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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Postage

16051 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1058 of them this year alone and, so far, 12 this month (Dec. 6).

From This Moment On ...

December

Sat 09: Prudhoe Community Band @ Central Station, Newcastle. 10:00am - 12 noon. Charity fundraiser.
Sat 09: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Skinnergate, Darlington. 1:00pm.
Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 09: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Middleton & Todridge Village Hall, Morpeth. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sat 09: Paul Skerritt @ Slaley Hall, Hexham NE47 0BX. 7:30pm. From £42.00.

Sun 10: Musicians Unlimited’s Xmas Party with Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. MU 1:00-3:00pm; Zoë Gilby Quartet 4:00-6:00pm. Tickets: £7.50.
Sun 10: Alan Law, Paul Grainger & Abbie Finn @ Darlington Market, Market Square, Darlington. 1:00pm. Free. A ‘Christmas Market’ outdoor gig. Wrap up warm!
Sun 10: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Funk Soul Sista @ Stack, Seaburn. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Beth Clarke @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 10: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Whittingham Memorial Institute, Alnwick. 7:30pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 10: Tele-Port @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Zhenya Strigalev.

Mon 11: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Interim Final Recitals @ Newcastle University. Details TBC.

Tue 12: Stu Collingwood Organ Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £10.00.

Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Wed 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Hot Fingers @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 14: After Hours Student Jazz Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. . Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 14: Niffi Osiyemi Trio @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Mo Scott ‘Little Mo’s Festive Appearance’ @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Tees Hot Club w. Kevin Eland, Josh Bentham, Garry Hadfield, Adrian Beadnell @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 15: Paul Edis @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 15: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: Paul Skerritt @ Black Horse Inn, Crook. From 7:00pm.
Fri 15: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ St Cuhtbert's Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00. SOLD OUT! Waiting list open.
Fri 15: Zoë Gilby Trio @ Seventeen Nineteen, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £12.00. Fri 15: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. First night of two.
Fri 15: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £10.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 15: Baghdaddies @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00.; £10.00.

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

The Best Bass Players of All Time

Logging onto the all-knowing eye in the corner of the room this morning I was caught by a clickbait headline, namely, The best bass players of all time according to Rolling Stone. Well, I thought, It’s got to be more credible than if it was a Smash Hits poll so I clicked through and the top ten were revealed as: -

10. Ron Carter

9. Paul McCartney

8. Jaco Pastorious

7. Larry Graham

6. Jack Bruce

5. Carole Kaye

4. Bootsy Collins

3. John Entwhistle

2. Charles Mingus

1. James Jamerson

I think there’s some good names on that list. If your ears take you outside the jazz world you will have heard music by the non-jazzers, even if you didn’t know it was them. For example Jamerson anchored the Motown Sound and Kaye played on nearly every session recorded in California in the 60s. I think Entwhistle is on there for his contribution to My Generation and for keeping the music going whilst the rest of the Who were playing silly buggers on stage. Graham and Collins get the nods for being the foundations of some of the best (and most sampled) funk (a music that is built on the bass) of all time. You can make up your own mind about McCartney as you’ve probably heard of him. Myself, it’s Jaco first, always. Dave Sayer

7 comments :

Patti said...

It's all about the bass, isn't it!

Sylvia said...

Jaco Jaco Jaco!….saw him with Weather Report in the 70s at Newcastle City Hall …and Word Of Mouth is always on my play list!
Carole Kaye for her work with The Wrecking Crew
Paul who?

Russell said...

Jaco, it's as simple as that.

Anonymous said...

https://jazzfuel.com/best-jazz-bass-players/

Steve T said...

I recall in the seventies a work colleague describing Paul McCartney as the best bass player in the world. Then Stanley Clarke played Whistle Test with George Duke and he was forced to say that Clarke wasn't a bass player but a lead guitarist who played bass.

For bass guitar it's between Jaco and Stanley Clarke. For bass, there's only Mingus. Quincy Jones told us all we need to know about Macca and his playgroup. James Jamerson possibly on the list but not number one - a bit of sixties worship I suspect.

Personally, I'd say Larry Graham and Bootsy should be the only non-jazzers, though I'd swap them round. If you're gonna have rock guitarists, it should be Jack Bruce and Chris Squire, though it could be argued Jack Bruce is jazz (in later life, Ginger Baker said Cream were never a rock band but a jazz group).

If we need a token lady, for more recent inclusions, there's Esperanza Spalding (who's great) or Meshell Ndegeocello (who was disappointing at Cheltenham).

Apart from Macca and Entwistle (John Who?) it could have been much worse. Jimmy Blanton and Paul Chambers and we've cracked it.

Notable mentions: Michael Henderson (Aretha, Stevie Wonder, Chilites, Miles, Norman Connors, himself), Miroslav Vitous (original Weather Report bass player) and Alphonso Johnson (bass player in Santana's (and many other people's) favourite lineup of Weather Report)

Unknown said...

Ten great jazz string bassists
From Swing to Bop
Jimmy Blanton - Duke's early choice
Milt Hinton - Steady as a rock, great notes, liked by peers.
Israel Crosby - SO under-rated Formidable member of Ahmed Jamal Trio
Oscar Pettiford - not so well known but a fine player.Somewhat 'prickly' as a
character.
From bop to modern & beyond.
Ray Brown - my Greatst Of All Time. Tone, sound, technique, stamina,ideas.....
Red Mitchell - a stalwart of West Coast groups.
Scott LaFaro - first player to elevate the bass to equality in a trio (B.Evans)
Gary Peacock - only bass player who could challenge Keith Jarrett.
Ron Carter - what a great servant to jazz
Special category
Charles Mingus - bandleader,composer,motivator,several chips on both shoulders !

Dave Brownlow

Steve T said...

By the end of the funk age, Louis Johnson had become my favourite bass player, in a group you may have heard of with his brother. Mates with Q, MJ etc.

Don't discount the thunderous bass of Mark King. Level 42 began life on the British jazz-funk scene and I still like their first and third singles (and don't mind their second and fourth). Last time I saw him he joined Larry Graham on stage at the Camden Jazz Cafe and would do his thing every so often. Larry Graham would turn round and look at him as if to say what the fvc£ you doin' man? You started it!

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