PostModern Jukebox is the creation of pianist and arranger Scott Bradlee, who had launched this UK tour three days earlier, at the Royal Albert Hall. (Link to interview with Scott Bradlee below) Bradlee was not present at the Cambridge performance, [...]
I cannot remember any living songwriting collaborators who have brought me more pleasure than Georgia Mancio (lyrics) and Alan Broadbent (composer). It was a bright, Spring day in Stapleford, and one could bask in the rich, varied music. Working on [...]
This year a young singer from New York is making her first UK visit, including concerts at the London Jazz Festival (November 20) and the Cambridge Jazz Festival (November 21). Stella Katherine Cole sold out all those engagements, well in [...]
This new album provides a feast of musical styles and influences: fiesta is just the word that it evokes. My memory has grown uncertain, but I think I first heard Jennifer Moore (Ayala) as a teenager, in Cambridge. I could [...]
In my notes for this review, one word stood out: scintillating. In Chelsea, the Summer Solstice was hot and languid, well matched by the Mediterranean delights of the Jazzato Band. I have heard Hetty Loxston sing in different venues and [...]
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 [...]
Summer sunshine was streaming into Stapleford Granary: as a ‘full house’, well fed by the caterers, poured into this arts centre near Cambridge. We had come to hear the singer Jacqui Dankworth, accompanied by pianist, arranger (and husband) Charlie Wood. [...]
