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Bebop Spoken There

Simon Spillett: “ Bebop and hard bop came naturally to him [Tubby Hayes]". Morning Star, March 28, 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

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.
Fri 29: True Colours @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 9:00pm. Blues, jazz & swing.

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.

Thu 04: FILM: Soul @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 2:00pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Thu 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 04: Funky Drummer @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 04: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 04: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Sunday, June 02, 2013

CD Review: George Benson: Inspiration: A Tribute To Nat King Cole

George Benson (vocals); The Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra, Conductor Randy Waldman;  Wynton Marsalis and Till Bronner (trumpets); Idina Menzel and Judith Hill (additional vocals)
(Review by Ann Alex)
I was fascinated to read in the CD insert that Nat King Cole actually started out as a jazz pianist and George Benson was originally a jazz guitarist (you probably all know this!).  Benson was born in 1943, just as Cole was starting to make it as a singer.  The CD is historically interesting for me as I remember, as a child, hearing Cole on the radio and absorbing the songs without realising that I was doing so.  I need hardly say that this is a very worthwhile compilation, with fine big band playing, short solos from trumpet, piano and, naturally, guitar. and very pleasing singing from Benson and the two ladies who join him for duets on some tracks.  Benson manages to stamp his own identity on these immortal songs without losing the spirit of the originals.
Blog readers will want to know exactly what is on a CD such as this.  It begins charmingly with a snatch of a young George Benson, voice not yet broken, singing a snatch of Mona Lisa, which shows that this lad, as he was then, could sing expressively.  The CD continues with Just One Of Those Things; Unforgettable; Walkin’ My Baby; When I Fall In Love; Route 66; Nature Boy; Ballerina; Smile; Straighten Up And Fly Right; Too Young; I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter; Mona Lisa (grown up version)
I have a special interest in song lyrics, and there was plenty to notice.  Walkin’ My Baby evokes courtship as it was in the 1950s or so, when young people lived with their parents before marriage; I’d never listened properly to the words of Nature Boy before, it has an almost mythical quality; and I hadn’t realised that Route 66 was such an old song, and very evocative of the USA.  This latter track had an effective piano solo and an appropriate walking bass, or should I say a travelling bass.  And I wonder, was I imagining the band doing twisty pirouette rhythms on Ballerina?
I think Nat King Cole would have been well pleased with this tribute.
Release date is June 3 on Concord Records.  George Benson is on a world tour this year – see www.georgebenson.com/tourdates.
Ann Alex    

1 comment :

Jim Fay (on F/b) said...

I've always just thought of him as a pretty fair jazz guitarist, but he's not a bad singer either is he?

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