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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).

Monday, August 24, 2020

Pete King (1940 - 2020)

Just heard via Facebook that Pete King has died. Sad, but not unexpected if it is true. Seeking out an obituary via more reliable sources on Google has so far proved fruitless. However, as the F/b announcement was by no less than Bruce Adams I'm inclined to fear the worst ...

It's true, Peter passed away on Sunday a couple of weeks after his 80th birthday. What a sad day for British jazz, no, delete the word British. Whenever his name came up and we decided we weren't talking about the former co-owner of Ronnie Scott's, the inevitable phrase was added - WORLD CLASS, and I use capital letters deliberately, it would be an insult to his memory to use small case. He could lock horns with the best.

I first heard him at one of the early Newcastle Festivals, probably the mid to late 1960s with the somewhat undistinguished Ed Faultless Trio. There were many more times and each time he seemed to be better than the time before which is how it should be. The last time, March 23, 2012 at Sage Gateshead he was still flying and I left feeling exhilarated.

Although my favourite memories are of him in a quartet setting I think my favourite album is with the Charlie Watts Big Band Live at Fulham Town Hall. Then there was ... this could go on forever ... but the Bebop Preservation Society was another. Everyone will have their favourite and the chances are they'll all be different!
Rest In Peace you're no longer World Class, you're Universe Class!
Lance

5 comments :

Steve Andrews (on F/b). said...

Great player - saw him once, somewhere, years ago. Sad news.

Dave said...

I always rated him highly as he combined talent and soul. Great soloist. He seemed to come to come to Darlington Arts Centre every year with the likes of Art Themen, the late Mr Wellins or ‘Laughing’ Stan Tracey. Always good to see him. A great loss.

Lance said...

Well said! But why the anonymity?

Mike Farmer said...

So sorry to hear Pete King has died. I once gave him a couple of gigs in the Manchester area years ago when he was not doing many jazz gigs at the time. He came up from London and amazed us all with his inventive playing. I saw him many times in later years and he was always incredible.-Mike Farmer

Anonymous said...

Well worth a read is his autobiography, Flying high, a jazz life and beyond. He is incredibly honest about his life and it’s great to read about jazz from the British point of view.

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