet with a two piece front-line you automatically assume that if one of the horns is playing tenor the other will be either blowing, trumpet, trombone, alto or another tenor. It's unlikely that bassoon will spring to mind. I mean to say, bassoons  don't easily lend themselves to jazz, bassoonists don't turn up at jam sessions and, because of the expense, most sax players would go for a flute or a clarinet as a doubler.

However, Morelli isn't a sax doubler but an out and out classical bassoon player who has appeared at Carnegie Hall. Nor is he an improviser but rather more of an extemporiser, i.e. one who embellishes a melody rather than one who reshapes it which, on this album is Oxman's roll. In many ways it resembles the Grappelli/Menuhin duets.

Nevertheless, none of the above  should be taken as a negative. Surprisingly, the combination of the two unlikely bedfellows works amazingly well in the ensemble passages. Happy Talk could, in a blindfold test, be mistaken for a West Coast session - maybe even something from the Eastern seaboard when, in actual fact, it's from neither. Denver, Colorado, to be precise, is where Oxman is based.

As befits both player's contrasting  musical backgrounds, the material does likewise with several of the numbers being songs that were based on popular, out of copyright, classical pieces - a practice that was rife in the 1940s/early '50s (see track listing).

The jazz comes from Oxman's cool sounding tenor, Jenkins' piano, Walker's bass and Reid's sympathetic drumming. As for Morelli, his tone is absolutely beautiful as is his command of the instrument leaving no doubt as to why he is so highly regarded in classical circles. 

The Ox-Mo Incident is scheduled for release on May 21 by Capri Records.

Lance

Happy Talk; Full Moon and Empty Arms (based on Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 21); The Surrey With the Fringe on Top; Baubles, Bangles and Beads (based on Borodin's String Quartet No. 2); The Ox-Mo Incident (Oxman original); Three for Five (based on a theme from the third movement of Brahms' Symphony No. 3); Stranger in Paradise (based on Borodin's Polovtsian Dance No. 3); Poor Butterfly (inspired by Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly); A Wasp in Search of a Hart and Lung (Oxman original); Pavanne (Gilbert Fauré); I Could Have Danced All Night.

3 comments :

Russell said...

The album title can't be other than a reference to Walter Van Tilburg Clark's novel, The Ox-Bow Incident. Henry Fonda starred in the film adapation.

Lance said...

Exactly! As the notes pointed out, "This chance encounter ends with decidedly happier results."

Frank Morelli said...

Thank you so much for your kind words on your blog concerning the OX-MO incident. You described our intention perfectly. The repertoire was chosen to include classic, old-time show tunes and repertoire taken from the classical world, alongside Keith's great tunes. Your mention of Grappelli/Menuhin is humbling, but it is fair to say we were heading in that direction. In essence, I wished to participate in a way that was honest and original to me.The other players, of course, are highly-respected veterans of the jazz world, and I did my best to keep up! Thank you again. Frank

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