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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

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.

Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.

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); Paul Wight (drums).

Monday, March 02, 2015

Book Review: The Best Gig in Town - Jazz Artists at the White House 1969-1974 by Edward Allan Faine

There's no shortage of jazz literature - I've a floor to ceiling wall full of them (interspersed with Chandler and Elmore Leonard) - so do we really need more?
If the tome is unique then the answer is yes.
This book is unique.
Much has been written about Richard Nixon's Presidential time in office - Watergate and all that jazz or, to be more precise, Watergate without all that jazz.
Here the jazz is given centre stage and, although Watergate is touched on, emphasis is on the bands, artists, and distinguished guests of honour who appeared in the East Room.
It's quite a roster of talent: Duke Ellington; Henry Mancini; MJQ; Al Hirt; Peggy Lee; WGJB; Bobby Short; Pearl Bailey (twice); Billy Taylor (twice); Pete Fountain and Frank Sinatra.
Each concert has a chapter devoted to it, the background, the evening, the bigwigs (heads of state from France, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Iran, Ivory Coast, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Apollo 10 Astronauts) and press reports in the aftermath. 
Needless to say some performances were better received than others - Peggy Lee overran and drank too much! Pearl Bailey blagged a White House chair and, on her next visit, tried to blag the Steinway!
It's a great read and, whilst it might not be another exposé of "Tricky Dicky", for the jazz person, it's a fascinating look at the inner circles of American politics and, in particular, the choices Mr P and his advisers made.
Obviously the artists booked were "clean" upstanding Americans - even Frank, with all his baggage, was an obvious choice for a gig when the Italian Prime Minister was the guest of honour. Sinatra changed his political allegiance as frequently as he changed bow-ties in his bobbysoxer years!
It's a book well written and well referenced - at times I felt I was sitting midst the blue-rinsed matrons and the portly governors and ambassadors listening to some of the finest music of the era.
The Best Gig in Town - Jazz Artists at the White House 1969-1974 by Edward Allan Faine  is now available on Amazon. (UK Link.)
Lance.

2 comments :

Liz said...

on my wish list to read after your excellent review!

Patti D. said...

Yes, mine too! Sounds fascinating .....

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