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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

Mon 04: Enrico Tomasso/Cia Tomasso/Curtis Volp @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Mon 04: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Square, Whitley Road, Palmersville, Newcastle upon Tyne NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 1.00pm. Free.
Mon 04: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30-8:30pm. Free.

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.

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

Tuesday, November 14, 2023

Album review: Samara Joy - A Joyful Holiday

Well it's that time of year when Santa arrives with a sackful of CDs to get you into the Christmas spirit although, personally, I'd prefer a glass of mulled wine and I'm not that fond of mulled wine.

However, this EP by one of my favourite singers goes someway to dispelling my apathy.

At least for the first four tracks it does! 

Warm in December: I first came across the Bill Russell song as a track on Julie London's 1956 album Calendar Girls and I've never encountered it since which is a shame as it's a beautiful song that deserves to be heard irrespective of the season. Julie did a job on it and Samara matches it. Fortner (piano), Wong (bass) and Washington (drums) are with her all the way.

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little me: Wow! Another winner. I wasn't familiar with the Stevie Wonder tune but, accompanied by only Fortner on piano, the duo make it their own. 

The Christmas Song: Mel Tormé never wrote a better song and both he and Nat 'King' Cole stamped their vocal chords on it. Definitive one might say. However, Samara adds her name to the roll of honour  accompanied by Fortner and David Wong on bass - this is heading to be my best Christmas ever!

Have Yourself a Merry Little ChristmasAccompanied by her longtime musical associate, Pasquale Grasso on guitar, plus Wong and Washington this must surely, despite the brevity, be the greatest Christmas album of all-time - well it almost was but ...

Oh Holy Night: After the previous four tracks, the mood changed. I've nothing against Christmas carols and, on occasion, I've sung lustily (and maybe only a semi-tone sharp) at those occasions where it was required to sing lustily. However, this 'carol?' just does not work in the context of the album. There's a choir of angelic voices and Fortner doesn't do what a B3 ought to do.

The Christmas Song (live): The game is raised slightly but, after the beautiful studio recording, this is in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's a duet with Samara and Antonio McLendon who was part of the McLendon family group who provided the choir on the previous track. McLendon has a good soulful sound that would be worth hearing, solowise, elsewhere. The combination with Samara, comes across like a pastiche of Vaughan/Eckstine.

So, maybe not the greatest Christmas album of all-time but if they ever release just those first four ... But what am I saying? These days you can download, upload, sideload (for stereo) or even buy single tracks via the online hucksters. A flawed gem. Lance Luddite. 

Samara Joy (vocals); Sullivan Fortner (piano on tks 1,2,3/B3 on tk 5); David Wong (bass on tks 1,3,4); Kenny Washington (drums on tks 1,3,4); Pasquale Grasso (guitar on tk 4); Shedrick Mitchell (piano on tk 6); Eric Wheeler (bass on tk 6); Charles Wayne (drums on tk 6); Antonio McLendon, Goldwire McLendon, Laurone McLendon, Tiera Lovell Rowe, Alana Alexander (backing vocals on tk 5); Antonio McLendon (vocal duet on tk 6)

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