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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

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.

Tuesday, August 04, 2020

Book review: Jonny Dale - The Jonny Dale Experience

Liverpool drummer Jonny Dale has written his first book - The Jonny Dale Experience. Jonathan Philip Edward (aka "JPED"), born in 1949 in London, might not be a household name among jazz drummers but, nonetheless, he is a worthy subject for an autobiography. 

Having known and played with him for two years in the NW of the UK, I can assure one and all that he is a first rate professional. His beat is solid, he has an admirable stylistic range  and demonstrates a flexibility when working with a variety of bands that is remarkable.


Jonny's "experience" started in Wimbledon, growing up in a well to do family led by a patriarchal father, Philip Dale, with whom Jonny stayed  very close to throughout his life. The same went for the rest of the family of two siblings and his mother, Susan, who tragically died when Jonny was in his thirties. 

The warmth shown toward his family and close friends throughout the book gives the reader a strong sense of the magnanimous and benevolent nature of the author. He takes everyone that he encounters at face value and is deffo a glass half full kinda fella.

JPED immigrated to South Africa in the early 1970s, settling in Margate where he played with a number of bands in residencies at hotel and resorts which were pretty much the norm then. Nowadays,  those gigs, along with live music have all but disappeared.

Jonny's second wife, Simonne, a talented singer and percussionist who he met in Margate, was born and raised in Zimbabwe . They soon became engaged and married and have since produced two sons, Simon and Tim, both of whom have become fine musicians in their own right. 

The family returned to the UK in 1997 spending a few years in Sussex before moving to Liverpool in 2001. This move was prompted by an opportunity dictated by a higher calling that would also bring about Dale's return to jazz drumming. He had always maintained  jobs like managing gyms, travelling sales, and finally an executive role in an organisation called The Sweet Partnership

This post consisted of collecting coins from charity machines  throughout the NW - not a million miles from busking on the street! Happily, none of these aforementioned jobs lasted long enough to permanently sever his love, need and commitment to pursue his percussive proclivities, and since  age 65, JPED has remained a full time drummer. Thank God for that!

Dale's writing style exudes a playful freedom from the conventional rules of highbrow, academic, prose. He does not let himself capitulate to traditional syntax and punctuational standards. More of a Roads, as opposed to a Rhodes Scholar approach. His lengthy sentences are worthy of sentencing themselves, one could say. Despite this, the reader is still able to grasp the gist of his endearing  ramblings.

Currently, Jonny and Simonne Dale (known affectionally as "Jamonne" as they are inseparable in both music and day to day life) are very active on the Liverpool jazz scene Their 5-piece Latinised combo, "Sequoia" plays frequently and maintains  a residency at The Sefton Park Cricket Club. A  somewhat rustic, yet likable venue in a gentile, leafy part of South Liverpool that offers jazz on a biweekly basis.

Long live JPED and his heartwarming  account of his "experience"  as well has his rich contributions to Jazz in Liverpool.
Frank Griffith.

Available as an eBook via Amazon.

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