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Bebop Spoken There

Delfeayo Marsalis: "Slide Hampton once told me that it's not always the person that is playing the highest or playing the fastest that's making the greatest impact." - (DownBeat March 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

15229 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 248 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (March 20).

From This Moment On ...

March

Tue 21: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 21: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Jacob Egglestone (guitar); Jamie Watkins (bass guitar); Bailey Rudd (drums).

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller's Rest, Cockerton. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public). Note change of venue - this week only.
Wed 22: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Thu 23: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcasatle. From 6:30pm 'til late. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra jam session. All welcome (students & non-students).
Thu 23: Kerrin Tatman + John Garner & John Pope @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 23: Sunna Gunnlaugs & Julia Hülsmann @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm. A two-piano gig. A Sage Gateshead-JNE promotion.
Thu 23: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano.
Thu 23: Sleep Suppressor @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00., £8.00. adv. Upstairs.
Thu 23: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: FILM: Mo' Better Blues @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Fri 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Scarth Hall, Staindrop, Co. Durham. 8:00pm. £10.00.
Fri 24: Archipelago + Bulbils @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.

Sat 25: Vermont Big Band @ Walker Community Centre, Walker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Fundraiser for Benfield Juniours Football Club. Hot food available, BYOB.
Sat 25: John Logan & Friends @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rat Pack, Motown etc. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Outlines @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE promotion (upstairs).

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Thursday, July 28, 2016

R.I.P Grahame Shepherd

Colin Aitchison has sent me the sad news that sax player and clarinettist Grahame Shepherd has died in Spain.
Grahame, who studied at Newcastle's College of Arts and Technology in the 1970s played baritone with the Newcastle Big Band as well as clarinet with the Phoenix Jazzmen. He and Colin also played summer seasons with the Steve Stephenson Show Band. There's also a YouTube clip of him playing in more recent years with a Pink Floyd tribute band.
I don't know much more at present so will be grateful for any further information.
A fine player who will be sadly missed by all who knew him.
Lance

8 comments :

Steve Andrews said...

Shocked and saddened to hear this. Grahame and I were around the same age and played together many times in the early '70's, notably at the sessions at the Gosforth Hotel. He was a great saxophone player and a good jazzman (which doesn't necessarily follow), particularly on tenor, so he and I had a bit of friendly competition going there. Sad news.

Cormac Loane said...

I was very sad to hear of Graham Sheppard's untimely death. I sat alongside Graham in the Newcastle Big Band sax section from about 1972 to 1974 and we took part together in the Big Band's visit to the Pau Jazz Festival in France round that time. Graham was a good friend and a great saxophone player, but I particularly remember the fluency of his clarinet playing which owed a lot to his mentor Sid Phillips, with whom he studied in London before moving to the North-East. I recollect sitting in with a mainstream jazz group which Graham co-led with saxophonist Nigel Stanger at the Gosforth Hotel on Wednesday evenings - perhaps this is the group that Steve Andrews recalls. (If I remember correctly, the band was called Splinters, because it was a splinter group from the Big Band). I was very much indebted to Graham for furthering my career as a young musician because, as a teenager, he frequently invited me to deputise for him in the Bavarian Bierkeller Band at the Hofbrauhaus on Waterloo Street, thus giving me the opportunity to play next to the great trumpet player, Bobby Carr. Graham was a great guy and a great musician who will be sadly missed.

Gordon Solomon said...

Thanks for letting me know about Graham, very sad. Graham played with the Phoenix Jazzmen for a couple of years before leaving to join the house Oompah Band at the Hofbrauhause Club in Waterloo Street. He was an excellent musician and played clarinet and tenor sax with the band, - I think he also played baritone in the Newcastle Big Band. The Phoenix line-up at that time was Don Eddy on drums, Gordon "Sting" Sumner bass, John Hedley guitar, Graham on reeds, Ronnie Young trumpet and vocals and myself on trombone. I remember this band produced a really big sound and looking at the rhythm section I'm not surprised! I'm sure Graham will be sadly missed.

Gordon Solomon.

Unknown said...

We played with Grahame every week for the last five years here in Spain, such a fantastic and soulful musician who played with an ocean of feeling on his tenor and flute. We will always cherish his memory. RIP dear Grahame.
Rudy
JAZZIFY band

Sting said...

I worked with Grahame in the Newcastle Big Band and The Phoenix Jazzmen in the mid seventies. He was a consummate musician and a gentleman. I bought a Baritone sax from him, which led to me being evicted from my flat after a complaint from the noise abatement society, or they may have been music lovers. Rest in Peace Grahame, I'm proud to have known you. Love,
Sting.

John Hedley said...

College mate, band mate, loved his playing, modest to a fault and a decent man. I'm listening to The Phoenix Jazzmen's biggest hit record: Beale Street Blues. Graham, what a gem. Great to have known you mate.
John Hedley

Colin Scott said...

A native of Edinburgh, now in Wisconsin, I attended College in Newcastle with Grahame back in the early/mid 70's. He was a good guy, and a much better musician than I could ever be. I am so sad to hear of his death. Unfortunately, a few guys I knew at
the College in Newcastle have already departed. It is all very depressing. Do you happen to have an email address for Colin Aitchison? He was in Hong Kong last I heard. He was also at college with Grahame and I all those years ago. God, I feel old.

Lance said...

Colin, I'll email you Colin Aitchison's address.

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