Vibraphonist, drummer and percussionist Nat Steele grew up in a house full of music, and got into jazz through his saxophonist father. “The jazz thing really came from my dad who has a big jazz record collection. Obviously, being a saxophone player he had loads and loads of saxophone players, on vinyl. As […]
Who have been your biggest influences as a vocalist? My biggest influences growing up definitely included Betty Carter, Dianne Reeves, Sarah Vaughan, Cassandra Wilson, Carmen McRae. Where did the idea come from to do an album of Gil Scott-Heron’s music? The idea came from Mark Ruffin. He had produced a Gil Scott-Heron record before, […]
How did you first get into music? “I was really interested in saxophone from quite a young age and I won a music competition when I was eleven and I got saxophone lessons and a saxophone. From then on I discovered Tomorrow’s Warriors, and particularly Gary Crosby. They really were the force behind getting […]
Geoff Simkins Trio The Verdict, Brighton Sunday 18th June 2017 Local legend Geoff Simkins hasn’t released an album under his own name for a number of years, so it was great to see him launch his new album at The Verdict in Brighton, accompanied by the two other musicians on the CD, Nikki […]
Geoffrey Keezer & Gillian Margot The Verdict, Brighton Monday 5th June 2017 Beginning with a masterclass, in association with Brighton Jazz School (of which Keezer is a patron), husband and wife team Geoffrey Keezer and Gillian Margot answered questions from the audience that covered everything from musical empathy, rubato, introductions, rhythm, song choice […]
Saxophonist and composer Jon Shenoy first formed Draw By Four around six years ago as “a Hammond organ band with a difference” but last year faced the possibility of the project falling by the wayside. “The original members were Will Bartlett, who still plays in it now, Kris Borring who is a Danish guitarist […]
Saxophonist and jazz educator Geoff Simkins has just recorded his latest album. He met with Charlie Anderson at The Verdict in Brighton where he performs on Sunday 18th June. Geoff Simkins releases his latest album in June, a trio album with pianist Nikki Illes and bassist Dave Green. “Nikki and I have done some […]
What did you learn from performing with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and then with Ray Brown? One of the key things I learned was how to pace a musical set. Both Art and Ray were in tune with the energy and needs of each audience we played for. They could sense if we needed to […]
Are there any favourite albums that you listened to over and over when you were younger? How much younger are we talking? As a kid I listened to David Bowie all the time. When I was getting into Jazz I loved ‘Blue Trane’, ‘Speak No Evil’, ‘Portrait in Jazz’ and ‘Four and More’. When I […]
ENEMY The Verdict, Brighton Monday 22nd May 2017 ENEMY, a superb trio of Kit Downes, Petter Eldh and James Maddren, was formed as a reaction to how Kit thinks about “complexity, and how liberating it can be”. And although this was an evening of complex music, it was also an evening of […]