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Bebop Spoken There

Ambrose Akinmusire: “ I am certainly always aware of what the masses are doing. And when I see too many people going one way, I'm going another way - even when I don't know what's over that way". DownBeat, March, 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

Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.

Wed 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 20: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Castillo Neuvo Trio + Conor Emery & His ‘Bones Band @ The Grove, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00. (£7.00. student).
Thu 21: Remi Banklyn + Chris Corcoran Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.50. Chicago blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime piano.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Nauta + Remy CB + Last Orders @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). Free.
Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 22: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 23: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Free (ticketed). End of term performance in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 23: Red Kites Jazz @ Rowlands Gill Community Centre NE39 1JB. 7:00pm. Tickets: £12.00. (gibsidecommunityfarm@gmail.com). A ‘Build a Barn’ fundraiser. BYOB, tea/coffee available.
Sat 23: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. + bf (book in person at venue - no booking fee!). Featuring pianist Martin Litton.
Sat 23: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 24: Luis Verde @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Verde (alto sax); Joe Steels (guitar); John Pope (double bass); John Hirst (drums). Alto sax brilliance!
Sun 24: Elsie Franklin @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Country blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Sun 24: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Las Vegas Live with the Rat Pack @ The Forum, Billingham.
Sun 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Otterburn Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sun 24: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Note start time - 7:00pm.
Sun 24: Bold Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Tuesday, March 02, 2021

Chris Barber (April 17, 1930 - March 2, 2021) -

There are legends and there are legends and then there is, or rather was, Chris Barber who died earlier today.

Remembered most recently as the last of the "Three Bs" - Barber, Bilk and Ball - Chris Barber was in the forefront of British New Orleans jazz long before the other two. Along with Humph, Barber's old Boss Ken Colyer and Mick Mulligan they headed what was then called The Revivalist Movement recreating the original sounds of the roots of jazz whilst still maintaining a degree of their own individuality.

Barber, like Humph, soon moved away from the Mississippi Delta. Humph towards more mainstream areas whilst Barber found gold in blues and work songs such as Rock Island Line which brought fame to Lonnie Donegan and fortune to Chris Barber. I well remember hearing that initial performance at Newcastle City Hall in 1955 which soon after set off the skiffle craze.

As well as adding some early Ellington numbers to the repertoire he also crossed a few more genres with his 1973 album Battersea Rain Dance which verged on Mingusian territory. Barber may have begun with Ken Colyer but this was closer to Graham Collier!

There will be many more tributes and memories to follow the world over but it is with a sense of pride that I'm able to post my own small tribute.

Chris Barber was 90 years old. He will be sadly missed throughout the jazz world.

REST IN PEACE - you were one of a kind (and a great trombone player).
Lance

5 comments :

NeilC said...

Sadly it appears that never a day goes by when we lose another great . Not Jazz related but the penultimate Wailer from when Bob Marley and the Wailers broke with Catch A Fire, Bunny Wailer, died yesterday and today it is the British Icon Mr Chris Barber, not only a bastion of British Jazz he was a stalwart of the formative Blues scene in the UK . I often listen to his classic Who's Blues Album , yet another devastating and very sad loss.

Steve Andrews said...

Sometime in the '70's when I was with the Vieux Carre we played a gig in a drill hall in, I think, Dumfries, as "support" band to Chris Barber's Jazz & Blues Band - the one with Johnny Crocker and Sammy Rimmington on reeds, and with electric guitar as well as banjo. We went by minibus and it took a long, long time, which we employed profitably by drinking a multitude of cans of beer. When we finally arrived we had to back down a small incline to the open double doors at the side of the stage, through which we could hear the Barber band doing a soundcheck. When we opened the back doors of the transit to get the gear out, around a hundred empty cans rolled out and into the hall and onto the dancefloor to the delight of Barber's musicians (though not him!) and to our mingled (80%/20%) hilarity and shame. I don't think that we were much of a "support", but, in fairness, they didn't need much support, they managed very well! That was also the first gig where I ever saw clarinets double-miked, i.e. one mike over the top joint and one at the bell - a very sensible idea!

Carstairs said...

Somehow, in the mid-60s Barber's band and a crowd of us young followers ended up at a post-concert party in the cellar of the Anglican Chaplaincy at Sheffield University. The ceiling was about 5 feet high so no chance for a string bass. We sat on the floor, me next to Chris with my tuba (the property of Sheffield Transport Band!) in my lap, playing a bit. What a nice man he was but he didn't play trombone that night.
I followed him for years and loved his departure from the accepted norms of Trad. Such numbers as Sweet Savannah Sue and his work with Joe Harriot. In later years I enjoyed his Big Chris Barber Band, playing arrangements by Bob Hunt. Sad to see him go downhill but his trombone playing could still show his drive and unique tone. I will miss him but his music lives on.

Gordon Solomon said...

The end of an era, Chris was hugely important for introducing firstly New Orleans Jazz, then R&B, Gospel, Eastern European jazz influences and some more modern jazz sounds to world wide audiences over the years.

His bands were unerringly correct in their approach to the music, his arrangements and indeed his trombone playing were immaculate and unique, and lets not forget he played very accurate double bass too.

The River City Jazzmen had the pleasure of playing as the back up band for Chris on a few occasions and I always found him very approachable and helpful. There is no doubt that he inspired literally hundreds, perhaps thousands of young people, myself included, to take up an instrument and see how far they could progress playing jazz.

Because of the huge success of his band in the 1950's he did tend to be typecast for playing traditional jazz, which is a shame as his later band played a much broader program, latterly specialising in the music of Duke Ellington. I could write many pages outlining his achievements but these are well documented on the internet.
Gordon S

Barry Aitchison said...

Sorry to here that Chris Barber is gone his music was good his band was good the sound of jazz.
We all will miss him RIP.

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