Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Simon Spillett: “ Bebop and hard bop came naturally to him [Tubby Hayes]". Morning Star, March 28, 2024.

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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Josh Weir: I love the writing on bebop spoken here... I think the work you are doing is amazing.

Postage

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Fri 29: FILM: Soul @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 12:30pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free. POSTPONED!
Fri 29: Thundercat @ Newcastle City Hall.
Fri 29: John Logan @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Fri 29: True Colours @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 9:00pm. Blues, jazz & swing.

Sat 30: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 30: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Whitley Bay Library, York Road, Whitley Bay. 8:00pm.

Sun 31: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields NE30 1HJ. 3:00pm. Free. Lambert, Alan Law & Paul Grainger.
Sun 31: Sid Jacobs & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. USA/London jazz guitar duo.
Sun 31: Bellavana @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

April
Mon 01: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 01: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.

Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Dean Stockdale, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 04: FILM: Soul @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 2:00pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Thu 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 04: Funky Drummer @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 04: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 04: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Saturday, January 02, 2021

Film review: I Called Him Morgan

Lee Morgan met an untimely death. I Called Him Morgan tells the story. Director Kasper Collin's 2016 feature length documentary juxtaposes interviews with some of the figures who were present on the night Morgan was killed, alongside an audio cassette tape interview with Helen Morgan, common-law wife of the hard bop trumpet icon.
As the story unfolds it becomes apparent that those who knew Lee and Helen were fond of both, there is little in the way of negative criticism of either principal character. The emergence on the scene of a teenage Morgan working with Dizzy and Trane is afforded due reverence by fellow musicians, one suggesting a 'cocky' Morgan knew he was good, so much so he wasn't afraid to take on Dizzy on the stand! Archive footage of Morgan with the Jazz Messengers playing his famed trumpet intro on
 Moanin' proves to be a musical highlight but it is the testimony of those who were there, those who were part of it, which makes I Called Him Morgan so compelling. 

Helen Morgan, who was some years Lee's senior, is heard on tape talking almost a quarter of a century after the fateful day Lee met his end. The man who secured the interview with Helen Morgan in February 1996 - Larry Reni Thomas - reveals that there was to be a follow-up interview but it never happened as the following month his interviewee died. So, this lone cassette tape serves as Helen Morgan's account of events in Slugs' Saloon, NYC on the evening of February 19, 1972. 

Since the release of Kasper Collin's film, which was premiered at the Venice Film Festival, more than one of the on-screen talking heads has left us, including Jymie Merritt who died last year. Thankfully some of the participants are still with us: Wayne Shorter (Morgan suggested to Art Blakey that the now octogenarian saxophonist should join the Messengers) and Billy Harper. The Cookers' tenor saxophonist was in Slugs' Saloon on the night of February 19, 1972. Listening to Harper recalling the occasion somehow made a connection, however tenuous, given that in recent years the Texas-born musician has graced the stage at Sage Gateshead. 

I Called Him Morgan is currently available on Netflix (www.netflix.com).          
Russell

No comments :

Blog Archive