Big Band Scene (Nov. 2018)
This month sees a welcome return to the Sussex big band scene of the One World Orchestra, with their appropriately named Bonfire! performance at the Unitarian Church in central Brighton. Details are in the listings below. This Sussex based ensemble, formerly The Paul Busby Big Band, changed its name a couple of years ago, when […]
Pete Recommends…Dexter Gordon – Go
Dexter Gordon Go [Blue Note 84112] About the time that this recording was made I heard Dexter in person. I still believe that it was one of the best live sessions I have experienced. The sheer strength of his performance, his ability to flow and to build for chorus after chorus, was breathtaking. Over […]
Live Review: Fraser & The Alibis at The Verdict
Fraser and the Alibis New Generation Jazz at The Verdict, Brighton Friday 28th September, 2018 Fraser and the Alibis formed 10 years ago when they met on the jazz degree course at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. This was not an album launch as planned, as the new album is still […]
Live Review: Skinny Pelembe at Green Door Store, Brighton
Skinny Pelembe Green Door Store, Brighton Wednesday 26th September, 2018 A recent signing to Brownswood, as part of their excellent Future Bubblers series, Skinny Pelembe performed a set that highlighted his creativity and originality, with assistance from a top class band. Talented bassist Alley Lloyd also provided vocals on some of the numbers propelled […]
Live Review: Yussef Dayes at The Haunt, Brighton
Yussef Dayes The Haunt, Brighton Wednesday 26th September, 2018 The bouncer outside is busy checking ID and handing out wristbands to those lucky enough and old enough to buy booze legally; inside the system is playing trap to entertain the packed out crowd. The keys and bass players appear first and, after a short […]
Live Review: Jazz In The Round at Emergence Festival, Hastings
Jean Toussaint, Chiminyo, Arthur O’Hara Trio Jazz In The Round at Emergence Festival, St. Mary in the Castle, Hastings Saturday 29th September, 2018 Jazz In The Round promoters Chris Phillips and Jez Nelson must have scoured the South in their search for suitably-shaped venues to accommodate their expanding vision; St Mary’s In The Rock, […]
Live Review: Jazz Jamaica All Stars at Brighton Dome
Jazz Jamaica All Stars Brighton Dome Concert Hall Saturday 29th September, 2018 The relationship between jazz and reggae was for a while a rare combination, until the breakthrough of Jamaican jazz guitarist and visionary Ernest Ranglin, whose fresh approach saw a revolutionary breakthrough towards the fusion of Jamaica’s national music with the technical aspects […]
Live Review: Eastbourne Splash Point Jazz Festival
Eastbourne Splash Point Jazz Festival The Fishermen’s Club, Christ Church and Leaf Hall, Eastbourne Sunday 30th September, 2018 Splash Point Jazz’s inaugural jazz festival in Eastbourne saw 12 different bands performing across 3 separate venues. The largest venue of the festival, Christ Church, hosted Festival Director Neal Richardson’s Band who performed a number of […]
Live Review: Joe Armon-Jones at Patterns
Joe Armon-Jones Patterns, Brighton Wednesday 10th October, 2018 The new London jazz scene, recently featured in the New York Times, is all about the live experience and this is something that Mr. Bongo is bringing to Patterns in Brighton over the next few months. Ezra Collective’s pianist Joe Armon-Jones, on his return to Brighton, […]
Live Review: Trevor Watts & Veryan Weston at Brighton Alternative Jazz Festival
Brighton Alternative Jazz Festival: Trevor Watts & Veryan Weston The Verdict, Brighton Thursday 4th October, 2018 Brighton’s Alternative Jazz Festival, in its third incarnation this year, kicks off with a raucous exposé of jazz from the distended edges of tradition. This evening’s gig, having swung through the clipped snapshots of In Threads and the […]