In the 1970s, the arrival in London of South African musicians fleeing apartheid, had a radical impact on British jazz. Led by Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood of Breath the music combined infectious rhythms, lyrical melodies and ferocious improvisation in ways that [...]
Dutch alto saxophonist Benjamin Herman‘s back catalogue of over 50 albums includes, amongst other things, some gypsy jazz, straight ahead jazz, his own band the new cool collective, punk jazz, and interpretations of Misha Mengelberg’s free jazz. He’s extremely well [...]
This year’s 7th Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music had already been running for two weeks; I caught just two days. Friday 6 October. I arrived on the Friday evening in the beautiful Members Library. Improvised music isn’t often [...]
Gard Nilssen’s Supersonic Orchestra is a monster. And like all monsters it can be fierce, scary, and yet incredibly fascinating, or to say the least, impossible to ignore. It’s not easy to describe either, but its made up of 11 [...]
The Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music will take place at various local venues from 22 September to 8 October. Concerts include performances by Ubunye, the Zoe Rahman Band and Japanese artist Rie Nakajima. At a time when some [...]
Almost exactly four years ago I reviewed Universal Disappointment, an exciting and quirky album by young Danish pianist Jeppe Zeeberg. There have been two other albums since then, including a set of solo piano variations based on Haydn’s Arietta. This [...]
This is a new band to me, despite it being their third album. I have come across the leader briefly, in other environments, but not the other musicians. It’s worth going through them if only to point out the varied [...]
There’s something special about listening to high quality live music in a community venue. It’s the sense you get in good local jazz clubs, but rarely see at a music festival. Watford Jazz Junction, now in its second year, manages [...]
Tony Dudley-Evans had just turned 80, and has taken the decision that it is time for him to step back from active involvement in the Cheltenham Jazz Festival. Tony Dudley-Evans has been involved with the Cheltenham Festival ever since it [...]
Paal Nilssen-Love is one of the outstanding improvising drummers of his generation, appearing on countless albums with improvising musicians from all over the world. With his new band, the music is certainly improvised, but also very polished. The stage is [...]
