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Bebop Spoken There

Ambrose Akinmusire: “ I am certainly always aware of what the masses are doing. And when I see too many people going one way, I'm going another way - even when I don't know what's over that way". DownBeat, March, 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

Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.

Wed 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 20: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Castillo Neuvo Trio + Conor Emery & His ‘Bones Band @ The Grove, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00. (£7.00. student).
Thu 21: Remi Banklyn + Chris Corcoran Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.50. Chicago blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime piano.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Nauta + Remy CB + Last Orders @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). Free.
Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 22: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 23: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Free (ticketed). End of term performance in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 23: Red Kites Jazz @ Rowlands Gill Community Centre NE39 1JB. 7:00pm. Tickets: £12.00. (gibsidecommunityfarm@gmail.com). A ‘Build a Barn’ fundraiser. BYOB, tea/coffee available.
Sat 23: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. + bf (book in person at venue - no booking fee!). Featuring pianist Martin Litton.
Sat 23: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 24: Luis Verde @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Verde (alto sax); Joe Steels (guitar); John Pope (double bass); John Hirst (drums). Alto sax brilliance!
Sun 24: Elsie Franklin @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Country blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Sun 24: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Las Vegas Live with the Rat Pack @ The Forum, Billingham.
Sun 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Otterburn Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sun 24: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Note start time - 7:00pm.
Sun 24: Bold Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Miles Kington by Germaine Stanger

Nigel and Miles (Kington) met when studying at Oxford in the early 1960s. Miles was reading French and Nigel English, but their friendship came about because of jazz. Miles had learnt to play the double bass whilst at Oxford, because there were very few bass players around at the time, so he thought he'd get a few gigs. Nigel was already something of a star playing piano and alto. It was there too that they met alto/tenor player Pat Crumly. Pat was to become a significant part of the London jazz scene and occasionally came north to play with the Newcastle Big Band; which he did in 2006 when the remnants of that band played the Sting gig at the Baltic. Pat and Miles both died in 2008. Miles and Nigel shared an enduring bond of university, music, humour and the memory of an idyllic holiday spent playing near Algeciras in Spain. Nigel played piano, Miles bass, with a chap called Mike Hollis on drums. They played in a small club throughout the summer of 1962. Miles has written a lot about that holiday and perhaps, many years later, it had something to do with the formation of 'Instant Sunshine.'
When the East Side Torpedoes were recording for the BBC, at the Paris studios in Lower Regent St., we met Miles and the other members of 'Instant Sunshine' who had stayed behind to have a drink with us following their earlier recording. Miles was very supportive of any London gigs we had during the seventies and early eighties; many of which had links to Andy Hudson. Miles Kington was a lovely man, handsome, unassuming, wonderfully witty and a good friend. He is missed by people who knew him, and the many who felt they knew him through Punch, The Independent, his many books* radio and television appearances. He filed his last article for the Independent, on the day he died. Miles never lost his love of jazz. His double bass took centre stage at his private funeral, along with piles of proofs, manuscripts, magazines and newspapers. When introducing the radio serialization of Miles's book, about his cancer, (entitled 'How shall I tell the dog,') his wife Caroline said Miles had written it because Nigel had telephoned some months before his death but had failed to mention his cancer, or that it might be the last time Miles and he spoke. Miles felt denied the chance to say good bye to Nigel, so when his own cancer proved terminal he decided to write about it. In fact Nigel didn't think he was going to go to that other Algeciras in the sky quite so quickly and made very little fuss about his cancer; it wasn't funny and somehow curbed the flow of the conversation. Come to think of it Lance, I should have included Miles in Nigel's Beadnell band; Miles Kington on Double Bass, Chas Chandler on Bass guitar, Pat Crumley on Tenor sax. and Charles De Gaulle on accordion -"Really wild, General," I hope you remember the Bonzo Dog Do Dah Band?
Germaine
*One of Miles' books was "The Jazz Anthology".

1 comment :

Lance said...

Thank you Germaine - as one of those who only knew Miles through his writing - you have helped me to build a better picture of him. In particular, I enjoyed his "Franglais" column in Punch.
Who can forget the the Bonzo Dog? Adolph Hitler on vibes etc!
In fact I always think of that disc when I'm at a gig and the bandleader introduces the musicians for maybe the tenth time in a set as if our memory was so short or their playing so unmemorable that we couldn't remember their names after the ninth time.

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