South Coast Jazz Festival 16th – 29th January 2017 The Verdict, Brighton and Ropetackle Arts Centre, Shoreham-by-sea Now in its third year, with the first festival being a weekender and the second festival a long weekend, the South Coast Jazz Festival is now a more all-encompassing festival, in keeping with the original aims […]
The first thing that strikes you about pianist Dave Drake is his sheer enthusiasm, and not just for music, but for life. This optimism shines through when he discusses his biggest passion. “Jazz is such an expression of hope. It’s an expression of triumph over suffering. When I hear Louis Armstrong I […]
What have you learnt from your time performing with Maceo Parker? “It was an honour to have spent 8 year working with Maceo ‘the funkiest saxophone player in the world!’ There, I learnt the nuances of instrumental funk performance. The slurs between notes that give a musical phrase a ‘greasy’ feel, learning about the […]
Saxophonist Pete Burden passed away just after Christmas. The alto saxophonist worked with pianist Lionel Grigson in the late 1960s in the Grigson/Burden Quintet and spent his later years teaching and performing around Hastings. A master of the bebop style of alto saxophone playing, he was inspired by the great Charlie Parker. Liane Carroll described […]
What do jazz writers contribute to the music? I can only speak for myself, of course, but my role is to discuss the music as insightfully as possible. Whether reviewing albums or gigs or interviewing artists the golden rule is to treat the music with respect, and that means expressing negative as well as positive […]
Eddie Myer 5tet Finders Keepers Bassist and SJM columnist Eddie Myer has already made a name for himself on the local jazz scene with his previous album, Why Worry, released back in 2015 and featuring Frank Harrison and the late Ian Price. Rather than just an album solely of Eddie’s originals, this […]
How did you first get into jazz? Well, I’m very blessed with a very culturally-endowed kind of family. My dad has always been really really into jazz, although he wasn't a musician himself he was mostly involved in the theatre. But I had lots of music in the house, lots of vinyl and I’d pick […]
How did you get into jazz? “A heady combination of Coleman Hawkins and Joshua Redman was my first exposure to the saxophone. If that was reflected in my playing even in a small way I’d be very happy! I told a sort of half-truth early on about being able to read chord symbols so […]
The ever -expanding South Coast Jazz Festival returns with concerts at The Old Market in Hove, Ropetackle Arts Centre in Shoreham and The Verdict in Brighton. The festival, now in its third year, kicks off with a concert by Incognito at The Old Market on Saturday 17th December followed by concerts at the Ropetackle […]
Tell us about your new album. How did it come about? “The album seemed to come out of nowhere, complete with track list. I could even ‘hear’ the musicians who would be involved. (Thank goodness they agreed to play on it.)” “I’m struggling to answer the question without saying something about my life. […]