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Bebop Spoken There

Béla Fleck: “ And that's the great thing about live performances, you take people on a journey. It doesn't have to be like something else they've heard. It's not supposed to be". DownBeat, April, 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

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm.
Thu 28: Richard Herdman Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Josh Bentham (alto sax); Alan Marshall (tenor sax); Neil Brodie (trumpet); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Graham Thompson (keys); Steve Hunter (drums).

Fri 29: FILM: Soul @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 12:30pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free. POSTPONED!
Fri 29: Thundercat @ Newcastle City Hall.
Fri 29: John Logan @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 30: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 30: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Whitley Bay Library, York Road, Whitley Bay. 8:00pm.

Sun 31: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields NE30 1HJ. 3:00pm. Free. Lambert, Alan Law & Paul Grainger.
Sun 31: Sid Jacobs & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. USA/London jazz guitar duo.
Sun 31: Bellavana @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

April
Mon 01: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Dean Stockdale, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

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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