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Bebop Spoken There

Kelly Sill: "Just because everyone is playing through the changes in the same time doesn't mean they're actually playing together" - (JazzTimes March/April 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

15260 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 279 of them this year alone and, so far, 92 this month (March 29).

From This Moment On ...

April
Sat 01: The Big Easy @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - In a Minor Key. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington Covered Market, Darlington DL1 5PN. 6:00pm. New venue, live jazz!
Sat 01: Jambone @ Sage Gateshead. 7:00pm. Free (book online). A YMP! event in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 01: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Prohibtion Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Sat 01: Boys of Brass @ Stack, Seaburn. 7:00-9:00pm.
Sat 01: Hot Club du Nord @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth. 8:00pm. £79.00. A charity fundraising event.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED to next week (Sat 08).

Sun 02: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny. 12:45pm.
Sun 02: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.

Mon 03: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 04: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 04: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Bradley Johnston (guitar); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums).

Wed 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 05: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 05: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 05: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 06: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations. Feat. John Pope, Marie Shreer, John Garner.
Thu 06: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibtion Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 06: Darlington Big Band @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Note earlier start time.

Fri 07: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 07: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 07: Gaz Hughes Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 07: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Traveller's Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 07: Finntet + Zoë Gilby & Andy Champion @ Bobik's, Punch Bowl, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.
Fri 07: TBA @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig. Blind Pig Blues Club.

Friday, June 04, 2021

Album review: Vinnie Riccitelli - For the Record

You haven't heard of Vinnie Riccitelli? You're not alone, neither had I until this album arrived even though he's now 94 and been playing professionally since he was 15. The blurb refers to him as being one of the best kept secrets in jazz - the last album recorded under his name was released in 1956!

Not that he's been discovered working in a rice field, far from it. He only stopped playing alto professionally in 2018 after a career that had lasted 77 years! Since retiring, he's revisited the past and assembled this outstanding octet to record some of his classic arrangements.

And what arrangements! Imagine some of those West Coast sounds from the 1950s played with warmth and you're getting close but not quite close enough. It's impeccable - it's in the Art Pepper + Eleven league which means Champions League in jazz terms.

For some unknown reason, I've allowed this to fester in my in-tray for the past 3 months for which I'm duly apologetic. Not just to the musicians but to myself for depriving myself of so much pleasurable listening for so long. I'll make up for it by playing it forever and ever or until something better comes along which I think might be more than a little while ...

Lance

Available via usual suspects.

Minor Seventh Heaven*; I'm Old Fashioned; If You Could See me Now; Serenata; Stompin' at the Savoy; Star Eyes; Mr. Lucky; Blues Dominant*; Maids of Cadiz; Along Came Betty; Darn That Dream; Dolphin Dance; Flugelsville*; Flying Down to Rio; Jordu; 'Round Midnight; Little Boy Blew*.      

* Originals by Vinnie Riccitelli.

Vinnie Riccitelli (arranger); Leo Ursini (alto sax - 11 tks); Nathan Childers (alto sax - 6 tks); Joe Stelluti (tenor sax); Chris Stelluti (baritone sax); Glenn Drewes (trumpet/flugel); Bruce Bonvissuto (trombone); Eddie Monteiro (piano/accordion - 1 tk); Lou Stelluti (bass); Tony Tedesco (drums).

1 comment :

Tony Tedesco said...

I just wanted to write to say thank you for your great review of Vinnie’s CD. I happened to come across it today and was so appreciative of your kind words. He is really a terrific arranger who has gone under the radar here in NYC only because he was too busy as a sideman for everyone! It’s funny...I was just listening to that Art Pepper +11 record two days ago and still marveling at the musicianship exemplified during those Marty Paich sessions. To even be compared to such an iconic album is truly the highest of compliments. I feel very fortunate that Vinnie asked me to play drums on this CD, and feel even more of a thrill that his talent as an arranger is getting the recognition that he truly deserves. Thank you for spreading the word!
My regards,
Tony Tedesco

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