Total Pageviews

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 28, 2018

Tyneside Cinema: The Geordie Jazzman - a film by Abi Lewis.

(Review by Lance).
You wait a long time for a legend then two come along almost at once. Thursday night, at Washington Arts Centre, The Desert Queen told the story of Gertrude Bell. A lady who defied convention to help make the Arab world a better place.
The Geordie Jazzman told the story of Keith Crombie and the Jazz Café, Newcastle. A gentleman who defied convention to help make the northeast a better place - at least music-wise. Whether either one of them succeeded is debatable. The middle-east is in disarray and jazz has no shortage of warring tribes either.
This was the second time I'd seen the film and, as one of the pundits said afterward, "I picked up on many of the nuances I missed the first time around".
Me too. The man was such an enigma.
Beneath the public facade was a person of unique intellect. Like Lewis Carroll's walrus, he could talk of many things and not just shoes and ships and sealing wax and cabbages and kings, although I'm sure he'd have opinions on all of those items.
Abi Lewis captured the essence of her subject, warts and all. An opinionated man, his views were strong. and it was irrelevant to him whether you agreed or disagreed. It didn't matter if you fell into the latter category, if he liked you he liked you and vice-versa.
The full house (there's another screening on August 18), five years after his death, was a testimony to the man's charisma as was the New Orleans style funeral parade through rhe streets of Newcastle behind the horse-drawn hearse, the band and the mourners.
There may have been a dry eye in the house but, if there was, it wasn't mine.
Chapeau Abi Lewis.
Bravo Gypsy Dave Smith for his solo performance. Singing and playing the blues as he did for many years at the Jazz Café.
Bon Voyage Keith.
The panel discussion afterward, hosted by film historian Chris Phipps, provided further insight into the man and the process of putting it [the film] altogether.
I missed the Q & A session but enjoyed hanging out afterward with Jazz Café society both ancient and modern whilst listening to, among others, Lindsay Hannon (vocals); Mark Williams (guitar); Paul Grainger (bass) and Mark Robertson (drums). All appeared at various points during the film with Mark and Don Forbes (trumpet) playing a prominent role in the narration.
Never did the song There Will Never be Another You have greater relevance.
Lance.

4 comments :

John Hallam (on F/b) said...

Pity I couldn't make it. The Dick Straughan Band played the first night at the cafe. We arrived early to find the place shut. Then he arrived and asked us to help setting it out. What a state it was in. We almost spent more time moving chairs etc than playing!

John Hallam (on F/b) said...

He used to have a "junktique" shop on the opposite corner to the cafe. I called in occasionally for a look and a natter. One day an anorak called in and was minutely examining the model railway stuff. He kept pointing out all the defects and Keith was getting fed up. Eventually, he snatched one out of the customer's hand, smashed it on the counter and said something on the lines of " I don't suppose you want this anymore?"
That was Keith!

Patti Durham (on F/b) said...

It was an excellent tribute to the man and the venue ..... but I thought it a great shame that some of the folk in the Q and A session afterwards said they'd never set foot in The Jazz Cafe as it is now - out of principle, or what? They're missing out on some fabulous jazz!

Hugh said...

I thoroughly enjoyed the film. Agree with Patti (above) regarding the comments in the Q and A. I actually had never set foot in the Jazz Cafe as it was (during Crombie's time) - I mentioned this after the film to one of those attending who commented: you didn't miss much, it was a sh*t hole!

Blog Archive