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Robert Fogle: My 8 Decade Musical Journey - Jazz Journal
The author says he was born in Toronto in 1941 and is the retired president of an entertainment agency who spent 27 years hosting the radio show Some Experiences In Jazz, where he interviewed over 700 jazz people, including Oscar Peterson, Dave Brubeck, Count Basie, Stan Getz, Peter Appleyard and Moe Koffman. The blurb tells […]
Eliane Elias Trio at Ronnie Scott's - Jazz Journal
I heard this trio in 2012 when they were augmented by guitarist Rubens de La Corte for Elias’s aptly titled and ecstatically received Light My Fire quartet date at the Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival. As this fabulous evening at Ronnie’s showed, time has done nothing to diminish the interactive potency and overall appeal of leader […]
John Scofield Trio at Ronnie Scott's - Jazz Journal
“Sounded great!” quipped Scofield as drummer Bill Stewart suddenly dived off stage just as the trio had taken the stand. It was typical of the guitarist’s always amiable stagecraft, evident throughout the evening in clear, informative and sometimes wry announcements. Stewart was soon back, presumably having retrieved some forgotten item from the green room, and […]
JJ 03/65: Anthony Williams - Life Time - Jazz Journal
Sixty years ago Sinclair Traill found the drummer's debut album contained the ugliest piece of music he had ever heard but conceded that it probably succeeded, as suggested by its pretentious sleeve note, in attempting to give jazz something different
Emily Saunders: 'For me, technique is freedom' - Jazz Journal
“The essence of me is writing songs and expressing experiences or what I see around me and just trying to spread some happiness,” declares London singer Emily Saunders. Certainly songs like Blue Skies Forever and All As One on her current CD Moon Shifts Oceans are wonderfully uplifting. The album is a resounding creative triumph, but […]
New releases Feb–March 2025, T-Z - Jazz Journal
Talts, Rahel: New and Familiar They say : “New and Familiar” is a third album by Estonian rising female jazz pianist and composer Rahel Talts. It consists of 14 musicians, including a string quartet, horns, rhythm section and vocals. The music is mostly instrumental and written by Rahel Talts, except one tune that is an arrangement […]
Trio Akima at St Luke's, Brighton - Jazz Journal
I passed on a recent sold-out gig by Andy Sheppard and the Espen Eriksen trio at Chichester Jazz Club. Why? So I could keep my ears keen and eyes open for the slightly later concert by the Trio Akima ensemble of Geoff Hearn (ts, f, elecs, pc, v), Paul Richards (g) and Joe Philogene (pc, […]
Reviewed: Joe Fonda Quartet | Don Cherry & Okay Temiz | Andrew Hill Sextet Plus 10 | Roy Ayers | Dan Blacksberg | Dave Manington’s Riff Raff - Jazz Journal
Joe Fonda Quartet: Eyes On The Horizon (Long Song Records LSRCD163/2024) Bassist Joe Fonda might lead this set and wrote its seven pieces, but all ears will be directed toward his featured guest, trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith. For this recording is dedicated by Fonda to Smith as a gift from a former student to his […]
New releases Feb–March 2025, R-S - Jazz Journal
Racicot, Ariane: Danser avec le feu They say : Ariane Racicot – winner of the 2022-2023 Révélation Radio-Canada prize for jazz – announces her second album Danser avec le feu (‘Dancing With Fire.’) With passion and intensity, the Montreal pianist continues to explore her hybrid mix of jazz fusion, Latin music, metal, classical and progressive rock. […]
Reviewed: Kenny Wheeler Legacy | Music Soup Organ Trio | Soft Machine | John Stein - Jazz Journal
Kenny Wheeler Legacy: Some Days Are Better – The Lost Scores (Greenleaf Music CDGRE 1113X) Fame came relatively late for virtuoso trumpeter Kenny Wheeler. He was 38 years old when, laid-up following dental work, John Dankworth suggested he spend the time composing a suite which was recorded by Dankworth’s orchestra but saw Wheeler’s name prominently […]
James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” - Jazz Journal
James Baldwin (1924-1987) is considered by many to be one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Born into poverty in Harlem, New York, he became an activist and broke new ground with his exploration of racial and social issues in works such as Go Tell It On The Mountain, Notes Of A […]
Reviewed: Oh People | Tim Berne, Tom Rainey, Gregg Belisle-Chi | Bill O’Connell - Jazz Journal
Oh People: Part-Time Elegance (April Records APR140CD) Oh People is a quintet consisting of five young, highly respected Danish musicians who came together for this debut album recorded in 2023 at the prestigious Royal Danish Academy Of Music. Four out of the five members contribute tunes to the programme described as having been inspired by […]
Reviewed: Sara Serpa | Sun Ra | Savina Yannatou, Floros Floridis, Barry Guy, Ramón López - Jazz Journal
Sara Serpa: Encounters & Collisions (Biophilia Records) Sara Serpa is a singer of a different order who loosely embodies a strand of “the tradition” in which the taking of risks is not only welcome but in some measure expected. This album is the most autobiographical she’s ever produced, and the relating of her experiences of […]
New releases Feb–March 2025, O-P - Jazz Journal
O’Doherty, Caili: Bluer Than Blue They say : Lillian “Lil” Hardin Armstrong is a name most jazz aficionados recognize, having read it in the annals and footnotes of jazz history, but often mistakenly gloss over it in passing as a detail in the broader narrative. For pianist Caili O’Doherty, the story of Lil Hardin Armstrong became […]
Reviewed: Enrico Granafei | Jimbo Ross | Mette Juul | Luciana Bass - Jazz Journal
Enrico Granafei: It’s Hard to Say Goodbye (CAP Records CAP1075) Historically there haven’t been too many jazz harmonica players – the blues collared the market. The name of virtuoso Larry Adler springs up, as a purveyor of Gershwin’s music, but more importantly, Belgian Toots Thielemans, to whom Enrico Granafei has dedicated this album (and to […]
Reviewed: Immanuel Wilkins | Dan Siegel | Jim Witzel Quartet - Jazz Journal
Immanuel Wilkins: Blues Blood (Blue Note CD 6555203; LP 6555204) Saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins’s third album for Blue Note is a big departure for him. As a concept, it’s played out on a broad canvas that encircles and and engages with black historicity. It might have been just angry. In jazz terms that would have been […]
Art Themen: 'I wouldn’t be interested in being a backing musician for Adele' - Jazz Journal
“I don’t rate myself,” asserts saxophonist Art Themen. “I’m just a jobbing musician who’s been very, very lucky.” It’s an astounding statement, for Themen, whose career began in the early 60s, is a luminary of British jazz. Live In Soho, his current CD with the Art Themen Organ Trio, which also features Pete Whittaker (organ) […]
Reviewed: Yuval Cohen Quartet | Yelena Eckemoff | No Codes | The Young Mothers - Jazz Journal
Yuval Cohen Quartet: Winter Poems (ECM 651 6886) In his From March 1979 the Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer – a favourites of such distinguished Scandinavians as Jan Garbarek and the late Georg Riedel – wrote of how he was weary of all who come with words, “words but no language”. Making his way to “the […]
Reviewed: Rachel Eckroth and John Hadfield | Julia Hülsmann Quartet | Nicola Miller - Jazz Journal
Rachel Eckroth and John Hadfield: Speaking In Tongues (Adhyâropa Records) Religious and scientific mysteries inspired this duo release from pianist Rachel Eckroth and percussionist John Hadfield. The two musicians met during their university days. They study big questions about life, death and the universe via 10 original compositions on Speaking In Tongues. Even with just […]
New releases Feb–March 2025, L-M - Jazz Journal
Landæus, Mathias; de Heney, Nina; Osgood, Kresten: Dissolving Patterns They say : Veterans of the Scandinavian jazz and improvisation scene – pianist Mathias Landæus, bassist Nina de Heney, and drummer Kresten Osgood – have spent a decade cultivating a rare musical chemistry defined by deep communication, fearless exploration and a vivid sense of atmosphere, taking to […]
Deborah Silver at Crazy Coqs, London - Jazz Journal
At 9:15 on Monday evening Deborah Silver walked on to the stand at Crazy Coqs, grabbed the audience by the scruff of the neck and didn’t let go til they sighed “uncle” some 75 minutes later. Apparently, she hails from the Deep South – Jackson, Mississippi – and had reservations about how well she might […]
Reviewed: Renee Rosnes | Doug MacDonald - Jazz Journal
Renee Rosnes: Crossing Paths (Smoke Session Records SSR-2408) Canadian-born composer and pianist Renee Rosnes is widely respected for a series of small-group albums she made for Blue Note in the 1990s, including Ancestors, As We Are Now and Art & Soul. Her talented cohorts have included Nicholas Payton (t), Jack DeJohnette (d) and Christian McBride […]
Reviewed: Fabiano do Nascimento | Richard X Bennett | Mathias Eick | Etienne Manchon Trio | Knats - Jazz Journal
Fabiano do Nascimento: Solstice Concert (Leaving Records LR252) Fabiano do Nascimento was born in Rio de Janeiro and is based in Los Angeles and Japan. The guitarist, composer, arranger and producer is known for his intricately woven, multi-string performances, and this recording captures a live performance from June 2023 in Los Angeles. The music is […]
Obituary: Roy Ayers - Jazz Journal
Roy Ayers was a technically gifted jazz vibraphone player and multi-instrumentalist, but his greatest musical asset was probably his compositional sensitivity for finding and defining the groove. He had the skill to bring his jazz insights to R&B, funk and soul, and ended up bridging the gap between bebop and pop, helping spawn the style […]