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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).

Saturday, September 29, 2018

An Ode to BSH by Ann Alex

Music goes where words can’t go
And jazz goes even further.
BSH goes everywhere
Nothing is a bother.

By car, cab or metro-train,
In lightning, thunder or in rain,
We’re the gig invaders
Our chariot, the 27 Crusader.

I’m told to go and hear a band
No matter what else I have planned
And if they’re bad I daren’t say
Bad is what’s meant when we say it’s okay.

A work in progress they can be
Which means they may get better
Or, in their own inimitable way,
Which means they won’t get better.

But if the band is up for the gig
Here in the northeast
I’ll write, ’of thee I dig’
And on the music I will feast.
-----

Nice Work If You Can Get It

We get paid in CDs and promises
Lance says there’ll be more to come
Does he think us doubting Thomas’
Are really that xxxxxxx dumb?

Ten percent rise he says
Smiling and tipping his hat
But ten percent of nothing
Won’t pay the mortgage on my flat.
-----

What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?

Gig reviews must come the very next day
CDs not much later
If I dared to take a holiday
I’d be branded as a traitor.

Come Stormy Weather, Rain Or Shine
Or midst the Leaves of Autumn
Just don’t mention Summertime
It could lead to your post-mortem.
-----  
Oh Lady Be Good

So here’s to all at Bebop Spoken Here
With water, wine and hand-pulled beer.
To Lance, Russell and the Steves - H and T
Debra and Jerry and Hugh and Me.

To comments from Patti and Liz of York
And, of course, Ken Drew.
His pictures paint a 1000 words
Or more, to give him his due.

And not forgetting Tony Eales
He’s indirectly quoted
From the Wear down to the Tees
He rarely goes unnoticed.

There’s Dave B and JC
And Colin in Hong Kong.
Warren at Hoochie Coochie
Now don’t get me wrong.

We must also toast the players
Them that verily doth blow
The singers and the swingers
Who put on the evening’s show.

They are the ones who deserve to be heard
Aspiring to be Ella, Trane or Bird
Without them, we, the bloggers,
Would surely be lost for words.

We’re always looking for people
To write about the jazz
And if you don’t want to…
Well You Needn’t!

Ann Alex (with additional poetic licence from Lance).

(Ann and I have had a literary relationship going back many years to when I joined a writers' group where Ann was a prominent member and coordinator - dotting my I’s and crossing my t’s as required – something Russell does now. – Lance) 

3 comments :

Patti said...

Ann - this is a wonderful tribute to BSH, and Lance ......

Liz said...

Wow Ann, that is genius, well done!

Anonymous said...

Thank you Liz and Patti, you've both commented, as it says in the poem! Lance is being modest about his contribution, which was a lot, although I did the 1st draft and used the song titles. I thought it was a good time to write this poem just when we're nominated for an award. Ann

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