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Bebop Spoken There

Béla Fleck: “ And that's the great thing about live performances, you take people on a journey. It doesn't have to be like something else they've heard. It's not supposed to be". DownBeat, April, 2024.

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...

Josh Weir: I love the writing on bebop spoken here... I think the work you are doing is amazing.

Postage

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm.
Thu 28: Richard Herdman Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Josh Bentham (alto sax); Alan Marshall (tenor sax); Neil Brodie (trumpet); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Graham Thompson (keys); Steve Hunter (drums).

Fri 29: FILM: Soul @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 12:30pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free. POSTPONED!
Fri 29: Thundercat @ Newcastle City Hall.
Fri 29: John Logan @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 30: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 30: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Whitley Bay Library, York Road, Whitley Bay. 8:00pm.

Sun 31: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields NE30 1HJ. 3:00pm. Free. Lambert, Alan Law & Paul Grainger.
Sun 31: Sid Jacobs & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. USA/London jazz guitar duo.
Sun 31: Bellavana @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

April
Mon 01: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 01: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.

Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Dean Stockdale, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Book Review: Simon Spillett - The Long Shadow of the Little Giant

If anyone was more qualified to write the definitive biography of Tubby Hayes, other than the late Ronnie Scott, then Spillett is that man. 
Spillett, born a year after Tubby died, may seem an unlikely  person to write such a definitive tome on 'The Little Giant" but, having listened to Spillett's own playing, and digesting the time and research that he has put into the project no one could have done it better. If Paul Quinichette had had Simon's literary talents maybe he could have produced a similar work on Lester Young.
Spillett covers just about every aspect of the tenorist's career from womb to tomb. Rightly recording Hayes' triumphs in America and at home - innumerable Melody Maker awards - the author also acknowledges the self destructive moments and the loves that always came second to the music.
The book brings back so many memories - the Flamingo Club on Wardour St where I used to hang out during and after my National Service days when I lived in Edgware - the musicians, the characters. Tony Hall asking the audience if anyone had a Melody Maker so he could tell them who was on the following night!
I'd follow the bands to the pub across the road during intermission, earwigging on conversations that weren't about Ddim7 or Aaug9 but "Yeah, I know her sister" or "What won the last race at Kempton?" or "Who's Arsenal playing Saturday?" etc. Musicians were human!
All this and more is revealed in this the, surely, definitive work on a complex and dedicated musician. A giant living in a world that wasn't big enough for him.
It's not a book to relax on the beach with, at circa 180,000 words - the equivalent number of notes in a Tubbs blast on Cherokee - the tide would have long come in and washed you away. It's true because you simply would not be able to put it down come hell or high water. That is, not if you belong to that generation that recognises Hayes as the UK's greatest ever jazzman.
In Simon Spillett we have a very rare individual - able to evaluate the music at the highest level and also able to convey the day to day stuff, via just about every media reference known, to the reader without loss of pace.
Again, like a Tubbs solo.
Lance.
PS: There's also an excellent discography.
PPS: Marks out of a 100? 99 - 99? Whitley Bay isn't in Yorkshire! Perhaps it should read Whitby!!
Published by Equinox.

1 comment :

Harry Monty said...

Hi Lance,

I agree - what a fantastic effort and a terrific read - I'm reading it a second time to get the full impact. All praise to Simon Spillett for an outstanding biography and history of the period.The acknowledgements reads like a who's who of all the jazz musicians of the period.
Like you, it brought back many happy memories such as nights at the Flamingo, Ronnie's old and new clubs, attending many of the BBC Jazz Club recordings, Jazz 625, the Couriers' concert at the Dominion theatre and the 1958 Jazz Jamboree at the Gaumont State Kilburn which featured not only the Couriers but also the Vic Ash Sextet, the Johnny Dankworth and Ted Heath Orchestras, the Jazz Makers, the Tony Kinsey Quartet and the Chris Barber and Humphrey Lyttleton Bands amongst others.

Happy reading.

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