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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

15478 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 499 of them this year alone and, so far, 120 this month (May 27).

From This Moment On ...

May 2023

Wed 31: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 31: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 31: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 31: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

June
Thu 01: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 01: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations.
Thu 01: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 01: Jake Leg Jug Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

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.

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).

Friday, May 28, 2021

Album review: Judy Wexler – Back To The Garden

Judy Wexler's sixth album sees her put aside jazz standards in favour of jazz/pop versions of iconic songs of the 1960s which have relevant social and political messages for us today.

Ms Wexler hails from Los Angeles and is a mainstay on the Californian jazz scene. She also performs at major venues across the USA, including Birdland and the Blue Note in New York City, and she has sung in clubs and festivals overseas, such as the Montreal Jazz Festival and the Jazz Festivals in Tel Aviv and also in Dubai.

The voice is pleasing and expressive and the instrumental arrangements are rich, multilayered and unmistakably jazz-like, which makes interesting listening when compared to the original performances of the songs. The drumming particularly stood out as lively and skilled. The singing showed perhaps less improvisation than you'd expect from jazz but the band made up the difference, so to speak, although the backing voices on some tracks were rather pop-like.

So we have a lively version of Get Together, with the final lyrics repeated enthusiastically many times; a haunting version of Paul Simon's American Tune (all about how the American dream has become mundane) with strings accompaniment; a guitar solo enhances For What It's Worth, a song about 1960s protest riots in the USA; a perky version of Big Yellow Taxi, with the guitar riffing parking machine noises; and a heraldic sounding trumpet to illustrate the passing of time on the final track Who Knows Where The Time Goes.

The only track which didn't quite work for me was Dylan's The Times They Are A Changin',which is sung smoothly in a hymn-like fashion, very different from the original, but nevertheless an interesting interpretation.

Most of the arrangements are done by the pianist Colella and it is hardly surprising that the band sounds good as the core musicians, Koonse, Davis and Hass are at the top of their game and the rest of the band include award-winning players.

The CD is available everywhere from June 4,  2021 on the Jewell City Jazz label.

See www.judywexler.com  Ann Alex

Judy Wexler (vocals); Jeff Colella (piano, melodica, background vocals track 1); Larry Koonse (guitars); Gabe Davis (bass); Steve Hass (drums); Bob Thiele Jr (guitars tracks 1,7,8,9); Erin Bentlage (background vocals tracks 1, 4, 7, 9); Danny Janklow (alto sax track 4); Jay Jennings (trumpet track 10); Hendrik Meurkens (harmonica track 8); Talley Sherwood (background vocals track 1) plus string quintet on some tracks.

Get Together; Up On The Roof; American Tune; Big Yellow Taxi; The Times They Are A Changin'; Since You've Asked; For What It's Worth; Everybody's Talkin'; Forever Young; Who Knows Where The Time Goes?

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