One vocal artist pondering this is the Swiss Andreas Schaerer, whose voice is of course a remarkable instrument, and who habitually sings in several languages, or none. On this latest release from his quartet with drummer Lucas Niggli, guitarist Kalle Kalima and accordionist Luciano Biondini, six years after their debut A Novel of Anomaly (link to review below), he takes this a step further. There are wordless vocals here, but also tracks where Schaerer sings in an improvised language. This is made up of non-words that nonetheless use phonemes that suggest the listener is hearing one or more European languages.

That is quite effective in some ways, lending the sometimes quite complex written lines an improvised quality, and allowing Schaerer to extemporise freely in the same vein using a teasing repertoire of sounds that is a vocabulary only in the musical sense yet comes across like he might be using actual words.

It also aligns conceptually with the sentiment that informs the quartet’s musical project here, a wish to move beyond borders, transcend territories, and emphasise cultural expression that conveys our common humanity – hence Anthem for No Man’s Land.

Some might feel music does that anyway, just as group improvisation always benefits from open-hearted communication between the players. And in truth the new album does not sound radically different from the quartet’s first offering. That’s a good thing, as this is a tremendous group. Niggli and Kallima have a long sympathy with Schaerer’s dizzying variety of vocal styles, and Biondini’s exuberant accordion flights are an inspiring match for the singer. As before, there are diverse folk strains, jazz rhythms, and touches of prog rock – with Schaerer’s bass synth added to soaring electric guitar, cuts like the title track here or the rocker Bad Eye would not disappoint fans of Yes, especially if they were looking for more interesting vocals than that group supplied.

But they operate in several other modes, often subtly reflective and with just two or three of the players interacting with some delicacy. It’s a beguiling mix, sometimes tending to the slightly melancholic but always engaging. The tailpiece Sogna Belimo, is a simple wordless song that is both those things. Wordless? Well, it features Schaerer’s language-that-is-no-language and on this one it does become a little distracting. On reflection, that affects a few other tracks too. Ironically, unlike the first album, where your monoglot reviewer was content to ignore the words of songs in other languages and just hearken to the voice, the slow vocal here sounds as if it is wrapped round words you ought to able to discern, but cannot. The effect, for me, is not so much universal communication as a moment of post-Babel bewilderment, in which all languages have become incomprehensible. Which is to say that Schaerer’s linguistic experiment here is certainly interesting, but not perhaps entirely successful. Musically, though, it detracts only a little from another splendid album from a unique quartet.

The post Andreas Schaerer – ‘Anthem For No Man’s Land’ first appeared on UK Jazz News.

Stringle has been a pioneer in placing the clarinet in a more contemporary musical setting and this came through strongly in his fresh interpretations of classic tunes, as well as the straight-ahead jazz compositions and the more latin-influenced numbers in the set. During the performance he name-checked key early influences Benny Goodman and Buddy de Franco and he certainly brought together both the awe-inspiring technique and speed of the former and the warm feeling of the latter’s playing to his own pure transcendent tone.

The band kicked off with the latin tune “Hey You, Pretty Thing”, which set the tone with its well-paced, body-moving and confident feel. After Stringle’s soaring opening, Ashworth excelled in his solo, his precise, tangy notes really hitting the spot over Bradley’s distinctively sharp funky drumming and Mantovani’s bass-playing. The latter’s style, including the chordal elements, displayed a real affinity with the Brazilian feel of the piece.

Jacqui Hicks joined the band to deliver two Rodgers & Hart songs including a very fine “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” in a samba style to close the first set. Her singing was beautifully judged and refreshingly unfussy, with a focus on the delivery of the meaning in the lyrics. This was backed by some wonderfully supple drumming from Bradley and another crystalline solo from Stringle.

A highlight of the second set was the Ashworth-arranged version of Gershwin’s masterpiece “Rhapsody in Blue”, which had the audience entranced throughout with the sheer quality of the band’s playing. Both Stringle and Ashworth excelled, the former particularly with his effortless swoops and the high-pitch ending of the piece, the latter with the precise interweaving of his guitar notes with the clarinet’s line. Again, Mantovani also impressed with his subtle underpinning pulse.

Throughout the gig, Stringle proved to be both a supportive leader and an entertaining and charismatic figure. At one point he introduced the standard “Poor Butterfly” as his Spurs-supporting nan’s favourite song before relating a good story about her meeting Harry Kane. The audience lapped it up.

Hicks returned to deliver one of her own compositions, the bossa-like “Summer Samba”. In a pleasing change of pace, this was followed by a properly soulful version of Holland-Dozier-Holland’s classic “How Sweet It Is”, expertly delivered by the Shakatak vocalist. On the latter tune, Stringle’s tone was spectacular, especially at the higher registers. The band closed with another Dream Band staple, “Sweet Georgia Brown”, its excellent groove orchestrated by Bradley, before encoring with a pacy “I got Rhythm/Anthropology.”

The audience buzz at the start was still very much there after the music had ceased. Overall, a brilliant gig, and The Horsebridge Arts Centre’s monthly ‘Jazz at the Horsebridge’ series, organised by musical director and singer Kai Hoffman in collaboration with Broad Reach Records deserves a lot of credit for rapidly establishing it as an exciting jazz venue in North Kent and bringing such top artists to its fine performance space.

The post Julian Marc Stringle and his Dream Band first appeared on UK Jazz News.

UK Jazz News: What originally drew you to make a film about Artie Shaw?

Brigitte Berman: I had interviewed Artie Shaw for my documentary on Bix Beiderbecke and we ended up having a very long conversation, as you always do with Mr. Shaw. Even though I had filmed such a long interview with him, I ended up using less than a minute of that interview in the BIX film.

Watching that extraordinary interview and seeing what a charismatic personality Shaw was, and how he had led such an extraordinary and complex life, I decided that I wanted my next feature documentary to be about him. But I knew that he would first need to see my work and be convinced that I was indeed a good filmmaker. That’s why I invited him to a private screening of my BIX film in Los Angeles, after the film was invited to screen at Filmex, the then Los Angeles International Film Festival. The private screening took place just a few days prior to the Festival screenings.

UKJN: And why did he accept to let you make it?

BB: After seeing the BIX film, which he really loved, he took me out for lunch and over lunch he asked me what I would be doing next. And I replied: “I’d like to make a film about you Mr.Shaw.” I knew that he would ask me why I wanted to make a film about him and I replied that he was a perfect bookend for my BIX film. Bix Beiderbecke was the artist who could never say “no” to anybody, which is part of the reason why he died so young. Fans would drag him off to speakeasies and ask him to play and he would play and drink late into the night and early morning.

To quote Louis Armstrong: “…he [Bix] never could say ’no’, and that’s what hurt him…they killed the goose that laid the golden egg.” And yet Bix was a wonderful wonderful cornetist – his playing came right out of his heart and his soul. By comparison, Artie Shaw was the direct opposite of Bix – he said “no” countless times – to his bands, his wives, to the music business. Artie Shaw was also a great artist, but he was a survivor, never afraid to say “no” to anyone.

Shaw liked what I told him and agreed that I could make a film about him. I was overjoyed! The process of making this film took 3 1/2 years. The first time I showed Shaw the finished film was in New York City with his then girlfriend, and Artie Shaw loved the film.

In one of the newspaper interviews when Shaw was asked by LA Daily News journalist Kirk Honeycutt about Shaw’s response to the film after seeing it for the second time at Filmex – as the Los Angeles International Film Festival was called at that time, Shaw remarked: “The first time was overwhelming. It’s strange to see yourself through someone else’s eye. But the film has the merit of truth.” Indeed, he loved the film again the second time that he saw it, and he praised it to the press and to the audience.

However, after I returned to Toronto, several days following the Filmex screenings, I started to get calls from Artie Shaw saying that I needed to make some changes to the film. Lose your narration, he said, he no longer liked the fact that it was a woman narrating the film. You can understand that, can’t you, he asked me, it sounds too whimsical. Then Shaw wanted me to cut out his listening to the recording of the tune called “Summertime” – no one wants to watch me sitting there like a lump on a log, listening to my own music. Get rid of it. Then Artie Shaw wanted me to shorten the footage of Helen Forrest singing “I have Eyes To See With”. He grumbled that I showed her on camera singing the song for far too long. No one really wants to watch the singer in a jazz orchestra, he told me, and he insisted that I shorten that sequence. Every time Shaw came up with a new change, I gently tried to tell him that it was too late, the film was completed. Eventually we would have long arguments over the phone that always ended the same way, with me insisting that his demands were unreasonable, that he had already publicly stated that the film spoke to the truth about him, and with Artie Shaw hanging up, angry that I would not do what he asked me to do.

When the film was nominated for an Academy Award, all his demands for changes suddenly stopped. Once again Artie Shaw was happy with the film.

UKJN: What happened? Why were screenings of the film stopped?

BB: After my film won the Academy Award in March 1987, that’s when Artie Shaw decided that the film had become a commodity and that therefore he should own the controlling interest in the film. I was shocked when I received his phone call one afternoon, a few days after the Academy Awards. Single-handedly I had raised all the money to make the film myself, and instead of buying a house with the earnings I made as a producer with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, I had made a feature-length documentary. Also, he insisted that I did not have his co-operation to be making the film. Of course that was not true, I did have a personal letter from Mr. Shaw in which he clearly gave me his permission.

Even though Shaw had never before even mentioned wanting a percentage of the film, he now demanded a controlling interest. My lawyer and I agreed to offer him a percentage of the film – but it was not enough. He loved the film, it had won the big award, and now he decided that he wanted to “own” and thus be able to control the film. Of course, I could not hand the film over to him and so I had no choice but to say “no” to Mr. Shaw. This led to his law suit that lasted for almost fifteen years. And during that entire time the film was not available. Nor did I want to watch the film or bring it into distribution during that time, as well as for a number of years afterwards.

It was all too painful.

UKJN: That sounds like a lot of strain…

BB: It was a horrific strain. When I said ‘no’ to Artie Shaw after he wanted a controlling interest, that was a very very difficult and scary thing for me to do. I felt like David up against Goliath. Thankfully I had obtained a hand-written letter from Artie Shaw on his personal letterhead, in which he stated that I had his permission to make this documentary about himself, and that letter became the major exhibit during the trial in Toronto. Artie Shaw was very surprised to hear of the letter’s existence, he did not remember it, but he had to admit that yes, it was a letter in his own handwriting, and it became the major exhibit during the trial. I can never thank Polly Haynes, one of the interviewees in the film enough for warning me about Artie Shaw after I had interviewed her for the film – make sure that you have everything in writing. Her words were very wise indeed and I’m glad I took her words to heart.

Eventually the trial took place in Toronto, Canada, and it lasted for one week. At the end of that week in court, Artie Shaw walked over to my lawyer, Doug Turner, shook his hand and said: “Next time, I’m going to hire you!”

Three months later, we learned the results – that Artie Shaw had indeed lost his law suit.

He then took his suit to the Ontario Supreme Court where the case was dismissed within five minutes. Shaw then sued me from California, in federal court in Los Angeles. Eventually, almost fifteen years after the nightmare had initially begun, Shaw lost that lawsuit as well. Over the 15 years, Shaw used every opportunity available to him to delay and complicate the proceedings and to add to my legal expenses. One of the things that Artie Shaw would engage in after he quit playing the clarinet, was various lawsuits with a dozen different companies or people at the same time, often just for the “fun of it”. To Shaw suing someone was a sport, like ‘going fishing’. It was a nightmare for me.

UKJN: What will be different about the new version?

BB: I’m now thrilled that I decided to restore the Artie Shaw film. I had to do it – the film is part of history – as is the Bix Beiderbecke documentary.

In order to create as good a restoration as possible, the lab got the original 16 mm picture out from the Archives, scanned it to 4K and then we did a new colour timing of the film. The film looks spectacular indeed. I also did a few minor edits to make the film a bit sharper in the editing.

And it sounds spectacular as well, because my sound designer, Daniel Pellerin, completely re-mastered the sound track and brought it up to today’s standards.

UKJN: Apart from the London screening, how will people be able to see it?

BB: The film will come out on Blu-ray in the United States and in Canada, and people will be able to purchase the Blu-Ray on line this summer. This London screening will be special screening to give jazz aficionados and jazz enthusiasts in London a chance to see my film on a big screen with an audience. And I will be there and will do a q&a after the film. Hopefully I will be able to make a deal with a European distributor to show the film theatrically in the UK and other European countries and to bring it out on Blu-ray and have it made available in mainland Europe as well.

116 minutes. Starring: Artie Shaw, Polly Haynes, John Wexley, Lee Castle, John Best, Helen Forrest, Buddy Rich, Mel Tormé, Mack Pierce, Frederic Morton, Evelyn Keyes. The Playground Theatre is in Latimer Road London W10

The post ‘Artie Shaw – Time Is All You’ve Got’ first appeared on UK Jazz News.

Chris Biscoe: Tony Kinsey was the last representative of a remarkably talented generation of innovators who introduced and consolidated post-war jazz and bebop in the UK.

Way Out West, the group of musicians promoting jazz in west London, was especially fortunate to count two of these figures in its membership. Eddie Harvey, the slightly older of the two, made the transition from the 1940s New Orleans revival into the modern jazz scene. Tony Kinsey sprang, fully formed it seemed, into the modern jazz scene, playing with the Johnny Dankworth Seven when only twenty years old.

Through the 1950s and ‘60s he led many small groups, including the quartet with which Joe Harriott made some his first recordings, and groups with Ronnie Ross, Bill Le Sage and Peter King. One of the photos I have seen at Tony’s house was from his residency at the Flamingo Club, and shows Duke Ellington stars Paul Gonsalves, Jimmy Hamilton and Jimmy Woode sitting in with the quartet. This was also the period in which Tony toured with such jazz legends as Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald.

Peter King was the soloist with the quartets which Tony presented for Way Out West, followed by Sammy Mayne and a rare contemporary appearance by Tony Coe on alto sax. Tony often featured his own very melodic compositions, which, to my ear, had a surprising English quality. The fact that he was a prolific songwriter, writing his own lyrics, may be the clue to this quality in his writing. At the same time, his compositions, particularly for big band, are very definitely in a modern jazz vein.

Starting in the 1950s, Tony developed his writing for big band, and also created contemporary non-jazz compositions, particularly for string quartet. The big band writing became increasingly important and resulted in several suites, including Anatomy of a Jazz Festival, The Thames Suite, and The Embroidery Suite. I was fortunate to be invited to play baritone sax on the premier of the Embroidery Suite, and on the 2016 live recording. Demonstrating incredible stamina, Tony assembled the band, provided all the music, rehearsed, directed and played in the band during its only rehearsal on the afternoon of the concert, and played flawlessly throughout the two hour concert.

Tony had a stroke during the late 2010s, from which he recovered very well, but he struggled to meet his own exacting standards, and didn’t perform again. He remained as interested in and dedicated to jazz as ever, and continued to write. In 2024, with support from Way Out West, we played a big band concert premiering a new composition, and once again featuring The Embroidery Suite. On a cold January day, Tony sat through the entire rehearsal, occasionally coming over with suggestions, particularly to raise the tempo on a couple of pieces. (Tony loved fast tempos, and had the hands, feet and brain to play with remarkable relaxation at tempos many struggle with). He then attended the concert and sat in the front wearing one of the most elegant suits I’ve ever seen.

RIP Tony Kinsey

Pete Hurt: I first met Tony through Way Out West, and struck up a friendship with him. I occasionally went round to his house where he would talk about his life, and play recordings he’d done with various bands big and small. He told one story about the time he was touring with Billie Holiday at a venue with a particularly dodgy PA system. After a few attempts to sing with the mic cutting out, she stormed off the stage, leaving the backing trio to their own devices. He also showed me a scrapbook he’d put together, documenting the period in the ’50s and ’60s when he was a well-known ‘face’ and would get regular mentions in the press and on the radio.

I managed to play with Tony a few times with various Way Out West groups, but as the years rolled on Tony experienced various medical problems and became increasingly frail. His last big event just over a year ago, with which WOW was involved, was a concert of his big band music in Hampton, not far from where he lived. Tony was insistent that he was going to play drums with the band, but he hadn’t played for some time and was physically not up to it in the end. He came to the rehearsal and made suggestions about our playing. The evening was a fitting tribute to him.

He lived a long and busy life, and was a well-regarded and respected musician and man. He’ll be missed.

Emily Saunders: Tony Kinsey was a phenomenal musician, drummer, composer, and great friend to me. Over the years we had countless conversations, alongside countless garden chats during the pandemic, reminiscing about live music and his musical career performing with golden stars of jazz including Ella Fitgrerald, Sarah Vaughan, Ronnie Scott’s band, along with his friendship with Buddy Rich, and Tony’s love of composing for big bands, as well as TV and film, including the BBC over decades, for example the theme tune for the BBC kids TV programme Willo the Wisp. Throughout our friendship he’d always ask me about my composing and singing work, he loved my stuff which meant the world to me. He was so incredibly supportive. I’ll always be hugely grateful to Tony and will miss him dearly.

Gary Willcox: I first became aware of Tony Kinsey when I was a young boy, living with my family and learning the drums. He lived a mile up the road from us and my Dad’s involvement in music, and the musical life of the area, brought him into contact with Tony.

At one time I’d lost direction in my drum studies and had enough of lessons. At my Dad’s request, Tony came over and listened to me play, and gave some generous appraisal and advice.

Later, my Dad promoted a concert by Tony’s Big Band which contained many jazz legends from the ’50s and ’60s: Jimmy Deuchar, Hank Shaw, Pete King.

More recently I was thumbing through the liner notes of a Joe Harriott box set, and noticed Tony was playing drums on many of the tracks, illustrating how prevalent Tony was in what’s often looked back on as a ‘Golden Era’ in UK Jazz.

Tony also mentioned how he’d been to New York in the 1940s and 1950s, on the cruise liners. He went many times, 30 or 40 times, he couldn’t remember exactly. He said on these trips he’d seen Charlie Parker’s band with Miles Davis and Max Roach, and later with Red Rodney and Roy Haynes, several times. These last details caused me to stare into the distance in a misty-eyed fantasy, and I realised what a connection Tony had, and in fact was, to an essential era of jazz music.

Last year, Way Out West put on a concert of Tony’s music, and the skills as a composer and arranger which enabled him to expand his career into film and television were very apparent. 

Tony was the last of his post-war generation – Ronnie Scott, Tubby Hayes, Joe Harriott, Johnny Dankworth, et al – all now fabled in history.

Kate Williams: It was a privilege to play in a concert in late January 2024 in which an augmented Way Out West performed Tony Kinsey’s Embroidery Suite, and a new piece for big band. Despite illness in his later years, he continued to write and arrange music. Tony played an active part in the afternoon rehearsal that day, and both his astuteness and energy were formidable (for a person of any age, let alone one in their 90s!).

In addition to Tony’s great musicianship, I will always remember his lucidity, dry wit and warmth. He will be greatly missed. RIP Tony Kinsey.

The post Tributes to Tony Kinsey (1927-2025) first appeared on UK Jazz News.

UK Jazz News: What has been your motivation in setting up this new venture?

Sara Colman: You can’t have too many jazz workshops for young people now can you!!??

Nurturing and offering opportunities to new generations of jazz musicians is what it is all about. Not to mention the importance of helping generate new jazz audiences too. 

UKJN: And the faculty looks VERY classy …

SC: It really is!! Wonderful musicians who are all also composers and top-class educators. It’s a group of folks who are really committed to what they do and who want to share that with young people.

For the participants, it’s an opportunity to learn from a team of musicians who are both very experienced and active in the jazz community. In our faculty the credentials of the teachers are not only impressive from a jazz point of view, but also the range of their experience is really interesting.

From an Associate Artist at Wigmore Hall and fresh from presenting her music with the NDR Big Band in Germany (Trish Clowes)…to a drummer extraordinaire and orchestral arranger of Gospel Revisited Project and Steve Banks’ ‘Emboldened’ (Jonathan Silk)

From a top spot at Love Supreme Festival 2025 with his Big Band (Dan Casimir)…to appearing with Coldplay on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury in 2024 (me!);

From being a super in-demand pianist and running three big projects including our duo Ribbons, Sarson Drift with Nick Walters and appearing at Jazzahead! in Germany 2025 with her new trio, Aurum (Rebecca Nash)…to a sell-out performance this month of his project ‘Emboldened’ with GSMD Jazz Orchestra and Choir at The Barbican (Steve Banks).

Not to mention our administrator-in-chief and top trombonist with The Young Pilgrims amongst others, Richard Foote! Phew!! 

And all super-friendly, lovely humans too! 

UKJN: Who is eligible?

SC: We welcome all instrumentalists and vocalists aged 11-18, focusing on Birmingham and the surrounding areas. You may already have experience playing jazz although don’t necessarily need to have explored jazz before – if you have a curiosity about it, or you’ve heard some jazz that you like and you’d like to find out more about this kind of music, the New Sounds Jazz Workshop can be an experience that enables you to do that, and to connect you with other like-minded young musicians.

UKJN: What do you say to people scared by the idea of improvising? 

SC: I think everybody probably starts off being a little bit scared! Because it feels like such a big and unfathomable thing at the beginning. The most important thing to say is that we are operating a very supportive and nurturing environment. You’ll be put into a group of no more than eight participants who are at roughly the same level of experience as you. We teach everything by ear so no need to worry about music reading and the focus is very much on listening, getting inspired, and trying out ideas. Also, we’ll be talking about where ideas come from, what to listen out for and how to communicate and interact with others in your ensemble in a musical way. Everybody starts somewhere in their improvising journey, and this can be a brilliant and fun start to yours!

UKJN: Are you able to offer assisted places so people aren’t kept away by cost? 

SC: Here’s the best bit……It is FREE!!!! 

All the places are fully funded so that there are absolutely no barriers to anyone taking part.

With the generous support of various organisations, we can fund this pilot at no cost to the participants.

UKJN: Where will it be?

SC: We’re lucky to have the support of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire who are offering us their excellent and accessible facilities, including the Eastside Jazz Club! There, participants can watch performances from some great RBC student ensembles as well as their workshop leaders having a jam during the lunchtimes.

UKJN: When is it?

SC: The workshop is running for three days: Monday 14th – Wednesday 16th April 2025, 10.00am – 4.00pm.

UKJN: How do people apply?

SC: By clicking on the link below – and by filling out a simple application form. (Applications close 10 March!)

Or if you have any QUESTIONS, you can email us at  newsoundsjazz@gmail.com 

The post New Sounds Jazz Workshop in Birmingham first appeared on UK Jazz News.

And there were more miracles too, as in ‘pinch yourself, can this really be happening?’ What are the chances of getting both bassist Conor Chaplin and drummer James Maddren together these days in a tiny venue in London. European bandleaders know how just good these two are, so both are in constant demand, normally to be found criss-crossing the continent, playing with all sorts of bands at the highest level. But they’re both here. Tonight. In this small room in SW11.

To this fine rhythm pairing, add the jaw-droppingly magisterial saxophonist Julian Siegel, who has the consummate craft and gutsy presence of sound of a Chris Potter, but also the will’o’the’wisp elusiveness of a Tony Coe or a Stan Sulzmann. And they are all here for a good purpose: to bring the guitarist’s compositions to life, to be tested by his writing, to spark each other off. Maybe that’s the story. All freelance musicians face competing demands, but there are some events which go firmly into diaries because they are artistically and creatively worthwhile, the whole thing is happening at such a high level, these top musicians want to commit and put themselves to the test. It definitely felt like one of those evenings.

A highlight from the concert which definitely stays in the mind was the penultimate number “Noites no porao” (nights in the basement, probably best not to ask…) Hermeto-ish. Joyous. Smiles all round, right through the number. There’s a happy connection to the past which Nick Costley White mentions: it reminds him of Saturday lessons as a teenager with an inspiring teacher at the Centre for Young Musicians, just a mile or so away at Morley College.

And other, stronger impressions too: in particular how varied and interesting Nick Costley-White’s craft as a composer is. He gives harmonic interest and colour to everything he has written. Julian Siegel gives us the melody with persuasive shape and flow – and ridiculously clean tuning, and Nick Costley-White has instantly framed it, jewel-cased it with descriptive and unexpected harmony. That happened particularly in a new tune called ‘Material’.

One final thought : when music is so near, and is being invented, created, crafted, confected live in front of us….when we can witness quite how responsive, alive and in-the-moment musicians working at this level are….I start to ask a question: why would you want to be anywhere else? Viagogo, just take a hike. No I’m not paying £180 for a standing place in a vast stadium to hear Ed Sheeran. For a music-loving, listening audience, these are surely the ideal circumstances, and this might be the ideal place go out and listen to music.

(*) I tried to convey this when I reviewed one of the very first concerts at the venue in early 2023.

The post Nick Costley-White Quartet – Poncha’ album launch first appeared on UK Jazz News.

Effra contains its fair share of bluesy bop jams, many of which were written by Mullov-Abbado during lockdown: the album’s namesake – “The Effra Parade” – is an enjoyable tune that takes its name from a small road in Brixton. “It’s actually a really boring residential road”, its composer admitted, which is a stark contrast to the composition’s boisterous energy. As the opening performance of the night, this was the audience’s first taste of what proved itself to be a consistently very strong horn frontline: James Davison (trumpet and flugelhorn), Tom Smith (alto saxophone, bass clarinet) and Sam Rapley (tenor saxophone). This trio were to take up most of the soloing spotlight throughout the night, with a few standouts from Scott Chapman on drums, Liam Dunachie on piano and Mullov-Abbado himself.

Tracks such as “The Effra Parade”, the Jobim-inspired “Canção de Sobriedade”, and the as-yet unrecorded “Popcorn, Incense and Mary Jane” (so-called after the smells you may be assaulted with when walking through Brixton) were balanced out by gentler tunes like “Bridge” and “Rose”, dedicated to Mullov-Abbado’s wife and daughter respectively.

Following a dedication to the late Martin Hummel (+), founder of Ubuntu Music on which Effra is released, the band finished on a strong note with another hard bop tune, “Lock, Stock and Shuffle” from 2015’s New Ansonia. The closest the band came to truly channeling The Jazz Messengers, this was a fitting finale to a night of bops and ballads.

The post Misha Mullov-Abbado – ‘Effra’ album launch first appeared on UK Jazz News.

They are three fourths of The Empress, an all-female saxophone quartet, whose debut album Square One will be released 21 March via Cellar Music Group. (Due to her touring schedule, Baratz couldn’t make the call; this column plans to catch up with her ASAP.) Square One is rounded out by the rhythm section of pianist Steve Ash, bassist Joey Ranieri, and drummer Pete Van Nostrand. Links to pre-order Square One and the artists’ websites can be found at the end of this article.

“I just want to show that we can also play this very hardcore music,” Pureum Jin, the nexus for the formation of the Empress, explains in Square One’s liner notes. The obvious connotation: in straight-ahead jazz, it’s rare to find a four-woman saxophone line.

But the adjective ‘hardcore’ is arguably most interesting. For Jin, it opens a sort of Pandora’s box.

“There are a lot of great female players on the scene, but somehow, they’re still underrated,” Jin says. “That’s why I want to play with a very raw intensity, with skilful improvisation. To show the people that women can play. So, maybe it’s a little aggressive; it’s kind of hardcore for me.”

For her part, Lauren Sevian plays the bari, which skews masculine as far as jazz’s current representation goes.

“On one hand, I embrace these definitions, because that’s what we’ve been taught,” she says of Square One, recorded at the hallowed Van Gelder Studio. “On the other hand, I challenge all of those definitions. So, I think this group is a great representation of both filling and challenging that stereotype.”

Read on for more of Jin, Sevian, and Terakubo’s reflections on Square One, a burning program of originals (Michael Lutzeier’s ‘Instant Composure’ and ‘Reminiscing’) as well as standards like ‘But Not For Me’, ‘Stablemates’, and ‘Milestones’.

UK Jazz News: Where’d the name The Empress come from?

Pureum Jin: Lauren picked the name.

Lauren Sevian: I think we were brainstorming, actually, what would be a cool name for the group, the front line of the four female saxophonists. I was just thinking of strength and grace – those kinds of qualities.

PJ: I really like the name because I wanted something very intense, but not, like, a warrior thing. Something fresh is good for women.

Erena Terakubo: Literally yesterday, I translated what ’empress’ means. [Laughs]

UKJN: How did you four creatively gravitate to each other?

PJ: It’s all my connection. I’m sure all three girls already knew each other as well. 

But I met Lauren when I did an artist residency at the University of Virginia, when I was living there. I had a chance to invite her as a guest artist to play with me. Chelsea sat in with me at a gig I played in Charlottesville. And I think Erena and I moved to New York City at almost the same time.

ET: Pureum was running a jam session at the International House, a little space right next to the Manhattan School of Music.

PJ: It’s kind of a dorm, actually – a bunch of international students live there. But there’s a small area in the basement, where they have a piano and other music gear. So, we would sometimes play there, and I asked [Erena] to come in.

Erena was a really precious friend for me, because we play the same instrument, and we’re both from Asia. Again, we moved to New York at almost the same time. Besides Chelsea, we all went to MSM at different times. So, that’s how I met all of them, and I gathered them together because I thought it would be a really interesting, fun group.

UKJN: University aside, which schools of the saxophone would you say you all came from?

LS: As far as the baritone saxophone is concerned, I’ve listened to a lot of Pepper Adams, so I’m definitely coming from that type of sound. But as to what I’ve transcribed the most, it would have to be a toss up between Pepper Adams and Atlantic[-era] Coltrane.

UKJN: I love that era of Trane. So underrated.

LS: I really agree. [1964’s] Coltrane Sound is my all-time favourite Trane record. I mean, any Trane, right? But for me, there’s something really special about that era that I felt so connected to.

ET: Cannonball [Adderley], Charlie Parker, Sonny Stitt, and Phil Woods are who I transcribed the most.

PJ: I started to play jazz because of John Coltrane. When I first heard his music, I was really shocked – What was that? What was that? – because before that, I had just started playing saxophone in a classical [context]. I didn’t know much about jazz. But that’s how I started getting interested in it.

I also love all the alto giants: Charlie Parker, J-Mac. But my first love in jazz was Coltrane.

UKJN: How did you guys come to work with Steve, Joey, and Pete in the rhythm section?

LS: I had never played with Steve or Joey. Pete, I had known for several years and played with a little bit, but not a ton. But I felt like it was pretty seamless. I thought they were all excellent choices, and it was great making music with them.

ET: I can’t believe Joey is only 21, or something.

LS: An old soul.

UKJN: Can you talk about the standards you chose?

PJ: I mean, creating something fresh and new is a really important task and part of being a musician. But at the same time, I get a little tired of playing original compositions. I just want to play jazz, and I feel like a lot of jazz fans also feel the same way.

Recently, there’s been a lot of new creations: new songs, new music, new bands, blah, blah. I want to capture that raw intensity in jazz – relying on the improvisation skills of the individual players, while still focusing on the ensemble.

That’s why I chose to include classic, well-known tunes in the band, and I hope people like it as much as I do.

LS: The arrangements [by Michael Lutzeier] were extremely challenging, at least for me, especially as a bari player. I was trying to navigate some of these parts, thinking, Wow, these were written by a bari player, so I’d better get my act together.

But I had a great time. I felt really comfortable. I don’t know, everyone’s different – but if I’m at a session and I feel uneasy or nervous, that’s a very bad sign. But I felt comfortable with the studio; I felt comfortable with the sound; I felt comfortable with everyone that was on the project. So, for me, the vibe was way up.

And I think the product speaks for itself. Just listening to what I’ve heard so far, I’m so excited about it. It was a great couple of days.

The post Mondays with Morgan: Pureum Jin, Lauren Sevian, Erena Terakubo first appeared on UK Jazz News.

Her sound, which at the beginning of her career was an attractive little girl voice, matured into an instrument for which the adjectives ‘ravishing’ and ‘glorious’ were invented. She had the ability to switch her tone from liquid honey to a throat-ripping rasp within a hemi-demi-semiquaver. Her expressive range across every mood and every tempo remains unmatched. Downhearted or celebratory, she never sounded less than sincere.

Excessive overclaim? Not when you’ve heard this live album recorded on June 29, 1967 at the Oakland Coliseum accompanied by the full Duke Ellington Orchestra with pianist Jimmy Jones substituting for the Duke. Impresario Norman Granz, who shaped Ella’s career, taped the concert and we hear seven selections covering emotions from poignant dejection to unfettered exuberance. You know that phrase ‘on song’? This performance defines it.

After drummer Sam Woodyard splashes every cymbal within reach, she launches her set with Scott and Satterwhite’s up-tempo The Moment of Truth, a brash piece ostensibly written to open Las Vegas acts. Her version overcomes the brashness by stoking the excitement with intense swing, her virtuosity leaving few syllables unembellished.

Edgar Sampson and Mitchell Parrish wrote Don’t Be That Way and Benny Goodman made it famous. Ella decelerates the tempo previously set on the indispensable Ella & Louis Again album she made with Louis Armstrong, and, with superhuman breath control, sustains tones for longer than any normal singer would regard as dangerous. Backed by Duke’s pugnacious brass and a driving backbeat from Woodyard, she weaves fanciful melodic variations. The audience can hardly restrain its applause before the final note.

You’ve Changed, a ballad of lost love by Carl Fischer and Bill Care, was closely associated with Billie Holiday, but Ella assumes possession of the lyric when, over the tight trio harmonies of the Ellington trombone section, she invests the lyric with fresh pathos, expertly controlling her vibrato as she unwraps her luscious contralto register.
In its time, Cole Porter must have horrified puritans with his witty ditty Let’s Do It, possibly the raunchiest of all list songs. Ella seldom sings a written note, recasting the melody over and over again in live performance, risking liberties few other singers would consider, let alone attempt. Her vocal micro-acrobatics on the phrase ‘even baby jellyfish do it’ defy death.

Ray Henderson and Mort Dixon wrote Bye, Bye Blackbird around 1926 and jazz musicians have jammed on it ever since. Ella calls it ‘one of the old tunes’ and, over five minutes of leaning behind the rhythm section’s beat, subjects the melody to an exhaustive workout through every register. She has the facility to divide even a single syllable into multiple parts, assigning to a different note to each. In the third chorus, she starts by scatting over Bob Cranshaw’s supportive bass, then winding up to an uninhibited knockdown and drag-out finale.

As Jimmy Jones caresses the keyboard for a delicate intro to Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s Alfie, Ella can be heard stage-whispering an instruction to the wings: ‘sexy lights here’. The mood is restrained and she produces an intimate ballad sheen to smooth the extremes of the melody’s choppy form (by way of an unexpected detour to You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You). When she sings “I believe in love, Alfie”, we believe her. And we believe in her.

Duke Ellington wrote In A Mellow Tone and Milt Gabler added lyrics making it, in effect, a song about a song. By the second chorus, over the band’s insistent riffs, Ella is immersed in the beat, scatting, slurring, scooping pitch and swinging ferociously reminding us of the Duke’s alto saxophone star, Johnny Hodges (Charlie Parker called him ‘Lily Pons’, at the time a well-known opera singer). She holds onto the final word ‘tone’ for a long time, like someone who’s loath to leave the party.

Eager to demonstrate she was abreast of changing fashion, Ella chooses Music To Watch The Girls Go By, a big number in the 60s written by Sid Ramin, in an arrangement that has her switching rhythms, even interpolating Happy Talk from the long-running musical, ‘South Pacific’.

In 1928, Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht wrote Mack The Knife for ‘The Threepenny Opera’. During the 60s, now equipped with lyrics in English, it became a monster hit for both Bobby Darin and Louis Armstrong with Ella following third. Third, maybe, but she embraced Mack and made it her own, graciously adding references to the first two performers (including a witty representation of a Satchmo growl). This version, packed with passion, bounce, regular half-step modulations and the Ellington band in rocking form, prompts Ella to discard any vestige of vocal inhibition and let rip for the concert’s big finale.

So far, so brilliant. But here’s the mystery.

Why did it take 75 years for such artistry to surface? Only recently, we’re told in Will Friedwald’s informative sleeve notes, the tape boxes were discovered languishing in the late Norman Granz’s effects. Why didn’t he release them? Were they forgotten? Did he think they weren’t up to scratch? Or did they simply get lost, lodged invisibly between a couple of Granz’s original Picasso etchings?

Whatever the reason (and it’s unlikely to be lack of quality), we’re grateful that this evidence was found to reinforce Crosby’s belief: “…Ella is the greatest”.

To which we mortals can only add the word ‘amen’.

TRACK LIST

1. The Moment Of Truth
2. Don’t Be That Way
3. You’ve Changed
4. Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall In Love)
5. Bye Bye Blackbird
6. Alfie (first Ella recording)
7. In A Mellow Tone
8. Music To Watch Girls By (first Ella recording)
9. Mack The Knife

‘The Moment of Truth – Ella At The Coliseum’ is released on 28 February 2025

The post Ella Fitzgerald – ‘The Moment of Truth – Ella At The Coliseum’ first appeared on UK Jazz News.

UK Jazz News: What is the best advice you received about balancing/juggling parenthood and career?

Gillian Margot: The best advice that I received was from my sound engineer, tour manager and dear friend Terry, who picked up the phone and called me during my first few months as a new mom. I was in Los Angeles with our baby and Geoffrey was on tour. Terry called me from Toronto to see how I was doing and said flat out, “There is no balance, momma. You have to go with the flow.” If I’m honest, that may have been the only parenting advice that ended up making sense. Trying to impose too much structure can be totally counterproductive. I’m a natural improviser, and so it worked for me.

Geoffrey Keezer: For me, it wasn’t spoken advice as much as just observing musicians I was with on the road who had kids at home. Seeing how they would take time to call their families every day. Some guys would fly home to New York from Europe in the middle of a tour to attend their kid’s birthday party, then take a redeye flight back to Europe and make the gig the next night.

UKJN: What information or advice do you wish you’d received but didn’t (and had to learn through trial and error or on the go)?

GM: (laughs) Everything else!

UKJN: Your top tip(s) for other parents in jazz:

GK: My tip would be to find any and every way you can to earn income without having to tour constantly. Find and create sources of passive income, royalties, teaching, or whatever you have to do to be around your kids more. They grow up SO fast – it’s a cliché because it’s true. Another reality is that with kids, getting anything done like practicing, writing arrangements, booking gigs/travel etc takes a LOT longer, due to the constant distractions and your focus being pulled in multiple directions all the time. Children need and deserve their parents’ time and attention, and they always take top priority no matter what else is going on. But sometimes I’m like “Dude, you’re gonna have to figure out this Lego thing on your own, I gotta finish a big band chart!”.

GM: Everyone, whether you know them or not, offers advice on how to parent your child. And while having a lot of options to consider is never a bad thing, and I’m the kind of person who likes to gather a lot of information and do research, your best bet is to stay open to the reality that there’s going to be a lot of trial and error. I didn’t have my parents around to assist me because they both died before our child was born. So I knew that I’d have to figure out a lot of things on my own. If you’re lucky enough to have parents, mentors, or someone with experience closeby who is willing to be there for you, then don’t take it for granted. Other than that, with all the stress that comes with parenting, my top tip would be to always lead with love.

UKJN: Best general travel/gigging/tour-with-child advice:

GK: If your spouse is a member of the band and you’re bringing your child with you on the road, get two hotel rooms! Then you and your partner can alternate who gets to sleep with the kid, while the other gets the night off (and potential for real sleep). Two artists = two hotel rooms in the contract. As tour budgets rarely allow for bringing a full-time nanny along, we mostly rely on local babysitters in each town, which we often find by researching childcare services online. But we have sometimes gotten results simply by asking local friends, musicians, or the promoter if they happen to know of anyone who babysits. Quite often somebody on the staff of the venue/festival/etc knows somebody who knows somebody. It really does take a village.

GM: Nurture the relationships and connections that you make while touring. Those presenters, venue owners, and other industry people that you meet are, more often than not, very understanding of parenthood if you let them see you as a parent. These are the people that are going to continue to help you find childcare, activities for your child, and make sure your child has a good time while you’re on the road.

UKJN: What is one way that figures or structures in the jazz industry could better support parents who are working jazz musicians?

GM: The more visible we allow ourselves to be as working musicians who have children, the better it is for our community, our audiences and the industry at large, to get used to seeing our many dimensions.

GK: For the most part, venues where we perform and schools where we teach are very understanding and supportive.

GM: Yes, it doesn’t seem to throw anybody off when they find out that we have whole lives outside of our performing personas.

UKJN: What has surprised you about becoming a parent and remaining engaged with your professional activities and ambitions?

GM: There were two big surprises for me. One is how much greater perspective I have on everything that I do professionally as well as personally. Our child is witness to what our lifestyle is like as musicians, and I’m hyper aware of how anything that we might do, say, create, record, or decide will be perceived and interpreted by him. Maybe it’s my way of considering younger audiences and future generations. But when I was younger, I never would have guessed that I would pay so much attention to that. The second thing that surprised me is how much more driven and committed I am. I think I initially fell prey to the stereotypes about women and half-expected that I might take more of a step back from my career after becoming a mom, but I had no desire to slow down. If anything, I have dug into things way deeper and become a better musician. I have no desire to hide or downplay the fact that I’m also a mother.

UKJN: What boundaries have you set for yourself as a parent in jazz (could be related to travel/touring, riders, personal parameters, child care decisions, etc.)?

GK: Gillian and I try as much as possible to only tour together (as a duo, or as co-bandleaders) during times when our child’s school is on break. When he was a baby or toddler, it was a little easier to just pick up and go on tour as a family any time. But once they’re in school, it’s important for them to have a routine and good attendance. There’s so much that a child can learn about the world by traveling, but I never wanted to be the kind of itinerant musician that dragged his kids around everywhere. Some of our musician friends with kids can leave them with family for a short time when they go on tour, but unfortunately we don’t have that luxury.

GM: Well, I’m going to refer back to the separate hotel rooms. I should qualify this by explaining that we’ve always done this – continued to uphold our professional relationship even after we became a couple. Many people assume we would have one room as a family, but we are two individual artists requiring our respective individual spaces to prepare for performance, which is really important. 

Gillian and Geoffrey’s new album of duets, simply titled Gillian Margot & Geoffrey Keezer will be released on their label MarKeez Records on May 23, 2025.

(*) Parents in Jazz was started (first as ‘Mothers In Jazz’) by vocalist Nicky Schrire in August 2022. The initiative aims to create an online resource for working jazz musicians with children, those contemplating parenthood, and jazz industry figures who work with and hire musicians who are parents. The insight of the musicians interviewed for this series provides valuable emotional, philosophical and logistical information and support that is easily accessible to all. “Parents In Jazz” shines a light on the very specific role of being both a parent and a performing jazz musician.

The post Parents In Jazz: Geoffrey Keezer and Gillian Margot first appeared on UK Jazz News.