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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.

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

CD Reviews: Frank Kohl Quartet – Rising Tide. Sandro Zerafa – More Light.

(Reviews by Steve T)
Rising Tide
Frank Kohl (guitar), Steve LaSpina (bass), Tommy Kohl (piano), Jon Doty (drums).
This is Kohl’s fourth album, the first being in 1981. He's a native of New York, where these sessions come from, but is generally based in Seattle. From the Beatles in the sixties his training and tastes progressed through Clapton, Hendrix and the blues to Wes Montgomery with Jimmy Smith, Pat Martino and Jim Hall, but it was seeing Tony Williams' Lifetime with Larry Young and John McLaughlin that made him realise anything was possible in Jazz.
Kohl studied at Berklee during its guitar golden age, while Schofield and Metheny were still students.
The album features eight tracks, including five originals, a live version of Rodgers and Hart’s My Romance and two by Victor Young, including a solo guitar piece to close the album.
Nothing much else to say except the songs are fine and the playing is excellent and the notes claim that  smooth exteriors and genuinely emotional interiors make for a difficult balance and listeners will decide whether he pulls this off. I think he probably does but my heckles don't automatically burst through my clothes when I read the 'S' word.
More Light
Sandro Zerafa (guitar), Yonathan Avishai (piano), Yoni Zelnik (bass), Lukmil Perez-Herrera (drums), David Prez (tenor sax).
Also a fourth album, Zerafa’s a native of Malta but now in Paris and he's absorbed Wes Montgomery, Jim Hall, Grant Green and Peter Bernstein. It's a multi-national band from Israel, Cuba and France and there's a slight, subtle Brazilian flavour running through for the many people this appeals to nowadays.
The album features nine originals with added bonus of sax on three of them, which elevates it above the Kohl album but, without which I doubt I could separate them in a blindfold test.
The songs are fine and the playing is excellent and the notes claim a certain contemporary cool, far removed from frenzy and fury, but to these ears it may have benefitted from a little F and F.   
Lance, I gather, was impressed by Zerafa’s previous album
A Future of Music.
We often speculate whether music will stand up to repeated listening, but maybe we're approaching it all wrong.
Go back a generation and most people watched films once but played albums incessantly until the fillers made as much sense as the hits. Go back another and most people only knew the hits.
Nowadays it's common for people to watch films over and over again so maybe it's okay to listen to albums a couple of times, maybe pull of a couple of key tracks or come back to it in the future, and then move on to the next album, while retaining the genuinely great albums.
Steve T.

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