I received the following sad news this morning:
"Hi Lance. You may have already heard but Kevin Savin died yesterday (May 12) in Spain. He moved there when he retired some years ago and had spent the last few weeks in a hospice. Kevin was a really good banjo player and played with the Bill Croft Jazzmen during the 1950's before having short spells with various other bands. Unfortunately his committments with his day-time job prevented him from playing on a regular basis, but he never lost interest in the music. He will be sadly missed by all his friends in the UK.
Gordon."
This is indeed sad news. although I'd lost touch with Kevin over the years I have a vivid memory - no 'vivid' isn't the right word, substitute 'hazy' - travelling through France to Northern Spain in Kevin's Caravette destination the San Sebastian Jazz Festival. Kevin did the driving whilst Charlie Carmichael, Ronnie Young and I did the drinking. We'd stop off at French villages to replenish our stocks of food and wine (mainly wine). Although, because he was driving, Kevin was forced to abstain it nevertheless didn't stop him from sharing the laughs and joining in the fun we had along the way.
Lance.
For the past fifteen years we've been updating the world about jazz in the north east of England and updating the north east of England about jazz in the world. WINNER of the Jazz Media Category in the 2018 All Party Parliamentary Jazz Awards. Contact lanceliddle@gmail.com
Total Pageviews
Bebop Spoken There
Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"
Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...Postage
16051 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1058 of them this year alone and, so far, 12 this month (Dec. 6).
From This Moment On ...
December
Mon 11: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Interim Final Recitals @ Newcastle University. Details TBC.
Tue 12: Stu Collingwood Organ Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Wed 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Hot Fingers @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 14: After Hours Student Jazz Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. . Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 14: Niffi Osiyemi Trio @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Mo Scott ‘Little Mo’s Festive Appearance’ @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Tees Hot Club w. Kevin Eland, Josh Bentham, Garry Hadfield, Adrian Beadnell @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.
Fri 15: Paul Edis @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 15: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: Paul Skerritt @ Black Horse Inn, Crook. From 7:00pm.
Fri 15: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ St Cuhtbert's Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00. SOLD OUT! Waiting list open.
Fri 15: Zoë Gilby Trio @ Seventeen Nineteen, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £12.00. POSTPONED!
Fri 15: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. First night of two. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £10.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 15: Baghdaddies @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00.; £10.00.
Sat 16: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 2:00pm. A Jazzy Christmas + Jambone.
Sat 16: Porritt & Barrett & Friends Xmas Special @ Cullercoats Watch House. 7:00pm. £4.00.
Sat 16: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 16: Red Kites Jazz Band @ The Staithes Café, Gateshead. 7:00pm--9:00pm.
Sat 16: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Ellingham Village Hall, Chathill. 7:30pm. £12.00., £8.00.
Sat 16: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Sat 16: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Second night of two.
Sun 17: Red Kites Jazz Band @ Gibside Chapel, nr. Rowlands Gill. 1:00-2:30pm.
Sun 17: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm.
Sun 17: Revolutionaires @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Rock ‘n’ roll excellence!
Sun 17: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Alehouse, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 17: The Globe Xmas Party @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Multi-bill inc. David Gray’s Flextet + jam session.
Sun 17: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £17.00., £15.00.
Sun 17: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Amble Parish Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sun 17: Snake Davis Trio @ St John’s Hall, Snods Edge, Shotley Bridge DH8 9TJ. 7:30pm. £15.00. from 07766 037893.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(
Atom
)
Blog Archive
-
▼
2011
(
899
)
-
▼
May
(
79
)
- What a Swell Party This Was - celebrating Lily Vei...
- Joan Marron
- Martin Taylor News.
- Mikolaj Trzaska Trio @ The Bridge Hotel.May 29th
- Birthday Bash at Blaydon Tonight
- The Budtones @The Jazz Cafe - Saturday 28th May
- Scottish Jazz Awards
- Bard Lives.
- Melody Maker 1926
- Django Bates' Beloved Bird @ The Sage, Gateshead.
- Skywalkin' @ The Central Bar, Gateshead.
- Tommorrow - an Evening of Contrast
- Next Friday at the Saville Exchange.
- The Wigan International Jazz Festival
- Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ The Punchbowl,Jesmond....
- If you happen to be in Barbados - David Carnegie u...
- Maine St. Jazzmen @ Rosie's.
- A Tale of Two Venues - Tommaso Starace Quartet @ (...
- Emma Wilson Broadcast this Sunday
- Erin Dickins Interviewed - A Bebop Spoken Here Exc...
- Important Announcement - Tommasso Starace Quartet ...
- Marianne Faithfull @ The Sage, Gateshead.
- Tonight at The Sage.
- Singers Night - Sheer Delight - Splinter @ The Bri...
- Tonight at The Bridge Hotel, Newcastle
- The End of The World is Nigh.
- Tommaso Starace - amended details.
- R.I.P. Kathy Kirby
- The Impossible Gentlemen
- Maine Street Jazzmen @ Rosie Malone's
- Erin Dickins Nice Girls Don't Stay for Breakfast
- Sandi to play Birmingham.
- Ashington News
- Extra Special Concert @ Blaydon
- Parliament Gets It Right.
- Paul Edis Trio at The Cherry Tree, Monday 16th. Ma...
- River City Jazzmen Query
- RIP Bob Flanigan
- Tonight
- Hannabiell and Midnight Blue @ The Bridge
- Jazz Café Jumps.
- Highlights Of The Victoria Jazz Band at Discovery ...
- From the Jazz Band Ball to the Mambo Inn at Rosie'...
- For David Stephenson
- Hot Antics Pull The Punters @ The Legion.
- New Century News.
- SNAFU
- HOT ANTIC JAZZ BAND Weekend starting tonight
- R.I.P. Kevin Savin
- Alan Wilkinson & the Bergen Connection @ Central B...
- Frank Zappa - I'm a bandleader.
- Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ St Nicks.
- Jazz on 3 Wins Sony Award.
- R.I.P. Alfie Hind
- Frith St. @ The Cherry Tree Restaurant, Jesmond.
- CLARE TEAL ON WOMANS HOUR
- The New Mastersounds
- Special Night @ The Cherry Tree Tonight!
- Splinter Super Subs @ The Bridge.
- Little Mo Band @ Central Bar, Gateshead.
- Maine Street Jazzmen @ Ashington Jazz Club May 4
- News From Neds - "The Kid" Retires.
- An Evening with the Barnharts and Friends. Trinity...
- Michael Janisch's Paradigm Quintet @ The Lit and P...
- Jazz and Jam @ Offshore 44.
- Student Performances @ King's Hall, Newcastle Univ...
- Maine Street Jazzmen (more or less) @ Rosies.
- Offshore 44 is the place to be tonight
- Hartlepool Big Band Sessions Resume.
- Customs House Big Band - Open Rehearsal @ New Crow...
- Michael Janisch's Paradigm Shift Concept this Frid...
- Madeleine Peyroux @ The Sage, Gateshead. Monday Ma...
- Extreme Measures @ The Bridge Hotel. May 1st
- Another Wedding!
- A chance to bid farewell to David Carnegie - Thurs...
- Jazz Rascals launch CD @ Barn Asia
- Jazz Café Jam Session.
- Madeleine Peyroux @ The Sage Tomorrow night (May 2)
- Fiddles on Fire This afternoon
-
▼
May
(
79
)
5 comments :
Hi Lance,
Very sorry to hear this news, it was Kevin who send me a letter, a couple of years ago now, along with my fathers original Besson trumpet, that I have had restored and use, then I had another letter saying he was going to move to Spain.
I will always remember Kevin with Peter Gascoigne and The Vieux Carre Jazzmen,at the Corner House in the very early 80's, and Kevin playing with that smile on his face and Peter telling the audience that he beams like a very bright lighthouse...
God Bless Him...
Colin Aitchison
Hong Kong
I remember his laugh full toned, hearty and loud - it could drown out the band!
A very nice man! I played with him in the Savoy Jazzmen in Durham in 1973/74 at the Redhills Hotel. He was always laughing at something. He only occasionally took a banjo solo (being a gentleman) but very often broke a string when he did - possibly due to the rest of the band turning round to him and chanting in rhythmic fashion "break-a-string, break-a-string, break-a-string......" in time with the solo.
I'm very sorry to hear of his passing.
I fondly remember the campervan trip to San Sebastian and Kevin's incredibly loud laugh.
Having been follicle challenged since an early age, he rejoiced in his role in the Big Band audience as "The North Shields Lighthouse" when I would use the lights glinting on his shiny pate as a reference point for navigating around that crowded University Theatre Bar. (I can't remember who the South Shields Lighthouse was - but there was another chap who always stood at the other side near the door),
Ref Kevin - just close your eyes and you see that big smiley face and just wait for the roaring laugh.
RIP Kevin.
Sorry this is a very belated comment, I am a Welshman who ended up working in Darlington. I met a Kevin Savin who I think was a mobile accountant going to firms / businesses in the area. We started to drink together and he introduced me to Newcastle Brown Ale. He invited me to a club near the arched bridge in Newcastle, to my surprise he appeared on stage playing a banjo, I had a very memorable time the like of which has stayed with me to this day. The man I knew fits the description in your blogs to a tee. If it his him his memory will live on with me until my passing. I am going to put my email on this communication in the hope somebody will confirm his type of employment and maybe a photograph. I have other stories about my trip to Newcastle which show what a lively lad he was.
Carl Bigmore. Newport South Wales. clbigmore@btinternet.com
Post a Comment