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Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey: "You [Bobby Watson] don't want to play too long, because you don't know they're clapping because they're glad you finished!" - (JazzTimes, Nov. 2019)..

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

15867 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 874 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (Sept. 25).

From This Moment On ...

September

Tue 26: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Alice Grace Quartet @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 28: Faye MacCalman + Snape/Sankey @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 28: Zoe Rahman @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Thu 28: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm.
Thu 28: Speakeasy @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £15.00. A Southpaw Dance Company presentation. Dance, audio-visuals, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, swing dancers etc.
Thu 28: Mick Cantwell Band @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Ace blues band.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.

Sat 30: John Pope Quintet + Late Girl + Shapeshifters @ Bobik's, Jesmond, Newcastle.
Sat 30: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

OCTOBER

Sun 01: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 01: Dulcie May Moreno sings Portrait of Sheila @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Moreno sings Sheila Jordan with Giles Strong, Mick Shoulder & John Bradford.
Sun 01: Middlesbrough Jazz & Blues Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 2:00pm.
Sun 01: The Easy Rollers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.70., £11.55.
Sun 01: Brand/Roberts/Champion/Sanders @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 01: Papa G's Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 02: FILM: Wattstax; 50th Anniversary @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 8:00pm.

Friday, January 08, 2010

Ernie Graham R.I.P.

Yesterday I received a call from his wife Ann to say that Ernie Graham had passed away.
A very sad start to the new year.
Ernie has been an absolute rock at Blaydon since the early days. He looked after the raffle, would gently coax support for our activities and was someone I could rely on for good common sense advice. Even just a few weeks back, I was on the phone to see how he was and asking him for his thoughts on what best to do in the new season.
He loved to be involved and particularly enjoyed exchanging banter with the musicians which would put a smile on everyone's face and help get things going.
Clubs need people like Ernie in order to survive and flourish. He had a quick wit and an impish humour - a great and totally unique character.
I can just picture him now getting up to sing a number (which he only did once a year on his birthday) and looking across from my guitar seat at that firmly tapping left foot which went alternatively from side to side, then glancing up at that huge grin and getting a cheeky wink as he romped through 'Route 66' or 'A Gal in Calico' or maybe 'How About You?'. Ernie used to often tell me 'there has always been jazz in Blaydon - keep it going Roly' - he went to Blaydon jazz sessions at The Railway Inn back in the 50s/60s.
Ernie himself was a fine keyboard player with a great knowledge of the songbook. I know I speak for everyone at Blaydon plus many local musicians who knew him in saying how very much we will miss him and in passing our heartfelt condolences to Ann and their family.
He was 80.
Roly.

2 comments :

Lance said...

My sentiments entirely Roly. Ernie and the very few like him are the heartbeat of any organisation. I knew him long before I became a regular at Blaydon although he would always try and persuade me to go.
When I finally did make it, even though it was sometime after I'd last seen him, he took it as a personal triumph and almost shook my arm from its socket with his greeting.
He will certainly be missed all who knew him.

Miles said...

Ever so sad to hear about Ernie, as a fellow villager (Dinnington) I used to see Ernie at the paper shop in the mornings and we could spend a good half hour talking jazz.I knew all about Blaydon jazz before Bebop Spoken Here.
He had problems of late with his eyes and the last time I saw him sciatica but he was always upbeat. A great guy and our thoughts are with Anne and the family.

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