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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 2023).

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

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED! BACK ON JUNE 15.
Thu 08: Easington Colliery Brass Band @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 08: Faye MacCalman + Blue Dust Archive @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Dilutey Juice + Ceramic @ The Ampitheatre, Sea Road, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. A South Tyneside Festival event.
Thu 08: Lara Jones w. Vigilance State @ Lubber Fiend, Blandford Square, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Michael Littlefield @ the Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Country blues.
Thu 08: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 09: Emma Rawicz @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 10: Miners' Picnic @ Woodhorn, Ashington. Music inc. Northern Monkey Brass Band (3:00-3:50pm); New York Brass Band (4:00-4:55pm).
Sat 10: Front Porch Three @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Americana, blues, jazz etc.
Sat 10: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 11: WORKSHOP: Tim Richards' Jazz Piano Workshop @ JG Windows, Newcastle. Time TBC. Further details tel. 0191 232 1356.
Sun 11: Jeremy McMurray's Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Ropner Park, Stockton TS18 4EF. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 11: Groovetrain @ Innisfree Sports & Social Club, Longbenton NE12 8TY. Doors 6:30pm. £15.00 (£7.00. under 16).
Sun 11: Jeffrey Hewer Collective @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Monday, March 29, 2021

Ten north east greats. 1 - Jack Brymer

Now that The Tens have started to take off, I thought I'd post one remembering those north east musicians who have left us, albeit not before leaving their mark on the national/international scene. However, by the time I got to number 6 it soon became apparent that this was going to be twice as long as War and Peace or half as long as a Steve T comment (only joking Steve!) So, I decided instead to post just one per day and this is the first one.

Jack Brymer (1915 - 2003). Born in South Shields, Brymer is best remembered as probably the leading classical clarinetist of his generation. However, he was also a jazzman at heart and occasionally on stage. 

I first heard him on a demo record put out by Boosey and Hawkes promoting their, at the time, revolutionary plastic Regent clarinet in which, apart from some Mozart, he rattles off a few tasty Benny Goodman licks.  

In his autobiography, Where I Sit, he recalls dining at the Hi-Hat Club in Boston and meeting Wardell Gray, Buddy de Franco and other famous jazzmen - he grabbed their autographs on a club menu - that must be a collector's item if it is still in existence today. 

In New Orleans he jammed with Alphonse Picou and Papa Celestin and the book also has a photo of him blowing alongside Hank Shaw, Don Rendell, Ike Isaacs and John Dankworth. On top of all this there are many memories of him working with Sir Thomas Beecham.

The boy done good! Lance

1 comment :

Cormac Loane said...

Around about 1972, I visited the King's Hall at Newcastle University to hear Jack Brymer giving a beautiful performance of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, accompanied by the New Tyneside Orchestra. During the opening tutti section of the first movement - before the clarinet's first entry - Jack could be seen giving little waves to friends of his as he recognised them in the audience. It all felt very affable and informal - more like a Geordie jazz gig than a symphony orchestra concert!

A couple of years later, when I was a student at Goldsmiths' College, London, I was nearly lucky enough to jam alongside Jack. The Goldsmiths' Music Society invited him to be the guest speaker at their annual dinner (partly because Goldsmiths' was where Jack himself had trained as a teacher in the 1930s). After we'd finished eating, Jack told endless, hilarious anecdotes about his world tours with André Previn and the London Symphony Orchestra, etc. And then, whilst I was playing a set with the college jazz band to round off the evening, he kindly walked over to compliment us on our playing - we invited him to join in, but sadly he had left his clarinet at home!

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