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Bebop Spoken There

Béla Fleck: “ And that's the great thing about live performances, you take people on a journey. It doesn't have to be like something else they've heard. It's not supposed to be". DownBeat, April, 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

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm.
Thu 28: Richard Herdman Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Josh Bentham (alto sax); Alan Marshall (tenor sax); Neil Brodie (trumpet); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Graham Thompson (keys); Steve Hunter (drums).

Fri 29: FILM: Soul @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 12:30pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free. POSTPONED!
Fri 29: Thundercat @ Newcastle City Hall.
Fri 29: John Logan @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 30: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 30: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Whitley Bay Library, York Road, Whitley Bay. 8:00pm.

Sun 31: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields NE30 1HJ. 3:00pm. Free. Lambert, Alan Law & Paul Grainger.
Sun 31: Sid Jacobs & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. USA/London jazz guitar duo.
Sun 31: Bellavana @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

April
Mon 01: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 01: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.

Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Dean Stockdale, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Album review: Oscar Peterson - On a Clear Day

Oscar Peterson (piano); Niels Henning Ørsted Pederson (bass); Louis Hayes (drums).

I suppose the moment when jazz moved from an interest to an obsession with me was one evening in March 1955 at the City Hall, Newcastle. A concert comprising two sets. The first by the Oscar Peterson Trio and the second by Ella Fitzgerald with Don Abney on piano.

The bass and drums playing on that life changing evening, were Sammy Stokes and Tony Kinsey - both British.*

On this live album recorded for Radio Zurich in 1971, Peterson is at his supreme best and, with fellow legends Pederson and Hayes on bass and drums respectively, I'd be hard pushed to find a better piano trio recording before or since unless more buried treasures are unearthed by his widow, Kelly Peterson, who provides the album's notes.

Tatum was wonderful, and even though Oscar himself might have disagreed, when it came to sheer swing and a comparable technique, Peterson was, and still is even now - almost 15 years after his death (Dec. 23, 2007) - in my eyes, the greatest jazz pianist ever.

The standards are taken at various tempi ranging from the dreamy romanticism expressed in the emotive Young and Foolish which segues into A Time For Love, to Soft Winds that hits a nice groove before moving up a gear, to an amazing Mack the Knife

Neither Louis, Ella or Bobby Darin came within a mile of this version and he didn't even need to sing! An extended out of tempo introduction had me wondering if I really was listening to Kurt Weill's song from The Threepenny Opera. The theme emerges briefly before our boy does something rash - he exceeds the piano speed limit by about a 1000 bars a minute!

I've concentrated on Oscar who rarely shared a stage with an equal but, in Niels Henning Ørsted Pederson, he found a soulmate. Ray Brown, himself a legend, had provided sound support in previous Peterson trios without ever overshadowing the leader. However, the Danish bass player was different, he met the American at the same level which maybe inspired both of them to the amazing heights they reached during their time working together.

Louis Hayes took a relative backseat but did the business driving it along. Any drummer who could handle the tempos that Oscar set had to be the best. He came in off the back of Cannonball's quintet which would stand him in good stead and he slotted in well.

If this sounds like a rave review then I've got it right! Lance

Available Nov. 27 - Mack Avenue Music Group (and usual suspects)

*The jazz press, as was their wont in 1955, praised the Americans but slagged off the two Brits who, to my ears, were excellent. But that's how it was back then - British rhythm sections and Scottish goalkeepers were fair game for those who'd never played an instrument or kicked a football but could spell and touch type.

The Lamp is Low; Younger than Springtime; On a Clear Day; Young and Foolish/A Time For Love; Soft winds; Mack the Knife; Where Do I Go From Here? On the Trail.

1 comment :

Russell said...

Well, I think you've sold the album to the BSH readership!

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