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Bebop Spoken There

Abbie Finn: "Even though there's a lot of great work being done to promote women in jazz, I still come up against some attitudes! I pulled up at a recording session with my drums in the car and the studio owner said, 'I'm sorry, this space is reserved for the drummer!'" - (Jazzwise April 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

15229 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 248 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (March 20).

From This Moment On ...

March

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller's Rest, Cockerton. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public). Note change of venue - this week only.
Wed 22: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Thu 23: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcasatle. From 6:30pm 'til late. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra jam session. All welcome (students & non-students).
Thu 23: Kerrin Tatman + John Garner & John Pope @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 23: Sunna Gunnlaugs & Julia Hülsmann @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm. A two-piano gig. A Sage Gateshead-JNE promotion.
Thu 23: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano.
Thu 23: Sleep Suppressor @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00., £8.00. adv. Upstairs.
Thu 23: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: FILM: Mo' Better Blues @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Fri 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Scarth Hall, Staindrop, Co. Durham. 8:00pm. £10.00.
Fri 24: Archipelago + Bulbils @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.

Sat 25: Vermont Big Band @ Walker Community Centre, Walker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Fundraiser for Benfield Juniours Football Club. Hot food available, BYOB.
Sat 25: John Logan & Friends @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rat Pack, Motown etc. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Outlines @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE promotion (upstairs).

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 28: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 28: Sanaz Lavasani Trio @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv).

Saturday, January 01, 2011

More Memories of Bobby Carr by Cormac Loane

Along with saxophonist Nigel Stanger, the trumpeter Bobby Carr was my mentor as a young jazz musician, growing up in Newcastle in the 1970’s. I first got to know him in 1972, playing in the Newcastle Big Band and in the Thursday night jam sessions at the Wheatsheaf in New York (near Whitley Bay), where he joined in happily with enthusiastic amateurs, including myself and the young Gordon Sumner who, at the time, was learning how to play jazz on the bass guitar.
I later did some gigs with Bobby in the Wilf Ray Band at the Mayfair Ballroom. But I got to know him best when we played together in the Bavarian "Oompah Band" at the Hofbrauhaus on Waterloo Street in 1973/74, when I frequently deputized for Graham Sheppard on saxophone and clarinet.
I was 17/18 years old, studying at school for my "A" levels; Bobby would pick me up at home and drop me off again afterwards, but this was often late at night, after we had toured jazz clubs all round the North-East sitting in with the resident bands. Wherever we went, the musicians always welcomed Bobby who, of course, was well-known throughout the area and would fit in effortlessly in any musical situation. I remember one evening we turned up late at night at the Corner House in Whitley Bay where Syd Warren’s Band was performing. As we walked from the car park we could hear the band playing Frank Rosolino’s Blue Daniel, so Bobby got his trumpet out of its case on the pavement, walked into the club already playing, and right through the crowd up to the bandstand, playing a brilliant solo over the top of Syd, who had been in full flight on the saxophone! Bobby was a truly wonderful musician and trumpet player – every phrase he played was perfectly formed and beautifully executed, whether he was playing a slow ballad, an up-tempo bebop number or an Oompah tune in the Hofbrauhaus. His commitment to the music was total, regardless of which style he was playing. Furthermore, he had a completely engaging stage presence, embodying the great jazz tradition, established by Louis Armstrong, of trumpeter/vocalist/entertainer. Although Bobby did not teach, he was tremendously encouraging and supportive of young musicians – he gave me fantastic opportunities as an inexperienced teenage musician and treated me just as an equal, even though I was still learning the craft and he was a fully accomplished professional! In fact, for a short period, he played in my band: in July and August 1974, during the Newcastle Big Band’s summer break, Pete Volpe and I ran a bebop quintet which performed on Sunday lunchtimes, first at the Gosforth Hotel and later at the Newton Park Hotel. The line up was: Pete on trumpet, Brian Fisher on piano, Ian Heslop on bass, Billy Young on drums and myself on alto. But before the end of these sessions Pete had to leave the North-East to go back to college (or maybe it was to his placement in France) so I asked Bobby to take his place which, of course he was delighted to do - what an education it was for me, swapping 4-bar phrases with a musician of his stature! Bobby was well-known for his liking of Newcastle Brown Ale – on the way to the Hofbrauhaus, in his Ford Capri, we would always stop at Victoria Wine to buy several bottles to see him through the evening, in addition to the complementary Stein of Hofbrau lager provided by the establishment. The first bottle would disappear without trace within our first few minutes in the band-room. Bobby had a theory that, on the homeward journey, he would never be stopped by the police because they recognized his car as belonging to a musician, which provided immunity from the law!
Previous post. Cormac Loane.

3 comments :

Lance said...

Thanks Cormac, another chapter from the life of the late Bobby Carr.
A little story of my own relates to Bobby and the police.
The story I heard was that he was parked on Westgate Road somewhere near the Hofbrauhaus and, upon returning to his car - full of Broon no doubt - he found he'd lost the key to the Krooklok that was attached to the steering wheel immobilising the car. Bobby promptly approached a passing policeman and asked him if he could get him a hacksaw!

Jennifer Hamblin said...

Thanks for sharing your stories. Bobby Carr had a daughter. Lizanne Macintosh came to Canada and gave me up for adoption. I did meet some of my biological family and corresponded with Bobby's brother until he had a stroke. I know that Bobby went on to marry a different Liz.

I love to sing. Currently, I sing for a Salvation Army Church. I'd love to create my own web page, CD, and take it up to a next level. It's funny how I never learned any instruments, but I love listening to instrumental, classical, and jazz music. It seems everything came late in life for me. For Bobby, success came early in his life for me. I would be interested in learning more.

Jennifer Hamblin

Unknown said...

I wonder if this is the wonderful guy who played trumpet with the Viv Rod Combo, resident band at the Domino Club in Bedlington during 1968/69. I was dj/compare and sat in occasionally on guitar. Bobby was a real character, heart of the Combo and life & soul of any party. At the time he drove a little MG Midget. For the 12 months I knew him (I was only 20) we had a great relationship then I left to work in Middlesbrough and Crewe for a few months before leaving to work in Germany for several years. If it is the same Bobby Carr I would love to know what happened to him.

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