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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

15848 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 855 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Sept. 18).

From This Moment On ...

September

Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: Brief Encounter @ Bardon Mill Village Hall, Northumberland. 7:00pm. Tickets: £10.00. adv from 07885 303166; £12.00. on the door. Chris & Veronica Perrin improvising to a screening of the 1929 'Jazz Age' silent film Piccadilly (Dir. Ewald André Dupont).
Fri 22: Paul Edis & Graeme Wilson + Three Tsuru Origami @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 22: Crooners @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 22: Abbie Finn's Finntet @ Traveller's Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 23: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Tanfield Railway, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. Free. A '1940s Weekend' event.
Sat 23: Jason Isaacs @ Stack, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 23: Andrew Porritt & Keith Barrett @ Cullercoats Watch House, Front St., Cullercoats NE30 4QB. 7:00pm.
Sat 23: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig. Country blues.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm.

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.

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Keith Crombie Dead!


The news that Keith Crombie is dead has totally shocked me and no doubt has also shocked that part of the jazz community associated with "The Caff".
A man who didn't suffer fools gladly, his dedication to the music he loved and the support and encouragement he gave to musicians make him a unique one in a million figure.
This is just so so sad that I can't write any more. The photo by Kaveh Emami sums Keith up perfectly.
The world will be a much duller place from now on.
Rest In Peace.
Lance.
PS: Friends, musicians and anyone associated with Keith are invited to meet up outside of the Jazz Café tomorrow (New Year's Eve) at noon for photos, video and memories.)
A tribute concert is being arranged by Peter Gilligan to take place on Sunday afternoon (2pm) January 6 at the Jazz Café.
Sunday Sun Obituary.
Facebook Photos by Kaveh Emami.
Facebook Memorial Page.

12 comments :

Lou said...

Rest in peace, Keith. You did so much to make swing dancers welcome, and keep Jazz alive.
Your sense of humour and kindness will be greatly missed.
Lou
Swing Dancer
x

Anonymous said...

Shocking news. Keith Crombie was a gruff but absolutely lovable character who struggled on for years and years keeping his beloved Jazz Cafe going, trailing the streets with flyers, etc.
He provided a totally unique venue, a great place for jazz musicians to play and hang out.
He and his Jazz Cafe are already Tyneside jazz legend. The anecdotes would make a very good book!
Very sad.
Roly

Jake said...

The Jazz Café is possibly the last real life personification of all the fictional jazz venues. At first, all that was missing was the smoke - now it's Keith...
Jake.

John Pope (On Facebook). said...

For as long as I've been playing jazz in Newcastle I have played it at the Jazz Cafe on Pink Lane. It's a dingy, cluttered, tiny space, the absolute archetype of the term 'Jazz Club'. It has been the site of much learning, listening, hard work, laughter, frustration and joy, all for the love of music and those who make it. It's importance in my development - not to mention that of the scores of other musicians who performed there regularly - cannot be overstated. None of that could have happened without Keith Crombie and his insurmountable dedication to keeping the place alive, to give the people of this city a place to see the music he cared about be played. Tonight we honoured his memory with that music. I feel humbled and grateful to have been a part of it. He will be sorely missed.

RIP Keith Crombie.

SJB said...

Wouldn't the best memorial be for someone to keep it going?
RIP

Anonymous said...

I think it was 1993 when I first met Keith. It was my first time at the Jazz Cafe on a mid-week night and I was being inquisitive about the set-up of the Jazz Cafe. All of a sudden he turned in his likeable abrupt character and said "You ask a lot of F*%$ing questions dont you, are you a copper?" Since then we have been great friends and myself and others have had some very memorable nights there. Keith you will be sadly missed and I sincerely hope that one of your family or colleagues continue to run the Jazz Cafe in the way that we all like it....
R.I.P.
Nick

Anonymous said...

I first met Keith in the 70's when he used to frequent Julie's nightclub. He was often gruff but always likeable and over the years I got used to seeing him around the town (usually in the vicinity of the universities) handing out his flyers for the Cafe. Keith was an absolute legend and one of the last of the great Nort-East characters. He was a bugger for who he would allow through the door (depending on his mood haha) altho if you had a student union card you were generally ok. Heaven has a new guard on the door today. Rest in Peace, Keith, you were truly one of a kind x

Lloyd said...

Keith could certainly do mood swings. I recall his apparent fury with me when we were both trying to use the same pub wall to publicise our gigs, and then one minute later, once I had convinced him that no clash was meant, he was enthusiastically sharing his love of the film 'Bullshot'. His love of jazz was clear to all: it was the simple explanation for the Jazz Cafe - a characterful individual venue that was loved perhaps at least as much for its faults as its virtues. Long may it survive. It surprised and pleased me over the years that the many students of the Newcastle Swing Dance Society all seemed to see through his grumpiness quickly and liked him.

Lloyd said...

Well said.

James Fields said...

As long as they dont change a thing. Leave all dvds and books in there (and his tv). and dont paint the place. it is absolutely perfect as it is. Bless ya Keith, I will miss you terribly. James

Anonymous said...

i met keith when i moved to newcastle in the early 90's, on my first visit to the jazz cafe i asked for a job and worked there throughout my 20's-what a job! I turned up soon after i begun working there at 10 in the morning, distraught after seeing my then boyfriend off on a long train to china (literally). Keith gave me two shots of whiskey and then got me in the kitchen washing the grease off the walls as i cried myself to normality. He was a big softie...a big heart. the end of an era. the cafe without keith...i just can't imagine it.

Frank Black said...

RIP, Keith

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