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Bebop Spoken There

Abbie Finn: "Even though there's a lot of great work being done to promote women in jazz, I still come up against some attitudes! I pulled up at a recording session with my drums in the car and the studio owner said, 'I'm sorry, this space is reserved for the drummer!'" - (Jazzwise April 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

15245 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 264 of them this year alone and, so far, 77 this month (March 25).

From This Moment On ...

March

Tue 28: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 28: Sanaz Lavasani Trio + Abbie Finn @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv).

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 30: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. Back to 1:00pm stomp off. Free.
Thu 30: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Thu 30: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 30: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm.
Thu 30: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 31: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 31: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 31: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 31: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. CANCELLED! Back next week (April 7).
Fri 31: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 31: Jasmine Myra + Waclaw Zimpel @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Fri 31: The Revolutionaires @ The Shack, Boldon Colliery. 7:30pm. £10.00. The Revolutionaires' big band (horn section) line-up.
Fri 31: Andrew McCormack @ Maltings, Berwick. 8:00pm. £20.00.

April
Sat 01: The Big Easy @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - In a Minor Key. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington Covered Market, Darlington DL1 5PN. 6:00pm. New venue, live jazz!
Sat 01: Boys of Brass @ Stack, Seaburn. 7:00-9:00pm.
Sat 01: Hot Club du Nord @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth. 8:00pm. £79.00. A charity fundraising event.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED to next week (Sat 08).

Sun 02: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny. 12:45pm.
Sun 02: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.

Mon 03: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Monday, August 30, 2021

Jazz on a Summer's Day @ Everyman Cinema, Newcastle - August 30

(Pic by Russell)
I first saw Jazz on a Summer's Day in 1959. I watched it in Newcastle, although I can't remember the cinema. I watched it again the following day in Sunderland and, once more, the name of the cinema escapes me. However, the film remained in my memory long after The Glenn Miller Story was  forgotten.

Since then I've watched JOASD on VHS, DVD and, after the 21st century came upon us, various clips on YouTube.

But, they all pale into insignificance compared to this latest enhanced version. This was almost like seeing your favourite movie live. The big screen, the sound system, you weren't sitting in a cinema but you were out there in Rhode Island falling in love with Anita O'Day, wishing you could play like Sonny Stitt maybe chatting up one of the girls in the audience with all that, hopefully, kiss proof lipstick.

Jazz on a Summer's Day is as iconic a film in jazz terms as Woodstock or Summer of Soul (which I have yet to see) were/are.

Seeing so many legends on stage in the most famous jazz festival of them all brought goosebumps and I frequently had to restrain myself from applauding the solos - that's how real it all came across.

Of course it wasn't just the music. If it had been filmed purely as a selection of concerts it would still have been an essential for your jazz video shelf  but maybe not one you would go back to too often. But, combine the music with Bert Stern's stunning photography and you get an artform that transcends music, photography, cinematography for something that incorporates all of those contributing factors. 

I found it interesting to see from the close ups how Sonny Stitt practically swallows the mouthpiece whereas Jimmy Giuffre barely touches it - just enough to get a sound. Their contrasting tones reflected by the different embouchures.

Away from the bandstand, the shots of the audience - everyone smoked - the kids running around (maybe one of them was a future star at Newport) the America's Cup yacht race and the hilarious shots of Eli's Chosen Six blowing a boisterous brand of Dixieland in and around the site - at onetime Roswell Rudd was with the band although I don't know if he made this gig.

Louis and Teagarden, Gerry Mulligan, Dinah Washington, Mahalia. Chuck Berry, Big Maybelle (and dig that Eddie Barefield clarinet solo!), Monk, Chico Hamilton, Buck Clayton... If seeing these guys (and gals) didn't get your pulse racing then maybe you should try rockabilly or Buddy Rich's allergy.

A couple of years earlier, Ellington stole the show. One of the numbers the band played that day was Blues to be There. That's how I felt today.

Check out your local Everyman Cinema. Lance

2 comments :

Pamela Young (on F/b) said...

Absolutely wonderful film Anita O’Day was just perfection.

Nickey Garnier (on F/b) said...

A fabulous piece of Jazz history in this absolute gem of a film. A delight to see.

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