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Bebop Spoken There

Spasmo Brown: “Jazz is an ice cream sandwich! It's the Fourth of July! It's a girl with a waterbed!”. (Syncopated Times, July, 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

17444 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 718 of them this year alone and, so far, 100 this month (Oct. 10).

From This Moment On ...

October

Tue 15: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law (piano), Paul Grainger (double bass), Bailey Rudd (drums).

Wed 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 16: Cath Stephens’ improvisation workshop @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 4:30-6:00pm. Collaborative group focusing on vocal improvisations.
Wed 16: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 16: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 17: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 17: Olivia Cuttill Quintet @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 17: Moonlight Serenade Orchestra UK: Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular @ Phoenix Theatre, Blyth. 7:30pm.
Thu 17: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. Ragtime piano. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 17: Niffi Osiyemi Trio @ The Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 17: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. Guests Jeremy McMurray (keys); Richie Emmerson (tenor sax); Mark Toomey (alto sax); Adrian Beadnell (bass). 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 18: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 18: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert’s, Crook. 7:30pm.
Fri 18: Chet Set @ Seventeen Nineteen, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. Pete Tanton & co.
Fri 18: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. Doors 7:30pm (upstairs). A Hoodoo Blues dance & social event. £10.00. class & social (£10.00., £7.50., £5.00. social only). Michael Woods (country blues guitar) on stage 9:00pm.
Fri 18: East Coast Swing Band @ Hexham Abbey. 7:30pm. £9.00.
Fri 18: Ben Crosland Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 18: Durham University Jazz Society’s ‘High Standards’ @ Music Dept. Music Room, Divinity House, Palace Green, Durham University DH1 3RS. 8:009-30pm. Tel: 0191 334 1419. £7.00., £5.00.
Fri 18: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Blues Underground, Nelson St., Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

Sat 19: Sat 19: Paula Jackman’s Jazz Masters @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 19: Howlin’ Mat @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Country blues guitar & vocals. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 20: Kamasi Washington @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. POSTPONED! New date Saturday 5 April 2025.
Sun 20: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 20: Magpies of Swing @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 21: Gideon Tazelaar Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Mon 21: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 21: Gideon Tazelaar Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm.

Tue 22: Bywater Call @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Americana/blues/soul excellence.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Sunday, April 11, 2021

Ten underrated jazz musicians by Mike Farmer - Part One.

1. Sonny Red (1932-1981). Somewhat overshadowed by his fellow alto players Sonny Stitt and Sonny Criss he made some fine records under his own name and as a sideman. He spent his early days in Detroit playing with Barry Harris, Donald Byrd and other musicians who were influenced by the great Charlie Parker. Check out his work on Jazzland LP A Story Tale in which he is  joined by Clifford Jordan on tenor. Red’s was born Sylvester Kyner Jnr and died too young age 48.

2. Don Menza  (b 1936). I first heard Don Menza at Manchester’s Club 43 sitting in with the Dick Morrisey Quartet and I’ve been a fan ever since. He played a fantastic solo on Just Friends that night that made me seek out his records. One LP that I once had and that I  have been trying to replace is Louis Bellson’s Live at Joe Segal’s Jazz Showcase which has Menza in blistering form with wonderful solos from Larry Novak on piano. Another LP I like is Morning Song on MPS which has a larger ensemble.  Two years ago I saw Don in Frankfurt’s Jazzkeller over two nights and he is still amazing with a huge sound that filled the room.

3. Lanny Morgan (b 1934). Born in Iowa  but spent his early years playing in big bands such as Charlie Barnet, Terry Gibbs etc. Then came army service in Germany. He made many recordings with Maynard Ferguson in the sixties and when the big band scene faded he played in small groups at  home and abroad   A good example of his fiery alto work is to be found on The Lanny Morgan Quartet VSOP CD.

4. Ian Hamer (1932-2006. Born in Liverpool to a musical family he moved to London in 1953 playing in the Tubby Hayes Octet and in the sixties during the big band era playing trumpet or flugelhorn in the bands of Ted Heath, Harry South and Jack Parnell. He did numerous studio dates with singers, pop groups etc. then moved in 1987 to Brighton where he ran the Sussex Jazz Orchestra and did gigs with various musicians in that area. I saw Hamer’s quintet at the Lift Club with Alan Skidmore on tenor and my old friend Pete Saberton on piano and it was a great night of hard-bop!

Mike Farmer

3 comments :

Lance said...

Hey Mike, that brings back the memories from when I used to hang out at The Flamingo. Remember Ian and his brother Stu. One of them, I can't remember which, blew a Gillespie style uptilted horn!

Roly said...

I first came across the great guitarist Bruce Forman on a Lanny Morgan vinyl album 'It's About Time'. With Lou Levy, Monty Budwig, Nick Ceroli, Don Rader. Great album and he sure is a great alto player.

Nick Gould said...

I was lucky enough to hear Don Menza playing at the Jazz Bar in Edinburgh. He had a great tone and played hard swinging music all night. I think I am right in saying he composed Groovin Hard which he played that night. A very memorable evening, he joined Bill Kyle and I for a chat at the end of the gig and told us some great stories.

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