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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.

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.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Meet Danny Wilson and the Quest for the Holy Grail

The last time I saw "Meet Danny Wilson" I was 13 years old which, believe you me, was a long time ago.
Since then, it has become a personal quest - my own 'Holy Grail' - to see it again and to own it on video or DVD.
No joy - the film never showed in either medium, didn't even turn up on TCM.
Eventually I reluctantly gave up searching - mission impossible I thought. After all there were more important things to occupy the mind - then guess what? Santa Claus, prompted by some friends, handed it over to me today - at long last the old movie was out on DVD.
After expressing much joy and many thank-you's I suddenly became frightened. After all this time what if I was disappointed? The critics in the intervening years had shown it no mercy - many saying it was almost as bad as "The Kissing Bandit" which was very bad indeed. Sinatra's career was in the doldrums at the time (1951), he was broke, he was the popular whipping boy of the 'musical' press.
Yet, having made such an impression on me - admitedly at an impressionable age - I felt it must have something otherwise why would I have carried this memory for all those years?
I plucked up courage and played it. From the opening black and white shot of Brooklyn Bridge over the titles I felt a warm glow as the memories came flooding back. Amazingly I could even remember some of the dialogue!
Like the scene in the police cell when Frank (Danny Wilson) asks a guitar player in the next cell what he's in for.
"I hit one of them bebop guys in the goatee" replies the guitarist.
"Where's your guitar?" asks Frank.
"That's what I hit him with" says the guitarist. He then plays the blues on harmonica with Sinatra singing a rare blues chorus.
It was the songs, I guess, that did it. He was moving from the crooner days to the swinging Capital/Reprise era still with a foot in both camps.
"I've Got A Crush on You", "She's Funny That Way", "All of Me", "When You're Smiling", "You're a Sweetheart", "How Deep is the Ocean", "Old Black Magic" and a duet with Shelley Winters on "A Good Man is Hard To Find". Is there another Sinatra film with a better selection?
The truth is, as a film, it's a black and white B movie that, looked at through today's eyes, is as corny as they come.
I wasn't looking at it through today's eyes I doubt I ever will.
Perhaps I should make a copy for when this disc is worn out.
Thank you friends.
Lance.

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