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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.

Sunday, January 08, 2023

Album review: Rodney Whitaker - Oasis, The Music of Gregg Hill

Terell Stafford (trumpet/flugel); Tim Warfield (tenor/sop sax); Bruce Barth (piano); Rodney Whitaker (bass); Dana Hall (drums) + Rockelle Fortin (vocal on 4 tks)

The phrase "hits the ground running" is much used but, there are occasions when it's the only description that seems to fit. The opening track: Betty's Tune is just such a moment as it explodes like as though you've played an already uptempo 33rpm track at 45!

The vocal is by Whitaker's daughter Rockelle who, apart from writing the lyrics, delivers a 'ball out of the park' chorus that is quite amazing! Equally so are the trumpet, soprano and piano solos that precede Hall's drum blast with all underpinned by Rodney Whitaker's superb bass work.

In the main, hard bop. Music that swings like it did back in Blakey's day but with, perhaps, more subtlety and sensitivity. Stafford is simply as good as it gets now that Fats, Clifford, Lee and Freddie are gone. Warfield, a longtime associate of Stafford, too is a player to be reckoned with and Barth, Whitaker and Hall are as close to perfection as any mortal can expect to be. Rockelle's four vocals don't do any harm either and I look forward to hearing her on an album of her own.

All of the compositions are by Gregg Hill, surely one of today's great jazz composers, and he must surely be delighted by Whitaker's arrangements and, conversely, Whitaker and the band must be equally ecstatic over the material they are working with.

If this sounds like a rave review, I'll confirm it when I come down to earth! Lance

Available on Origin Records and via usual suspects.

Betty's Tune; Puppets; Minorablia; Interlude; Sunday Afternoon; The Jazzdiddy Waltz; S'Cool Days; Blues For Gregg; Fan-O-Gram; To the Well; Oasis.

1 comment :

Lois Mummaw said...

It’s so wonderful to hear an objective voice say the same wonderful things about Gregg, his compositions, and his choice of musicians to play and arrange them that I have been saying since 2017! Lois Mummaw (Gregg’s wife and biggest fan ♥️)

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