Cloudmakers Five The Verdict, Brighton Friday 12th January, 2018 Formed eight years ago, Jim Hart’s Cloudmakers Five, originally a trio but extended with saxophone and guitar, have so far released four albums to critical acclaim, mostly due to Jim Hart’s artful compositions and an enviable chemistry between the musicians in the band, all […]
Abi Flynn Benefit Concert The Walrus, Brighton Wednesday 6th December, 2017 Beginning with Nature Boy sang beautifully by Lou Beckerman, this was a memorable evening from the opening number, with many of Brighton’s top musicians gathering to raise money (and share the love) for vocalist Abi Flynn. Throughout the evening there were […]
Three Little Birds Friends Meeting House, Brighton Sunday 10th December, 2017 Beginning with the standard After You’ve Gone, this vocal trio of Ela Southgate, Sara Oschlag and Rachel Simpson reunited for a concert with guitarist and arranger Matt Wall and bassist Dan Sheppard. The vocal harmonies worked beautifully, with the addition of […]
Sam Barnett The Verdict, Brighton Friday 15th December, 2017 Promoting his debut album London-New York Suite, 16 year old saxophonist Sam Barnett began with the opening track from the album, Morning Shadowplay and intermixed tunes from the album with compositions that he has written since. Accompanied throughout by fellow teens, drummer Zoe […]
Nicole Henry Ropetackle Arts Centre, Shoreham-by-sea Wednesday 8th November, 2017 I’d not heard of Nicole Henry until it was announced that she was to perform the opening gig at the London Jazz Festival. I then found out that two days before, the Ropetackle Arts Centre in Shoreham-by-Sea had gained the distinction of booking […]
Dan Cartwright Quartet The Verdict, Brighton Friday 17th November, 2017 Even comparatively hyped new artists can really struggle to fill jazz clubs outside our major cities, let alone an unknown tenor player on his very first headline engagement. Despite the chilly ambient temperature, caused by an overzealous aircon unit, there’s a warm welcome […]
Vitor Pereira Quintet The Verdict, Brighton Saturday 25th November, 2017 Portuguese guitarist and composer Vitor Pereira has already recorded two albums featuring his own compositions: his debut Doors from 2012 and last year’s New World, the title track of which opened his return to The Verdict, where club owner Andy Lavender is an […]
The Cloggz The Under Ground Theatre, Eastbourne Saturday 30th September, 2017 The Cloggz combine the technical virtuosity of their jazz backgrounds with a myriad of influences with the end result being a mixture of jazz, tango, film music and other genres. The common theme in their performances is simply choosing a set of […]
Portrait of the Modern Jazz Quartet All Saints Church, Hove Thursday 5th October, 2017 Vibraphonist Nat Steele’s group pays homage to the MJQ through performing their repertoire and arrangements. Given that the MJQ were together for more than 40 years this is quite a task and one that they undertake extremely well. […]
Oli Rockberger Monday 23rd October, 2017 Ropetackle Arts Centre, Shoreham This was Oli Rockberger’s final gig of his first UK tour as a bandleader where he was joined by BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winner Hannah Read, who also features on his latest album Sovereign. Although this was a tour to promote […]