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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.

Sunday, March 15, 2015

CD Review: Chris McNulty - Eternal

Chris McNulty (vocals); John Di Martino (arrangements and piano); Ugonna Okegwo (bass); Gregory Hutchinson (drums) + Chamber ensemble*
(Review by Ann Alex)
Prepare to shed tears whilst listening to this CD.  This is Chris McNulty’s seventh CD since she emerged on to the international jazz scene in 1991, and it is a tribute to her son, Sam McNulty, hip-hop artist-composer Chap One, who died in 2011.  McNulty researched songbooks extensively to get the right mix of material for the album, and she has assembled an excellent set of songs.  
The CD manages to avoid being too maudlin or sentimental, probably because of the skilful arrangements and genuinely heartfelt way that the songs are sung.  The sound is lush and poignant and McNulty’s voice soars around the songs, a rich voice with just a hint of a pleasing nasal tone.  I say ‘soars around’ because she makes the tunes her own, original improvisation, sometimes cutting across the musicians, sometimes with gentle scat-like vocals.
It isn’t difficult to work out the irony of songs such as What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life on an album such as this – I found this to be one of the most moving tracks.  Then there’s Nature Boy; With Every Breath I Take; Where Is Love (Lionel Bart); and Boulevard Of Broken Dreams. There is one original song by McNulty herself, You Are There, a simple statement of love with minimal accompaniment.  The CD opens with the oddly titled The Saga Of Harrison Crabfeathers, which is in fact a very sad love song which is achingly appropriate:
‘Crying softly for the one who cannot be here
Through the rain she sees a face laughing in happy play
The face of a child, the child on a sunny day’.
The other tracks are A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing; Stardust; Yesterday I Heard The Rain; Love Came On Stealthy Fingers; On A Clear Day.  The arrangements include good solos from piano, horns, woodwinds and bass. The making of this CD must have taken courage by all concerned, and it has just struck me as by an odd coincidence, that this review will appear here on Mother’s Day.
The CD is released on Palmetto records on March 24  
Ann Alex
* Steve Newcomb (arranger); Mazz Swift, Josh Henderson, Amanda Lo (violins); Trevor New (viola); Meaghan Burke, Marika Hughes (cellos); Jodie Rottle (flutes); Ivan Barenboim (clarinets); John Morgan-Bush (French horn); Ben Wendel (bassoon); Paul Bollenback (guitar)

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