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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

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).

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Paul Skerritt @ Vespa Italian Bar & Steakhouse, Primrose Hill, Jarrow. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 483 3355.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Saturday, October 24, 2020

Lest we forget - as if!

I got to thinking the other day - or was it last year? - about some of the characters that have been part of the northeast jazz scene during the course of my lifetime. I've only picked out those who are no longer with us to avoid a libel action or getting filled in.

They weren't always the best or the worst on their instrument but they all had one thing in common - they were individuals. They were what jazz musicians were when jazz musicians were, shall we say, jazz musicians. Their sounds were as identifiable as their speech. They didn't learn to play the blues or blow bop or Dixieland at college but instead it was in the clubs and bars with like-minded wannabees. So, working on a one per instrument, here are my choices:

Teddy Langston: Trumpeter Teddy didn't mix much with the jazzers - he was a brass band man at heart - but when push came to shove he could hold his own as he proved on those Sunday mornings at The Bluebell in Felling. He could play Harry James better than Betty Grable. Once, after being stopped by the police on the way home from a gig he gave his occupation as "drain cleaner". This wasn't very flattering as I'd been on the gig with him that night!

Ronnie McLean: Ronnie was one of the few local trombonists who took the Teagarden/Dorsey route as opposed to his contemporaries who toed the Ory/Barber party line. His claim to fame was having played with Lennie Hastings and Diz Disley in a club in Dusseldorf. I worked alongside him in a music shop for many years and noted that he had few conversations with customers without the word Dusseldorf somehow entering the conversation.

John Saxelby: John had but one aim in life - to find the perfect clarinet mouthpiece. To achieve this goal he would buy mouthpieces like other players bought reeds! He was a big fan of the Dutch Swing College Band and when he discovered they were playing at a local venue he scraped up enough money to buy a ticket and, during the interval, he cornered the band's clarinet player, bought him a drink and asked the important question, "What make of mouthpiece do you use?"

The Dutchman shrugged, "I don't know - it came with the instrument!"

Nigel Stanger: Undoubtedly the number one alto player back then. He returned to the area after playing and recording in London with Alexis Korner and many other names that were rising to stardom by way of the emerging blues/rock scene. I remember the first words he said to me were: "Do you have a ciggie?" Me and everyone else I gather!

Charlie CarmichaelDifficult to be objective as Charlie was one of my best friends and favourite tenor players. However, he didn't suffer fools gladly and nor did they. He had little concern about chord changes but, somehow, it always sounded good. He was the only guy I heard blow bebop on clarinet. He worked as an electrician in the shipyards and, during his break, would spend the time blowing on a flute mouthpiece. Wonder he didn't get thrown over the side!


Clive Gray: Without doubt the number one banjo player. His idol was Eddie Peabody - google him - Clive used Clarion banjo strings, him and nobody else. I once asked him why and he replied saying that it was because they're the cheapest! They may have been the cheapest but Clive made them sound as good as the so-called best and most expensive!

Jacky Denton: Outwardly, drummer Jacky was as hard as they come and, if he didn't like what the guys out front were doing he could make their life hell! However, if he did like what was going on then they had it made!

These are just a few of them as was. I'm sure others will have their own memories to relate and perhaps a few others to add. I should also say that, for all their idiosyncrasies, they were all great, very talented guys.

Lance.

For more info on Bobby Carr (see Roly's comment.)

5 comments :

Gordon Solomon said...

Lance, we can't leave out Don Eddy. A superb drummer,who as you remember did stints with the Newcastle Big Band and the River City Jazzmen. I still giggle at the hilarious situations he got involved in when the NBB went to play in Pau in Southern France. Like the hot summer day when he climbed fully clothed into the municipal town fountain in Pau's main square to cool off. Unfortunately the fountain had a slippery base which sloped steeply down to the centre and Don slowly slid down to the middle and could'nt get back up again. we only got him out by borrowing some ladders from a passing builder. Priceless.

John Hallam (on F/b). said...

I once asked Jacky Denton if he could play a bit quieter. After the explosion, that's just what he did. A listening drummer who lifted every band he played with.

David Holman (on F/b) said...

I remember Ted Langston from when I worked in Wardley Legion.My dad said he was a brilliant trumpet player.

Roly Veitch said...

I've often reminisced about Bobby Carr. He was a great trumpet player and quite a character.
I once saw him at The Golden Lion, Winlaton Mill, having a sit in with Vieux Carre led at the time by Peter Gascoigne. (1970s) He played his party piece 'I Can't Get Started' a la Berrigan and got down on his knees to sing it. Quite a showman. I didn't know him personally and only saw him a few times but he was very highly regarded. Maybe your readers will have more information and stories about him.
Roly

Lance said...

Lots of stories about Bobby but we won't be printing them here...

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