The first day of the 26th Annual Vision Festival celebrated Wadada Leo Smith by awarding him a Lifetime Achievement Award to honour his pivotal role in creative music (free jazz, essentially). There were two immediate conclusions from the evening’s showcase: that [...]
For most of her career, the incomparable Ella Fitzgerald was managed by the incomparable impresario Norman Granz, founder of ‘Jazz At The Philharmonic’ and the prolific Norgran and Clef jazz record labels. Granz always felt that Decca, Ms F’s label [...]
The Mingus-minded among UKJN readers will recognise these five players as frequent participants in the European tours by the Mingus Big Band. And in the band’s New York appearances, for that matter. With that background in common, they formed up [...]
Incantation is a set of nine originals from saxophonist Emma Rawicz, a confident and engaging debut recording, that conjures a range of moods. The title track has a rocky swagger to it. Ant Law’s fuzzy guitar sound doubles declamatory phrases [...]
