Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Béla Fleck: “ And that's the great thing about live performances, you take people on a journey. It doesn't have to be like something else they've heard. It's not supposed to be". DownBeat, April, 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

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm.
Thu 28: Richard Herdman Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Josh Bentham (alto sax); Alan Marshall (tenor sax); Neil Brodie (trumpet); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Graham Thompson (keys); Steve Hunter (drums).

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.

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.

Friday, January 08, 2010

Blue Horizons by Chris Yates

Blue Horizons by Chris Yates. Farthings Design and Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4092-9004-9. £9.99. (The review below was initially posted in September before the sad loss of the author. Out of respect I have not changed the tense. As more copies are now available I have re-posted it.)
Jazz North East Director Supreme, Jazz Journalist and Master of the Adjective, Chris Yates has finally got around to putting his memories of promoting and writing about jazz into book form.
"Blue Horizons" is an entertaining and informative read covering Chris' involvement in jazz from his early days in Hull to the present in Newcastle.
It's an easy read and not at all the brow-furrowing tome one might have anticipated from an academic of Chris Yates standing - I'm pleased to say.
The anecdotes abound as can be expected from someone who has spent maybe 30/40 years rubbing shoulders with the jazz greats.
It has amusing stories that make compelling reading although the author has avoided going down a 'warts and all' path as I'm sure he could have done. I suspect that Chris is too much of a gentleman and has too much respect for the musical past of the artists concerned to wish to tarnish their image.
That he could have done I know first hand having been a part of the Jazz North East team at the time many of the events related occurred.
Even without the warts it is essential reading for those who wish to look back at that Golden Age when the person standing next to you at the bar of the Corner House could easily be Lockjaw Davis or Sweets Edison.
Highly recommended.
Lance.
(Enquiries to lanceliddle@gmail.com) PS: I have just heard that a request for Sydney Bechet's "Blue Horizons" and dedicated to Chris will be played on tomorrow's Jazz Record Requests (5:00pm Radio 3).

1 comment :

Roly said...

I just finished reading it last night - a very enjoyable read. I'm not much of a reader to be honest -when I start to read (in bed usually) I seem to nod off after just a few lines. So I never get anything read!!
But once I started this book I found it quite compelling and so read it all in just a couple of days. I think because I could closely relate to the story - my own induction into jazz was via
60s R&B and folk blues, then local trad bands at clubs, then beyond. And I too have great affection and respect for all styles across the board.
Also a lot of the local JNE gigs I was there of course so it brought back lots of memories. Some nice little anecdotes too.
It's a fine contribution, to local jazz especially, to have things documented this way.
Congratulations and well done Chris.
Roly

Blog Archive