As festival season proceeds regardless of the changeable weather, leading us damply but surely towards the autumn touring and album release schedule, when new releases drop as swiftly as autumn leaves, the protean artform known as jazz continues to attract media attention, holding out the possibility that some of the online verbiage will translate into […]
Alex Hitchcock Quintet All Good Things (Fresh Sound New Talent FSNT572) This is the recording debut from a band that came together for Hitchcock’s final performance at the Royal Academy of Music, but this is no undercooked collegiate project – the band and the material have been thoroughly road tested since they graduated in 2016, […]
Mark Kavuma The Banger Factory (Ubuntu – UBU0028) The advance in jazz education, the demise of the jazz club and the increase in public funding has changed the shape of career progression for many contemporary UK jazz musicians; the days of learning from ones’ peers on the bandstand, through a series of club residencies, have […]
Nérija Blume (Domino) Nérija were at the forefront of the new musical wave bursting out of the South London/Tomorrow’s Warriors nexus back in pre-Brexit Britain – we booked them for New Generation Jazz’s second ever show in 2016, and featured them again on the Love Supreme bandstand the next year. Four years is a long […]
Dave Drake Live at Sussex University (self-release) This recording captures a solo concert delivered at the Sussex University Meeting House by the prodigious pianist and local Brighton favourite Dave Drake on one of his visits home from his studies at the New School in Manhattan. Kozen-Rufu Waltz shows his lyrical, romantic side, almost reminiscent of […]
By comparison with the many rumbustious characters who populate the teeming history of the Golden Era of jazz, Bill Evans appears as very much the quiet man of jazz. Bassist Chuck Israels, who has documented their relationship in interviews in some detail, sums up their relationship thus: “My relationship with Bill was largely non- verbal. […]
Tom Cawley catenaccio (Ubuntu UBU0024) Tom Cawley’s career has encompassed everything from piano trios at the Blue Note to tours with Peter Gabriel – such is the proficiency and breadth of his musicianship that it’s impossible to predict what each new project will bring. Previous projects have variously shown his facility and versatility as […]
Andrew McCormack’s Graviton The Calling (Ubuntu UBU0025) McCormack is probably best known for his acclaimed series of duo recordings with Jason Yarde; this album is a very different beast, showcasing his compositional vision in what might be described as jazz- prog-rock-fusion. McCormack is a formidable virtuoso, fully capable of integrating a range of influences […]
Bonsai Bonsai Club (Ubuntu UBU0031) The artists previously known as Jam Experiment return with a rebranded outfit, now with extra violin courtesy of an Ingham sibling, and a renewed sense of purpose and personality. The extra confidence can be seen in their decision to add vocal tracks to their brand of 21st century jazz […]
Love Supreme at The Roundhouse The Roundhouse, London Saturday 13th April, 2019 Love Supreme continue to expand the brand by bringing an all-day jamboree of jazz-and-related-musics to the Roundhouse, following their success last year. That event was dominated by the emergent New London Jazz scene – this year’s different, highly diverse line-up provides an interesting […]