jazz
Nicola Conte, Ronnie Scott'sSaturday, 31 January 2015
Gloriously feel-good, unashamedly retro, uniformly urbane, the Nicola Conte Combo presented a set that was bursting with fantastic melodies last night at Ronnie Scott's. Performing music from last year's Free Souls and his 2011 album Love &... Read more... |
Jan Garbarek Group, Stormen, BodøMonday, 26 January 2015
Norway’s celebrated jazz colossus Jan Garbarek hadn’t played the north Norwegian city of Bodø for 15 years. Moreover, he and his group took the stage of the spanking new Stormen concert house as the openers of Bodø Jazz Open, the city’s four-day... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: MagmaSunday, 11 January 2015
Magma: Köhntarkösz, Köhntarkösz Anteria, Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré“They were a Seventies phenomenon,” said snooker ace Steve Davies of Magma. “But they were a bit too far out there for most people, even if you liked progressive music. I didn't dare put... Read more... |
Album of the Year: Jason Moran - All Rise: A Joyful Elegy for Fats WallerSunday, 21 December 2014
Pianist Jason Moran's Grammy-nominated tribute to the legendary pianist, singer and composer, Fats Waller, effortlessly captures the joyousness and melodic beauty of the Harlem stride master's music. Joining Moran is vocalist Meshell ... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: 2014 RevisitedSunday, 07 December 2014
With just over two weeks to Christmas, thoughts might be turning to which of the deluge of 2014’s reissues might be suitable as a gift, worth putting on your own wish-list for Santa or even merit buying for yourself. So if help is needed,... Read more... |
Preview: John Coltrane's A Love SupremeFriday, 05 December 2014
John Coltrane’s album A Love Supreme, recorded 50 years ago next week, is second only to Miles Davis' Kind of Blue as a revered document of jazz recording. Inspired by Coltrane’s spiritual awakening on overcoming his addiction to heroin and alcohol... Read more... |
Jaga Jazzist, Union ChapelSunday, 30 November 2014
Expectations can be dangerous when it comes to live music, but sometimes managing them is easier said than done. Go and see a band like Jaga Jazzist, a genre-crossing collective of Norwegian multi-instrumentalists who skyrocketed to fame in 2002... Read more... |
CD: Dale Cooper Quartet & the Dictaphones + (((witxes))) – SplitSunday, 30 November 2014
Over its 20 minutes, "Le Strategie Saint-Frusquin" colours its dark, funeral declaration with the insistent rhythm of an elephant dragging itself from a tar pit, textures from distorted guitar and saxophone, and occasional interjections of a voice... Read more... |
CD: Fini Bearman - Porgy & BessWednesday, 26 November 2014
The weapon of choice of wannabe jazz chanteuses the world over, the fact that London-based singer, songwriter and composer Fini Bearman chose to deliver the ubiquitous “Summertime” as a wordless meditation almost made me weep with gratitude.The... Read more... |
Charles Lloyd / Joe Lovano and Dave Douglas, BarbicanMonday, 24 November 2014
It’s not easy to write about a gig when you’re still shaking with adrenaline, still less so when that gig is the grand finale of the 2014 EFG London Jazz Festival, the climax to a giddy ten days of world-class contemporary music. But it’s a cross I’... Read more... |
Robert Mitchell's 'Invocation', Queen Elizabeth HallMonday, 24 November 2014
Imaginatively constructed and endlessly surprising, this world premiere of the complete version of pianist Robert Mitchell's choral work Invocation elicited one of the most moving performances I had the pleasure of hearing at this year's EFG London... Read more... |
Kasse Mady Diabate, Purcell Room, Southbank CentreSunday, 23 November 2014
Kassé Mady Diabaté is one of the great singers of West Africa, a member of Toumani Diabaté's Symmetric Orchestra and, more recently, the Afrocubism all-star line-up. His latest album Kiriké (Horse’s Saddle) on the Parisian No Format label is a... Read more... |
