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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.

Tuesday, June 15, 2021

Album review: Charles Mingus - Mingus at Carnegie Hall

Charles Mingus (bass); Jon Faddis (trumpet); George Adams (tenor sax); Hamiet Bluiett (baritone sax); Don Pullen (piano); Dannie Richmond (drums) + Rahsaan Roland Kirk (tenor sax/stritch); John Handy (alto, tenor sax); Charles McPherson (alto sax).

All bets are off! - Reissue of the Year - this is it! Carnegie Hall seems to work a kind of magic on those who have practiced hard enough to pass through its portals and on to the hallowed stage. Toscanini, Goodman, Monk and Mingus made it and this 1974 double CD (or 3 x lp vinyl) is a worthy example and, indeed, in jazz terms eclipses just about anything that was ever played there before and, most likely, since!

The music abounds in wild abandon that, unlike some of the freer music I've heard recently, still maintains an approximation of form.

The soloists push the boundaries of their mentors and inspirations way beyond mere clonism but into realms even their bopfathers  (a Lance word) may have feared to tread. Faddis takes the wisdom of Dizzy to even greater heights like - how many octaves can you hit above top C?!

George Adams explodes throughout as though he was playing piccolo parts, using Grit 40 sandpaper reeds and up for a fight (you had to to be in a Mingus band). Adams rewrites saxophone playing - maybe even as much as Coltrane did.

But, for me, the wake-up call was not Mingus' ever powerful bass nor Dannie Richmond's drums but Don Pullen on piano. I knew Pullen as a fine groove-making organist but this was my first experience of him as a pianist. His solos bring sanity amidst the magnificent musical madness taking place.

Perdido brought the guests on stage for a jam that made the old JATP jams seem like elevator music. Handy, Bluiett, Kirk, McPherson Adams and Faddis took this to near enough a light year or two from the  Planet Uranus. The jamming continued, this time in the key of C. Uranus was history it was now Pluto or bust! You want free? just dig the extended coda!

I've got a shelf full of Mingus on vinyl, CD and cassette and this is no poor relation. Turn the volume way up high and you're in Carnegie Hall maybe sitting next to Leonard Feather, Barry Ulanov or Dan Morgenstern.

An interesting footnote is that, after the gig, Mingus said to Adams, "George, I want you to go home and check out Ben Webster". Lance 

Available via usual suspects but check out your high street record store first.

CD1: Introduction; Peggy's Blue Skylight; Celia; Fables of Faubus.

CD 2: Big Alice; Perdido; C Jam Blues.

1 comment :

Lewis Watson said...

Hi Lance,

I remember buying the this album on it's initial release, I bought it from Hamiltons music shop in Middlesborough,

I listened to it first in omne of the listening booths, I remember the startled expression on the faces of some of the other shoppers,

I'm surprised who haven't heard much of Don Pullen he's long been one of my favourites, you must check out the Don

Pullen/George Adams quartet, I'll think you will enjoy them, Danny Richmond on drums and Cameron Brown on Bass.

Lewis Watson

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