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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 ...

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.

Sat 10: Miners' Picnic @ Woodhorn, Ashington. Music inc. Northern Monkey Brass Band (3:00-3:50pm); New York Brass Band (4:00-4:55pm).
Sat 10: Front Porch Three @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Americana, blues, jazz etc.
Sat 10: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 11: WORKSHOP: Tim Richards' Jazz Piano Workshop @ JG Windows, Newcastle. Time TBC. Further details tel. 0191 232 1356.
Sun 11: Jeremy McMurray's Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Ropner Park, Stockton TS18 4EF. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 11: Groovetrain @ Innisfree Sports & Social Club, Longbenton NE12 8TY. Doors 6:30pm. £15.00 (£7.00. under 16).
Sun 11: Jeffrey Hewer Collective @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 13: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 13: Infusion Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:30pm.
Tue 13: Alice Grace & Pawel Jedrzejewski @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv.).

Monday, November 08, 2021

Album review: Alvin Queen Trio - Night Train to Copenhagen

Calle Brickman (piano); Tobias Dall Mikkelsen (bass); Alvin Queen (drums).

A Swedish pianist, a Danish bassist and a Swiss, American born, drummer met up in a recording  studio in Elsinore in March this year and boy am I pleased that they did!

Queen was the drummer with Oscar Peterson's last trio so it probably isn't surprising that he decided to record a couple of tribute albums to the great pianist. What is surprising is that it took him so long (Peterson died in 2007). Perhaps he waited until he found the right musicians for the sessions. If that was the case then it was certainly worth the wait.

The first album: O.P. - A Tribute to Oscar Peterson was also recorded in Denmark and had Zier Romme Larsen on piano and Ida Hvid on bass. This was in 2018.

I've only heard snatches of that first album but, good as they are, Night Train to Copenhagen has the edge - not least because of the material which is drawn from two of Oscar's most well known albums, Night Train and We Get Requests.

Back in the day, Sweden was the undisputed capital of European jazz with musicians such as Lars Gullin, Bengt Hallberg and Arne Domnérus, to mention but three, recording with various Americans who were passing through. In Calle Brickman we have a pianist who is up there with them - maybe beyond. Certainly the young man puts his own stamp on the choice selection of standards, modern jazz classics, a Danish folk song and an original by producer Niels Lan Doky.

Likewise, Denmark's place in the jazz pantheon has also always been at the forefront. Many American musicians made there home there and one of the world's great bass players, the late NHOP was a one time member of the Peterson Trio. With Tobias Lan Mikkelson on bass, his legacy is in good hands.

Alvin Queen, not only holds it all together but ensures that it swings. This isn't mere lip service but something that takes Peterson's work - I won't say to a greater level as no one could do that - to a glimpse of where it might have been had he still been with us.

One thing is sure, Oscar Peterson would have been so proud of what Alvin and his two young sidemen have done with his music. Lance.


Available Nov. 19 on Stunt Records.

Have You Met Miss Jones?;Bags Groove; I Got it Bad (and That Ain't Good); Farewell Song; Quiet Nights; Days of Wine and Roses; Goodbye JD; Tranquility in the Woods; D & E; Georgia on my Mind; Night Train; C Jam Blues; People; Moten Swing; Some Other Time.

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