Total Pageviews

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.

Thursday, August 12, 2021

Ten unforgettable moments at 78rpm

Back in the day when recorded music was confined to single, mainly 10", 78rpm discs that played for about 3 minutes a side to suit the jukebox market. Solos had to be brief, precise and to the point. Rarely more than a chorus. No space for excursions à la Paul Gonsalves' Dim. Cresc. although JATP, Beethoven & co. got around this by issuing their jam sessions and symphonies over several sides.

Thinking back to those simpler times, I got to recalling some of those precious moments that have stayed with me over the years. Just a few bars that I've remembered long after the behemothic solos have since blurred and merged into a tangled mix of 200 bpm demi-semi-quavers.

So, reviving 'The Tens', in approximately chronological order, here are ten unforgettable moments,  of just a few bars, sometimes just a couple of notes and never more than a chorus that I still treasure. Not surprisingly, like old movies and former girl friends, not all of  my memories held up all these years later. Some that I expected to make the cut fell foul of the passage of time.

Lester Young's 1938 clarinet solo on Basie's Blue and Sentimental. A feature for Lester's fellow tenor player, Herschel Evans who plays the theme beautifully and there's some fine Basie piano but it's Lester's clarinet chorus at the back end that makes it for me.

Lionel Hampton's 1939 solo on When Lights Are Low. The band included Dizzy, Benny Carter, Hawk, Bean, Chu and Charlie Christian but it was a fragment of Hamp's solo - just a few, maybe 8 notes - that grabbed me. Sometimes less really is more!

Jack Jenney's 1940 solo on Artie Shaw's Stardust. Billy Butterfield's trumpet solo sets the pace which is a nice, leisurely, dancing in the dark type scenario. Artie adds a little moonlight but it is Jack Jenney's widely acclaimed solo that brings in the starry glitter.

Buddy DeFranco's 1944 solo on Tommy Dorsey's Opus No. 1. Just two lots of 8 bars but they are like a breath of fresh air amidst the hurly-burly of a typical swing band. Interestingly, on Becky Kilgore's recent livestream with Rossano Sportiello and Dan Barrett I got the impression she was humming the DeFranco solo whilst Barrett was recreating the underlying string theme from the record - maybe.

Allan Reuss's 1945 intro to Harry James' I'm Beginning to See the Light.  Despite a fine vocal by Kitty Kallen, a tenor solo by 'Corky' Corcoran and, naturally, the leader's trumpet it's guitarist Reuss' 4 bars at the beginning and his 4 bars at the end along with his underlying rhythm throughout that make it for me. One of the many great overlooked guitarists of the day.

Earl Bostic's 1945 solo on Rex Stewart's Shady Side of the Street. Mention Earl Bostic and most people think of Flamingo and the other R&B sides where his tone on alto sax is as gravel-edged as an Armstrong vocal or Bubber Miley growling on those early Ellington sides. However, here he could easily be mistaken for Johnny Hodges and it isn't surprising that John Coltrane named him as an early influence.

Charlie Parker's 1946 'Famous Alto Break' on  A Night in Tunisia. No surprise with this one unless you're hearing it for the first time. It's all quite, dare I say it?, pedestrian until that dynamic moment when Bird cuts loose. To me, this was the moment when bebop finally broke free from what had preceded and entered the brave new world that beckoned.

Art Pepper's 1947 solo on Stan Kenton's How High the Moon? A vocal feature for June Christy but, just as Buddy DeFranco's clarinet solo lightened Dorsey's Opus One, so does Pepper's 16 bar alto solo allow the moon to shine through a cloudy sky.

Bobby Hackett's 1947 solo on Armstrong's Ain't Misbehavin. When I first heard this 12" single by the All-Stars from the legendary concert at New York's Town Hall  I automatically assumed that it was Satchmo himself blowing the trumpet solo that was sandwiched in between Peanuts Hucko's clarinet chorus and Jack Teagarden's trombone blast but, no, it was Bobby Hackett - perhaps the most lyrical player since Bix.

Stan Getz's 1948 solo on Woody Herman's Four Brothers. Zoot Sims, Herbie Steward, Serge Chaloff all have great solos but Stan's is the one I remember most. Perhaps it's because when Man Tran vocalesed it they opened up Stan's chorus with 'dig my Long Island sound' which kinda stuck in my mind.

Wardell Gray's 1949 solo on Twisted. These days Twisted is forever associated with Annie Ross, many not realising that her classic version was based on another classic version by one of the all-time great bop tenor players. The reason it sticks in my mind is because it was the first time I'd ever heard the opening line of Swinging on a Star used as a quote - a mule is an animal with long funny ears etc. Lance.

No comments :

Blog Archive