Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Kurt Elling: ''There's something to learn from every musician you play with''. (DownBeat, December 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

17586 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 860 of them this year alone and, so far, 5 this month (Dec. 2).

From This Moment On ...

December

Wed 11: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Cath Stephens’ improvisation workshop @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 4:30-6:00pm. Collaborative group focusing on vocal improvisations.
Wed 11: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 11: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Second Wednesday in the month.
Wed 11: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 12: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay. 12 noon. £27.00. (inc. three -course meal).
Thu 12: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 5:00-6:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Thu 12: Stuart Turner @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 12: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. Guests: Jeremy McMurray (keys); Mark Toomey (alto sax); Donna Hewitt (tenor sax); Kevin Eland (trumpet); Ron Smith (bass).

Fri 13: Dean Stockdale Trio @ Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 13: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Bellavana @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 3:00-5:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Customs House Big Band @ Stocksfield Community Association. 7:00pm. Featuring Ruth Lambert.
Fri 13: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 13: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £19.00. + bf. First night of two.
Fri 13: Ransom Van @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Fri 13: Boys of Brass @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 9:00pm. £10.00.

Sat 14: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:15pm. Free but ticketed.
Sat 14: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm.
Sat 14: Red Kites Jazz @ Staiths Café, Autumn Dr., Gateshead. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 14 Lapwing Jazz Trio @ Three Sheets to the Wind, Alnwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 14: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £19.00. + bf. Second night of two.
Sat 14: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 15: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 12 noon. £8.50. Xmas party feat. Musicians Unlimited + Customs House Big Band. SOLD OUT!
Sun 15: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 2:00pm.
Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Mitch Laddie Band @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Superb blues power trio.
Sun 15: Leeway @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 15: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Sun 15: Alligator Gumbo @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 16: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 12 noon. £9.95. ‘Festive Turkey Dinner’. Book now: 0191 266 8137.
Mon 16: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Tue 17: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm.
Tue 17: BBC Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘A Swinging Xmas’.
Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.
Tue 17: Bellavana @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 7:45-9:35pm. Free.

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

Friday, June 11, 2021

Reminiscing in (and out of ) Tempo by Andy Hudson - Part One.

The indefatigable Lance in his search for jazz titbits to fill this splendid publication has asked me to make some contributions based on my hazy career part of which was intimately linked with the jazz genre.

A bit of context - at school in Yorkshire in the early 1960s, I started a trad band (2 of the players were teachers) and most of the rest were not improvisers but learned by rote the licks and solos that I prepped for them on manuscript. Then in ’65, arriving in Newcastle to study Chemistry at the University, I started a swing band and also via the Uni Jazz Society put on a few concerts.

This led to a commercial interest in jazz (an odd combination really and seldom seen ie “commercial” and “jazz” in the same sentence).

Older readers of BSH may be aware of some of these earlier efforts….The Newcastle Big Band (’69 -’77) and the Newcastle Jazz Festival.

Taking the latter first, I staged a number of events, taking the personal risk (and losing money)- arresting the usual suspects - the Balls, Barbers, Bilks, Mellys and Scotts - and  eventually adding Skidmore, Surman, Taylor, Winstone, Rendell, Garrick, Tracey and fresher, more experimental names, via a  small grant from the forward looking City Councilman the late Hughie White and the Newcastle Jazz Festival became a runner. When I departed in late 1978 to head South it was left in the capable hands of Jazz North East (At that time Alex Roberts, Chris Yates and Margaret Barnes all, sadly, no longer with us however, the organisation is still going strong).

Turning to the Big Band and particularly those Sunday lunchtime sessions - It pleases me that on my occasional trips to Newcastle, how they are fondly remembered by so many. The pool of players was about 30 at its peak, of mixed ability and local fame. We knew that some of us were not the best players, but I contend we were by far the best entertainers. Those sessions were packed with fun humour and running gags and I realised that if players seem to be enjoying themselves then this transfers across the footlights (or in the case of the University Theatre bar the two inches between the Sax section and the punters). That bar, currently licenced for 80 persons, to my certain knowledge on one occasion had an audience of 700 - judging from the receipts.

At the risk of retrospective HMRC tax action I have asked Lance to publish here  an extract from the accounts that I sent him some years ago (see graphic) – which will also show him earning as much as Sting – a situation he hopes will be restored again soon!

That mention of crossing the footlights has been a niggling critique of mine for years. In the following weeks I will try and share some experiences with you of working with the greats, BB King, Ray Charles, Miles, Brubeck, Shearing, Ella, Sarah V, Herbie H, Blakey etc…

Something they all shared was the ability to PUT ON A SHOW as well as showing their own individual creative genius. Far too often, there is an introspection among more contemporary players that is either apologetic or subscribes to the Van Morrison - couldn’t-give-a-toss school of presentation.

 Andy Hudson.

3 comments :

Steve Andrews said...

Happy days, Andy! I think I learned a lot about performing ro an audience from those University Theatre sessions with you leaping up from the piano stool and bounding around in that tiny space between the punters and the band, including the audience in the joyous experience of live jazz. I remember most of the band, and I'm astonished at how good it was when you consider that several of them read music worse than me! Many thanks are also due to you for including me and my band in supporting roles in several Newcastle Jazz Festivals. I got to hear, and sometimes play beside or in support of some legendary figures, and to see many more that you booked, including Bud Freeman, Benny Carter, Dexter Gordon, Ralph Sutton, George Melly...... You also organised a £200 grant from Northern Arts (I think) for the Savannah Syncopators to transcribe (well, Kevin Elliott did it) and perform Duke Ellington's first extended composition "Creole Rhapsody" in 1978. I'm looking forward to further installments!

Ann Alex said...

THis reminds me of what a friend told me about the Newcastle Jazz festival. He'd better be name;ss and he lives away now. He was involved in the organisation and had to arrange menus. so he put on a pork salad. Guess what? He'd forgotten one vital fact - the jazz musician who the meal was meant for was Jewish!

carstairs said...

I came up in 1975 to run the Science & Engineering museums in Tyne and Wear. It was a short step from the old Museum in Exhibition Park to the Union so I got to experience the Newcastle Big Band for a few years and eventually play with some of them. A few characters, definitely!

Blog Archive