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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.

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.

Friday, June 03, 2016

CD Review: Ben Crosland Quintet - The Ray Davies Songbook

Dave O'Higgins (ten/sop); John Etheridge (gtr); Steve Lodder (pno/keys); Ben Crosland (bs); Sebastiaan De Krom (dms).
(Review by Lance).
The Kinks were one of my favourite sixties pop bands and the singles, Sunny Afternoon and Dedicated Follower of Fashion, two of my all-time faves from those heady days of Radio Caroline, the rising mini-skirt, MM and NME.
The songs were great, they still are, but how do they stand up after being given the jazz treatment and without the clever and often witty lyrics?
The answer is simple - Cole Porter's did and so does Ray Davies'!
Ben Crosland, who penned the arrangements, successfully captures the spirit of the originals without losing his own identity.
All Day and All of the Night: funky Etheridge, sensitive keys.
Waterloo Sunset; deeply reflective as the title implies with O'Higgins as cool as tomorrow's cucumbers and Etheridge reflecting the sunset in his playing. Crosland adding gentle melodic interpretation of the theme.
You Really Got me: funky soul. O'Higgins again emerging from the freezer - this time on soprano. Etheridge wails, Lodder hits B3 mode and De Krom blows away the cobwebs - I almost said Kinks!
See My Friend: I'm not familiar with the original so I can't compare but Crosland's 6/8 arrangement has some great piano, soprano, guitar and the leader's bass underpinning everything.
Everybody's Gonna be Happy: And everybody was!
Sunny Afternoon: The test piece! Can they make it without that great lyric: 
My girlfriend's run off with my car, And gone back to her ma and pa, Telling tales of drunkenness and cruelty. Now I'm sitting here, Sipping at my ice cold beer, Lazing on a sunny afternoon.
From O'Higgins first blast followed by Crosland's bass you know they can. The lyric's great but so is the tune and this arrangement.
Dedicated Follower of Fashion: Once again O'Higgins takes us downstreet - but it's not Carnaby, more like Gerrard or Frith.
Tired of Waiting for You: Bass feature over a floating rhythm.
Dead End Street: Soprano to the fore, Street lives again!
I Need You: Nice shuffle, tenor, piano, guitar trade 4's.
Set me Free: A gentle bossa - elevator music? Maybe, but only in Harrod's!
A Well Respected Man: A swinger! Etheridge puts down the benchmark for O'Higgins who  moves it up a notch.
The project was specially commissioned for the 2015 Marsden Jazz Festival and the concert sold out well in advance.
This is probably the longest CD review I've ever done so draw your own conclusions!
Lance.
Release date:  July 8, 2016. Jazz Cat - JCCD116.

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