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Farewell Blues

R.I.P. HRH Queen Elizabeth ll (1926 - Sept. 8, 2022).
R.I.P. Trevor Tomkins (1941 - Sept. 9, 2022).
R.I.P. Gordon McGregor (Sept. 11, 2022).
R.I.P. Ramsey Lewis (1935 - Sept. 12, 2022).
R.I.P. Pharoah Sanders (Oct. 13, 1940 - Sept. 24, 2022).
R.I.P. Sue Mingus (April 2, 1930 - Sept. 24, 2022).

Bebop Spoken There

Larry Klein: "- in a certain way - Leonard [Cohen] is the greatest songwriter ever." - (Jazzwise October 2022)

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

14602 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 14 years ago. 880 of them this year alone and, so far, 80 this month (Sept. 26).

From This Moment On ...

September

October

Sat 01: Dale Storr @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 01: Nicole Mitchell & Alexander Hawkins @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Pete Churchill. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Orphy Robinson (in conversation); Beck Hunters w John Pope & Laura Cole; Daniel Levin; Black Top w Mariam Rezaei @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 01: Simon O'Byrne @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. Solo guitar & vocals. CANCELLED!
Sat 01: King Bees @ Grainger Market, Newcastle. 9:00-9:45pm. A Great Market Caper multi-bill event. Superb Chicago blues band. Doors: 6:30pm. Tickets: £10.00. + bf.

Sun 02 RUTH LAMBERT TRIO @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay. 12 noon.
Sun 02: Helena Anahita Wilson @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 02: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 02: Zoë Gilby Trio w Noel Dennis + John Garner & John Pope + Dilutey Juice @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. £7.00.
Sun 02: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm.
Sun 02: Foundry Jazz Ensemble @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 02: Lindsay Hannon's 'Tom Waits for No Man' @ Three Tanners Bank, North Shields. 6:00pm. Free.
Sun 02: Celebrating the Life & Music of Pharoah Sanders @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £8.00. on the door. Feat. Sue Ferris, Paul Gowland, Tom Atkinson, Jude Murphy, Jeff Armstrong.
Sun 02: Shifa + Bex Burch & Leafcutter John + Farida Amadou @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.

Mon 03: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 04: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Durham. 7:00pm. Free (to reserve a table phone 0191 386 5556).
Tue 04: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. House trio: Dean Stockdale, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.
Tue 04: Blue Jazz Quartet w Rivkala @ The Ship Isis, Sunderland. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 05: Hot Club du Nord @ St Wilfred's Church, Kirkharle, Northumberland. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT! Waiting list open.
Wed 05: Hot Club du Nord @ St Wilfred's Church, Kirkharle, Northumberland. 4:00pm.
Wed 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 05: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 05: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 05: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Wed 05: Rat Pack - Swingin' at the Sands @ Darlington Hippodrome. 7:30pm.

Thu 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, North Tyneside. 1:00pm.
Thu 06: Castillo Nuevo @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 6:30-9:00pm.
Thu 06: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free admission (donations).
Thu 06: Paul Skerritt Duo @ Tomahawk Steakhouse, High St., Yarm. 8:00pm. Paul Skerritt & James Harrison residency.
Thu 06: Brass Funkeys + Baghdaddies @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 06: Mo Scott Band @ The Schooner, South Shore Road, Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Thu 06: Lindsay Hannon Trio @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. 'Tom Waits for No Man'. A Harbour View Speakeasy event.
Thu 06: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm. Garry Hadfield (keys) Bill Watson (trumpet) Josh Bentham (sax) Mark Hawkins (drums) Adrian Beadnell (bass)

Fri 07: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 07: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 07: Hannabiell & the Midnight Blue Collective + Knats @ Dance City, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £15.00. (£12.50. student).
Fri 07: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. 'Celebrating Oscar'.
Fri 07: TBA @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free (donations). Blind Pig Blues Club.
Fri 07: Anth Purdy @ Waterford Arms, Seaton Sluice. 8:00pm.
Fri 07: Rob Heron & the Tea Pad Orchestra @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 8:30pm.

Friday, July 24, 2020

Book review: Andrew Willox & Eileen Mann - "I Think We Have a Find".

Roy Willox was a gentleman. Even though I never met him other than by listening to his music I knew that he was, without doubt, a gentleman as the many testimonies to him in this beautifully laid out biography confirm.

Within its glossy pages, 84 in all, are photographs and newspaper cuttings documenting a career that began when he took his first saxophone lesson from the legendary Harry Hayes. Hearing the youngster at that first lesson, Hayes marvelled at the boy's ability to identify notes with his back to the piano. "I think we have a find" said Hayes little realising that 76 years later those words would become the title of Roy Willox's biography!

His career progressed via the family dance band, various other bands reaching a peak from which it never dipped with the bands of Ted Heath, Geraldo, Jack Parnell, various BBC orchestras and a band that played under the precocious, but nevertheless accurate, title of The Best of British Jazz. How could it be called anything else with Roy, Kenny Baker, Don Lusher, Brian Lemon, Lennie Bush and Jack Parnell the players?

Lovingly written and produced by Roy's son Andrew and close friend Eileen Mann, it's a book that will appeal to every big band fan and most jazz fans whose preferences lean towards the mainstream/swing era although it must also be pointed out that Roy's sax, clarinet and flute playing added spice to many a pop record as well as a host of television jingles. He really was a man for all seasons - a true professional.

Initially, the book was produced as a labour of love for family, friends and those writers, such as myself and Sebastian Scotney of LondonJazz News who paid their own glowing tributes.

Needless to say, it deserves a far wider readership but don't expect to find it on Amazon and it might be a few hundred years before it turns up on eBay.

To purchase (all profits will go to The Musicians' Benevolent Fund) and for further details contact Andrew Willox: awillox@skymesh.com.au
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