Album Review: Calum Gourlay – New Ears
Calum Gourlay Quartet New Ears (Ubuntu – UBU0043) Dark hues prevail in this bass-led project, with the higher register of Helena Kay’s precise, clear-toned tenor and drummer du jour James Maddren’s restless, polyrhythmic cymbal patterns providing the upper frequencies over the rich low end of bass and trombone. Gourlay is a mainstay of the London […]
Album Review: Dave O’Higgins & Rob Luft – O’Higgins & Luft Play Monk & Trane
Dave O’Higgins & Rob Luft O’Higgins & Luft Play Monk & Trane (Ubuntu UBU0029) Monk and Trane still bestride the music like a pair of colossi. Monk’s reputation as a composer has continued if anything to grow in the decades since his death, and a working knowledge of Criss Cross and Trinkle Tinkle are now […]
Album Review: Jean Toussaint All Star Sextet – Live at the Jazz Cafe
Jean Toussaint All Star Sextet Live At The Jazz Cafe (Lyte Records LR049) The warmth of the respect accorded to Jean Toussaint, accurately described by Ivan Hewitt as ‘a genial presence on the UK jazz scene for over 30 years’, can be gauged by the warmth of the applause that greets his opening welcome […]
Album Review: BATL Quartet – BATL Quartet Live
BATL Quartet BATL Quartet Live Transplanted Perth-to-London tenor man Brandon Allen is a well respected fixture on the UK scene, sharing with Paul Booth the enviable position of being first-call session player for a host of big names while still preserving an unimpeachable name as an echt practitioner of modern jazz. This album will only […]
Album Review: Maria Chiara Argiro – Hidden Seas
Maria Chiara Argiro Hidden Seas (Cavalo Records CRMCACD01) Italian keyboardist Maria Chiara Argirò maintains a busy presence around London’s cutting edge of jazz-based musical activities, most recently with Liran Donin’s post-Avishai Cohen outfit 1000 Boats. A formidably accomplished musician, she’s emblematic of the kind of international, wide-ranging scene that’s grown up in London, with musicians […]
Album Review: New York All-Stars – Live Encounter
New York All-Stars Live Encounter (Ubuntu UBU0030) A long-treasured project for Ubuntu boss Martin Hummel, the first All Stars line up featured the veteran and late lamented Harold Mabern on piano. That set was so well received that a follow up was a must, and with Mabern’s health no longer permitting his participation, so top-flight […]
Words…George Richardson
I spent my early years exploring on my own. What strongly stands out in my memory from early childhood was the realisation of individuality which I would probably attribute to this time spent alone, wandering through the forest and dirt tracks that were in abundance near to where I grew up in Oxfordshire, giving me […]
Jazz News (Dec. 2019)
Love Supreme 2020 – First Line Up Announcement Love Supreme Festival have made their first announcement on the line up for the 2020 festival, to be held at Glynde Place on the weekend of 3rd – 5th July, 2020. Charles Lloyd Kindred Spirits includes the legendary jazz saxophonist performing on Sunday 5th July, in […]
Big Band Scene (Dec. 2019)
Once again we are at the year’s end, when seasonal songs are brought out of storage and dusted off for their annual outings. 2019 has been yet another year of uncertainty on the political front. Despite the Prime Minister’s bluster and bravado, we are still part of Europe. So charts such as April in Paris […]
Words…Gina Southgate
Although I come from a large family, I felt lonely for a lot of my childhood. My closest sibling was 14 years older than me, and married and left home when I was 5. My eldest sister had 3 girls by the time I was born. As soon as I left school I […]