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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

Mon 20: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 20: Central Bar Quintet plays Wes Montgomery @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:30pm. Feat. Joe Steels.

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.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Book Review: Ronnie Scott's 1959-69. Photographs by Freddy Warren

(Review by Lance)

Jazz and photography have had a long and mutual love affair with each other. Nothing captures the memory of a gig better than that of a photo of a saxophone player in full flight, each bead of perspiration caught by the camera, or that of a trumpet player, eyes closed, cheeks extended, heading for the moon. Somehow, a hambone video taken by someone in the audience and posted on YouTube rarely does credit to the performance or the performer. 

With a photo, particularly if you were present, it brings it all back and even if you weren't there it helps you to visualise it.

This latest addition to the ranks of jazz photo albums can sit proudly alongside the collections of such as William Claxton, David Redfern, Val Wilmer and many others.

Freddy Warren was a regular at Ronnie Scott's from the days, or rather nights, at Gerrard St to the current venue in Frith St., for 20 years taking atmospheric shots of the legends who appeared there.

Sadly, after some years of ill health, Freddy Warren died in 2010 during a fire at his home.

Freddy's nephew, Simon Whittle, rescued as many photos and negatives as he could from the charred remains of the apartment in Euston and the result is what eventually emerged in this collection.

They're mainly - but not all - in black and white and perfectly capture the era not least because when a musician hasn't got a horn in his hand he's holding or smoking a cigarette!

Ronnie Scott's, as we all know, has presented just about every great jazz musician and many of the players and singers from those early years are captured here.

Amazing shots of Basie, Cannonball, Tony Bennett, Lockjaw, Dizzy, Duke, Ella, Miles, Bill Evans, Tubbs, Buddy Rich, Stan Getz, Ben Webster and a whole lot more.

Also fascinating are the clips of the MM ads from those early days that adorn the inside of the book's hardback covers.

I'd have liked to have had a few more words accompanying the pictures but, as the man behind the lens is no longer with us, that's just wishful thinking. Besides, if a picture paints a 1000 words etc.

It's much more than a coffee table book, it's a musical history book to adorn your shelves but don't put it so high that you can't reach it!

The Guardian posted some shots from the album here and there is an exhibition currently running at the Barbican Library in London until January 4, 2020.

It's available via the usual online outlets and from all good bookstores

To purchase individual photos go here.
Lance

Freddy Warren, Graham Marsh, Simon Whittle - Ronnie Scott's 1959-69. Reel Art Press ISBN: 978-1- 9095266-3-1. £29.95 

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