Sam Braysher/Michael Kanan Quartet The Verdict, Brighton Friday 8th September, 2017 American pianist Michael Kanan is known for his appearance at New York’s Smalls, as well as his work with vocalist Jane Monheit. For the launch of his new duet album with UK saxophonist Sam Braysher, he was joined by bassist Dario Di […]
Geoff Simkins Trio The Verdict, Brighton Sunday 18th June 2017 Local legend Geoff Simkins hasn’t released an album under his own name for a number of years, so it was great to see him launch his new album at The Verdict in Brighton, accompanied by the two other musicians on the CD, Nikki […]
Geoffrey Keezer & Gillian Margot The Verdict, Brighton Monday 5th June 2017 Beginning with a masterclass, in association with Brighton Jazz School (of which Keezer is a patron), husband and wife team Geoffrey Keezer and Gillian Margot answered questions from the audience that covered everything from musical empathy, rubato, introductions, rhythm, song choice […]
Saxophonist and composer Jon Shenoy first formed Draw By Four around six years ago as “a Hammond organ band with a difference” but last year faced the possibility of the project falling by the wayside. “The original members were Will Bartlett, who still plays in it now, Kris Borring who is a Danish guitarist […]
Saxophonist and jazz educator Geoff Simkins has just recorded his latest album. He met with Charlie Anderson at The Verdict in Brighton where he performs on Sunday 18th June. Geoff Simkins releases his latest album in June, a trio album with pianist Nikki Illes and bassist Dave Green. “Nikki and I have done some […]
ENEMY The Verdict, Brighton Monday 22nd May 2017 ENEMY, a superb trio of Kit Downes, Petter Eldh and James Maddren, was formed as a reaction to how Kit thinks about “complexity, and how liberating it can be”. And although this was an evening of complex music, it was also an evening of […]
MAISHA New Generation Jazz,The Verdict, Brighton Friday 31st March 2017 Drummer Jake Long’s MAISHA specialise in post-Coltrane world-influenced music, very much in the spirit of Pharaoh Sanders and this was apparent from the first number, Welcome to a New Welcome. The final piece of the first set was introduced by an extended […]
Christian Brewer/Leon Greening Quartet The Verdict, Brighton Friday 7th April Despite flies buzzing around the stage, attracted by the bright stage lights in a darkened room, the band began with a blistering slice of hard bop, in the form of Cedar Walton’s Ugetsu, made famous by Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. The groove of […]
Rick Simpson’s Klammer The Verdict, Brighton Friday 14th April 2017 A mesmerising evening of highly original contemporary material from pianist Rick Simpson featured some outstanding performances from reedsman Mike Chillingworth and saxophonist-of-the-moment George Crowley. Simpson’s esoteric compositions were ideally suited to the wide range of timbres at his disposal, including Chillingworth’s bass […]
Alina Bzhezhinska Quartet The Verdict Friday 17th March 2017 The harp has a very marginal history as a jazz instrument, barely even appearing in the ‘miscellaneous instruments’ category in the self-appointed arbiters that are magazine polls. However, it does possess at least one major voice, and one that’s closely linked into the very […]