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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

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.

Tue 03: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. House trio: Michael Young (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums). CANCELLED!

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Paul Skerritt @ Vespa Italian Bar & Steakhouse, Primrose Hill, Jarrow. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 483 3355.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Sound the Trumpets @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 05: Hot Club du Nord @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00. POSTPONED!
Thu 05: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Tommy Bentz Trio + Mark Croft Duo + George Shovlin & George Lamb @ The Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Harbour View Speakeasy's USA blues double bill + Shovlin & Lamb!
Thu 05: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 06: Alcyona Mick @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 2:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Balo @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Fri 06: Lexer/Mayes/Noble + Semay Wu + Miman @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Dulcie May Moreno @ The Vault, Hexham. 7:30pm. £20.00. Book in advance. Moreno with Alan Law, Paul Grainger & John Bradford.
Fri 06: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. 'Celebrating Oscar'.
Fri 06: Nu Brass Sounds: Big Brass Bash @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: TBC @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Film Review ‘Beware of Mr Baker’ Director Jay Bulger

(Review by Steve.)
This movie begins as it ends with the 75 year old Baker breaking the directors nose on camera by attacking him with a  cane. 
This is not so much a ‘Rockumentary’  as a ‘Jazzumentary’ for Ginger Baker is first and foremost a Jazz drummer although he found  fame and fortune with  cult rock outfits Cream and Blind Faith. To this day his drumming heroes are Phil Seamen, Max Roach, Art Blakey and Elvin Jones. As Eric Clapton says on camera he was in a different league to the two rock drumming  giants of the late 60’s and early 70s John Bonham and Keith Moon .
Clapton explains that Baker is not just a drummer but a consummate musician able to compose, arrange and lead. Amazingly, unlike the aforementioned two rock drum legends  he is still alive despite leading a similar life of debauchery and serial drug abuse.
Baker, age 14, first got into Jazz when acting as a decoy for a gang nicking records he heard Max Roach on the ‘Quintet of the Year’ album (the other four members were Dizzy, Bird, Bud Powell and Mingus) he stole the LP despite not having a record player and subsequently got ‘strapped’ by his mum when she found out.
 In the late 70’s Baker was the first musician to really get into ‘World Music’  and he went to live in Nigeria for several years to collaborate with the great Fela Kuti. Bizarrely it was also whilst in Nigeria that he got into Polo which has subsequently become a life’s obsession so much so that Ginger seems to have chukkered all of his money on importing dozens of horses to which ever country his nomadic lifestyle takes him.  
This biopic, like its protagonist, pulls no punches. It makes great use of archive photographs and animated charcoal drawings to illustrate scenes from  Mr Baker’s colourful past.  
Baker comes across as a thoroughly unpleasant character despite being one of the giants of modern Jazz/Rock drumming.  To be a member of his family either musically or domestically seems to have been a fraught and literally threatening experience. However, as far as this movie is concerned he is a riveting, engaging,  humorous yet frightening subject – recommended viewing!
‘Beware of Mr Baker’ - Tyneside Cinema 13:55 today (May 30).

1 comment :

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the very useful synopsis. I'm really looking forward to seeing the movie, although sadly I can't get to the screening at the (wonderful) Tyneside Cinema. I'll have to wait for the DVD release.
Ginger's still very active (I suspect the unfortunate reality is that he needs the money). Ginger Baker's Jazz Confusion features Ginger, Pee Wee Ellis on sax, Alec Dankworth on bass (son of Johnny Dankworth & Cleo Laine) and African "drum driver" Abass Dodoo on percussion. Jazz laced with African rhythm. They played The Cluny last year - I really recommend making the effort to see them (before it's too late!). Check out the upcoming tour dates here if interested http://www.ents24.com/uk/tour-dates/ginger-bakers-jazz-confusion.
Thanks again for the film review. Whilst he's undoubtedly a "difficult" human being, his continued musical legacy's right up there with the best of them - and as you point out, covering more genres than most.
Cheers, Les.

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