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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Postage

16034 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1041 of them this year alone and, so far, 73 this month (Nov. 27).

From This Moment On ...

December

Tue 05: Customs House Big Band @ All Saints Church, Cleadon. 7:00pm. Concert in the church hall. BYOB.
Tue 05: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Sid White. The best free show in town!

Wed 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 06: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 8:00pm. Free. Note later start time, concert performance (open to the public).
Wed 06: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay, Newcastle. 12 noon - 4:00pm. £26.00 (inc 3-course meal in in St Mary's Lighthouse Suite). SOLD OUT!
Thu 07: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 07: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.Donations. Feat. Mark Sanders. CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00. Downstairs.
Thu 07: Tees Hot Club: Just Friends @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. Guest band night w. Richie Emmerson, Ian Bosworth, Dave Archbold, Ron Smith, Mark Hawkins. 9:00pm.

Fri 08: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle. 1:00pm. £7.00.
Fri 08: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Woodland Village Hall, Bishop Auckland. 7:00pm. £12.00.
Fri 08: Sleep Suppressor + Redwell @ Head of Steam, Neville St., Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv); £5.00. student.
Fri 08: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert's Church, Shadforth, Co. Durham.
Fri 08: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £8.00.

Sat 09: Prudhoe Community Band @ Central Station, Newcastle. 10:00am - 12 noon. Charity fundraiser.
Sat 09: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Skinnergate, Darlington. 1:00pm.
Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 09: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Middleton & Todridge Village Hall, Morpeth. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sat 09: Paul Skerritt @ Slaley Hall, Hexham NE47 0BX. 7:30pm. From £42.00.

Sun 10: Musicians Unlimited’s Xmas Party with Zoe Gilby Quartet @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. MU 1:00-3:00pm; Zoë Gilby Quartet 4:00-6:00pm. Tickets: £7.50.
Sun 10: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Funk Soul Sista @ Stack, Seaburn. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Beth Clarke @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 10: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Whittingham Memorial Institute, Alnwick. 7:30pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 10: Tele-Port @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Zhenya Strigalev.

Mon 11: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Interim Final Recitals @ Newcastle University. Details TBC.

Tue 12: Stu Collingwood Organ Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £10.00.

Saturday, July 31, 2021

Album review: Keith Loftis Quartet - Original State

Keith Loftis (tenor, soprano sax); John Chin (piano); Eric Wheeler (bass); Willie Jones III (drums).

A belter! Those were words that sprung to mind when Willie Jones III kicked off the opening track (Oak Cliff) followed by a 'no prisoners taken' solo by Loftis, with Chin and Wheeler digging in. This was comparable with anything from the Blue Note label back in the day.

Premonition, composed by Michael Stanton, has an effective bass intro, Loftis wails over a compelling piano riff before Chin moves to centre stage driven on by Willie J 3 - a brief quote from Work Song brings Wheeler back and Loftus takes it out.

Fall's Beauty is, like the first number and the next five, a Loftis original. Normally I cringe when I hear/see the word "original" - not so here. A meditative, exploratory piece that shows off Loftis' rich tone with just enough vibrato to enhance the sound. Rather like a woman applying lipstick but not overdoing it. 

Brigitte's Smile is dedicated to neither a former French screen idol nor to a woman who lives in the next street to me but to his wife. Mrs Loftis must have one helluva smile to inspire such a swinger of a tune.

The Intangible, another great blowing tune brings to mind the great Dexter Gordon although Loftis doesn't fall back on quite so many quotes as Dex was prone to do. 

Smoke & Mirrors, another good blower. When you've been listening to jazz for as long as I have, you tend to become a little blasé and adopt an I've heard it all before attitude and then something like this comes along and it's as if you're 15 and hearing it for the first time.

WiFi Addiction, a solid 12 bar. This music recreates a time when the title track would have been a reference to a husband's attraction to his spouse.

For the Love of You, a Joe Tex, Isley Brothers' number, sees Loftis switch to soprano with a killer solo from Chin and an equally homicidal solo from the leader before Wheeler sedates matters with a mega melodic solo.

A Weaver of Dreams. Beautiful. Ballad playing at its best - cooler than cool. A fitting end to a tremendous hard bop plus album.

Of course there's more to it than just the leader. Chin and Wheeler are of like standing whilst Willie Jones the Third is equally as good as when I heard him with Cedar Walton at Ronnie's some ten or so years ago.

This is Loftis' first album in over a decade - oh what I have missed! 

Now, belatedly, I find out that I actually heard Keith with Abdullah Ibrahim at Sage Gateshead in 2010 although, reading my review, I don't think the horns were heavily featured. 

Also, I note that he played in a band with Jean Toussaint at Bishop Auckland in a tribute concert to the late trumpet player Abram Wilson who died so tragically young. Look at the line-up: Jason Marsalis (drums);  Keith Loftis, Peter King,  Jean Toussaint (saxes); Trevor Mires (trombone); Mark Lewandowski (bass) and rising star New York trumpeter, Alphonso Horne. How did I miss that one? Bishop Auckland's a mere 30 miles or so away! I bet Tony Eales was there! Lance

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