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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Postage

16051 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1058 of them this year alone and, so far, 12 this month (Dec. 6).

From This Moment On ...

December

Mon 11: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Interim Final Recitals @ Newcastle University. Details TBC.

Tue 12: Stu Collingwood Organ Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £10.00.

Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Wed 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Hot Fingers @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 14: After Hours Student Jazz Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. . Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 14: Niffi Osiyemi Trio @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Mo Scott ‘Little Mo’s Festive Appearance’ @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Tees Hot Club w. Kevin Eland, Josh Bentham, Garry Hadfield, Adrian Beadnell @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 15: Paul Edis @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 15: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: Paul Skerritt @ Black Horse Inn, Crook. From 7:00pm.
Fri 15: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ St Cuhtbert's Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00. SOLD OUT! Waiting list open.
Fri 15: Zoë Gilby Trio @ Seventeen Nineteen, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £12.00. POSTPONED!
Fri 15: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. First night of two. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £10.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 15: Baghdaddies @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00.; £10.00.

Sat 16: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 2:00pm. A Jazzy Christmas + Jambone.
Sat 16: Porritt & Barrett & Friends Xmas Special @ Cullercoats Watch House. 7:00pm. £4.00.
Sat 16: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 16: Red Kites Jazz Band @ The Staithes Café, Gateshead. 7:00pm--9:00pm.
Sat 16: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Ellingham Village Hall, Chathill. 7:30pm. £12.00., £8.00.
Sat 16: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Sat 16: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Second night of two.

Sun 17: Red Kites Jazz Band @ Gibside Chapel, nr. Rowlands Gill. 1:00-2:30pm.
Sun 17: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm.
Sun 17: Revolutionaires @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Rock ‘n’ roll excellence!
Sun 17: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Alehouse, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 17: The Globe Xmas Party @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Multi-bill inc. David Gray’s Flextet + jam session.
Sun 17: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £17.00., £15.00.
Sun 17: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Amble Parish Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sun 17: Snake Davis Trio @ St John’s Hall, Snods Edge, Shotley Bridge DH8 9TJ. 7:30pm. £15.00. from 07766 037893.

Thursday, December 23, 2021

Review: Wardell Gray - Four Classic Albums Plus

Wardell Gray died at the age of 34. To this day there is speculation as to how, exactly, he met his end. What we have here is the legacy of an undoubtedly great tenor saxophonist. From Pasadena in 1947 (Way Out Wardell) to Los Angeles 1950 and 1953 (Memorial Album Volume 1) we hear the ill-fated Gray working with some of the great names of the period.

The '47 Pasadena session included fellow tenor man Vido Musso, Benny Carter on alto sax and the trumpeters Howard McGhee and Ernie Royal. Some five years on Frank Morgan was playing alto sax, Al Haig, Phil Hill and Sonny Clark shared piano duties, Tommy Potter was on bass, and the sole surviving participant from these recordings, Roy Haynes (now 96) occupying the drum chair. 

In his sleeve notes to The Chase and The Steeplechase, Gene Norman wrote: One of the most exciting situations in jazz is an all-out 'to-the-death' duel between two tenor saxophones...This pertinent comment referred to Gray and fellow tenor man Dexter Gordon. The pair slug it out, Gordon throwing the bigger bombs, Gray taking the hit, then coming inside to do similar damage to his adversary. Just the two numbers on the album - The Chase (11 mins 32 secs) and The Steeplechase (weighing-in at 13 mins 51 secs) - with Conte Candoli on trumpet, Bobby Tucker, piano, Don Bagley, bass, with Chico Hamilton driving it along on the ride cymbal, despite the less-than-perfect audio quality, this February 2nd 1952 album is essential listening.

More than two and a half hours later this two-CD, four album package goes out all guns blazing on Denzil Best's More (Gray, Gordon, Sonny Criss toting his alto sax, Hampton Hawes or Jimmy Bunn on piano). If not for Christmas, Four Classic Albums Plus makes the ideal birthday present.   Russell  

Four Classic Albums Plus (AMSC1403) is available from Avid Jazz: www.avidgroup.co.uk.  

The Chase & The Steeplechase: Wardell Gray (tenor sax); Dexter Gordon (tenor sax); Conte Candoli (trumpet); Bobby Tucker (piano); Don Bagley (bass); Chico Hamilton (drums)

Way Out Wardell: Wardell Gray (tenor sax); Vido Musso (tenor sax); Benny Carter (alto sax); Howard McGhee (trumpet); Ernie Royal 9trumpet); Vic Dickenson (trombone); Erroll Garner (piano); Arnold Ross (piano); Barney Kessel (guitar); Irving Ashby (guitar); Red Callender (bass); Harry Babison (bass); Jackie Mills (drums); Don Lamond (drums)

Memorial Album Volume 1: Wardell Gray (tenor sax); Frank Morgan (alto sax); Al Haig (piano); Phil Hill (piano); Sonny Clark (piano); Teddy Charles (vibes); Dick Nivison (bass); Johnny Richardson (bass); Tommy Potter (bass); Art Mardigan (drums); Larry Marable (drums); Roy Haynes (drums)

Memorial Album Volume 2: Wardell Gray (tenor sax); Dexter Gordon (tenor sax); Sonny Criss (alto sax); Art Framer (trumpet); Clark Terry (trumpet); Hampton Hawes (piano); Jimmy Bunn (piano); Billy Hadnott (bass); Harper Cosby (bass); Robert Collier (congas); Chuck Thompson (drums); Larry Marable (drums)    

1 comment :

Lance said...

OMG a CD from Avid featuring Wardell Gray! A delightful tip of the iceberg to a man who was my all time favourite tenor player. Maybe they'll get around to documenting Wardell's work with Goodman, Basie, Parker, Hines. Wardell was the man! Dexter was Joe Frazier, Wardell was Ali.

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