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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.
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.

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Book Review: The Jazz Files (Poppy Denby Investigates) by Fiona Veitch Smith

(Review by Ann Alex)
Hurrah! I’ve been promoted by BSH to do a book review. I would actually claim to know more about books than I do about jazz, so here goes.
This book is a really good read, a romping page turner, but with an unmistakable dark side. Recommended for BSH readers, but don’t expect to read much about jazz, despite the title. The action takes place in the Summer of 1920, when the term ‘jazz’ was used to indicate aspects of the bright, new, modern life, as in Jazz Age, Roaring Twenties, the decade of the Bright Young People. The jazz tunes which we think of as belonging to this age didn’t reach London clubs until a few years after 1920, and the Charleston didn’t appear until 1924. The main direct reference to jazz is early in the novel, when Poppy, our heroine, and her friends, visit an imaginary London jazz club called ‘Oscars’ . They dance to a band with piano, trumpet, trombone, clarinet, banjo, drums and double bass (Dixieland?) playing Tiger Rag.

Poppy later gets a job as an editorial assistant on a newspaper, The Daily Globe, where there is a collection of files known as the ‘Jazz Files’ of the title, which are files outlining high society scandals where the stories are incomplete, so the files are kept in the hope that more information and scandal will be later revealed and proved, so that much can be made of them in the newspaper.

Mysterious deaths occur and Poppy takes a full part in sorting out solutions in this novel which I suppose could be classified as a crime novel with some differences. If I explained more of the plot I’d have to issue a spoiler alert, so you’ll all have to read the book for yourselves.

The characters are well presented.  Poppy is enterprising and risk taking, her actress friend Delilah is madly scatty, and there is an assortment of people working at the ‘Globe’. The writer used to work as a journalist and the office of the Globe has the ring of authenticity. (I used to know many journalists, and these characters are only slightly exaggerated, I can vouch for that). The novel doesn’t shy away from presenting people who are disabled, and there are hints of a lesbian relationship as well. And there’s plenty of period ‘feel’ such as descriptions of the clothes worn, and details of the cars driven, and no mention of anyone taking a driving test.

The dark side of the novel includes the information given about the Suffragette movement, The WSPU, their work and what they had to endure. And we are constantly reminded of the events which must have been in people’s minds in the 1920’s, the losses of the First World War and the Spanish flu epidemic. Poppy herself has lost her brother in the War.

Add various romances to the mix, and you have a really enjoyable read!
Ann Alex.
The Jazz Files (Poppy Denby Investigates) by Fiona Veitch Smith.
  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Lion Fiction (17 Sept. 2015)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1782641750
  • ISBN-13: 978-1782641759
  • Product Dimensions: 12.7 x 2 x 19.6 cm
  • £7.99.

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