Gregory Porter Nat “King” Cole & Me (Decca/Blue Note) Recorded in London with a 70-piece orchestra and arrangements by Vince Mendoza, this album features some of Nat ‘King’ Cole’s most famous hits such as Mona Lisa, Smile, Nature Boy and Porter’s latest single Quizas, Quizas, Quizas. All the tracks are a radio-friendly 4 […]
Gilad Atzmon and the Orient House Ensemble The Spirit of Trane (Freshfield) What Atzmon does best is intensity and this is in abundance on his latest album. Beginning with the Coltrane/Ellington version of In a Sentimental Mood, the string arrangements of Ros Stephen are gentle and unintrusive with Atzmon inevitably letting rip over […]
Ian Price Charity Celebration Hare & Hounds, Worthing Tuesday 5th September, 2017 Now an annual event at the Hare and Hounds, this tribute to saxophonist Ian Price sees a number of musicians who performed with him join forces in his memory and raise money for MacMillan Cancer Support. Mark Bassey’s band played […]
Sam Braysher/Michael Kanan Quartet The Verdict, Brighton Friday 8th September, 2017 American pianist Michael Kanan is known for his appearance at New York’s Smalls, as well as his work with vocalist Jane Monheit. For the launch of his new duet album with UK saxophonist Sam Braysher, he was joined by bassist Dario Di […]
Jazz For Labour Monday 25th & Tuesday 26th September, 2017 The Walrus, Brighton The brainchild of Jazzwise editor in chief and Brighton resident Jon Newey, and organised by Newey, Terry Seabrook and Julian Nicholas, this two-evening event helped raise more than £1,300 for the local Labour party, in the same week that Labour […]
Lizz Wright Grace (Concord Records) Each of the songs on this album is composed by a different songwriter, ranging from Sister Rosetta Tharpe to Bob Dylan and k.d. lang. But all of them have the common theme of the American South. Georgian native Lizz Wright is the perfect vocalist for this project, […]
Geoff Simkins Trio In A Quiet Way (Symbol Records) Geoff Simkins’ love of more obscure (but beautiful) repertoire shines through on this album, beginning with Make Someone Happy, which opens with a lovely solo piano intro by Nikki Iles. The gently played waltz Elsa is one of two compositions by Earl Zindars […]
Summer Festival Roundup Various Venues The event Gilles Peterson on the Beach on Saturday 29th July sounded promising with a whole day of live music followed by a DJ set by the man himself. Unfortunately, the badly organised event was delayed by several hours and accompanied by heavy rain. However, vocalist Claire Martin […]
Philip Clemo: Dream Maps Live Friday 25th August Kino-Teatr, St. Leonards-on-sea Guitarist and soundscape composer Philip Clemo released his album of ambient, original music last year, which featured an array of jazz musicians, many from Sussex. For this performance he gave a reduced version, accompanied by virtuoso musicians such as cellist Emily Burridge […]
Love Supreme Festival Glynde, Sussex Friday 30th June – Sunday 2nd July, 2017 Oli Howe’s trio Howes3 helped start Love Supreme’s fifth incarnation with a selection of original compositions, the highlight of which was a guest appearance by energetic and uplifting vocalist Abi Flynn, who co-wrote the tune Day 7 with Oli Howe. […]