All recent Jazz News from around the UK and beyond.
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 [...]
The following is an interview between jazz journalist Morgan Enos and trumpeters Nick Smart and John Daversa. The pair produced Some Days Are Better: The Lost Scores, a Royal Academy of Music- and Frost School of Music-led project dubbed Kenny [...]
Katie Thiroux is an American bassist and vocalist. She was an active member of the Larry Fuller Trio and has been heard with, among others, Justin Kauflin, Geri Allen, Helen Sung, Terrell Stafford, Terri Lyne Carrington, Lewis Nash and Patti [...]
Sebastian writes: I am incredibly sad to hear of the death of a huge supporter of jazz in this country, a fervent supporter of this site and a wonderful and loyal friend to me and the team, Martin Hummel. Martin [...]
Jazz Café POSK in Hammersmith kicked off 2025 with an evening dedicated to the compositions of Duncan Lamont, hosted by his son Duncan Lamont Jr. Duncan Lamont Sr. (1931 –2019) was a musician, a composer, a lyricist and a storyteller, [...]
Saxophonist Phil Bancroft has gone through some significant musical and extra-musical changes of late. Relocating from busy Edinburgh to rural East Lothian, he also recently completed a lengthy period of study into advanced rhythmic concepts that he feels has fundamentally [...]
For his first performance as Artist in Residence at the 2025 Brussels Jazz Festival – Flagey 2025, pianist Bram De Looze had assembled a veritable dream team. With Joey Baron on drums (De Looze has already worked with him in [...]
The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra has commissioned compositions from some of Scotland’s most exciting young jazz musicians for a series of concerts running in Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow from 31 January to 2 February. Nu-Age Sounds – Planet World follows [...]
We are very sad to hear of the death yesterday of an important figure in British music, pianist/composer/arranger/ music director Laurie Holloway at the age of 86. Our condolences to his daughters Abigail – a consistent friend and wonderful supporter [...]
This is a hugely enjoyable album from three outstanding musicians. Drummer Carl Allen calls on double bassist Christian McBride and saxophonist Chris Potter to help him make an album that he would most like to hear as a listener. This [...]
It’s a fair bet that Thelonious Monk is the most performed jazz composer. Who else might be in the running? Ellington, of course. Gershwin, perhaps. Maybe Wayne Shorter, more recently. But for a composer for all occasions – to make [...]
It was cold and wet tonight on Southend seafront, but I found a warm & welcoming Georgian lounge which resounds to live jazz from local & national musicians every week. And to my delight, the 6-piece Mandala were playing some [...]
‘Epic’ is an over-used description and I’m embarrassed to employ it, yet no word is more appropriate to describe Mosaic’s latest limited-edition release. Because this venture is epic in historical context. Epic in scale. Epic in talent and execution. Epic [...]
Nordsnø Ensemble are an intriguing proposition. An award-winning Octet based in Germany – they fuse contemporary jazz with the influence of Scandinavian folkloric tradition. On this, their third full-length album, they team up with British pianist and organist Kit Downes, [...]
The Revisions series presented by the Anaklasis label presents music by outstanding composers, artists who emphasise experimentation, transgression, and subversion. The latest project, Laeta Mundus, is another intriguing meeting of artistic worlds, juxtaposing jazz, contemporary music and historical repertoire from [...]
This is a brief, highly subjective (and not always completely serious) set of personal impressions of a great festival which happens right at the beginning of the year (*) A is for audience. I can’t help wanting to start this [...]
Any programme curated by Nod Knowles will delight and surprise in equal measure, and the Bath Jazz Weekend’s 2025 edition was no exception. Performances that drew explicitly on folk traditions ran like a thick seam through the programme, intertwined with [...]
The Jazz Repertory Company returns to Cadogan Hall with one of its most popular shows: Benny Goodman’s 1938 Carnegie Hall concert. Goodman finished his Carnegie Hall concert with a very extended version of perhaps the most popular tune of the swing [...]
The following is an interview between jazz journalist Morgan Enos and baritone saxophonist, composer, and arranger Ryan Middagh. Tenor Madness, his new album with the Ryan Middagh Orchestra, will be released 10 January via Ear Up Records. The album features [...]
Alto saxophonist Will Vinson hails from England but established a great many of his musical collaborations while living in New York City. He has appeared and/or recorded with Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ari Hoenig, Jonathan Kreisberg, Marcus Gilmore, Chris Potter, [...]
Trumpeter James Davison and Trombonist Callum Au teamed up to recreate the iconic quintet set up of Clark Terry and Bob Brookmeyer in their cleverly named band Quintet-à-Tête at the 606 Club on the first Saturday night of 2025. Clark [...]
Art Mead was one of the unsung heroes of British jazz, one of the many behind-the-scenes supporters of the art form who make the jazz scene as vibrant as it is in spite of the cultural establishment. It’s an honour [...]
The track “Meet Me on the Midway” from “Little Big Top” (Motéma) feels like such a good place to be starting the year. Accordionist/composer Guy Klucevsek describes the track as “A tribute to the Slovenian-American polka tradition I grew up [...]
Huge congratulations to a pivotal figure in jazz in Northern Ireland, Dr Linley Hamilton, on being awarded an MBE in the 2025 New Year’s Honours List.
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With their vibrant and versatile take on piano driven contemporary jazz, the Ilario Ferrari Trio has been wowing audiences and critics alike with the lively compositions taken from their latest album Above The Clouds – released by Elsden Music. On [...]
The following is jazz journalist Morgan Enos’s interview with pianist and composer Renee Rosnes. Her latest album, Crossing Paths, was released 6 December via Smoke Sessions Records. Crossing Paths features saxophonist Chris Potter, trombonist Steve Davis, bassist John Patitucci, and [...]
Cat Toren is a pianist, improviser and composer, originally from North Vancouver, Canada. A JUNO Award-winner and Western Canadian Music Award-winner, she has performed throughout North America and been commissioned by the Cassatt String Quartet and the nonet, Orkestra Futura. [...]
