jazz
Albums of the Year 2017: Daymé Arocena - CubafoniaSaturday, 30 December 2017
All things considered, there aren’t many criteria by which this album, however cosmopolitan its influences, sensitive and precise its vocals and supple its rhythms, is really the best of the year. I’ve had a few sleepless nights recently over the... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: PentangleSunday, 10 December 2017
A nineteen-minute adaptation of “Jack Orion” took up the whole of Side Two of Cruel Sister, Pentangle’s fourth album. It's the highlight of the smart but blandly titled 115-track box set The Albums 1968–1972. Up to this point in 1970, British folk... Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: Musician Nick MulveySaturday, 25 November 2017
Nick Mulvey (b.1984) is a singer-songwriter who draws from a refreshing and unexpected palette of global roots music, modernist classical and electronica. His second album, Wake Up Now, was released earlier this year, and showcases a man on a quest... Read more... |
Robert Glasper, Barbican review - emotional fellowship and creative interconnectionsSaturday, 18 November 2017
As moments of transcendence go, Laura Mvula’s guest spot at Robert Glasper’s EFG London Jazz Festival show provided one of the year’s most transporting musical moments.Powered by the huge harmonic slabs carved out by keyboardist Travis Sayles and... Read more... |
Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet, Ronnie Scott’s review - sophistication and simplicityThursday, 16 November 2017
If having several projects on the go is a necessity for most jazz musicians, the US drummer Mark Guiliana is more protean than most, with a musical CV that traverses jazz, rock and electronic music. Like the pianist Robert Glasper, Guiliana – voted... Read more... |
The Best Albums of 2017Tuesday, 14 November 2017
Disc of the Day reviews new albums, week in, week out, all year. Below are the albums to which our writers awarded five stars. Click on any one of them to find out why.SIMPLY THE BEST: THEARTSDESK'S FIVE-STAR REVIEWS OF 2017Alan Broadbent:... Read more... |
An Evening with Pat Metheny, Barbican - sheer joy under the Missouri skySaturday, 11 November 2017
Pat Metheny recently described quite how much he enjoys just being on stage: “As Phil Woods used to say, the concert, that's for free. What the promoter is paying for is getting on the plane, getting off the plane, to pack your suitcase. The actual... Read more... |
CD: Oli Rockberger - SovereignSunday, 05 November 2017
This fourth studio album from pianist, vocalist, songwriter and producer Oli Rockberger highlights his remarkable knack of marrying instantly memorable chorus hooks with captivating harmonies steeped in jazz, soul, gospel and R&B.Consisting of... Read more... |
CD: Mélanie De Biasio - LilliesMonday, 30 October 2017
Mélanie De Biasio is a Belgian jazz singer, an album-charting artist in her home country, and rising star elsewhere. She is not a woman who takes the straightforward path. No album of Nat King Cole covers for her. No Jamie Cullum guest appearances... Read more... |
CD: Courtney Pine - Black Notes from the DeepMonday, 23 October 2017
It’s now thirty years since Courtney Pine stepped out from underneath the shadow of the Jazz Warriors with his debut solo album, Journey To The Urge Within, and his unforgettable contributions to the Angel Heart film soundtrack, to stake his claim... Read more... |
2017 Parliamentary Jazz Awards: the votes are inThursday, 12 October 2017
Held auspiciously on the hundredth birthday of one of the giants of the music, composer and pianist Thelonious Sphere Monk (1917-1982), the winners of this year's Parliamentary Jazz Awards were announced at a congenial ceremony at London’s newest... Read more... |
CD: Cécile McLorin Salvant - Dreams and DaggersSunday, 01 October 2017
With her third recording for Mack Avenue, Grammy Award-winning vocalist and songwriter Cécile McLorin Salvant has delivered a vocal jazz album for the ages. A 2CD set recorded live at NYC’s renowned Village Vanguard, the fascinating track list... Read more... |
