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Jazz FM awards return for 2025 - Jazz Journal
Jazz FM, the London-based radio station, this year resumes it jazz awards scheme, with categories including soul and blues acts of the year. Nick Pitts, Jazz FM content director, says of the awards, launched in 2013 and last held in 2022, that they have been “a benchmark of excellence in the jazz community”. Jazz FM […]
Reviewed: Ambrose Akinmusire | Nicole McCabe| Marta Warelis, Toma Gouband and Sakina Abdou - Jazz Journal
Ambrose Akinmusire: Honey From A Winter Stone (Nonesuch 0075597905984) Heart-rending low tones and soul-splitting high notes characterise Ambrose Akinmusire’s trumpet voice. But you don’t get much brass for your buck on his recent records. This ninth release as leader continues Akinmusire’s gradual disappearance from his own music. His writing is tonally and texturally rich, flooded […]
Reviewed: BSDE 4TET | Donald Harrison | Paquito D’Rivera | Otis Spann - Jazz Journal
BSDE 4TET: Live At Parma Jazz Frontiere (GleAM Records AM 7034) This group recorded its first album back in 2021 which received a positive response from the Italian critics, leading to personal accolades for leader Daniele Nasi, a saxophonist whose creative talents are displayed here, as he impresses on both tenor and soprano. The group […]
Brassroots Democracy: Maroon Ecologies And The Jazz Commons - Jazz Journal
In Brassroots Democracy, author Benjamin Barson presents a “music history from below”, embracing the Haitian revolution, post-civil war reconstruction and early jazz. The term “brassroots democracy” is a synthesis of grassroots activism and New Orleans’ historic brass-band tradition, and Barson argues that jazz arose from the mass mobilisation of freed people during reconstruction during the […]
Paul Higgs' Shades of Miles, East Grinstead - Jazz Journal
Sporting a green trumpet à la Miles, Paul Higgs started his set with Milestones (the streamlined modal tune from 1958) and immediately followed it with the “old” Milestones (the complex, chord-heavy bebop tune from 1947), neatly encapsulating the changes in Miles Davis’s approach over that period. Paul showed how Miles took the standard Harmon trumpet […]
Obituary: Howard Riley - Jazz Journal
“Only posterity will show whether Howard Riley is a European Cecil Taylor, an avant-garde John Lewis, a jazz Stockhausen or the Howard Riley” reported Martin Davidson after hearing the pianist at the Purcell Room with Barry Guy and Paul Lytton in 1972, and it’s with sadness that Riley’s death was announced on 8 February, at […]
Reviewed: Natsuki Tamura, Satoko Fujii & Ramón López | Kira Kira | The Jazzmen - Jazz Journal
In a previous column I reviewed a couple of albums by Satoko Fujii, commented on the astonishing statistics of her output (over 100 albums as leader in 29 years, plus her work as a member of various co-operative groups) and speculated that more would be released before my review appeared. Here are two of them! […]
Billy Cobham and Buena Vista among Cheltenham attractions - Jazz Journal
The full lineup for the 2025 Cheltenham Jazz Festival (30 April-5 May) has been announced as follows below. Aside from the main stage shows in the “Festival Village” at Montpellier Gardens, there will be an array of one-off performances, free events, group workshops, family-orientated shows and late-night jams. Across the town, other venues will be […]
Reviewed: Tom Smith | Ben Wendel | Angelica Sanchez, Barry Guy & Ramon Lopez | Kyle Shepherd Trio - Jazz Journal
Tom Smith: A Year In The Life (Fey Moose Records FMR001) Suddenly, a resurgence of interest in big bands is in the air. Always been around, but locally, from the London Improvisers Orchestra to the Manchester Big Gay Big Band, rather than countrywide. How economic it is remains a mystery, and whilst Simon Spillett’s appears […]
Reviewed: McCoy Tyner & Joe Henderson | Annette Peacock | François Couturier, Dominic Pifarély | Duduka Da Fonseca Trio | David Ferris Septet | Phil Bancroft’s Beautiful Storm - Jazz Journal
McCoy Tyner & Joe Henderson: Forces Of Nature – Live At Slugs (Blue Note) On tour after his departure from John Coltrane’s classic quartet at the end of 1965, McCoy Tyner played a set at Slugs’ Saloon in New York City in April 1966 alongside tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Jack […]
Media 'masking' female under-representation in Grammys as research finds 'pressing need' for more women in jazz - Jazz Journal
The Grammy awards have been accused of under-representing women in nominations and awards and facilitating a female-positive smokescreen to hide the fact. “The Missing Voices Of Women In Music And Music News”, a report by Luba Kassova of Addy Kassova Audience Strategy, a London-based audience-research body, complains that women received only one in five Grammy […]
Reviewed: Louis Armstrong-Dave Brubeck | Miles Davis | B.B. King | Cliff Korman - Jazz Journal
Louis Armstrong-Dave Brubeck: The Real Ambassadors (Jazz Wax Records JWR 4640) When this 1961 LP was reviewed in Jazz Journal in 1963 by then editor Sinclair Traill he was distinctly underwhelmed, judging it “a bit of a drag”. Although commending Dave and Iola Brubeck for their musical foray into jazz diplomacy, Sinclair felt that “the […]
Reviewed: Jimmy Lunceford | Sidney Bechet - Jazz Journal
Jimmie Lunceford: Rhythm Is Our Business (Retrospective RTS 4425) Altoist and multi-instrumentalist Jimmie Lunceford drilled his band throughout the 30s in a gruelling nationwide schedule of touring shows and one-night stands, with a perfectionist’s zeal for the highest professional standards. His meticulously rehearsed band-shows backed high-energy upbeat performances for the dancers with versatile on stage […]
Reviewed: Dave Holland & Lionel Loueke | Nick Costley-White | Marton Juhasz | Dave Stryker - Jazz Journal
Dave Holland & Lionel Loueke: United (Edition EDN1249) Guitarist Lionel Loueke hails from Benin, West Africa and his roots are instantly evident here. His playing sounds deceptively simplistic but it’s actually subtly complex and benefits from additional eclectic influences. Unsurprisingly, this in-demand musician has collaborated with the likes of Terence Blanchard, Charlie Haden and Herbie […]
Stolen Trane-related saxophone prompts an online fundraiser - Jazz Journal
Andy Hamilton advises of a funding campaign to replace the historic saxophone stolen from Archbishop King of San Francisco on his doorstep a month ago. The campaign’s GoFundPage page says: “Four weeks ago, Archbishop King’s beloved Selmer Mark VI tenor saxophone, which he has played for over 50 years, was stolen from his doorstep in […]
Reviewed: Rainer Brüninghaus | Kjetil Mulelid Trio | Amir ElSaffar, Lorenzo Bianchi Hoesch - Jazz Journal
Rainer Brüninghaus: Freigeweht (ECM 589 2370) Reissued in ECM’s audiophile Luminessence series of high-quality vinyl, this superbly recorded music from 1980, all from the German pianist, keyboards and synthesizer tone-master Brüninghaus, features measured, melodically resonant work from Kenny Wheeler (flh) and Brynjar Hoff – the latter then the Oslo Symphony Orchestra’s principal oboist and also […]
Reviewed: Veronika Harcsa, Anastasia Razvalyaeva, Bálint Bolcsó | Misha Mullov-Abbado | Glen Manby, John Gibbon Trio | Sue McCreeth | Joe Baione - Jazz Journal
Veronika Harcsa, Anastasia Razvalyaeva, Bálint Bolcsó: Schubert Now! (BMC Records, BMC CD3298) Jazz has often courted so-called “classical” music, initially perhaps to gain respectability by association but latterly in the hope that something different or revelatory will emerge. An album of 11 Schubert lieder is performed here by a trio whose classical music component is […]
Reviewed: Scarborough Jazz Festival 2024 on CD | Nel Begley | Emma Smith | Diane Roblin & Life Force | The Joymakers - Jazz Journal
Various: Scarborough Jazz Festival 2024 This double CD was recorded at last year’s Scarborough Jazz Festival. CD1 runs to 71.45 minutes, opening with Al Morrison’s Blues Experience and their superb rendition of Cream’s Sunshine Of Your Love. It’s followed by Family Band with Tom Rivieré’s composition, Life’s Work. Then Elaine Delmar sings Gershwin’s Embraceable You […]
Reviewed: Inge Weatherhead Breistein | Sigurd Hole | Spinifex | Alexi Tuomarila - Jazz Journal
Inge Weatherhead Breistein: Rust (Jazzland Recordings 3779671) Bergen-based saxophonist and composer Inge Weatherhead Breistein first came to my attention through his collaborations with Jazzland label-mate John Derek Bishop (aka Tortusa), their 2022 album Ro revealing a lyrical player with a penchant for long melodic lines and circular breathing. It turns out that he’s also a […]
Reviewed: Bloodcog | Richard Davies | Yellowjackets | The New York Second - Jazz Journal
Bloodcog: Staged (whi music – whi020) There is an old saying here in the UK: “One’s man muck is another man’s brass”, and, in the arena of jazz – especially in improvisational jazz – one’s man noise is another man’s music. Where you stand when it comes to Bloodcog will depend on if you can […]
UK tries to reconcile copyright demands with AI growth agenda - Jazz Journal
Following the publication of the UK government’s Copyright and AI: Consultation, trumpeter Chris Hodgkins is urging interested parties to write to their MP to ask that there be no copyright exceptions requiring creator opt-out in any legislation on artificial intelligence. The introduction of a copyright exception requiring creator opt-out would mean that AI companies can […]
Mostly jazz? - Jazz Journal
The press release is headed “Groove Armada and more added to Mostly Jazz Festival 2025.” In a world where “jazz” is widely co-opted – perhaps because of the cachet it bestows, perhaps from misunderstanding or perhaps because few can agree anymore what it is – the heading sounds promising, as if in Birmingham this summer […]
'Godfather of UK Jazz' starts 70th birthday celebrations at the Jazz Café - Jazz Journal
Jazz educator and bassist Gary Crosby is to lead a jazz jam at London’s Jazz Café 2 February to mark his 70th birthday (26 January 2025). Titled “Gary Crosby’s Great Big 70th Birthday Jam” it will feature a mix of Tomorrow’s Warriors alumni, emerging artists and current members of the Tomorrow’s Warriors Young Artist Development […]
'Vanguards of contemporary British jazz' are nominated for Brits' alternative/rock act - Jazz Journal
London band Ezra Collective, known for various appearances as a jazz group on TV and radio, have been nominated in four categories in the 2025 Brit awards – Mastercard Album of the Year, Group of the Year, Best New Artist and Alternative / Rock Act. Their publicist says the announcement comes after a “string of […]