Jazz site is a big hit with fans
ALL THAT JAZZ ... Lance Liddle is happy with the success of his website.
A jazz enthusiast, who used to play alongside rock legend Sting, is hitting the top notes with music fans around the world.
Lance Liddle has had about 200,000 people visit his jazz website, Bebop Spoken Here, since it went online in 2008.
Featuring news, views and reviews, the website now boasts fans and contributors in all parts of the globe, from Nottingham to New York.
Mr Liddle, 73, of East Street, Hebburn, who was a member of Newcastle Big Band with bass player Sting in the early 1970s, said: “The site has just taken off in the last three years and I have had something like 200,000 ‘hits’ up to now.
“The son of someone I used to work with at Windows record store in Newcastle is involved in a big band in Hong Kong, and keeps us up to date with the jazz scene over there.
“But we have visitors from right across the world, including all parts of the UK, Europe and the US.”
A jazz fan since his earliest days, after becoming hooked on Big Bands led by Count Basie and Stan Kenton, Mr Liddle has also played tenor saxophone in a string of regional bands, latterly the Bright Street Big Band, Sunderland, and the Newcastle-based Chilli Road Band.
Mr Liddle has also amassed a jazz archive running into thousands of vinyl and CD albums, but live jazz remains his first love.
“There’s no better way to hear jazz than in a concert performance, where you can soak up all the atmosphere. Nothing beats live jazz.”
The Hebburn jazz fan also reviews and previews gigs at The Sage Gateshead, but he is just as passionate about jazz and blues played before small but appreciative audiences in the back rooms of local pubs and clubs.
Mr Liddle has also passed on his love of jazz to Marlene, 70, his wife for the last 48 years.
Visit Mr Liddle’s website, at www.lance-bebopspokenhere.blogspot.com
terry.kelly@northeast-press.co.uk
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