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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

Denny Farrell: "- People with a clear conscience are often absent minded." - (Late night Chicago radio October 1, 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

14623 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 14 years ago. 901 of them this year alone and, so far, 101 this month (Sept. 30).

From This Moment On ...

September

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.

Sat 8 Oct, Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Buck Inn, Thornton Watlass, Ripon HG4 4AH. 12.20pm. NOTE SATURDAY GIG AS OPPOSED TO REGULAR SUNDAY GIG. COACH FROM WHITLEY BAY NOW SOLD OUT!
Sat 08: Paul Skerritt w Danny Miller Big Band @ Westovian Theatre, South Shields. 7:30pm.
Sat 08: Milne-Glendinning Band @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sat 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. Maureen Hall's monthly residency one week later than usual.

Sun 09: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay. 12 noon.
Sun 09: Tees Valley Jazzmen @ Hammer & Pincers, Preston le Skerne. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Sun 09: Chip Wickham @ The Cluny, Newcastle.
Sun 09: Blue Jazz Quartet w Rivkala @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 10: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 10: Central Bar Quintet plays Blue Train @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:30pm. Concert performance + jam session. £5.00 (free admission to sitters-in).

Tue 11: Dean Stockdale Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:30pm.

Thursday, September 17, 2020

At Last - well maybe not quite yet

I first heard At Last as the B-side of Glenn Miller's I've Got a Girl in Kalamazoo. Despite being written by all-time greats Mack Gordon and Harry Warren and featured in the film Sun Valley Serenade (or was it Orchestra Wives?), it never registered with me.

Kalamazoo had Tex Beneke and The Modernaires whereas At Last had Ray Eberle - the worst of all the big band vocalists - no wonder Sinatra took his chance!

That was back in 1942. Move on 10 years and former Miller trumpet player Ray Anthony  recorded a version with vocalist Tommy Mercer and the "Anthony Choir". Neither versions were jazz but the sheer magnificence of the choral arrangement of the latter was so far ahead of its time that it laid down the benchmark of what was and is good in popular music - then rock and roll came along and musicianship such as this was put on the scrapheap until ...

...Etta James got a hold of it and carved the definitive version in stone (or should that be rock?)

Whatever, this became the version of the song despite covers by Beyoncé and Celine Dion.

Sadly, we are far from reaching the At Last status - or maybe we are  "...for here we are in Heaven ..."

Lance 

at

1 comment :

Steve Andrews said...

Some years ago. Lance, I did a wedding-type gig at (I think) The Inn On The Lake at Ullswater as a dep with a good, versatile, function band called Quay Change, from Lancaster. One of the tunes requested by the "happy" couple was "At Last". The drummer and bassist were around my age (borderline geriatric!) although the pianist and singer were only about 30-ish, but to my astonishment none of them had ever heard the Glenn Miller hit version of this beautiful song! On the other hand, I'm happy to say that I had managed to get through the best part of 60 years without ever hearing the Etta James travesty. So I played the tune with due deference as a ballad, and they sang and played it in the sub-Motown/Soul fashion that is familiar to most people today. I never got another dep with them, strangely...........

Saturday, September 19, 2020 1:19:00 am

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