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 [...]
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