What a fascinating musical connection Japanese musical all-rounder Midori Takada and Danish guitarist Jakob Bro have. They have been playing together for years in various projects and あなたに出会うまで/Until I Met You is their debut as a duo. It all has [...]
In the 70s, London-based jazz fusion band Swift didn’t even come close to making a breakthrough. Indeed, they never even managed to so much as darken the door of a recording studio. Legendary Melody Maker critic Chris Welch (also a [...]
Nicknames decorate the jazz landscape. Some were titles bestowed in admiration: ‘King’ Joe Oliver, Lester ‘Pres’ Young, ‘Duke’ Ellington, ‘Count’ Basie, Billie ‘Lady Day’ Holiday. Then there were the monickers affectionately rooted in physical appearance: Louis ‘Satchmo’ (contraction of ‘Satchelmouth’) [...]
Emerging from a rare but, as it turned out, essential performance by Quercus at King’s Place about ten days ago, I found myself once more deeply in thrall of June Tabor’s commanding voice, Huw Warren’s grandiloquent piano weave and, inevitably, [...]
