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Reviewed: Robin Holcomb & Peggy Lee | Pandelis Karayorgis with Noah Campbell & Brittany Karlson | Christian Wallumrød - Jazz Journal
Robin Holcomb & Peggy Lee: Reno (Songlines SGL1637-2) I remember buying a copy of singer-pianist Robin Holcomb’s 1989 debut Larks, They Crazy shortly after its release. I was drawn to it as much by Marty Ehrlich, Bobby Previte and her future husband Wayne Horvitz, and it started a fascination with Holcomb’s music which has endured […]
Reviewed: Georgia Duncan | Madre Vaca | Andy Nevala - Jazz Journal
Georgia Duncan: Four Ways To The Sun (Clonmell Jazz Social CJS010CD) There seems to be a general complaint about all types of musical genres, and that is the lack of new voices. Jazz has been home to some of the greatest voices to ever grace a microphone – Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, […]
Reviewed: Rosa Passos & Ron Carter | The Easy Rollers | Peter Campbell - Jazz Journal
Rosa Passos & Ron Carter: Entre Amigos (Chesky Records) Rosa Passos played piano from the age of three but after hearing João Gilberto perform in her early teens, she abandoned the instrument to become a singer and guitarist. Her first album was recorded in 1979 and alongside her own compositions she went on to make […]
Reviewed: Olivia Cuttill | Magic Sam - Jazz Journal
Olivia Cuttill: …And Writing And Singing And Tunes To Be Swingin’ (Olivia Cuttill Music OCQ001D) Although trumpeter Cuttill has worked with the likes of Nikki IIes, Cleveland Watkiss and Nikki Yeoh and has appeared at, inter alia, Ronnie Scott’s and the London Jazz Festival, I blush to confess that I’m not familiar with her work, […]
Reviewed: Samuel Blaser | Paul Cornish | Sean Imboden/SILE - Jazz Journal
Samuel Blaser: 18 Monologues Élastiques (Blaser Music BM018CD) Albert Mangelsdorf’s Tromboneliness, George Lewis’ Solo Trombone Record, Paul Rutherford’s The Gentle Harm Of The Bourgeoise – trombonists have made some classic solo records. Here’s another to add to their number. Swiss trombonist-composer Samuel Blaser first released 18 Monologues Élastiques in 2020. These 18 originals were recorded […]
Jimmy Gourley, Un Américain À Paris - Jazz Journal
Jimmy Gourley (1926-2008) spent most of his career as a jazz guitarist in France, after moving there from the USA in 1951. This charming book is written by his French wife, with the aid of her memories and numerous retained letters and press cuttings. It benefits from a seven-page introduction by Alain Gerber, who quotes […]
Orange Jazz Days, Utrecht - Jazz Journal
“Orange is the colour of insanity,” Van Gogh once wrote. Could that still be true today – especially considering a certain well-known man with an orangish face? For Charles Mingus, it was the colour of her dress, and for the many attendees at the first-ever Orange Jazz Days, orange seemed to be everywhere – especially […]
Have Horn, Will Travel - Jazz Journal
If the idea of a “journeying” musician has substance then the man known professionally as Junior Cook embodies it as easily as Brew Moore, whose recordings with the wayward and largely forgotten trumpeter Tony Fruscella still seem to be under the radar over six decades after they were captured for posterity. The profile of Cook’s […]
In South Wales? Take the Coaltrains - Jazz Journal
It’s not St Pancras International. It doesn’t have the dramatic Victorian architecture of Liverpool Lime Street, the hustle and bustle of Birmingham New Street, the grandeur of Glasgow Central. It does not have the historical importance of Crewe. This is Barry. Barry Town, not Barry Docks, just one small station on the stopping train from […]
Review: Scarborough Jazz Festival 2025 - Jazz Journal
The 22nd Scarborough Jazz Festival took place from 26 to 28 September. It was compèred as usual by the ever humorous Alan Barnes. Jamil Sheriff’s 4 in 1 Jamil Sheriff’s 4 in 1 launched proceedings at noon on Friday. Sheriff was on piano, Will Howard tenor sax, Sam Quintana double bass and Steve Hanley on […]
Reviewed: David Bixler | Anne Efternøler and Lige Børn | Isabelle Olivier - Jazz Journal
David Bixler: Incognito Ergo Sum (davidbixler.com) The second release from saxophonist David Bixler’s trio aims to celebrate anonymity and strip away stylistic borders – if you believe the marketing materials. In fact, the three instruments move around the music with distinctive mannerisms and key stylistic influences are near-impossible to miss. It’s a record with bebop […]
The dance is ended (but the memory lingers on) - Jazz Journal
Seeing the Count Basie Orchestra live was one of the great thrills early in my lifelong obsession with jazz. I did not realise it at the time, but the experience also allowed me to glimpse the remnants of a paradigm shift in American popular culture. Though I get Merle Haggard when he sings “I think […]
Wall2Wall festival 2025, Wales - Jazz Journal
An American couple in the audience at this year’s Wall2Wall festival at Black Mountain Jazz reminded me of the famous Miles Kington quip about leaving South Wales to seek jazz in London only for him to discover that a lot of it had decamped to South Wales, albeit temporarily. He was talking in the days […]
Reviewed: Tom Lyne | Ali Boulo Santo Cissoko & Volker Goetze | Adrian Cox Trio - Jazz Journal
Tom Lyne: Well Mixed Blue (LisaLeo Records 001) Canadian double bassist Tom Lyne has lived in Scotland for the last 27 years. He’s been the bassist for much of this time in pianist Dave Milligan’s trio. He’s played with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, with pianist Brian Kellock and for several years has performed as […]
European Jazz Conference, Bari, Italy - Jazz Journal
On the Adriatic coast, facing the not-too-distant shores of Montenegro, the city of Bari in Apulia has long been a meeting point of cultures. So it was obviously a perfect spot for this year’s European Jazz Conference (EJC). It was hosted in various historical venues around the city and its debates and meetings were articulated […]
UK Sinatra society closes with a flourish - Jazz Journal
In a little over a decade of writing for JJ, I’ve never have I done something like this, which is perhaps best described as review-cum-reportage. If I get the reportage out of the way I can spill some ink – more than well deserved – on the excellent entertainment that Tony Jacobs plus five highly […]
The Easy Rollers at PizzaExpress Live, Holborn - Jazz Journal
When I stepped from High Holborn into the Pizza Express, I was only slightly bemused to be confronted by a life-size replica of the Tardis. I figured they were shooting an episode of Dr. Who on location. Out of curiosity I walked inside, and stone me if I didn’t find myself in the heart of […]
Reviewed: Danny Widdicombe & Trichotomy | Song Yi Jeon Nonet - Jazz Journal
Danny Widdicombe & Trichotomy: Iridescence (Earshift Music) Over the years the Australian piano trio Trichotomy has collaborated with a number of other acts, and these partnerships have produced consistently interesting and enjoyable results. This time they have teamed up with singer, guitarist and synth-player Danny Widdicombe, who previously recorded with them on the award-winning 2019 […]
Down For The Count at Cadogan Hall, London - Jazz Journal
Cognisant that I was about to attend yet another gig by Down For The Count, just about the best big band currently working, I invested in a Ouija board and sent an urgent SOS to Dr Peter Mark Roget begging for a set of fresh superlatives. With a deadline staring me in the face and […]
Reviewed: Morten Haxholm | Benedicte Maurseth | Gard Nilssen Acoustic Unity - Jazz Journal
If you were to listen to these three contrasting albums back-to-back you’d soon realise that the commonly voiced stereotypes about Scandinavian jazz are deeply flawed. Illustrating the great breadth of the sub-region’s many diverse music scenes, they barely scratch the surface of what’s currently on offer. Morten Haxholm: Aether II (Zack’s Music MHA2501) We begin […]
Julia Yagunova: from Shanghai’s JZ Club to London - Jazz Journal
Russian-born pianist Julia Yagunova has built an international career that reflects the global spirit of today’s jazz. From her studies in the United States to her years as a resident performer in China, and later her teaching in New Zealand, Yagunova’s path shows how music connects cultures across continents. After completing her master of music […]
Cecilie Strange Quartet in Southampton - Jazz Journal
During my undergraduate years at Southampton in the late 1960s, the university’s Student Union Hall acquired quite a reputation for its regular music concerts. While the programme focused on exploratory rock groups such as, e.g., Pink Floyd, Cream, the Jeff Beck Group and Traffic, it also featured blues and the occasional avant-garde jazz gig: I […]
Reviewed: Chrome Hill | Kasper Rietkerk | Wake up, Mal! - Jazz Journal
Chrome Hill: En Route (Clean Feed 683) Not all Belgians drink beer at breakfast, not all Scandinavians play ethereal and introverted “Scandinavian” jazz. The seventh album of the Norwegian Chrome Hill, for instance, invites comparison with icons of Americana. This is to say that, while En Route is not without ambient and minimalist tinges, emotions […]
Reviewed: TC.Kylie x The Hourglass | Freedom Art Quartet | Patsiotis Kostas | Tommy Guerrero - Jazz Journal
TC.Kylie x The Hourglass: Re:birth (Légère Recordings LEGO370) The label on the box says “dynamic jazz fusion” and I’m pleased to say that the description does not lie. This is contemporary jazz that has a lovely mix of European and Asian influences (there are moments on Merry-Go-Round of Life that are reminiscent of a Studio […]
Reviewed: Anita O’Day | Miles Davis | Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra - Jazz Journal
Anita O’Day: Sings For Oscar (WaxTime 771664) The ultra-hip, husky-voiced Anita O’Day was one of our music’s most original song-stylists. Her rich timbre (totally free of vibrato) had the harmonic and rhythmic freedom of a superior jazz instrumentalist. The 11 titles here have been frequently recorded over the years but she makes this familiar material […]
Lauren Bush at The Elephant, London - Jazz Journal
Founded in 2010, the group Just East Of Jazz established a permanent home at The Elephant Inn, East Finchley, the following year. Since then they’ve built up a solid fan base by virtue of offering an eclectic blend of jazz old and new on the first and third Sunday of every month. Long on their […]