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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

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.

Sat 08: Me Lost Me + Ceitidh Mac + Heather Ferrier @ Bobik's, Punch Bowl, Newcastle. 7:30pm. JNE.
Sat 08: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington Covered Market, Darlington DL1 5PN. 6:00pm. New venue, live jazz!
Sat 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED from last week (Sat 01).
Sat 08: Robbie Reay @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Acoustic blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Sat 08: Anth Purdy @ Mr Tighe's, Bebside, Northumberland. 8:30pm.

Monday, July 05, 2021

Album review: Roy Hargrove, Mulgrew Miller - In Harmony

Roy Hargrove (trumpet, flugel); Mulgrew Miller (piano)

Jelly Roll Morton and King Oliver in 1924 followed by Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines in 1928 were probably the first jazz masters to explore the trumpet/piano duo format. Ruby Braff and Ellis Larkins recorded some fine tracks in 1955 and, no doubt, there have been others before and since but, this is the absolute pinnacle!

Ten years ago I heard Roy Hargrove at the Union Chapel and I left worshipping the trumpet player who I thought I'd hear many more times - if only! 

He passed in 2018.

I wasn't as familiar with Mulgrew Miller although I'd heard tracks on radio shows and South Shields' drummer, the late Stan New was an avid advocate of the pianist - I should have heeded his words!

Together, trumpet and piano create magic. No drums? No bass? No tenor? Really? I hadn't noticed! To be honest, any other musicians would have been a distraction so perfect is the empathy between Roy and Mulgrew. A bass solo, a sax running the changes or a drummer swapping fours with all and sundry would have completely ruined the ambience between the two players - this is as close to perfection as it gets.

Hargrove's sound is so round and pure, a complete contrast to the strangulated tone of so many modern trumpet players. When I heard him at the Union Chapel I wondered if it was the hall's acoustics that made him sound so good. Now I realise that it was he who made the hall seem so sonically perfect!

Sadly, I will never have the opportunity to hear Mulgrew Miller live although, these two discs were actually recorded live in 2006 and 2007 so that, in a sense, if I close my eyes I'm actually sitting front row at Merkin Hall, NYC or at Lafayette College in Easton, PA and loving every minute of it. 

Make no mistake, when the all-time list of modern jazz albums is compiled this will be up there alongside  Bird, Miles, Trane and whoever else you care to name -  an absolute masterpiece. Likewise, Hargrove and Miller must surely take their place amongst the all-time greats.

Release date for the limited edition 2-LP Record Store Day exclusive is July 17 with July 23 being the drop down day for the 2-CD and digital edition - both on the Resonance Records' label. There's also a 64 page booklet included. If you're strapped for cash, rob a bank, hold up a liquor store, sell your signed copy of Kind of Blue or raid the kid's piggy bank but don't miss it. Lance

YouTube preview.

Disc 1: What is This Thing Called Love?; This is Always; I Remember Clifford; Triste; Invitation; Con Alma.

Disc 2: Never Let me Go; Just in Time; Fungii Mama; Monk's Dream; Ruby, My Dear; Blues For Mr. Hill; Ow!

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