The final evening of the Darbar Festival’s 20th anniversary presented a double bill of exceptional calibre: flautist Rakesh Chaurasia, followed by the father-and-son sitar duo Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan and Shakir Khan, custodians of the illustrious Imdad Khan–Etawah gharana. Two [...]
Day 3 The main programme in the Haus der Berliner Festspiele featured two of the concerts selected as highlights of the festival (link below) : Barry Guy’s Double Trouble and Mary Halvorson’s Amaryllis Sextet. The evening was rounded off with [...]
It is heartening to report on a jazz venture getting off to such an auspicious start. Kings Place Hall One was more or less packed for the first ever concert of the venue’s new Jazz Orchestra, directed by trombonist/arranger/composer Callum [...]
At Belfast’s newest jazz club, black-clad, flame-haired Christine Tobin, unusually for her, presented a programme of songs from the Great American Songbook. Technically her accompanists, Hammond organist Myles Drennan, whom she said she had never met before, and drummer David [...]
The Berlin JazzFest programme never fails to reflect the most significant trends in contemporary jazz, as was apparent on the first two days of this year’s festival Day 1 – Thursday 30 October in the Haus der Festspiele The opening [...]
The deliriously squat-like club complex of Z-Bau in Nürnberg hosted the Friday night at the heart of the three-week NUE JAZZ festival with a programme that typifies the twelfth year of the festival with a blend of sounds that are [...]
Billy Cobham brought his Time Machine quintet to Union Chapel as part of a short European tour. His slow careful walk to his drum set belied the high energy performance which the 81 year-old was to unleash. He also brought [...]
Recently relocated from London to Edinburgh, Scottish drummer Caroline Scott assembled an impressive quartet for her first show at Edinburgh’s Jazz Bar: she was joined by Fergus McCreadie on piano, Matt Carmichael on tenor and Ali Watson on bass, three [...]
Yikes Too is the name of a new double album by Tim Berne, and the American free improvising altoist explained why he chose that title to his audience at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire’s Eastside Jazz Club. “It’s because Yikes! Is [...]
Barry Green explores the contemporary possibilities of jazz piano from a deep foundation in the tradition. He’s absorbed contemporary jazz innovators such as Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Geri Allen, Brad Mehldau and Jason Moran, but has also a deep commitment [...]
