Walking through the town before the set, I listened to two Basildon artists: Ralph Dartford whose latest collection of poetry House Anthems has been set to music by Gary Clark. You might find some jazz vibes in his rather plangent sketches…(link below) In the poem Act! Dartford [...]
This was an other-worldly, out-of-the-ordinary evening. Remarkable, eclectic musicians and a wonderfully diverse programme from Bob Dylan to Bach and from Queen to Samuel Barber. It was also a truly special family affair. It must have been a proud moment [...]
The friend in the next seat told me I’d been laughing uncontrollably throughout this performance, the opening set of eight in this years Sparks&Visions Festival. Last year, at this great new festival, a duo performance by vibraphonist Evi Filippou and [...]
This article was originally published as Remembering Bobby Wellins – (1936 -2016). We are republishing it on our new site today to mark what would have been the saxophonist’s 89th birthday. Tributes to Bobby Wellins from fellow musicians, and from [...]
Yet again, with this monumental seven-CD collection of Vanguard’s small group swing sessions, Mosaic salutes the courage, fortitude and sheer bloody-mindedness of small, independent labels and their contribution to the development of jazz in the United States. In 1950, two [...]
‘THE ART OF NOISE MUST NOT LIMIT ITSELF TO IMITATIVE REPRODUCTION’ declared the Futurist painter Luigi Russolo in 1913 in his radical manifesto, The Art of Noises, which challenged conventional ideas of musical composition, instrumentation and performance. Russolo sought to [...]
Drummer Winston Clifford is a long-time regular at the 6, on many occasions through his playing with saxophonist Dan Reinstein’s bands, and has been a powerhouse behind the kit for a wide variety of great bands, led by the likes [...]
The following is an interview between jazz journalist Morgan Enos and drummer, composer, and educator Douglas Marriner. Marriner appeared as Johnny Cash’s drummer, W.S. Holland, in the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, which was released in the UK on [...]
Here is proof – if any were needed – of the restlessness and need for variety that frequently drives jazz musicians. Saxophonist Tony Kofi’s most recent project was a wonderful duo with harpist Alina Bhzezhinska, music with a meditative, lush [...]
Recorded between the demise of his Trinity and the release of the first Oblivion Express album, this previously unreleased live set shines some unexpected light on what Brian Auger was up to in 1970. Oblivion Express offered the keyboardist now [...]
Ben Wittman is an American drummer and producer who has performed and recorded with an eclectic roster including Sting, Paul Simon, Paula Cole, and Don Byron. He has produced records for New York Voices, and engineered music by säje and [...]
Vuelio, “the leading UK provider of PR & media solutions: media database, media monitoring, press release distribution and campaign analysis” keep a database of 11,000 UK blogs and rank them by category, including an annual ranking of the Top 10 [...]
Rick Margitza, in London for two evenings in Dean Street last week is just an astonishing and individual player. Born in Michigan, he has been based in Paris for the past two decades, where he has a regular residency on [...]
Pianist Alexander Bryson seized the chance to make a live recording of his band in “glorious analogue” in a “good-sounding room with relatively few mics”….. and then take the tape and have it cut straight to vinyl on a 1967 [...]
On this second night of the Schlippenbach Trio’s two day residency, the trio was augmented to form a quintet which, in two telepathically flowing sets, brought out the best from key players in the world of jazz and improvisation, some [...]
The Way Out West collective of musicians, based in South West London, has been promoting concerts since 2004. Members are: Chris Biscoe, Emily Saunders, Gary Willcox, Nick Mills, Kate Williams, Larry Bartley, Nette Robinson, Pete Hurt, Tim Whitehead, Tom Millar, [...]
Formed post-pandemic, the first live gig featuring the band Glebe was in January 2023 at The Spice of Life in Soho. In the last two years, duo frontmen, Chris Bland (keyboards) and Kieran Gunter (guitars) have been hard at work [...]
This year’s Royal Academy of Music Jazz Festival celebrates distinctive voices from across the UK jazz scene and beyond. Students are given the opportunity to collaborate between year groups, and work in newly formed ensembles. Bands will be led by [...]
Paul Burwell was the driving force behind the legendary Bow Gamelan Ensemble, a performance collective who, literally, diced with danger, commandeering construction vehicles, combustible fluids and materials on locations including Bow Creek at night where, in the late 80s, I [...]
There’s a strange contradiction in the weight of these vinyl albums, and the lightness of their conception. Lovingly pressed in 180 gram vinyl with the original liner notes, these are shrink-wrapped time capsules. And yet each of these recordings was [...]
Hunched over the piano keyboard, his pose akin to that of a statistician analysing code, Benjamin Lackner picked out abstracted blues lines with mathematical precision. His solo on set opener ‘Mosquito Flats’ – in which he demonstrates his gift for [...]
The start of January is often a hibernatory write-off after the excesses of the festive season. Ambitious New Year’s resolutions are not yet abandoned and the world is temporarily restrained: exercising more, eating better, drinking less. This early year ascetic [...]
The group Freight Train, originally formed with Irish folk singer Cathy Jordan, drummer Paul Clarvis and pianist Liam Noble is a successful project blending jazz and folk music. Because of conflicting commitments, Jordan was unable to play three West Midland [...]
The screening of “Whiplash’ with a live band (image above) is the sixth of a series of events in Barbican Hall in the months February-March 2025: Here is the list – the link below goes through to the homepages for [...]
‘ Today, on what would have been Kenny Wheeler’s 95th birthday, Brian Shaw and I are proud to announce that our biography (in the works for over ten years!) will be available in print and digitally soon from Equinox publications. [...]
Laurie Holloway was a dear friend to both my parents as well as being a surrogate Uncle to me and my two brothers. Alongside the one left by losing Dad, my family now have another large hole in our lives. [...]
Scottish composer, classical guitarist, improviser and ensemble leader Simon Thacker and Edinburgh-based Polish cellist Justyna Jablonska cut across neoclassical-folk-experimental territory in their collaboration. The pair have issued a previous album, Karmana (2016), and the ease of their musical relationship is [...]
Jonny Liebeck – pianist, organist, composer, bandleader – is a jazz musician who dares to do things differently. His range of influences is probably unique. There is almost certainly no other musician on the London music scene (as lively, diverse, [...]
The Tom Smith Big Band will release its debut album, A Year in the Life, on 21 February 2025. Saxophonist, composer, arranger and bandleader Tom Smith spoke with UK Jazz News about the performance, the album, and his own strategy [...]
The following is an interview between jazz journalist Morgan Enos and trumpeters Nick Smart and John Daversa. The pair produced Some Days Are Better: The Lost Scores, a Royal Academy of Music- and Frost School of Music-led project dubbed Kenny [...]
Katie Thiroux is an American bassist and vocalist. She was an active member of the Larry Fuller Trio and has been heard with, among others, Justin Kauflin, Geri Allen, Helen Sung, Terrell Stafford, Terri Lyne Carrington, Lewis Nash and Patti [...]
Sebastian writes: I am incredibly sad to hear of the death of a huge supporter of jazz in this country, a fervent supporter of this site and a wonderful and loyal friend to me and the team, Martin Hummel. Martin [...]
