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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 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

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

June

Sat 03: Newcastle Record Fair @ Northumbria University, Newcastle NE8 8SB. 10:00am-3:00pm. Admission: £2.00.
Sat 03: Pedigree Jazz Band @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Sue Ferris. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 04: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 04: Central Bar Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. £5.00. The Central Bar Quintet plays Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus. Featuring Lewis Watson.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 04: Struggle Buggy + Michael Littlefield @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues.
Sun 04: Swinging at the Cotton Club: Harry Strutters' Hot Rhythm Orchestra @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.
Sun 04: Richard Jones Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 04: Jam No. 18 @ Fabio's Bar, Saddler Street, Durham. 8:00pm. Free. All welcome. A Durham University Jazz Society event.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 08: Easington Colliery Brass Band @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 08: Faye MacCalman + Blue Dust Archive @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Dilutey Juice + Ceramic @ The Ampitheatre, Sea Road, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. A South Tyneside Festival event.
Thu 08: Lara Jones w. Vigilance State @ Lubber Fiend, Blandford Square, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Michael Littlefield @ the Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Country blues.
Thu 08: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 09: Emma Rawicz @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Thursday, August 05, 2021

Album review: Benjamin Croft - Far and Distant Things

This marvellous, boundary-blurring collection shows that progressive rock from its 1970s heyday and jazz rock from around the same time were twins, separated at birth with nary enough space between them to slide a Rizla. There is an obvious debt to Return To Forever (Chick Corea is thanked in the liner notes for inspiration) but classic Yes, the less absurd music by ELP and Todd Rundgren’s Utopia are also obvious touchstones. The choice is, therefore, between calling the Jazz Police or sitting back and enjoying what’s on offer.

The Jazz Police would probably cite the list of keyboards used as evidence for the prosecution. The liner notes list 17 different ones including some familiar names such as Steinway and Yamaha pianos and the Hammond B3 organ. For the rest of the list I’m on less familiar ground. Whilst the keys are the dominant sound, (it is Croft’s album, after all) he frequently steps back and lets others in the band and his guests take the lead. The guitar cuts through where it should and the brass, which might sound out of place in front of all the electronics, doesn’t. Track 4, SAD (Spatial Awareness Disease) exemplifies this as Croft’s synthesiser squelches and meteorological swirls give way to heraldic brass from Vizzutti and Vollam.  

This ability to turn on a sixpence is what gives this album its freshness and originality. Some of the melodies seem straightforward and accessible but that is just to suck you in as changes in key and instrumentation take you in a direction you couldn’t have predicted. Tudor Job Agency, for example, builds from a simple melody, reminiscent of Hill Street Blues, into something more complex with Finnerty’s guitar sharing solos with Moore’s bass over Laurie Lowe’s increasingly complex drum fills.  

Benjamin Croft has played the cruise ships and backed artists as various as Belinda Carlisle, Lesley Garrett and the Temptations and has performed in the pit for Straight from the Heart in the West End, as well as working on The Voice and Britain’s Got Talent. This album is a complete volte-face from those experiences and an opportunity for Croft’s own compositions and his musicianship to take centre stage. He shows the debt to his influences but is more than the sum of them. The highly esteemed Edward Kennedy Ellington is quoted as saying, “There’s only two types of music, good and bad.” Far and Distant Things is amongst the good stuff.

Far and Distant Things is released this Friday, August 6 and there is more information about Croft and his album on his website which is at Benjamin Croft (benjamincroftmusic.com) Dave Sayer 

Benjamin Croft (keyboards) + (collective): Allen Vizzutti, Randy Brecker, Mike Miller Andy Davies, (trumpet); Helen Vollam (trombone); Gareth Lockrane (flute, piccolo); Henry Thomas, Flo Moore (bass guitar); Tristan Maillot, Chad Wackerman, Laurie Lowe (drums);  Frank Gambale,  Barry Finnerty, Carter Arrington (guitar).

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