Total Pageviews

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.

Saturday, October 23, 2021

Newcastle Big Band Reunion @ The Collingwood, Jesmond - Oct. 22

Way back when most of us had too much hair a big band was formed at Newcastle University - a tradition that has carried on to this very day. Founder members of that original band included Andy Hudson and Laurie Rangecroft. Laurie provided a unique link between the Newcastle Big Band and, until recently, the current keeper of the flame - the Strictly Smokin' Big Band.

Just about everyone, myself included, who had a degree of competency passed through the Newcastle Big Band. The Sunday lunchtime sessions that were held in what was then The University Theatre, have become a part of Newcastle's jazz folklore.

At the helm was Andy Hudson whose memories and subsequent escapades have been well documented within these pages. Suffice to say that he opened doors to a lot of people who became better players and non-musicians who, overnight, became jazz fans.

Tonight, those of us who survived having to play Beefeaters at every gig met up at a pub in Jesmond and it was one of those occasions where the tape should have been rolling to capture all the stories and the memories that were recounted.

San Sebastian, Pau, Seaham Harbour - this band was truly international! I mention Seaham Harbour as, for some reason or other Jacky Denton didn't make that particular gig in a local community centre so we played without a drummer. Imagine, a band playing Basie, Herman, Quincy Jones without a drummer!

The late Trevor Johnson was on the gig and I bumped into him a couple of weeks later and remarked that I hadn't seen him since Seaham Harbour. Trevor's dry sense of humour came through: "Seaham Harbour? It was more like Pearl Harbour without the bombs!"

Sadly, like Trevor, so many NBB alumni have now left us: Charlie Carmichael; Nigel Stanger; John Pearce; Alf Parker; Don Eddy; Mike Gilby; Ronnie Pearson; Bill Shaw; Marshall Walker; Jacky Denton; Bob King; Ronnie McLean; Graham Shepherd; Bobby Carr etc. etc.

Still it was good to meet up again - for many of us it was the moment of our musical lives. If I had any grandkids I'd be telling them that Sting was in the band but, who knows? Maybe he's telling his grandkids that BSH's Lance was in the band - we can dream...
Lance
In the photo, taken by the former supremo of Impulse Studios Dave Wood, are (l-r) Brian Chester (trombone); Laurie Rangecroft (tenor sax); Germaine Stanger (vocals); Andy Hudson (piano etc.); Lance Liddle (tenor sax); John Hedley (guitar). Down front is Cormack Loane (alto sax) - probably still the youngest living member! 

2 comments :

Steve Andrews said...

That band must have been good - I used to drag myself out of bed on a Sunday morning to drive up to the University Theatre to see the show. Actually the band could be distinctly ropey in places (a lot of not-quite-sight-reading going on), but that didn't matter a damn, because it was the embodiment of "joie de vive": happy, hilarious, loud, exciting, and presided over by the ebullient Andy Hudson, who occasionally legged it from in front of the band to play a piano solo on "The Kid From Redbank". Some great musicians, many of whom went on to great or even greater things, but perhaps Andy Hudson should be singled out for the work he went on to do promoting Jazz - not just the big names he's better-known for, but the steady work he gave to us local musicians during his time running the Newcastle Jazz Festival, and other gigs. Happy days!

S.Carmichael said...

Hi I'm Stephen Carmichael, Charlie Carmichael's son. I'm trying to get in touch with my father's band colleagues. I have his instruments and obviously the Newcastle Big Band album. Would love for some of his band colleagues to get in touch and help me find out more of his and their lives.

Kind regards Stephen

Blog Archive