First, a disclaimer: It’s impossible for me to talk about Jim Mullen without being entirely subjective. He’s quite simply been my favourite guitarist and a hero of mine for 40 years. When I was about 18 I went to see [...]
Whether touring around the UK, or as one of the bands picked by Jamie Cullum for his showcase at the Montreal Jazz Festival in 2016, the Remi Harris Hot Club Trio wins over audiences. Much of their current tour is [...]
Superlatives along the lines of ‘tour de force’ do little justice to this new recording by the Simon Spillett Big Band; an album of rarely heard, newly rediscovered arrangements from the library of the Little Giant himself – Tubby Hayes. [...]
Nigel Price is currently on an extended organ trio/quartet tour, with over forty dates. But for just over a week in mid-October, Canadian guitarist Lorne Lofsky – renowned for his years with Oscar Peterson – joins the tour.”The Hammond organ [...]
Less of a traditional biography and more of a slice-of-life portrait of a self-described ‘Road Dog’, Inside Scofield is an intimate and personal glimpse into what makes the man tick, and continue ticking, as we follow him tour with his [...]
Regardless of the harmonic developments in jazz that began in the early 1940’s and continue to this day, musicians have always strived to maintain a close relationship to melody; whether their own or those of other writers. Melodic-based improvisation, with [...]
As jazz strove to retain its relevance in the 1960’s, and whether through desire or record company insistence, artists began to release music with a more ‘commercial’ musical angle. One thinks of Ellington’s ‘Mary Poppins’ suite and Basie’s albums of [...]
Ever since Joe Pass’ legendary ‘Virtuoso’ series of unaccompanied albums from the late 1970s, the solo recording has been something of a rite-of-passage for guitarists and we are now blessed with many examples of the craft from the likes of [...]
Vocalist Catherine Russell is a native of New York City and also happens to be the daughter of legendary bandleader Luis Russell (1902-1963). Luis led a big band from the late 20’s through the late 40’s which, at one time [...]
Adrian Cox (clarinet) and Joe Webb (piano) are two young musicians with a deep love, respect and understanding of jazz from an era when it was played, as Jelly Roll Morton insisted, “soft, sweet and plenty rhythm!” Drawing on their [...]
