John Turville Head First (Whirlwind WR4734) John Turville has spent the last decade quietly establishing himself as the go-to pianist for the kind of thoughtful, multi-faceted modern jazz whose distinctly European sensibility was developed by composers such as John Taylor and Kenny Wheeler, and continues to thrive today. His sensitivity, advanced harmonic concept and the […]
New Generation Jazz: Alex Hitchcock Quintet The Verdict, Brighton Friday 18th January, 2019 This quintet, featuring saxophonist Alex Hitchcock and trumpeter James Copus, are a formidable frontline partnership. Both are members of Patchwork Jazz Orchestra, and bring a special chemistry to their performances with tight unison lines and an enviable musical telepathy. The quintet released […]
Emute Lab 3: Bog Bodies X the Threnoscope + Koray Tahiroglu & Roosa Poni The Rose Hill, Brighton Wednesday 13th February, 2019 Brighton’s Rose Hill Tavern saw Bog Bodies bring their signature approach to creating music to its cosy stage. Consisting of tenor saxophone, drums and an electric guitar laden with effects pedals, the short […]
James Brandon Lewis An Unruly Manifesto (Relative Pitch Records) Seasoned jazz veteran and tenor saxophonist, James Brandon Lewis has been an active and well-known player on the New York jazz scene for some time now, sharing stages with the likes of Ravi Coltrane and Jimmy Heath among a vast number of the many giants of […]
Patchwork Jazz Orchestra The Adventures of Mr. Pottercakes (Spark Label Spark!007) This impressive project unites some of the London jazz scene’s brightest young sparks (many of whom will be familiar to Brighton audiences from their appearances for New Generation Jazz) into a single multi-headed beast that provides a wide-ranging, ambitious showcase for everyone’s writing, arranging, […]
Sarah Tandy Infection in the Sentence (Jazz Re:freshed) Sarah Tandy has quietly been positioned as one of the movement’s most credible forces, emerging from the fertile South London scene as keys player for Nu Civilisation Orchestra, Maisha, Where Pathways Meet, Camilla George, Nubya Garcia, Nerija, and many more, and earning a ringing endorsement from the […]
New Generation Jazz: Binker Golding Band The Verdict, Brighton Friday 26th October, 2018 Saxophonist Binker Golding is probably best known for his duo work in Binker and Moses, as well as his sideman role with the likes of Zara McFarlane and Mr Jukes. Fronting his own band, he performed compositions from his forthcoming album Abstractions of […]
Sons of Kemet Komedia, Brighton Tuesday 30th October, 2018 There is already a sense of excitement in the air as opener Vels Trio’s drummer Dougal Taylor brings their set of elegantly hip Hancock-esque minimal fusion to a simmering boil. This gig in the low-ceilinged Komedia basement sold out long ago – evidence of a […]
Lorraine Baker’s Eden The Brunswick, Hove Sunday 7th November, 2018 Lorraine Baker recorded one of the season’s freshest sounding releases with her Eden project, dedicated to exploring the unique legacy of maverick New Orleans drum supremo Ed Blackwell. As Blackwell was a relatively infrequent composer, she’s picked selections from the back catalogue of his […]
GoGo Penguin Concorde 2, Brighton Sunday 11th November, 2018 The Concorde usually hosts mid-ranking rock bands or popular club nights – tonight it’s completely sold out for an acoustic piano trio. Gogo Penguin walk onstage like rockstars to John Carpenter style atmospherics – Chris Illingworth plucks one repeated note from the piano from amidst […]