As the Sussex Jazz Magazine enters its third year, it’s gratifying to see how the scene that inspired its inception is still busy enough to keep it supplied with copy. 2015 was a great year for jazz-and-related-musics in the Sussex area, and 2016 promises a range of delights to come. Sadly but inevitably, […]
These are testing times for new artists. In the early 2010s (Twenty-teens?) you could read any number of articles announcing the dawning of a new era for the music business. Self-promotion would be the way of the future – musicians would be empowered to build their own careers, recording at home on their sleek, […]
The 1962 movie The Connection isn’t widely screened today – it’s blend of modernistically gritty black-and-white visuals and that school of 1950s acting which blended broad-brush theatricality with earnest, painstakingly sincere close-ups hasn’t dated particularly well, and it’s strict observation of the Aristotelian dramatic unities (it started life as an off-Broadway play) makes it […]
Where’s the best place to hear live jazz? A Storyville juke joint, a Mississippi paddle steamer, a dancehall or a cellar bar in a sketchy neighbourhood? Or a concert hall, a downtown supper club, a high-production outdoor festival or an arts centre theatre? Maybe you can even dig it when it’s performed in a […]
The unfolding drama of the Labour Party leadership contest provides a sorry spectacle of a beleaguered organisation suffering the additional indignities of infighting and disunity at the very moment when a show of solidarity is most needed. The history of the Labour Party is roughly contemporaneous with that of the many-faceted music identified as […]
The Goldberg Variations August approaches heralding scenes of frantic activity as all manner of desk-jockeys and freelancers belabour their computer keyboards to try and meet their deadlines before the start of the holiday season. It’s an equivocal season for jazz musicians; gig attendances may fall as jazz clubs struggle to compete with […]
Eddie Myer in conversation with Barney Dufton from Neapolitan, the production team behind the Love Supreme Festival. SJM So… Love Supreme is a greenfield jazz festival… who conceived of this idea in the first place? BD The idea came from Ciro Romano who’s our festival director. He’s been involved in music for years […]
Last issue’s column touched upon the meeting between enigmatic jazz innovator Ornette Coleman and controversial deconstructionist Jaques Derrida, and how the potentially seminal discussion between them had to be abandoned due to the intemperate heckling from the audience, much to the retiring philosopher’s dismay. Coleman’s reaction to the event is not recorded, but one […]
The Eye of the Tiger April 30th is doubly significant for our loyal readers, marking not only the 40th virtual issue of the Sussex Jazz Magazine but also the triumphant return of International Jazz Day, modestly billed on its own Facebook page as ‘The Greatest Day in Jazz History’. We’re aware that some […]
The unexpected cancellation of The Orient House Ensemble’s March 5th gig at the Royal Northern College of Music provoked a spectrum of reactions, all duly registered across social-media land. Jazz gigs are sadly prone to cancellations due to poor pre-sales or the vagaries of promoters and venue owners, but this was a rather […]