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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 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

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.

Sun 04: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 04: Central Bar Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. £5.00. The Central Bar Quintet plays Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus. Featuring Lewis Watson.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 04: Struggle Buggy + Michael Littlefield @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues.
Sun 04: Swinging at the Cotton Club: Harry Strutters' Hot Rhythm Orchestra @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.
Sun 04: Richard Jones Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Monday, May 07, 2012

R.I.P. Mighty Joe Young

I've just received the sad news that John Young - better known as guitarist.bassist Mighty Joe Young has passed away aged 80.
Joe had suffered from Dementia for a number of years and recently was suspected of having a trace of lung cancer.
I first encountered Joe at the New Orleans Jazz Club in Newcastle where he led one of the area's first modern jazz groups. Colleagues included pianist Bill Harper, saxist Jeff Hedley, trumpet player John Walters, drummers Ian Forbes and Jacky Denton to name but a few.
He later crossed the stylistic divide playing with the Vieux Carré Jazzmen on double bass.
Bill Harper wrote a lovely piece last year on Joe which I've linked to here.
Our thoughts are with his dear wife Diane.
Sadly missed.
Lance.
PS: Funeral arrangements will be announced when known.

10 comments :

alfstone said...

How sad I was to read the news of Joe's demise. Like many others I spent most of my Wednesday and Saturday nights in the bowels of the Hawthorn imbibing Brown Ale and watching Joe and the band during my youth. I met my wife-to-be at the club but I never held that against the place. Joe was a nice guy and his band were inspirational for us youngsters. RIP Joe.

Steve Andrews said...

Very sorry to hear about Joe. It may be a cliche to say so, but he was a really nice man, and will be remembered fondly by everyone he played with and for.

Roly Veitch said...

Sad news. I've fond memories of those New Orleans Jazz Club sessions with Jeff Hedley, Bill Harper and Co. - my first encounter with 'modern' jazz. We got to know each other later and he would always have time for a chat, words of encouragement, etc. In recent years it was always lovely to see Joe and Diane at Darlington Jazz Club and other gigs down in that locality. One of life's true gentlemen.
Roly

Colin Aitchison said...

Sorry to hear the news, I remember as a young kid, Joe coming around to the house in Wallsend, as Dad, was one of the trumpet players who played with his Mainstream band for a while, and used to have a good chat about the days at Melbourne Street, but I was too young to remember much about it, shame, would have loved to have heard the band in those days...a great loss...
Colin Aitchison
(Hong Kong)

Brian Bennett said...

Great memories of The Mighty Joe Young Band at The New Orleans Jazz Club - usually on a Saturday which was 'Modern Night'
Joe always sat in front and in the middle of the band and played a small, acoustic guitar which, if my memory serves me well, was never amplified or mike'd up. I used to inch closer to the band to try to hear Joe's guitar but sadly, I never did. Was that Jackie Denton on drums behind Joe?
Mighty Joe Young - a Tyneside legend, a truly great guy, and someone that I'm proud to have played with on many occasions.

Bruce Goodwin said...

I worked with 'Joe' at the Tech on Bath Lane.Already a jazz fan, Joe and his band turned me on to Mainstream and then Be-Bop.Until I moved south to Manchester I was nearly always to be found at Melbourne St. on a Sat. night. Leo the Tenor player gave me the urge to play and I later played tenor in a blues band for many years round South Lancs and North Manchester.So Joe started it! A really nice guy and I enjoyed his company at work, socially and of course his band. A sad loss but good memories.

Gordon Solomon. said...

I first heard the Mighty Joe Young Band in the original New Orleans Club in Melbourne Street in 1960. His Saturday night sessions there were always packed and became a focal point for local musicians interested in Mainstream/Modern jazz. I remember Jeff Hedley, John Walters, Bill Harper and Jackie Denton as band members, -all top players. After his band disbanded Joe switched from guitar to double bass and reverted to playing New Orleans jazz,- I remember many happy sessions at the Crowley pub in Swalwell with Joe, the Rae Bros, Ronnie Robinson and Derek Cogger. I also recall Joe's sense of humour,- on one occasion mid-way through a number Joe's bridge collapsed with a resounding thwack which made people at the back of the room jump. As we all turned round and looked at Joe he calmly said "Keep playing, pretend that nothing's happened!". Joe will be sadly missed by many people.

Anonymous said...

my condolences for the delay in response. Yet his spirit lives high.

Anonymous said...

Nearly eighty-five years old and retired to the Cotswolds, I have only just read of Joe Young's demise. We first met at the Newcastle Jazz Club above a pub, I think in Melbourne Street. It was through Joe and my correspondence with him when I was in BAOR that I first met one of his Laboratory work colleagues. Sheila and I later married. Joe was unable to be 'Best Man'. Sheila and me have now spent 61 years together since leaving Newcastle in 1956. I played Bb Tenor slide trambone with Joe from about 1953 onwards after National Service. This includes regular rehearsals on Sunday morning in the Arcade (Pilgrim Street?) local Jazz Clubs, the Uni Refectory, back of Rag Week lorries, Working men's clubs and numerous unpaid gigs! We went to London on several occasions and regularly four of us - Sheila, me Joe and Pat Burney (now deceased)would take the United Buses or borrow cars to picnic in Co. Durham and Northumberland. He was an intelligent young man, well read and I think capable of rising above his chosen occupation. But his enthusiasm was for music and not work! He introduced me to the classics and sci-fi and we had good fun visiting the News Theatre in Northumberland Street weekly - as well as any interesting musical events and newly-opened 'Gents'! The last time I met and played Guitar with Joe and his outfit was in the 1960's above a pub somewhere in Byker. I read that he probably had a touch of lung cancer. From when I first knew him he was a chain smoker with nicotine stained fingers and moustache. I have no doubt that's what carried him off to the big jazz club in the sky. I regret not having kept in touch and met his wives. Sadly missed by myself and my wife. RIP Mighty Joe. From George Heaviside

Wakey said...

Joe was my first boss, as a technician at Bath Lane College. What a guy, the world needs him these days. I saw him many times at the New Orleans club, and we shared a great, offbeat sense of humour. They don't seem to make them like that any more. Sadly missed, hope you'e entertaining all the angels my mate, respect, George Wake

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