New music
Reissue CDs Weekly: BBC Radiophonic WorkshopSunday, 24 November 2013
BBC Radiophonic Workshop: BBC Radiophonic Music / The Radiophonic WorkshopThe inescapable 50th anniversary of the television debut of Doctor Who has had the side effect of drawing attention to the work of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, the... Read more... |
Essentially Ellington, Queen Elizabeth HallSunday, 24 November 2013
Now in its eighteenth year, the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra (SNJO) demonstrated last night why it's considered one of Europe’s finest big bands. Brilliantly directed by tenor sax player Tommy Smith and featuring the great Brian Kellock on piano... Read more... |
John Etheridge & Philip Catherine/Igor Gehenot Trio, The Vortex, DalstonSunday, 24 November 2013
Distinguished jazz guitarists Philip Catherine and John Etheridge made (a little bit of) history at The Vortex last night, playing together for the first time. In a perfect balance of youth and experience, the evening also saw the launch of a debut... Read more... |
CD: Gary Barlow - Since I Saw You LastSunday, 24 November 2013
Like his sometime nemesis Robbie Williams it’s all too easy to dismiss Gary Barlow as lame mainstream tosh. In fact, that’s not such a bad idea. Let’s do that. Job done.Those who wish for more might like to check the next pageAlternatively…Like his... Read more... |
Sonica, GlasgowSaturday, 23 November 2013
At first it looked like a joke. But, as each muscle spasm, set off by an electric shock, did appear to produce a pained expression in the performer and a subsequent note, one slowly had to accept that these four string quartet players were indeed... Read more... |
Ian Shaw, The Elgar Room, RAHSaturday, 23 November 2013
Even Joni Mitchell wasn’t spared an affectionate ribbing, as jazz singer Ian Shaw continued his Joni at 70 Tour with a combination of sincerity and satire, both red-raw, in the Elgar Room last night. Stripping pretensions compulsively, Shaw gave an... Read more... |
CD: Rebecca Ferguson - FreedomFriday, 22 November 2013
Rebecca Ferguson’s first album, Heaven, blew in like a summer breeze in the freezing winter of 2011. What made the Liverpudlian’s debut stand out was not so much the quality of her voice – although it was undeniably big and infectious – but... Read more... |
Brad Mehldau and Mark Guiliana, BarbicanFriday, 22 November 2013
For someone who has built a reputation for limpid, introspective piano playing, last night was a new adventure both for Brad Mehldau and his (mainly) supportive audience. He has covered fellow introvert Nick Drake’s songs, and he is a master of... Read more... |
Christian Scott Quartet, Ronnie Scott'sThursday, 21 November 2013
With the bell of his Dizzy Gillespie-style “bent” trumpet pointing skywards like a rocket launcher, Scott dominated the stage at Ronnie Scott’s last night, every bit the iconic jazz trumpeter. Instead of the clearly-articulated, pure-toned pulse of... Read more... |
CD: Livity Sound - Livity SoundWednesday, 20 November 2013
The past year or two have seen a staggering return to popularity of house and techno music in the UK. For the first time since the mid-1990s, records which have grown steadily through club play over many months are breaking through into the charts... Read more... |
Jaimeo Brown and Gogo Penguin, XOYOWednesday, 20 November 2013
What does a stuffed penguin have in common with the religious concept of transcendence? Even less than you might think, it emerged last night, during one of the London Jazz Festival’s less well matched programmes, featuring one trio named... Read more... |
Television, RoundhouseWednesday, 20 November 2013
The expected curveball came an hour in with a completely unfamiliar 14-minute song. Based around a pulsing bass riff, it was a deconstructed merger of The Rolling Stones’s “Paint it Black” and the Spanish side of Love’s Da Capo. A large contingent... Read more... |
