This week saw the passing of one of the colossi of jazz, Charlie Haden. All the major papers carried glowing obituaries, paying their respects to the man and his music. Bass players are seldom so eulogised; jazz bass players even less so, and despite having earned the universal respect and admiration justly accorded to […]
Love Supreme returned to Glynde Place this weekend for it’s second attempt at presenting a high-production greenfield festival programmed entirely with jazz-and -related-musics. One can only admire their courage. Glastonbury Festival introduced a Jazz Stage once upon a time, but that was long long ago in the distant 80s, when jazz and world music […]
I had the good fortune recently to attend a presentation by millionaire rap icon, political activist, and all-round spokesman for a generation Chuck D, who rose to global recognition as the dominant voice of pioneering hip-hop collective Public Enemy. Their days as platinum-selling major label artists now definitely behind them, they’ve maintained their relevance […]
Whatever your own particular political persuasion, you should perhaps be grateful to the motley crew over at UKIP for galvanising widespread interest in the upcoming Euro elections, a poll most of us have traditionally been happy to ignore completely. Now that their lead in the polls has translated into election results despite their candidates’ […]
Spring has arrived, bringing with it the usual panoply of rabbits, lambs, blossom, and, if you’re lucky, seasonal feelings of optimism and renewal. With regards to this last, it’s also brought me a communication from the Musician’s Union regarding their standard pay scale. Those of us engaged in gleaning what we can from the […]
Branford Marsalis still cuts a large figure on the international jazz scene, and his presence at the Love Supreme festival last year certainly added some gravitas to the line-up. So it’s interesting to read an article from him published in the Seattle Weekly under the banner “The Problem With Jazz”. It’s a succinct piece […]
I was in New York last week on non-jazz related musical business and managed to find the time to drop into the Zinc Bar for one of their Tuesday night jam sessions, hosted by the outstanding pianist Orrin Evans. The jam session remains a popular format here in Brighton and it was interesting and […]
This week brought the sad news of the untimely passing of Paco de Lucía. In his native Spain he was a cultural figure of immense importance, and his uniquely successful career conferred such stature upon him that his fame had spread far beyond the confines of flamenco enthusiasts (admittedly a global constituency). I don’t […]
Last Friday I managed to get myself along to see much-favoured youngbloods Empirical playing at the Pavilion Theatre to an appreciative crowd. It was a rare chance to see something from the current forefront of jazz-and-related-musics on our doorstep, and I was pleased not to recognise any local players among the audience, as everyone […]
History was briefly reversed for an evening last year when one Monday shortly before Christmas a temporary and very localised electrical problem cut the power at our regular gig at the Bee’s Mouth here in Brighton, leaving us with our instruments untouched but our amps redundant. Stalwarts that we are, we carried on jamming […]