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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
