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Bebop Spoken There

David Hadju: "It was kind of a lightning bolt [seeing a photo of a hi-fi store that's now occupied by a phone store]. Everyone had hi-fi systems, now everyone has a phone" - (DownBeat May 2023).

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!"

Postage

15478 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 499 of them this year alone and, so far, 120 this month (May 27).

From This Moment On ...

May 2023

Sun 28: Bradley Creswick's Western Swingfonia @ Whitley Bay Carnival. Free. Plaza Arena stage. 12 noon.
Sun 28: MSK @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 12:15pm. Free. Marquee stage. MSK - Steve Glendinning, Katy Trigger, Martin Douglas.
Sun 28: Musicians Unlimited @ The Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Back Chat Brass @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 1:30pm. Free. Marquee stage.
Sun 28: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Tim Kliphuis Trio @ St Mary's Church, Wooler NE71 6BZ. 3:00pm. £15.00 standard; £5.00 student/unwaged; free under 18. Afternoon Cocktail, a Wooler Summer Arts' concert promotion. Kliphuis (violin); Nigel Clark (guitar); Roy Percy (double bass).
Sun 28: Back Chat Brass @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 3:00pm. Free. Plaza Arena stage.
Sun 28: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 28: King Bees @ The Delaval Arms, Old Hartley NE26 4RL. 5:00pm. Free. Chicago blues at its best!
Sun 28: Matt Anderson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Anderson (saxophones); Jamil Sheriff (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Dave Walsh (drums).

Mon 29: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 30: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 30: Big Chris Barber Band @ Whitley Bay Playhouse. 7:30pm.

Wed 31: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 31: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 31: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 31: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

June
Thu 01: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 01: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations.
Thu 01: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 01: Jake Leg Jug Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: Joseph Carville Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 02: Claire Martin & Her Trio @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £25.00., £20.00. Feat. Jim Mullen, Alex Garnett & Jeremy Brown.
Fri 02: Guy Davis + Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. Doors 7:30pm. Blues double bill.
Fri 02: Anders Ingram @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. Country blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 03: Newcastle Record Fair @ Northumbria University, Newcastle NE8 8SB. 10:00am-3:00pm. Admission: £2.00.
Sat 03: Pedigree Jazz Band @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Sue Ferris. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Frank Sparrow - THE MAN - by John Taylor. UPDATED.

Anyone remember Frank Sparrow the saxophone repairer? He overhauled my alto. When I was 40 my Mam was 80. She gave me £40 for my birthday My lifelong friend Terry Fenwick (tenor) arranged for Frank to do some work on my Selmer Console clarinet and Buescher alto sax. Frank wanted £30 for a weeks work - I gave him the £40. Frank had a 3 piece band that played around Bedlington. They always wore dinner jackets and Frank showed me a picture of him in the 1920's - same dinner jacket! He had 14 saxes and a Mk7 he never played . He just took it out of the case and looked at it!! A character.
When Ashington Jazz Club started 26 years ago there were two punters we always looked out for. One was a local councillor called Craig Brown - he got Labour Party funding for the club. He was an Armstrong fanatic and he called his first son Louis Armstrong Brown. The other was Frank Sparrow. It may have been that Frank was a conscientious objector as he was a first aider during the war (not sure which war!) After the war he became a full time first aider at Woodhorn Colliery where our dads worked. As there was a lot of spare time (not many accidents ) he did his saxophone mechanic-ing at work. The ambulance room was in the pit baths and they say that every day you could hear Frank blowing an instrument in. He still found time to run his 3 pc band and work in Max Shares on a Saturday! His first wife left him because of his addiction to the sax. His second wife loved music and he loved her. I used to hear his 3 pc at a local club and he said to me - hand on heart - that when he met her -"It gets you there, not in your trousers". Another famous quote was "I bought a new jazz record by (I think it was Bix) and played it straight away. I said to myself, 'BLOW ME FRANKIE YOU HAVE BEEN PLAYING LIKE THAT FOR YEARS." Frank came to Ashington Jazz club by push bike from Bedlington. Six bottles of brown ale later he set off home - no doubt picking up some repair work from the band (and possibly giving some to the local bike repairer)! When Frank worked in Max Shares music shop I went there to buy sheet music and I thought he was Max Share.
John Taylor

2 comments :

Lance said...

Bix and Frankie Trumbauer were his idols. He wasn't impressed when I mentioned Charlie Parker to him.

John Sparrow said...

What a surprise to come across this short story about my Grandad !!

My Dad, Maurice, was wondering if Ashington Jazz Club still exists ?

He has been clearing the loft and has come across some Dixieland Jazz Lp's....Would they be of interest to anyone ?

Yet another coincidence in this story is that I grew up with Louis son Mark Brown and still see Louis regularly at Ashington Football Club...small world.

If anyone is interested in the Lp's you can contact me at
spug1@live.co.uk

John

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