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Bebop Spoken There

Spasmo Brown: “Jazz is an ice cream sandwich! It's the Fourth of July! It's a girl with a waterbed!”. (Syncopated Times, July, 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

17346 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 630 of them this year alone and, so far, 35 this month (Sept. 11).

From This Moment On ...

September

Fri 13: Jeff Barnhart & Neville Dickie @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Two pianos, two pianists! SOLD OUT!
Fri 13: Noel Dennis Quartet @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 13: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Dilutey Juice @ Old Coal Yard, Byker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £11.00. adv..
Fri 13: Ray Stubbs R & B All-stars @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm. Classic blues.

Sat 14: Jeff Barnhart’s Silent Film Fest @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 14: Customs House Big Band w. Ruth Lambert @ St Paul’s Centre, St Paul’s Gardens, Spennymoor DL16 7LR. 7:00pm (6:45pm doors). Tickets £10.00. from the venue or tel: 01388 813404. A ‘BYOB’ event.
Sat 14: Emma Wilson @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. £12.00. Acoustic blues.
Sat 14: Rat Pack - Swingin’ at the Sands @ Billingham Forum. 7:30pm.

Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Jude Murphy, Steve Chambers & Sid White @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 15: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Panharmonia @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 16: Swing Manouche @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Mon 16: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 16: John Hallam with the James Birkett Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00. A Blaydon Jazz Club 40th anniversary concert!

Tue 17: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Victoria & Albert Inn, Seaton Delaval. 12:30pm. £13.00. Tel: 0191 237 3697. ‘Indian Summer Afternoon Tea’.
Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels (guitar); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums).

Wed 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 18: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 18: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 18: Hot Club of Heaton @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘third Wednesday in the month’ session.

Thu 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 19: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 19: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. THC with guests Kevin Eland, Dan Johnson, Jeremy McMurray, Ron Smith.

Thursday, January 02, 2020

Johnny Desmond

(By Lance)

Reading Russell's preview of Ray McVay's Glenn Miller tribute at Sage Gateshead prompted me to reflect upon the late iconic bandleader. It seems to me that, possibly because of the enduring popularity of the music, the legend continues to grow. I doubt if Goodman, Shaw, Dorsey or even Ellington and Basie tribute bands could pull the punters like Miller - 75 years after his presumed death.

I've heard all the jokes "Better if Miller had lived and the music died" being one of the favourites and, it has to be admitted, the music could be a little schmaltzy at times. However, moving away from the civilian orchestra to the Army Air Force Band he fronted in Bedford, UK, we find ourselves in a different ball game.

This band swung - how could it not with Ray McKinley on drums, Peanuts Hucko blowing sax and clarinet, Bobby Nichols and Zeke Zarchey on trumpets, Mel Powell on piano and vocals by Johnny Desmond...

...Johnny Desmond! If Desmond had had a 'punctured eardrum' and escaped the draft the history of American popular song could have been a whole lot different.

This came to mind as I listened to a couple of postwar albums he made back in civvy street. Once Upon a Time is a fine orchestral album that shows off Desmond's perfectly pitched interpretations of standards but it is Blue Smoke that elevates him into the upper echelons of crooners.
Accompanied by Tony Mottola on guitar and Bob Haggart on bass, this is an album that can stand comfortably alongside the Sinatra's, Ella's and all the other vocal legends. Listen to I'm Thru With Love and you may get an idea where I'm coming from.
Lance

2 comments :

Steve T said...

It's always treacherous to second-guess the future, but I suspect people will be listening to Duke Ellington when the popularity of Miller - alongside other dead popstars - is restricted to discussion in academia.

Lance said...

Absolutely! Totally agree with you. The point I'm making is that Miller captured the imagination of so many people (mainly, these days, non jazz fans) of a certain age who probably remember the film - and, for all its inaccuracies, it was a good film - and the circumstances of his disappearance. The myths and misinformation that followed all added to the mystique.

My theory is that Ray McVay is actually the real Glenn Miller. He looks to be about the same age (114)...

Seriously Steve, you and I know that Ellington's music, like that of Bach and Beethoven will last forever but, who's not to say that Miller's music, like that of Gilbert and Sullivan, Bill Haley and Billy Cotton will not only also survive.

Howver, I digress, my whole point was to draw attention to what a fine crooner Johnny Desmond was...

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