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Bebop Spoken There

David Hadju: "It was kind of a lightning bolt [seeing a photo of a hi-fi store that's now occupied by a phone store]. Everyone had hi-fi systems, now everyone has a phone" - (DownBeat May 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

15478 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 499 of them this year alone and, so far, 120 this month (May 27).

From This Moment On ...

May 2023

Sun 28: Bradley Creswick's Western Swingfonia @ Whitley Bay Carnival. Free. Plaza Arena stage. 12 noon.
Sun 28: MSK @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 12:15pm. Free. Marquee stage. MSK - Steve Glendinning, Katy Trigger, Martin Douglas.
Sun 28: Musicians Unlimited @ The Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Back Chat Brass @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 1:30pm. Free. Marquee stage.
Sun 28: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Tim Kliphuis Trio @ St Mary's Church, Wooler NE71 6BZ. 3:00pm. £15.00 standard; £5.00 student/unwaged; free under 18. Afternoon Cocktail, a Wooler Summer Arts' concert promotion. Kliphuis (violin); Nigel Clark (guitar); Roy Percy (double bass).
Sun 28: Back Chat Brass @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 3:00pm. Free. Plaza Arena stage.
Sun 28: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 28: King Bees @ The Delaval Arms, Old Hartley NE26 4RL. 5:00pm. Free. Chicago blues at its best!
Sun 28: Matt Anderson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Anderson (saxophones); Jamil Sheriff (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Dave Walsh (drums).

Mon 29: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 30: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 30: Big Chris Barber Band @ Whitley Bay Playhouse. 7:30pm.

Wed 31: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 31: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 31: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 31: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

June
Thu 01: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 01: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations.
Thu 01: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 01: Jake Leg Jug Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: Joseph Carville Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 02: Claire Martin & Her Trio @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £25.00., £20.00. Feat. Jim Mullen, Alex Garnett & Jeremy Brown.
Fri 02: Guy Davis + Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. Doors 7:30pm. Blues double bill.
Fri 02: Anders Ingram @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. Country blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

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.

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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