Big Band Scene (March 2019)
This month there is good news and bad news. I will start with the good news. A newcomer, mentioned last month, has joined the Sussex big band scene. Here is a profile of Happy Days Big Band in the words of its founder, Chris Merryfield-Day. “I started playing the saxophone in 2010 and joined a […]
Big Band Scene (Feb. 2019)
Following the absence of the January issue, a belated happy new year to you all. In case you haven’t noticed, the updated list of active Sussex big bands, usually published in January, is posted on the SJM website and the Big Bands of Brighton Facebook page. Another item which was to have been included is […]
Jazz News (Feb. 2019)
Joe Armon-Jones Ezra Collective pianist Joe Armon-Jones received the Session of the Year award at Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide Awards for his Maida Vale session last year. He performs with his band at Patterns in Brighton on Friday 22nd February. Jacob Collier Multi-Grammy award winner Jacob Collier appears at Brighton’s Concorde 2 on Monday 18th […]
Pete Recommends…Kenny Davern and The Rhythm Men
Kenny Davern Kenny Davern and the Rhythm Men [Arbors Records ARCD 19147] For the first SJM of the new year I want to offer a suggestion for those who enjoy older or mainstream styles in our music and the clarinet in particular. Kenny, who died in 2006, was a true master of the clarinet […]
Words…Roxanne Checkley
My childhood was characterised by car journeys. We moved a lot so I spent much of the time reading out facts from encyclopedias to my mum. ‘Muuuuuuum did you know..?’ On repeat for 3 hours. I also read Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl, I read lots as a small child. We lived in Ireland, Sheffield, […]
Live Review: Tom Barford
New Generation Jazz: Tom Barford Quintet The Verdict, Brighton Friday 30th November, 2018 Saxophonist Tom Barford appeared at The Verdict as part of the New Generation Jazz series to promote his latest album, Bloomer, on Edition Records. They mixed tunes from the album with other original material, most notably from guitarist and composer Billy Marrows. They […]
Live Review: Jonny Mansfield Elftet at The Verdict
New Generation Jazz: Jonny Mansfield Elftet The Verdict, Brighton Friday 7th December, 2018 Vibraphonist Jonny Mansfield, a graduate of the Royal Academy jazz course, and the most recent recipient of the Kenny Wheeler Prize, brought his ambitious eleven-piece project to Brighton, combining strings, brass and woodwind with vocals, guitar and vibraphone. They began with an […]
Album Review: Helena Kay’s KIM Trio – Moon Palace
Helena Kay’s KIM Trio Moon Palace (Ubuntu UBU 0018) 2018 has been a great year for female UK jazz musicians moving further into the public eye, and this exciting debut shows that there’s plenty more to come from this quarter. Helena Kay has progressed by stages through the jazz establishment, enrolling at Guildhall in 2012 […]
Album Review: Lost Organ Unit – Playing the Organ for the People
Lost Organ Unit Playing the Organ for the People Lugging a full size 1964 Hammond around the gig circuit takes a degree of commitment, and Bobby Aspey and cohort display total commitment throughout this very enjoyable recording of classic Hammond grooves. Aspey himself penned the tunes, which make creative use of the templates established by […]
Album Review: Theon Cross – Fyah
Theon Cross Fyah (Gearbox GB1550) Theon Cross is something of a tuba phenomenon on the new young London jazz scene; his virtuosity, imagination and sheer stamina on the unwieldly brass monster have powered such of the pivotal outfits as Cassie Kinoshi’s Seed Ensemble, Moses Boyd’s Exodus and, of course, Shabaka Hutchings’ current Mercury-nominated, globetrotting Sons Of […]