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Bebop Spoken There

Kurt Elling: ''There's something to learn from every musician you play with''. (DownBeat, December 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

17586 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 860 of them this year alone and, so far, 5 this month (Dec. 2).

From This Moment On ...

December

Wed 11: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Cath Stephens’ improvisation workshop @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 4:30-6:00pm. Collaborative group focusing on vocal improvisations.
Wed 11: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 11: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Second Wednesday in the month.
Wed 11: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 12: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay. 12 noon. £27.00. (inc. three -course meal).
Thu 12: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 5:00-6:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Thu 12: Stuart Turner @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 12: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. Guests: Jeremy McMurray (keys); Mark Toomey (alto sax); Donna Hewitt (tenor sax); Kevin Eland (trumpet); Ron Smith (bass).

Fri 13: Dean Stockdale Trio @ Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 13: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Bellavana @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 3:00-5:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Customs House Big Band @ Stocksfield Community Association. 7:00pm. Featuring Ruth Lambert.
Fri 13: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 13: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £19.00. + bf. First night of two.
Fri 13: Ransom Van @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Fri 13: Boys of Brass @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 9:00pm. £10.00.

Sat 14: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:15pm. Free but ticketed.
Sat 14: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm.
Sat 14: Red Kites Jazz @ Staiths Café, Autumn Dr., Gateshead. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 14 Lapwing Jazz Trio @ Three Sheets to the Wind, Alnwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 14: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £19.00. + bf. Second night of two.
Sat 14: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 15: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 12 noon. £8.50. Xmas party feat. Musicians Unlimited + Customs House Big Band. SOLD OUT!
Sun 15: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 2:00pm.
Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Mitch Laddie Band @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Superb blues power trio.
Sun 15: Leeway @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 15: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Sun 15: Alligator Gumbo @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 16: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 12 noon. £9.95. ‘Festive Turkey Dinner’. Book now: 0191 266 8137.
Mon 16: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Tue 17: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm.
Tue 17: BBC Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘A Swinging Xmas’.
Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.
Tue 17: Bellavana @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 7:45-9:35pm. Free.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Thursday, October 06, 2022

A dozen baritone bosses

1) Harry Carney. It couldn't be anyone else. He practically invented the instrument and no one had his sound or his breath control. He wasn't a bopper and maybe not a great improviser but what he brought to the Ellington orchestra with the depth he added to the sax section established his credentials without doubt.

2) Pepper Adams. It was only this year when my eyes/ears were opened to Adams. The recently discovered album with the Tommy Banks Trio made me aware that this was a guy who should have won every poll imaginable - a Grandmaster.

3) Cecil Payne. I'd heard Payne with both Basie and Herman - good, but no cigar. However, when I heard him on a recording of Freddie Redd's The Connection I was completely blown away. At that moment in time ('60s) I'd never heard bari playing like it. I loaned the album to a friend who subsequently died and, presumably, the album went with him.

4) Serge Chaloff. The fifth of Woody's Four Brothers, he anchored that famous sax section but came into his own on Blue Serge. An album that demonstrated that the instrument didn't have to have the bombast and bluster of the other heroes but could also be as subtle and as smooth as Getz's tenor.

5) Gerry Mulligan. After the success of his pianoless quartet with Chet Baker, Mulligan dominated the baritone section of the various polls. His dry sound and laid back solos personified jazz on the west coast.

6) Gary Smulyan. Of course all of the above are gone leaving the door open for the new breed and none more so than Smulyan who incorporates all of the attributes of the above with his own individuality.

Meanwhile, back here in the UK ...

1) John Surman. Surman may have now moved in different directions and not always have taken me with him but, when he emerged on the scene with the various Mike Westbrook outfits he blew all the other low reeds out of sight!

2) Alan Barnes. Baritone may not be his first call instrument but when the call comes he does the business. He plays hot, he plays cool and, on whatever instrument, he plays for keeps!

3) Joe Temperley. Not sure if Joe should be in the US or UK listings as he spent most of his playing career in the States, where he took over Carney's chair in the Ellington band and, latterly in Wynton Marsalis' Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. However, my most precious memory is of hearing him alongside Tony Coe and Jimmy Skidmore in Humph's first truly mainstream band.

4) Ronnie Ross. For many years the UK's number one. In the frontline of the post-war British modern jazz scene, his smooth delivery kept him up there in the MM polls.

5) Harry Klein. Another fine player operating in the mainstream to modern area. His broadcasts with Kenny Baker's Dozen were always good to hear on those Friday nights long, long ago.

6) Sue Ferris. I'll probably be accused of parochialism for including Sue but, in my (and her) defence, that memorable night at Ushaw College when she traded baritone choruses with Alan Barnes was the musical equivalent of 'The Thriller in Manila' and is already a part of north east jazz folklore. Lance

2 comments :

Gordon Solomon said...

Hi Lance, I’m surprised you omitted UK player John Barnes.
John was many times winner of the Baritone Sax category in the British Jazz Awards, and also appeared in the American Downbeat Poll.
Cheers,
Gordon Solomon.

Lance said...

You're spot on Gordon - how remiss of me! Let's put him at joint second with Alan Barnes and call it a baker's dozen. What I liked about Johnny, apart from his playing, was that, like Roy Williams and Digby Fairweather, you may have only met him/them once and they'd greet you as if they'd known you all your life!

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