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Bebop Spoken There

Orrin Evans: “Now, getting a teaching spot is the new record deal”. (DownBeat, November, 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

17487 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 761 of them this year alone and, so far, 66 this month (Oct. 30).

From This Moment On ...

November

Tue 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Victoria & Albert Inn, Seaton Delaval NE25 0AT. 12:30pm. £12.00. ‘Guy Fawkes Steak & Ale Pie & Pea Lunch’. To book tel: 0191 237 3697.
Tue 05: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, North St., Ferryhill DL17 8HX. 7:00pm. Free.
Tue 05: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 06: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 06: The Horne Section’s Hit Show @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Wed 06: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 07: Jazz Appreciation North East/Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. ‘George - named musicians, vocalists & composers (Chisholm, Duke, Lewis, Shearing, Benson, Melly, Gershwin et al)’.
Thu 07: Aki Remally: The Gil Scott-Heron Songbook @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Remally (guitar, vocals); Fraser Urquhart (piano); Tom Wilkinson (bass); Max Popp (drums).
Thu 07: Rat Pack Live @ Whitley Bay Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Thu 07: Mo Scott @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:30pm. Free.
Thu 07: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. Guest band night with the new Pensacola Boulevard: Josh Bentham (trumpet!); Donna Hewitt (clarinet); Ron Smith (bass); Graham Thompson (keys); Mark Hawkins (drums); Django ZaZou (trombone); Vicky Jackson (vocals).

Fri 08: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 08: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 08: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm.
Fri 08: TC & the Groove Family + Swannek + Knats @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.

Sat 09: Moscow Drug Club @ Hamsterley Village Hall, Co. Durham DL13 3QF. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Sat 09: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. ‘Swing Jazz Guitar’. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 10: The New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free. A ‘second Sunday in the month’ residency.
Sun 10: Panharmonia @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £6.00.
Sun 10: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Jude Murphy, Steve Chambers & Sid White @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 10: Moscow Drug Club @ Lesbury Village Hall, nr. Alnwick NE66 3PP. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Sun 10: SH#RP Collective @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Tue 12: Matthew Forster Quartet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm.
Tue 12: Phil’s Elastic Band @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm. Free, but ticketed, book online.

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, December 01, 2022

Album review: Jim Self - My America 2: Destinations

Jim Self (various tubas); Ron Stout (trumpet, flugel); Bill Booth (trombone, euphonium); Scott Whitfield (trombone); Phil Feather (alto sax, cor anglais); Tom Peterson (soprano, tenor sax); John Chiodini, Steve Fister (guitars); Bill Cunliffe (piano, melodica); Ken Wild (double, electric basses); Kendall Kay (drums); Brian Kilgore (perc.); Kim Scharnberg (MD/arranger).

A tuba led ensemble may not, at first glance, be a mouthwatering prospect even when it's played by someone who was the "Voice of the Mothership" in Close Encounters of the Third Kind i.e Jim Self. 

Nevertheless, despite my misgivings, it is cleverly  arranged by Kim Scharnberg and Self, himself, displays a dexterity rarely found in these monsters of the deep.

Described as Self's musical odyssey, My America 2: Destinations is an acknowledgement of some of the American towns, cities and landmarks that are dear to his heart and all performed uniquely and often in a quirky way.

Chicago  brings to mind Billy May's Sorta-Dixie from way back in the day when vinyl was  10" diameter. 

By the Time I Get to Phoenix is played fairly straight with tuba, trumpet and piano to the fore.

Kansas City merges a song from Oklahoma (Every Thing's up to Date in Kansas City) with the r and b classic - Kansas City.

New York State of Mind has Cunliffe playing melodica with Self blowing fluba, an instrument he invented that combines flugehorn and tuba and has quite a mellow sound. More info here.

King of Route 66. No need to reveal which two songs go into this one - you can probably guess!

Blue Bayou Bossa. Here's a clue: Roy Orbison meets Kenny Dorham. Nice solo from Stout but it's all a bit bland albeit very cleverly done.

I Love L A features another obscure instrument the cymbasso.

Back Home Again in Indiana is an orchestrated version of Dave Brubeck's recording and is a fairly straight ahead swinger.

Chattanooga Choo Choo is given the boogie woogie eight to the bar treatment. Tuba, alto and piano capture the mood to perfection.

I Left my Heart in San Francisco features trumpet, cor anglais, tuba and piano and, although performed beautifully, won't have Tony Bennett fans looking for a trade-in.

Washington Post Modern is a hoot!  Taking  John Phillip Sousa's march and putting it through its paces in a variety of tempos - not for the parade ground!

Georgia on my Mind: A duet for tuba and piano that is as mellifluous as you'll ever get from which ever tuba Self used. Cunliffe's accompaniment adds more sensitivity.

S.L.O Blues relates to the California  city of San Luis Obispo (pop. 47,063) where Self has a holiday home. It's an original composition of his which is quite rocky in places - perhaps relating to the coastline. Some wailing guitar as well as the inevitable tuba. The recording ends, as do all of his albums with the 'world-famous' howls of Stanley, his dearly departed basset hound.

I rarely do track by track album reviews but each one of these thirteen are so unique it would be impossible to bypass any one of them.

The release date is confusing. One page of the blurb says Oct. 28, 2022 whilst on another page it's Jan. 6, 2023! Whatever, it's worth checking out. Lance

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