Sarah Tandy Infection in the Sentence (Jazz Re:freshed) Sarah Tandy has quietly been positioned as one of the movement’s most credible forces, emerging from the fertile South London scene as keys player for Nu Civilisation Orchestra, Maisha, Where Pathways Meet, Camilla George, Nubya Garcia, Nerija, and many more, and earning a ringing endorsement from the […]
Helena Kay’s KIM Trio Moon Palace (Ubuntu UBU 0018) 2018 has been a great year for female UK jazz musicians moving further into the public eye, and this exciting debut shows that there’s plenty more to come from this quarter. Helena Kay has progressed by stages through the jazz establishment, enrolling at Guildhall in 2012 […]
Lost Organ Unit Playing the Organ for the People Lugging a full size 1964 Hammond around the gig circuit takes a degree of commitment, and Bobby Aspey and cohort display total commitment throughout this very enjoyable recording of classic Hammond grooves. Aspey himself penned the tunes, which make creative use of the templates established by […]
Theon Cross Fyah (Gearbox GB1550) Theon Cross is something of a tuba phenomenon on the new young London jazz scene; his virtuosity, imagination and sheer stamina on the unwieldly brass monster have powered such of the pivotal outfits as Cassie Kinoshi’s Seed Ensemble, Moses Boyd’s Exodus and, of course, Shabaka Hutchings’ current Mercury-nominated, globetrotting Sons Of […]
Cassie Kinoshi’s SEED Ensemble Driftglass (Jazz Re:freshed) From altoist and sometime Nérija frontliner Kinoshi, comes this big, joyous project featuring a host of luminaries from the hipper end of the young London scene. Kinoshi favours big brass fanfares over hypnotic bass ostinatos, beats drawn from club culture as much as from jazz, and an energetic, freewheeling approach […]
Rosie Turton Rosie’s 5ive (Jazz Re:freshed) Rosie Turton is firmly embedded in the South London scene that’s burst into prominence in the last 18 months; her regular gig as a member of Nérija placed her alongside the movement’s star players Nubya Garcia and Cassie Kinoshi, and this release marks another in the second wave of […]
Sons of Kemet Komedia, Brighton Tuesday 30th October, 2018 There is already a sense of excitement in the air as opener Vels Trio’s drummer Dougal Taylor brings their set of elegantly hip Hancock-esque minimal fusion to a simmering boil. This gig in the low-ceilinged Komedia basement sold out long ago – evidence of a […]
Lorraine Baker’s Eden The Brunswick, Hove Sunday 7th November, 2018 Lorraine Baker recorded one of the season’s freshest sounding releases with her Eden project, dedicated to exploring the unique legacy of maverick New Orleans drum supremo Ed Blackwell. As Blackwell was a relatively infrequent composer, she’s picked selections from the back catalogue of his […]
GoGo Penguin Concorde 2, Brighton Sunday 11th November, 2018 The Concorde usually hosts mid-ranking rock bands or popular club nights – tonight it’s completely sold out for an acoustic piano trio. Gogo Penguin walk onstage like rockstars to John Carpenter style atmospherics – Chris Illingworth plucks one repeated note from the piano from amidst […]
Ezra Collective Patterns, Brighton Wednesday 14th November, 2018 “This is about joy and happiness and celebrating everything that’s good” proclaims Femi Koleoso. “There’s no boundaries to how you express yourself – dance, shout, be mad quiet and stare – but let’s lose the barriers, we ain’t superstars or nothing”. He’s talking about the crash […]