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Kyle Eastwood is a regular visitor to the U.K., usually appearing at Ronnie Scott’s on an “annual residency”. Eastwood plays down his connection to his famous actor and director father, which made the concept of Eastwood Plays Eastwood intriguing. As [...]
Guitarist Jakub Klimiuk’s quintet album (un)balanced announces itself with twenty-seven seconds of piping, squawking bubbling arpeggios from a saxophone that pause, as if for thought, then launch off in a new direction, before finding a satisfying resolution. It’s the first [...]
Brick Lane Jazz Festival served up three days of diverse jazz spread across more than ten venues. Now in its third year, the festival works perfectly in the vibrant, bustling surrounds of Brick Lane with its rabbit warren of vintage [...]
The palatial splendor of Ladbroke Hall is a delightful setting for Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba’s first London performance in seven years, in a trio with Matt Brewer on bass and Ernesto Simpson on drums. The trio is highly compelling and [...]
Blushing confession: until now, I’d never knowingly heard of Claus Waidtløw. And we’re talking about a tenor saxophonist who’s a member of Copenhagen’s jazz elite and has far exceeded Spotify’s expectations for jazz albums. Frankly, it’s an oversight because, not [...]
The rise and rise of Samara Joy i the past three years has been spectacular, and has been well chronicled on this site: I remember that Adam Sieff noticed cameo appearances by her on the album “Introducing Ruben Fox” in [...]
Entitling your debut album as leader Louis the First could smack of hubris, given the kingly suggestion of a regnal name and number. But by 1975, when this recently dusted-down album was originally recorded, the Irish guitarist Louis Stewart already [...]
This Anglo-South African project builds on old jazz connections between the two countries to blend new music from both places into something fresh and rather inspiring. The brainchild of trombonist Raph Clarkson, the project has been a long time coming. [...]
‘Moonray’ is vocalist James Hudson’s follow-up to his reportedly well-received debut album. His pleasant voice is pitched, unusually for a jazz singer, somewhere between low tenor and light baritone. His professed influences are Mel Tormé, Frank Sinatra, Nat ‘King’ Cole, [...]
The vinyl edition of Shabaka Hutchings’ album is a thing of beauty. Thick cardboard gatefold sleeve, satisfyingly heavy platter, interesting artwork, and that iconic orange Impulse! logo, familiar from LPs by John and Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders et al, and [...]
