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Bebop Spoken There

Simon Spillett: “ Bebop and hard bop came naturally to him [Tubby Hayes]". Morning Star, March 28, 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

Fri 29: FILM: Soul @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 12:30pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free. POSTPONED!
Fri 29: Thundercat @ Newcastle City Hall.
Fri 29: John Logan @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Fri 29: True Colours @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 9:00pm. Blues, jazz & swing.

Sat 30: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 30: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Whitley Bay Library, York Road, Whitley Bay. 8:00pm.

Sun 31: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields NE30 1HJ. 3:00pm. Free. Lambert, Alan Law & Paul Grainger.
Sun 31: Sid Jacobs & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. USA/London jazz guitar duo.
Sun 31: Bellavana @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

April
Mon 01: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 01: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.

Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Dean Stockdale, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 04: FILM: Soul @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 2:00pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Thu 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 04: Funky Drummer @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 04: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 04: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

A blue plaque for Club A'Gogo

On a recent visit to London it was fun to play the tourist game 'spot the blue plaque'. Wandering through Camden into Bloomsbury (calling in at Judd Books) blue plaques were everywhere (on some streets there are several plaques stating 'such and such lived here'). Artists, literary figures, politicians, scientists, some famous, some less so (less so, as far as the wandering tourist was concerned). And onto Soho ...

Great Newport Street, Studio 51 (Ken Colyer's jazz club) and just around the corner, the 'Old Place', the basement venue on Gerrard Street, home to Ronnie Scott's before the move to Frith Street. Locals hurried by, perhaps oblivious to the jazz history beneath their feet, in contrast to the jazz tourist keen to stand on the pavement to take a photograph. The image in the mind's eye of Roland Kirk on Gerrard Street descending the steps to Ronnie's 'Old Place', all the while locals and non-jazz tourists alike walking on by. 

Meanwhile, on returning to Tyneside, a long overdue blue plaque has appeared on Percy Street in Newcastle. The Handyside Arcade was a one-off, quirky indoor arcade. Home to independent businesses - a shop selling amplifiers, a poster shop (Che Guevara was popular) - if the steeply-sided, horseshoe-shaped building had survived demolition, today it would be a tourist attraction with an array of coffee shops and so-called 'artisan' food outlets, perhaps a micro pub. Alas, the powers-that-be decided to clear the site to make way for a shopping mall. Ironically, today the soulless mall stands all but empty, a desolate monument to 'progress'.

Two floors up above Handyside Arcade was a music venue. In the space of a few short years Club A'Gogo played host to this lot and more: The Rolling Stones, The Who, Cream, Georgie Fame, Pink Floyd, John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed and Jimi Hendrix. Jazz musicians were booked to play Club A'Gogo, including Micky Ashman, Ken Colyer, Eric Delaney, Alan Elsdon, Tubby Hayes (the promotional flyer described Tubbs' band as 'Europe's Greatest'), Harold McNair and Ronnie Ross. The local guys were regulars on Percy Street - Mike Carr Trio, later the Emcee 5 - and, of the local bands around at the time, it was a second home to one of Tyneside's most famous exports. The Animals cut (bared?) their teeth on Percy Street. The rest, as they say, is history. Russell        

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