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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.

Wednesday, May 09, 2018

Christian McBride Big Band @ Cheltenham Jazz Festival, Town Hall – May 6.

(Review by Steve T)
I had their album Bringin’ It as one of my picks of last year; an unlikely choice from a self-confessed big band philistine, but I saw McBride with his trio in November and if anybody can make a big band cool it's him. 
The start had a stand-in on bass allowing a big introduction for the leader; apparently common-place in such situations. The band were all in white shirts, perhaps reflecting the weather outside, but McBride remained in a suit throughout.
Trumpet solo followed by Marcus Strickland on tenor, backed by the rest of the horns, followed by trombone, the audience now clapping along, before muted trumpets provided the backing with a short bass burst finishing the piece.

Getting to It he confided was a reworking of James Brown Get it Together, also taken from the Bringin’ It album, as is Youthful Bliss which followed it, featuring solos on soprano and bass.
Texas trumpeter Brandon Lee, formerly with Archie Bell and others, (and soul and funk seemed to be a thread through McBride and the band), pretty much played I Thought About You before Thermo, a Freddie Hubbard piece, written while he was a Jazz Messenger, featured solos on trumpet, tenor and piano. Both pieces are on the album.
The band was then joined onstage by Melissa Walker who sang Herb Albert's Taste of Honey (I thinkfollowed by, what he described as an old American folk song, Mr Bojangles. She's a fine singer but the vocal tracks are my least favourite on the album.
In the Wee Small Hours (on the album) played in the key of B, which apparently makes it very difficult, - attracting charges of crazy string player from brass players - had the leader playing the melody with bowed bass, backed by three flutes. 
He then announced he was going to play some of the dirty F-word funk, claiming hard-core jazzers appreciate it because jazz already has some funk in it. Of course it does, and funk has lots of jazz in it.
George Duke, he announced, was a big influence and mentor and they played his Black Messiah pt 2, speculating it refers to Cannonball Adderley. It featured heavy, pounding bass, solid drumming, lots of piano and a first baritone solo.
I say first but it may also have been last as many, myself included, left for Kamasi Washington at the Big Top, just as Melissa returned to the stage, presumably for Upside Down from the album.
That'll teach them to start late.

Steve T

1 comment :

Steve T said...

I'm reliably informed the bass player who played during McBrides intro was James Owston of Birmingham Conservatoire and can be seen on the photo at the end of the Rob Luft review.

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