This is Allen’s first recording as a leader since his pair for Atlantic in the mid ‘90s, apart from two later co-productions with double bassist Rodney Whittaker. As well as his performing and bandleading projects he’s a highly respected educator as the Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Missouri in Kansas City and the recipient of the 2025 Ellis Marsalis Jr. Jazz Educator of the Year Award.

McBride was an obvious choice for this album; he and Allen have played together extensively on the road and in the studio for many years (Allen also plays in McBride’s band Inside Straight). Chris Potter was invited after they all worked together on pianist Renee Rosnes’ Kinds of Love three years ago; his playing reminded Allen of the Sonny Rollins’ Village Vanguard trio recordings and encouraged him to go the chordless route.

Tippin’ was recorded at Van Gelder Studio by Maureen Sickler in five hours on January 13th 2024, without any prior rehearsal. It’s a joyous affair, with spontaneous, free-flowing performances on an excellent choice of repertoire.

Of the album’s twelve tracks, two are originals by Allen – Roy’s Joy and his previously recorded Hidden Agenda from The Pursuer (Atlantic, 1994), with Potter playing bass clarinet that perfectly suits this haunting blues. McBride brings A Morning Story from his Number Two Express (Verve, 1996), while the rest of the tunes are mostly well known and all fit the trio format well. The one exception to the lineup is the addition of pianist John Lee on Kenny Barron’s Song for Abdullah, which features McBride’s excellent bowing and Potter’s bass clarinet.

Allen and McBride are an immaculate rhythm section, playing with drive and swing and giving Potter great freedom and support to play exhilarating solos.The fireworks really start on Freddie Hubbard’s Happy Times, which is positively thrilling, as is Lenny White’s L’s Bop, which is performed at an even faster pace. McBride’s bass sound is huge; it had the floorboards shaking (in a good way) on his solo in Bird’s Parker’s Mood while Potter absolutely wails the blues. Pat Metheny’s James is one of the highlights with its strong melody, while in a more laid-back vein, Potter plays soprano on a gorgeous version of James Williams’s Alter Ego and smoky tenor on Irving Berlin’s They Say It’s Wonderful.

Bands like New Jazz Underground are showing Generation Z that the trio format is fresh and exciting. In the hands of Allen, McBride and Potter it sounds absolutely sensational.

Release Date is today, 10 January 2025

The post Carl Allen – “Tippin’” first appeared on UK Jazz News.

Now comes her new album Portrait, and it’s all change. Matt Pierson steps back to his management role, leaving room for the artist to co-produce with the experienced trumpeter and bandleader Brian Lynch. Grasso and the trio/quartet lineups are gone, superseded by Joy’s eight piece touring band consisting of trumpeter Jason Charos, alto saxophonist/ flautist David Mason, tenor saxophonist Kendric McCallister, trombonist Donavan Austin, pianist Connor Rohrer, bassist Felix Moseholm and drummer Evan Sherman.

The recording took place at the Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs with engineer/owner Maureen Sickler, and the sound is excellent. Apparently each of the eight songs went down in no more than a couple of takes, which is remarkable considering how tight the playing is and how ambitious the arrangements are, split liberally between five members of the band.

The opening two tracks show just how ambitious this record has the cojones to be. Jason Charos’ deceptively intricate arrangement of You Stepped Out of a Dream features Joy soaring on the verses and choruses and wordlessly blending with the horns for the solo section, which features fine piano and trumpet breaks. This is followed by a two minute an astonishing a cappella introduction to Charles Mingus’ The Reincarnation of a Lovebird with lyrics by Joy, and when the band comes in with Kendric McCallister’s arrangement she somehow finds another gear to ramp things up even further, before laying out for a satisfying instrumental section and eventually, a wonderful ending with some spectacular drumming from Sherman.

A high standard has been set and doesn’t dip for an instant over the remaining six tracks. There are versions of Jobim’s No More Blues, the ‘40s standards Autumn Nocturne and the big closer Day By Day, and a wonderful pairing of Joy and McCalister’s compostion Peace Of Mind that eventually turns into Sun Ra and Jae Mao’s Dreams Come True, with a suitably stellar arrangement by Evan Sherman. Donavan Austin’s arrangement of his A Fool in Love (is Called a Clown) is an absolutely gorgeous vehicle for Joy, and her lyrics to Barry Harris’ Now and Then (In Remembrance of…) are as heartfelt as is her respectful performance to her late mentor.

Few vocalists could get anywhere close to the level of performance Samara Joy achieves with this album. The solid touring over the last couple of years with this tightly knit and deeply swinging band have only increased her confidence, power and control, her instrument is so finely tuned that it’s sometimes hard to remember its owner is only 24 years old. I’ll still go back and listen to her debut album and the joy it always brings, but Portrait is an astonishing display of a magnificent talent and the enduring power of jazz music.

Release Date: 11 October 2024

The post Samara Joy – ‘Portrait’ first appeared on UK Jazz News.

Myra has prospered from being part of a nurturing Northern jazz community, from working at Dave Walker’s All Brass And Woodwind shop, studying at the Leeds Conservatoire and receiving encouragement and support from her tutor Rob Mitchell and local promoter/DJ Lubi Jovanovic. While across the Pennines, the Manchester-based Gondwana Records has become the perfect home for Myra and her music both spiritually and geographically.

The musicians are with one exception the same Leeds Conservatoire alumni as before: pianist Jasper Green, guitarist Ben Haskins, harpist Alice Roberts, drummer George Hall and percussionist Greg Burns, but this time with double bassist Sam Quintana taking over from Gondwana Orchestra’s Gavin Barras.

The string quartet arrangements on four of the six tracks are again by Carmel Smickersgill and feature violinists Isabella Baker and Lisa Meech, violist Sophia Dignam and cellist Awen Blandford. The album was recorded and co-produced by Matthew Halsall, mixed by Portico Quartet collaborator Greg Freeman and mastered by Peter Beckmann.

This level of continuity makes sense as the new repertoire is every bit as strong as before, and hearing it performed with the same musicians and in the same production style gives each composition an instantly familiar feeling. It should also help Myra establish her distinctive joyful sound and build the awareness this music deserves.

As before, there are the deeply melodic themes, the subtlety of the arrangements, the delicate percussion and production textures. But this time the playing feels even more assured, the compositions more skilfully assembled and the sense of space, warmth and nature in the music is enhanced. All the musicians play their part to make this work so well and there are some fine solos, especially Ben Haskins guitar on Glimmers and Jasper Green’s Nord piano on the title track. Myra’s influences are less visible as her own personality comes through stronger, and her alto playing, especially the solo on the optimistic final track How Tall The Mountains is just wonderful.

Myra is currently on tour around the country with a London show on Thursday May 9th at, appropriately, Cecil Sharp House, the home of the English Folk Dance and Song Society. It will be interesting to see how her music develops in the future. But for times like these, this is exactly the kind of music we need and I will be playing it all summer long.

Rising is released today 3 May 2024

The post Jasmine Myra – ‘Rising’ first appeared on UK Jazz News.

As Nelson said to John Bungey in a recent London Jazz News interview (LINK BELOW): ‘This is bottom-up improvisation, a leap into the unknown – infinite possibilities, no ceiling, no floor’.

“44:42” was recorded at the 9th Moment’s Notice event on September 8th 2021, (there have been 34 so far), and is the first release on Nelson’s Red Dust label, set up specifically to release them. The musicians are multi wind instrumentalist Tamar Osborn (playing baritone saxophone, clarinet and flute), drummer Will Glaser and keyboardist Yohannes Kebede, and their set (which lasted 44 minutes and 42 seconds) was recorded and mixed by Curtis Elvidge. It’s released on March 27th as a vinyl run of 300 units with a digital release to follow in the summer.

This is an enjoyable and absorbing listening experience, the music flowing freely through a number of sections before building to an exciting conclusion. There’s a great variation of sounds at play, Kebede’s keyboards range from analogue, squashy synthesisers and loops to pristine pianos and Osborn’s wind instruments cover the full range of frequencies. Glaser’s drums occasionally get a little lost in the mix but his contribution is always inventive, creating powerful grooves with baritone saxophone punching alongside pulsing synths and bass lines. Just as effective are the gentler moments, including Glaser’s conversation with Osborn’s flute, with Kebede’s keys adding warmth.

This works well as an album, both in immersive listening on headphones and in a more ambient setting. It must have been exhilarating being in the room as it was happening, and this is as close as you can get.

The post Tamar Osborn, Yohannes Kebede, Will Glaser – ’44:42′ first appeared on UK Jazz News.

Without recapping too much, this is the first time that the Blue Spirits lineup of Etheridge, organist Pete Whittaker and drummer George Double (and before that Nic France) has released anything at all in their twenty year existence. It’s been worth the wait, as this is a fine album of eight songs recorded live one night at Nottingham’s wonderful Peggy’s Skylight jazz club/bar/kitchen (the garlic prawns are supposedly to die for). The music sounds great, with minimal editing and a warm mix by Ru Lemer, although a little more audience ambience would have been good.

If you only know Etheridge through Soft Machine or his many other lineups (The Globs anyone?), you may be surprised how bluesy his playing can get. He’s the main soloist here, fearless and intensely melodic, knowing when to stick to the tune and keep it simple before really taking off, as the version of Stevie Wonder’s Cos We’ve Ended As Lovers demonstrates so well.

He uses his palette of different tones exceptionally well always working with Whittaker’s organ, listen to Mal Waldron’s Soul Eyes where he’s clean and mellow with a modern edge. The two original tunes, A Distant Voice (Eric Johnson would love this) and the tender Broken Hill contrast nicely with the intense high speed soloing of Sonny Rollins’ First Moves, a hard swinging version of John Scofield’s Wabash III and the country funk rhumba of Hank Williams’ Cold Cold Heart. Whittaker and Double take their moments where they can, but the whole thing just wouldn’t work without them. The final track is a second song covered by Jeff Beck, Charles Mingus’ elegiac Goodbye Pork Pie Hat complete with shimmering harmonics and plenty of soul.

As one sage remarked to me recently, ‘Eth can play!’…. Can he ever!

Release date is 26 January

Adam Sieff’s “Jazz on the Beach” is on Substack

The post John Etheridge – ‘Blue Spirits Live’ first appeared on UK Jazz News.

Echo Canyon was recorded on 9 February this year at Acoustic Recording in Brooklyn with Hirahara’s close collaborators, double bassist Boris Kozlov and drummer Rudy Royston, both Posi-Tone regulars and leaders in their own right. O’Toole then mixed and mastered the results at his own Woodland Studio in Oregon. The sound quality is excellent.

The opportunity to record had come at the last minute, taking advantage of a studio cancellation by another artist. As there was little specific new music to work with, this became an opportunity to revisit repertoire that had previously been written for and recorded on other releases by the label. There are six of Hirahara’s compositions and three by Kozlov, but if you didn’t know how this album had come together, it wouldn’t make any difference, as listening to it in one sitting it feels cohesive, complete and immensely satisfying.

A couple of the tracks were written for trumpeter Alex Sipiagin, Hirahara’s deftly repeating (echoing) title track and Koslov’s driving Shura with a fine drum solo from Royston. There’s a deeply swinging The More Things Change written by Hirahara for Kozlov and the closing Spider Dance written for the saxophonist Alexa Tarentino also works extremely well. There are deeply moving moments, especially the reverential To The Sky, a hymn resonating with deep respect in honour of the young black photographer Tyre Nichols who was murdered by the Memphis police at the beginning of this year.

One particular favourite is the deftly performed and beguiling Aoi Blu, the title made up of the Japanese and Italian words for the colour blue, reflecting on his heritage and that of his Italian wife Sara and the parallels in the two cultures. Another is the cinematic Mia Bella, again written for his wife, and it’s simply beautiful. The superb musicianship is almost taken for granted, as on this, and throughout the album, Hirahara, Kozlov and Royston sound so comfortable together and play for each composition, with just the right balance of economy with every melodic note in its rightful place.

Release date: 20 October 2023

Adam Sieff’s “Jazz on the Beach” is on Substack

The post Art Hirahara (with Boris Kozlov & Rudy Royston) – ‘Echo Canyon’ first appeared on UK Jazz News.

McBride was certainly looking relaxed in jeans and a polo shirt. The trio’s opening salvo of Tony Williams’ Love Song and Waits’ Ke-Kelly Sketch set the scene, with each musician making good use of the extra space. It’s the first time I’ve seen Waits play and I was blown away. He’s such a powerful player, constantly driving the others on. They continued with a wonderful version of Billy Strayhorn’s Chelsea Bridge, with Strickland’s final solo and ending run just beautiful, he was sensational the whole set. And it goes without saying that with McBride’s support, no pianist or guitar player is necessary, I’ve never seen him – or anyone – play better.

Next – and it felt like a spontaneous decision – was Joe Henderson’s Recorda Me with more great playing and a light-hearted attitude that was infectious. This was followed by the closing 12 bar which, as McBride quipped, could have been leading to anywhere, but found its joyful way into East Broadway Rundown by Sonny Rollins, the closing track from this year’s Prime album (Mack Avenue).

Like many others I left the club with my soul feeling a little lighter thanks to some great jazz music by three extraordinary musicians adapting with grace, ease, and considerable skill to the unforeseen. It may not have been planned, but I wouldn’t have wanted to miss this for the world.

Adam Sieff’s “Jazz on the Beach” is on Substack

The post Christian McBride and New Jawn at Ronnie Scott’s first appeared on UK Jazz News.

Arba (meaning ‘four’ in Hebrew) was recorded over two days in April 2022 at Brooklyn’s Big Orange Sheep studio with pianist Rob Clearfield, double bassist Rick Rosato and drummer Jay Sawyer. The tracks were produced by Matt Pierson, recorded by Michael Perez-Cisneros and mixed and mastered by Chris Allen, and are now released on Dave Douglas’ Greenleaf Music.

The nine compositions were written during what was supposed to be a brief return visit to Jaffa in 2020 that thanks to the pandemic, turned into a year before Borochov could get back to New York. At the heart of this music is his study of the Maqamat, the ornate system of modes that anchors Arabic music, as well the influence of the music he absorbed at his Sephardic synagogue (with its roots in medieval Spain and Portugal) and American jazz music. His main instrument is a custom-built quarter tone 4-valve trumpet built by David Monette, with which he can play ‘the notes between the notes’ that are vital to the Maqamat.

The melodies are all strong and memorable, this is inclusive music that invites the listener in with warm, round tones in an intimate setting. The atmospheric opener Abraham quickly builds from an ancient theme into Borochov’s breathtaking trumpet solo with the other musicians ratcheting up the intensity – you can almost feel the hot wind of the chamsin on you face. Bayat Blues suddenly switches up from Clearfield’s piano reminiscent of a Vagif Mustafa Zadeh piece into something that’s hard swinging from Rosato and Sawyer with Borochov flying on top.

Clearfield’s sparing use of Hammond organ and electric piano gives subtle variation to the overall sound where it’s needed, especially the latter on the poignant What Broke You? But what took a while to fully appreciate were Borochov’s vocals, both wordless or lyrical. Following an impassioned beginning on the powerful Ya Sahbi (My Friend) his voice eventually blends into his trumpet and his brother Avri’s oud. But after a while it all started making sense, as it especially does on the wordless Who Shall Grant Me Flight which ends far too soon but sets up the closer Farewell with its strong sense of a positive future.

Borochov is a spectacular trumpeter with a voice that’s distinctly his own, and unites the sounds of Israel, the Middle East, North Africa and American jazz music into a beautiful and seamless whole. His upcoming two nights at The Pizza Express Jazz Club promise to be very special.

Release date: 8 September 2023.

The post Itamar Borochov – ‘Arba’ first appeared on UK Jazz News.

That’s quite something, a jazz festival with free admission for all. If Kai can do it, maybe there are other promoters who can too. I spoke to a number of people there who wouldn’t have previously considered going to a live jazz event and were delighted to be there, as well as seasoned jazz fans who attracted from all over the region. The setting certainly helps, and the weather too, but that’s all part of the magic.

Let’s not forget that Ms Hoffman is a fine singer too, and performed an excellent set supported by vibraphonist Roan Kearsey-Lawson and double bassist Simon Little, with the Jim Mullen’s Organ Trio’s Mike Gorman and drummer Matt Home, plus guest spots from Sarah Weller (momentarily liberated from the merch and raffle ticket stand) and the talented, 16-year old (!) singer Fraser O’Neill from KYJO. She’s the kind of singer who draws people in, and the crowd responded and appreciated her for her performance and her hard work.

The local theme continued with baritone saxophonist and flautist Paul Speare’s fusion based lineup of keyboardist and vocalist Hilary Cameron, bass guitarist Ollie Davie, drummer Jonathan Ward and guitarist Simon Golding who was sporting an extremely classy (and local) rig of Case JS Special and Cornford amplification. More enthusiastic response from the crowd.

Next came the Jim Mullen Organ Trio, with Mike Gorman and Matt Home returning, for a set by one our greatest guitar players performing hard bop grooves more commonly heard in dark nightclubs than bright sunshine, and sounding all the better for it.

They were followed by the Dennis Rollins Velocity Trio, the mighty trombonist with organist Liam Dunachie and drummer Pedro Segundo whose funky and explosive set had the end of the pier rocking.

As the late afternoon temperature cooled and the stage lights came on, the moment had arrived that many in the audience had been waiting for, with a huge welcoming roar for Clare Teal and her trio of pianist Jason Rebello, drummer Ed Richardson and returning double bassist Simon Little. Clare’s rapport with the audience is remarkable, they both know what to expect from each other and revel in each other’s company. What makes this band special is Rebello’s terrific arrangements that constantly take risks, and the high energy ensemble playing that challenges Clare to perform at her best which she absolutely did.

There was more music to come, but I had to leave with the beautiful sight of the sun setting behind the pier. People have since commented that the two final band son the pier were fabulous: the Indo-Cuban band Lokkhi Terra and New Orleans specialists The Coalminers. But there was so much more happening over the course of the festival with workshops for children, a swing party for families, a festival market, many more fine singers and musicians from South East Kent and beyond, the Kent Youth Jazz Orchestra…this was one hell of a festival and all props to Kai Hoffman for making it happen.

LINK: Eight hours of programming has been livestreamed. It is all HERE!

The post Herne Bay Jazz and Swing Festival 2023 first appeared on UK Jazz News.

They had just arrived via the Eurostar from Paris and were straight into their stride on the opening “Swing State”, the title track of Sidran’s latest album released last year (link below). The list of tunes over their two 45-minute sets kept mostly to repertoire from Sidran’s more recent albums and looked back at a life well lived in jazz and raised questions about the future. There wasn’t one weak or wasted moment: “Picture Him Happy”, “I Might Be Wrong”, “Who’s The Old Guy Now” and “Take a Little Hit” were all terrific. Sidran’s explanation of Federico Garcia Lorca’s poem “King of Harlem” was a big moment in the second set and followed the equally wonderful “Don’t Cry For No Hipster” (link below) which might just be the best song Sidran’s written.

There were a couple of Bob Dylan songs which fitted in seamlessly (from the Dylan Different studio and live albums) – “Love Minus Zero”, “Everything Is Broken” and especially “Tangled Up In Blue”, with Billy Peterson the bass player on Dylan’s original version.

There was a relaxed air of playfulness all evening, particularly from Margitza who was dropping in quotes from Weather Report, a couple from Monk and even The Rolling Stones’ “Miss You” with Sidran calling him out for that one. Margitza is such a strong and melodic player, his solos added so much to the music.

At 79, and with his eightieth birthday approaching in just a couple of months, Sidran shows little sign of slowing down, his voice is as clear and expressive as ever and his great piano playing sits perfectly with a rhythm section that’s always in the groove. His charm and promise that ‘we would feel better when we leave than when we came in’ was again fulfilled. It was a wonderful evening – inspirational, entertaining, life-affirming. And it swung like crazy.

The post Ben Sidran at Ronnie Scott’s first appeared on UK Jazz News.