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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. CANCELLED! BACK ON JUNE 15.
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, September 09, 2021

Album review: Strictly Smokin' Big Band - Harlem '58

Here it is, the first of three lockdown crowd funded albums. Harlem '58 is the Strictly Smokin' Big Band's homage to some of the all time greats, taking as its inspiration Art Kane's iconic photograph of fifty seven jazz musicians standing, some sitting, for a group portrait in Harlem, NYC. Organising a big band recording session at the best of times can't be easy, doing so in the middle of a pandemic must be nigh on impossible. Michael Lamb, the SSBB's MD, wasn't to be deterred... 

Eight tracks spanning some forty two minutes feature several soloists from the SSBB's immaculate sections. From Evenin' (Alice Grace singing Jimmy Rushing, Dave Kerridge, tenor, Pete Tanton, trumpet, Chris Kurji-Smith, trombone) through to Blues Machine (Graham Don, piano, Keith Robinson, alto sax, Chris Kurji-Smith, trombone), it is apparent that there isn't a weak link in the ensemble. Those who've heard the band in concert will surely attest to that!

On first hearing, it's the arrangers who come to the fore - Bill Holman, Jim Martin, Tom Kubis, Sammy Nestico to name but four. And then there's M. Lamb arr.. MD Lamb's arrangement of Evenin' loses little, if anything, alongside the charts of his more illustrious fellow arrangers. 'Round MidnightBemsha Swing and Doxy made a good first impression, as did Goodbye Pork Pie Hat with Alice Grace's considered lyrics. On second hearing it's likely that other cuts on the album will become firm favourites. On third hearing, the same thing, fourth time, fifth time and on, a sure sign of a good album. Harlem '58 is full of riches, buy it, play it, love it. 

Harlem '58 by the Strictly Smokin' Big Band (recorded at The Globe, Newcastle, May 2021) is available from today (Thursday September 9) on Jazz Sound Records.      
                
Michael Lamb (MD): Steve Summers, Keith Robinson (alto sax), Jamie Toms, Dave Kerridge (tenor sax), Laurie Rangecroft (baritone sax); Gordon Marshall, Dick Stacey, Pete Tanton, Michael Lamb (trumpets); Kieran Parnaby, Mark Ferris, Chris Kurji-Smith, John Flood (trombones); Graham Don (piano); Pawel Jedrzejewski (guitar); Michael Whent (bass guitar); Guy Swinton (drums); Alice Grace (vocals)

Evenin'Blue Skies'Round MidnightBemsha Swing; Doxy; Song for My FatherGoodbye Pork Pie HatBlues Machine.     

1 comment :

NeilC said...

Absolutely wonderful surprise when I opened my email and to my delight an SSBB mail announcing the release and providing the link to download the album with the CD to follow . After finally figuring out how to get the album from my laptop to a mobile device I was off in the car , as I had a few errands today . For once I was absolutely delighted to find that the routes I was travelling seemed to be plagued with slow traffic and jams because I managed two plays of this fabulous album .

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