Violinist. arranger, studio musician, orchestral leader, and “above all undoubtedly a force for good” (*), Sonia Slany (pronounced SlaH-ny) passed away on Thursday 14 January after a long illness. This post is going to be work in progress as we [...]
A “supremely gifted musician” who “always conveyed the sheer pleasure of making music.” In this tribute, Richard Pite remembers Keith Nichols, who passed away on 20 January 2021: One evening back in 1975, when I was still at school, I’d [...]
The fourth of Jon Turney’s weekly selections of tracks with staying power (introduced HERE) is a Carla Bley tune treated beautifully by vibraphonist Gary Burton and guitarist Mick Goodrick. Gary Burton’s virtuosity is widely admired, but his ability to conjure [...]
Starting out as a one-off gig paying tribute to Sonny Rollins, this sax-bass-drums trio took on a life of its own as three generations of jazz musicians brought both their shared influences and different playing experiences to form QOW Trio. [...]
David Lewis, the host of the ‘Straight Ahead’ radio show on Solar Radio – also available as a podcast – is interviewed by Laura G Thorne (*). UKJazz News: You host a radio programme on Solar Radio called ‘Straight-Ahead’. How [...]
Fred Thomas’s new album on the Babel label, Dick Wag – A Tribute to Richard Wagner, “brings a fresh perspective to some best-loved Wagnerian moments by stripping its forces back to the bone”, writes Sandy Burnett. He sourced the stories…he [...]
John Altman writes: There was a time in the late 60s/early 70s when Malcolm Griffiths, who passed away this week aged 79, seemed to be everywhere on the world jazz scene. First call for the Mike Westbrook Band, Mike Gibbs [...]
“John had a place at the heart of the world scene for improvised music,” writes Evan Parker in this tribute to guitarist and founder of MOPOMOSO John Russell (1954-2021), who passed away on 19 January 2021. From Ruckinge to Ruckinge. [...]
Sammy Nestico (1924-2021) passed away on Sunday morning at the age of 96. Four bandleaders and arrangers pay tribute to one of the best-known (and most frequently-played) big band arrangers: Denny Ilett: By 1967 one could be forgiven for thinking [...]
In the third of Jon Turney’s weekly series reflecting on tracks that have stayed with him over the years (introduced HERE), he visits the BIMHuis in 1975 for this live recording of The Highest Mountain by Clifford Jordan & The [...]
