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Espial is a trio formed when the duo of percussionist Martin Pyne and keyboard player David Beebee decided to develop the music of their Ripples album by adding a third member to the group. Saxophonist Josephine Davies is a very [...]
St. Andrew’s Church, Grinton. 2 June 2024. Swaledale Festival.Framed by a grand archway lit in blue and purple, it took only a few notes from guitarist Martin Taylor, playing solo, to have the crowd under his spell. Opening with Neal [...]
b-flat acoustic music + jazz club, Berlin-Mitte. 4 June 2024. Part of Jazzwoche Berlin. It’s only June and there’s still plenty to play for, but this one is already in the running for my gig of the year. Last night [...]
This week, someone who had heard Jo Harrop live, described the experience to BBC Jazz Record Requests as having been “spellbound”. The producer of this CD introduces Jo Harrop’s music as coming “straight from the heart”… and as someone who [...]
Michel Godard trio with Florian Weber and Anne Paceo (*) Did I hear a slight flicker of emotion, even of nostalgia in Philippe Ochem‘s voice as he announced the opening of the sixteenth Jazzdor Berlin-Strasbourg Festival last night? If there [...]
Co-Motion, one of this year’s noteworthy jazz releases, is a collaboration between Belgian drummer Kobe Gregoir and Dutch/Congolese spoken word artist, Danielle Zawadi. Kobe’s considerable compositional nous harks back to the halcyon hard bop days of the 1960s. Sturdily constructed [...]
Tutu Puoane, Ewout Pierreux, Brice Soniano, James Williams Tutu Puoane’s UK debut as leader at Ronnie Scott’s was a masterclass in improvisation, and also in how to relate to an audience. It was a rainy Thursday afternoon outside, but the [...]
It is nearly five years since LA based pianist Greg Spero last performed in London with his supergroup Spirit Fingers featuring Dario Chiazzolino (guitar), Max Gerl (bass) and Mike Mitchell aka Blaque Dynamite (drums). Spero is now one of the [...]
Francesca was recorded in Switzerland by a new quartet led by David Murray after an extensive European tour. It features seven original compositions by Murray and one composition by pianist Don Pullen in tribute to fellow pianist Muhal Richard Abrams. Two [...]
The late and much lamented pianist Keith Tippett was a formidable improviser but, as his inclusion in Duncan Heining’s recent book indicates, he was also a significant British jazz composer. It is this side of his art that furnishes inspiration [...]
