Pianist Johanna Summer and saxophonist Jakob Manz are two young leading lights of the German jazz scene, and this album featuring them in a duo setting shows us why. The many varied pleasures of this album come and go in [...]
Electric bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma brought his distinguished brew of hefty jazz funk to Cafe Oto with flair, driven intensity and a glowing, light touch. Funk is deeply rooted in his DNA, and flows in his blood, no question. Ornette Coleman [...]
Vocalist Emily Masser’s second album continues her ascent with pin-sharp singing, scat, polished vocalese and some original material honouring her late mother and very-much-present father saxophonist Dean Masser. It’s a delight from beginning to end. Still only 20 years old, [...]
Bruno Heinen brought together his band The W (Heidi Vogel, Andrea di Biase, Gene Calderazzo) and an orchestra from Trinity Laban with two special string players as guests, Alice Zawadzki and Sascha Bota. It can be regarded as the “coming [...]
Unleashed Cooperation set what you might call a leisurely pace for their new releases; fans have had to wait more than two years for ‘Trust’, their second album. “8 Years”, released in 2022, was a success, and led to a [...]
It has been clear for some time that Emma Rawicz is the rising star of UK jazz, but her jazz orchestra’s performance at Ronnie’s on 30 January 2025 has moved her into a new league. We knew that she is [...]
The 3rd annual Southport Jazz festival got off to an explosive start on Friday 31 January with the newly formed duo of pianist Gwilym Simcock and soprano and tenor saxophonist Emma Rawicz. They were the second of the three acts [...]
The theme of the first residency of the Montreux Jazz Festival at London’s South Bank was the legacy of Nina Simone. The choice of Soweto Kinch for the second night of the programme seems particularly appropriate, given both his musical [...]
Safe Place sees brothers Julian Wasserfuhr (trumpet, flugelhorn) and Roman Wasserfuhr (piano) joined by cellist Jörg Brinkmann for a set of originals played with the intimacy of a family fireside chat. It’s the trio’s second recording after Relaxin’ in Ireland [...]
Nina Simone stood frozen on the big screen, towering over the Royal Festival Hall. One hand rested on a grand piano; she was otherwise alone. An invisible audience cheered wildly. The applause died down, then cautiously resumed, and faltered again. [...]
