It was cold and wet tonight on Southend seafront, but I found a warm & welcoming Georgian lounge which resounds to live jazz from local & national musicians every week. And to my delight, the 6-piece Mandala were playing some [...]
With their vibrant and versatile take on piano driven contemporary jazz, the Ilario Ferrari Trio has been wowing audiences and critics alike with the lively compositions taken from their latest album Above The Clouds – released by Elsden Music. On [...]
Stormzy said a few years ago that Jacob Collier should “for ever remain genre-less”. On the evidence of this dazzling evening of music there seems no danger of the now 30-year-old multi-instrumentalist/vocalist disappearing down any niche rabbit hole. Hugely energised [...]
The world premiere of a collaboration between alto saxophonist and composer Cassie Kinoshi with her boundary-pushing group seed. (formerly SEED Ensemble, formed in 2016) and the full might of the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) under Ben Gernon, met with great [...]
It’s around this time in the month of November that jazz fans from around the country are looking to organise their schedules, book trains and sort out which shows in the 2024 EFG London Jazz Festival they’ll be attending. The [...]
John Butcher, maverick, groundbreaking saxophonist célèbre, celebrated his 70 years in style, with a three day residency at Cafe Oto. I caught the second night, the only one which featured a rare solo performance prefacing his duet with percussionist Gino [...]
Brick Lane Jazz Festival, in partnership with Jazz re:freshed and Tomorrow’s Warriors, have announced their first wave of artists for 2025. Returning for a fourth year and headlined by Ragz Orginale, Adi Oasis and Laraaji, it will take place in [...]
Greg Spero is a pianist, composer, producer and educator from Los Angeles. He will be returning to Ronnie Scott’s, this time joined by the London version of his jazz fusion group Spirit Fingers featuring Lox (drums), Ben Glasser (guitar), and [...]
Lucky for us, the Yellowjackets come to London often, and their gigs always touch a nerve that gets me thinking and feeling. This time it was that they don’t, or won’t fight. They’re bigger than that. Or is it that [...]
Nestled unassumingly in Nine Elms, Battersea, is one of South London’s best kept secrets for serious music lovers – World Heart Beat Embassy Gardens. This state-of-the-art concert hall, recording studio and music academy doesn’t pop up in the list of [...]
