We live in a world of ever increasing connectivity, where ever faster, more mobile data services are able to deluge us with an unending stream of cultural, technical, frivolous or salacious information wherever we may find ourselves. You can watch a movie on a mountainside, read up on the latest jargon from deep within […]
If you haven’t seen Whiplash yet, we strongly urge you to do so, if only to furnish yourself with an opinion to add to the already heated discussion that the movie has provoked amid fans and practitioners of jazz-and-related-music. We’ll avoid any spoilers by saying merely that it’s a fictional account of the […]
Holiday season can present both the jazz musician and the jazz enthusiast with a bit of a dilemma. For the self-employed musician, the nagging realisation that family or romantic commitments have obliged them to take ‘quality time’ off during the busiest gigging season of the year can be enough to put them in a […]
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 […]