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Bebop Spoken There

Spasmo Brown: “Jazz is an ice cream sandwich! It's the Fourth of July! It's a girl with a waterbed!”. (Syncopated Times, July, 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

17444 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 718 of them this year alone and, so far, 100 this month (Oct. 10).

From This Moment On ...

October

Thu 10: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 10: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. ‘Collaborations - it happened all the time’.
Thu 10: Indigo Jazz Voices w. the Little Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.
Thu 10: Side Cafe Orkestar @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
The 10: Classic Swing @ Carlisle Rugby Club, Warwick Rd., Carlisle. 8:30pm. £9.
Thu 10: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. With guests Donna Hewitt (sax); Bill Watson (trumpet); Graham Thompson (keys); Ron Smith (bass). Free.

Fri 11: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 11: Dulcie May Moreno @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 11: The Jazz Quartet + Stratosphonic @ Tynedale Rugby Club, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £15.00. A Rotary Club of Hexham event. The Jazz Quartet (Jude Murphy & co), Stratosphonic (blues/rock). CANCELLED!
Fri 11: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Market Place, Corbridge NE45 5AW. 7:30pm. Free.
Fri 11: Crooners @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 11: Mo Scott Band @ Blues Underground, Nelson St., Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

Sat 12: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 12: Michael Woods @ Victoria Tunnel, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £12.00. (£10.00. adv.). Country blues guitar & vocals.
Sat 12: Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.28, £11.16, £9.04. A two-track recording launch gig.
Sat 12: Stuart Turner @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rockabilly, rhythm & blues etc. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 12: Lapwing Jazz Trio @ The Ship Inn, Low Newton. 8:00pm. Free. New trio: Paula Whitty, Richard Herdman, Jude Murphy.

Sun 13: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: Emma Wilson @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sun 13: Catfish Keith @ The Cluny. 7:00pm. Country blues.
Sun 13: Cath Stephens & Paul Grainger @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Stephens & Grainger, one third of a triple bill.
Sun 13: Dulcie May Moreno Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 14: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 14: Black is the Color of My Voice @ Hippodrome, Darlington. 7:30pm. Apphia Campbell’s one-woman show inspired by Nina Simone, performed by Nicholle Cherrie.

Tue 15: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law (piano), Paul Grainger (double bass), Bailey Rudd (drums).

Wed 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 16: Cath Stephens’ improvisation workshop @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 4:30-6:00pm. Collaborative group focusing on vocal improvisations.
Wed 16: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 16: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. 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

Sunday, September 03, 2023

Album review: Dean Stockdale Quartet - Celebrating Oscar

Dean Stockdale (piano); Tim Williams (guitar); Gavin Barras (double bass); Gaz Hughes (drums)

In his teens, Dean Stockdale's piano teacher pointed him in the direction of Oscar Peterson. To quote Stockdale: ...it changed my life. Fast forward a few short years, Celebrating Oscar is Stockdale's homage to the late, great Canadian pianist. 

Assisting Stockdale in what is surely a labour of love are three of the finest musicians working on the British jazz scene - guitarist Tim Williams, bassist Gavin Barras and drummer Gaz Hughes. Having heard the quartet in concert and listening to the album on repeat, one senses the four musicians are friends rather than 'bandleader plus sidemen'. Twelve tracks - nine Peterson compositions and three standards - are familiar, of course they are, this is Dean Stockdale playing Oscar Peterson! 

Blues Etude opens the recording and for the next sixty four minutes or so Celebrating Oscar is an absolute joy to listen to. Based this side of the Pennines, Stockdale can frequently be heard on the north east jazz scene, we know just how good he is. The others - Messrs. Williams, Barras and Hughes - residing Way Out West on the other side of the Pennines are top class players. We've been fortunate to have heard them here on Tyneside, not least in the company of Stockdale. A year or so ago, Tim Williams was the unknown quantity. Not anymore, guitarist Williams is as good as they come. Hear him soloing on Hogtown Blues or Noreen's Nocturne, he could be your new favourite guitarist. Bassist Gavin Barras is a tower of strength, hear him walking on Hogtown Blues, then there's Gaz Hughes, a fine, fine drummer. And then there's Night Train, superb, swinging jazz. 

Listening to the album the famous names spring to mind - Barney Kessel, Herb Ellis, Joe Pass, Ray Brown, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Ed Thigpen, Martin Drew - that's how good the album is, but make no mistake, Celebrating Oscar is the work of the excellent Dean Stockdale Quartet.  

If you've long-since liked Oscar Peterson, if you were lucky enough to hear great the man in concert, you'll love Celebrating Oscar. Go hear the Dean Stockdale Quartet in concert (see the tour itinerary below), you won't be able to resist buying a CD. Buy two, one for yourself, the other one will make the ideal Christmas gift. www.deanstockdalemusic.com.
    
Blues EtudeFalling in Love with LoveBossa BeguineNigerian MarketplaceHave You Met Miss Jones?Hogtown BluesLand of the Misty GiantsWheatlandWhen Summer ComesNoreen's NocturneNight TrainHymn to Freedom.

Dean Stockdale is touring Celebrating Oscar. Forthcoming dates include: Kenilworth Jazz Club, Warwickshire (Sept. 4); Scott's Jazz Club, Belfast (Sept. 8); Arthur's Jazz Club, Dublin (Sept. 9); St Ives Jazz (Sept. 19); Hampstead Jazz Club, London (Sept. 20); Toulouse Lautrec, London (Sept. 24); Fougou Jazz, Livermead Cliff Hotel, Torquay (Sept. 26); Davenham Jazz, Cheshire (Sept. 28); Saltburn Jazz Club (Oct. 6); Le Barbizon, Paris (Oct. 26, Nicola Sabato, bass); Seven Arts, Leeds (Nov. 12, afternoon); JATP, Bradford Latvian Club (Dec. 1). Russell   

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