New music
CD: Hannah Georgas - Hannah GeorgasWednesday, 20 November 2013
There’s something in the vocal delivery that calls for comparison to countrywoman Leslie Feist - a subtlety, an unreal-ness - but on her third, self-titled album Canadian songwriter Hannah Georgas has honed a sound of her own. What could easily have... Read more... |
Lee Konitz and Dan Tepfer, Kenny Wheeler Quintet, QEHTuesday, 19 November 2013
Last night’s Konitz and Wheeler concert was the sort of event at which the audience’s jaw has dropped before the music starts. Lee Konitz and Kenny Wheeler already have substantial legacies: Konitz’s cool sax style was a landmark sound, for decades... Read more... |
10 Questions for Cellist Oliver CoatesMonday, 18 November 2013
Oliver Coates is the very model of a modern musical generalist – able to jump, or ignore, the boundaries between musical categories yet retaining deep understanding of the nuances of each category or genre. He has feet firmly in both the concert... Read more... |
Wayne Shorter Quartet with the BBC Concert Orchestra, BarbicanMonday, 18 November 2013
Wayne Shorter’s Quartet were introduced as “the greatest jazz band on the planet”. It’s an unexceptional thing, like the Rolling Stones being introduced as “the greatest rock’n’roll band in the world”. But unlike the Stones, who really haven’t done... Read more... |
CD: Jake Bugg - Shangri-LaMonday, 18 November 2013
I have always found Bob Dylan immensely irritating, so it stands to reason that the music of folk rocker Jake Bugg, who is often compared to the poetic Sixties icon, should evoke a similar reaction. At a time when British rock is on the wane, this... Read more... |
Arild Andersen Quintet and Reijseger/Fraanje/Sylla, QEHSunday, 17 November 2013
Five minutes into this concert, at that stage a polite cello and piano duo, there was a raucous bellowing from the rear, so loud that the front stalls leapt. The delicate cello spiccato continued, despite the persistent bellowing. Gradually, the... Read more... |
René Marie, Pizza Express Jazz ClubSunday, 17 November 2013
In a fascinating interview with the singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, published in The Los Angeles Times in June 1979 around the release of Mingus, Mitchell signs off with the following aperçu. “You know, pigeonholes all seem funny to me. I feel like... Read more... |
CD: Robbie Williams - Swings Both WaysSunday, 17 November 2013
Oh good, Robbie Williams is back. Now fully emerged from the self-imposed wilderness that saw him become immersed in the world of extraterrestrials and the paranormal while living a Howard Hughes-esque existence in Los Angeles a few years back,... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: I am the Center, Haiku SalutSunday, 17 November 2013
Various Artists: I am the Center – Private Issue New Age Music in America, 1950–1990A landmark reissue either retells a familiar story in a new way or tells an unfamiliar story in a way that fascinates. In both cases, the annotation, packaging,... Read more... |
Chase & Status, Brighton CentreSaturday, 16 November 2013
“Show Me Love” by Robin S was a monster pop-rave crossover hit in 1990. Most of the crowd at Chase & Status’s Brighton date would have either not been born or in nappies gnawing Duplo bricks when it had its moment in the sun, yet they sing along... Read more... |
Jazz Voice 2013, BarbicanSaturday, 16 November 2013
Harp glissandos, trilling flutes, the heft of a swinging brass section. Yes, last night's Jazz Voice once again kick-started the EFG London Jazz Festival in typically exuberant fashion. Arranged, scored and conducted by the indefatigable Guy Barker... Read more... |
CD: Nils Frahm – SpacesSaturday, 16 November 2013
Although most readily pigeonholed as a minimalist pianist whose compositions are as much about the space between the notes as what he actually plays, Germany's Nils Frahm has also worked with the Juno synthesiser and released pieces which edge... Read more... |
