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JJ 06/95: The Gibson ES175 / The Guitar Players / The Guitarist Book Of Guitar Players / Django's Gypsies - The Mystique Of Django Reinhardt And His People - Jazz Journal
Thirty years ago, Mark Gilbert enjoyed seeing the rubber grommet which appeared under the Gibson ES175's pickup selector switch in the late fifties given proper recognition
Jim Mullen, Allison Neale, Gabrielle Stravelli and more for Battersea jazz festival - Jazz Journal
This year’s Battersea Jazz Festival, 3-12 July, brings national and international names to south London in nine performances. Jim Mullen, appearing with his organ trio, will be perhaps the best known among the British performers, while American singer Gabrielle Stravelli, appearing in a quartet with festival founder and director Hugo Jennings, is noted for her […]
Reviewed: Paul Bley | Chick Corea - Jazz Journal
Paul Bley: Open, To Love (ECM 4505319) By 1972, Bley had already released 18 records as a leader, but predominantly in larger contexts or trios and nothing close to a solo project. The same year, ECM was only three years old, but Manfred Eicher was eager to record with Bley even though he already had […]
The Master Of Drums: Gene Krupa And The Music He Gave To The World - Jazz Journal
There’s a scene in a recent Led Zeppelin documentary in which the band’s powerhouse drummer, John Bonham, discusses how important an influence Gene Krupa was on his approach to playing drums. Regularly raised too has been the impact Krupa had on the thunderous, edge-of-your-seat style of other rock skin-bashers like The Who’s Keith Moon, Ringo, […]
Reviewed: Savina Yannatou | Brigitte Beraha with Alan Barnes & Barry Green | Brittany Davis | Macy Gray - Jazz Journal
Savina Yannatou: Watersong (ECM 2772) Four very different vocalists feature in this set of reviews, the first being Savina Yannatou, from Greece. She shares honours on Watersong with Tunisian singer Lamia Bedioui and the Primavera en Salonico, a mixed sextet of accordion, flute, strings and percussion that was formed in 1993 to play arrangements of […]
Reviewed: Germana Stella La Sorsa & Tom Ollendorff | Jazzanova | Stefano Rocco Quartet | Hedvig Mollestad Trio - Jazz Journal
Germana Stella La Sorsa & Tom Ollendorff: After Hours (33 Jazz Records) Weighing in at around 25 minutes, this record is technically an EP, however, the quality of the music presented on these six tracks is superb. Vocalist Germana Stella La Sorsa hails from Italy and worked on the jazz scene there before moving to […]
Jazz nad Odrą 2025, Wrocław, Poland - Jazz Journal
Wrocław breathed jazz for five days Wrocław, 23–27 April 2025: Jazz nad Odrą – the oldest jazz festival in Poland – has been continuously attracting those for whom jazz is more than just music for over six decades. Its stages feature not only leading European names, but also world-class artists from New York, Oslo, Tel […]
JJ 06/65: Teo Macero - a conversation with Sinclair Traill - Jazz Journal
‘Stan, I’d love to write a piece for you, but you really don’t know me very well or the kind of thing I do, and I think your whole approach is wrong’ ‘You were saying you didn’t dig Stan Kenton – well I can’t go along with you there, all the way. I remember once […]
Reviewed: Harvey Mason | Karlis Auzins Double Trio | Theo Travis | Ensemble C - Jazz Journal
Harvey Mason: Changing Partners Trios 2 (Evosound EVSA2937) As the original drummer in Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters and a founder member of smooth-jazz specialists Fourplay, Harvey Mason has forged a reputation as a member of the fusion family. In addition he has supported numerous popular performers over a considerable amount of time. By way of contrast, […]
Reviewed: Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson | Jon Irabagon | Andrea Rinciari - Jazz Journal
Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson: Bone Bells (Pyroclastic Records PR 40) This is the Courvoisier/Halvorson duo’s third collaboration on record, and as with the Jon Irabagon release discussed below this means I’ve got some catching up to do. It’s clear from the off that the two are very well attuned to each other, and given […]
Resuscitated Middelheim jazz festival attracts 11,000 - Jazz Journal
It all started in 1969 when musician and radio producer Elias Gistelinck dared to create a jazz festival at a time when pop music was flourishing. Little did David Linx’s father know back then that his festival set in the Park Den Brandt in the south of Antwerp would become Belgium’s oldest jazz festival until […]
German Jazz Prize performances reflect the fraught political scene - Jazz Journal
Musicians from across Germany and around the globe flocked to Cologne for the German Jazz Prize on 13 June – and that’s no surprise. All 76 nominees got €4,000, while winners in 22 categories departed E-Werk’s brick-and-steel interior with €12,000 in their pockets. That’s an attractive wedge of cash, especially when arts budgets are getting […]
Reviewed: Atlantic Jazz Collective featuring Norma Winstone and Joe LaBarbera | Fini Bearman | Martin Speake and Will Butterworth | Janette Mason - Jazz Journal
Atlantic Jazz Collective featuring Norma Winstone and Joe LaBarbera: Seascape (Alma Records ACD50252) As the title implies, Seascape is inspired by the ocean, its rhythm and mystery, reflected in the music of this group, the Atlantic Jazz Collective. There’s a long-standing connection here – Norma Winstone first met Mike Murley and Jim Vivian when she, […]
Reviewed: Jan Gunnar Hoff Group | The Furgos | Becca Wilkins - Jazz Journal
Jan Gunnar Hoff Group: Voyage (Losen Records LOS 304-2) Norwegian Jan Gunnar Hoff’s model of Scandi-fusion sends sparks off the rails for this album, with a quartet whose members constitute what popsters might call a supergroup. Any high-octane foursome with Gary Husband boiling away at the kit is obliged to deliver (on one track he […]
Obituary: Louis Moholo-Moholo - Jazz Journal
With the death of drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo in Cape Town on Friday 13 June a great sadness reverberated through the jazz world. He was the final member of the widely acclaimed, well-loved and influential Blue Notes, who in 1964 left the odious and repressive apartheid system of South Africa to live in exile in London; […]
Reviewed: Jacqui Dankworth | Sandra Mae Lux - Jazz Journal
Jacqui Dankworth: Windmills (Perdido DOR2401) All my Christmases came at once this month. I was assigned two new albums for review, they arrived in the same post earlier today, I’ve just played both, one after the other, and found little to choose between them or, to put in another way, if JJ still awarded stars […]
Reviewed: Pat Metheny | Trilok Gurtu with Arké String Quartet | Arve Henriksen, Trygve Seim, Anders Jormin, Markku Ounaskari | Cecilie Strange | Mwendo Dawa Trio - Jazz Journal
Pat Metheny: Bright Size Life (ECM 5523892) Among his many activities on behalf of ECM, New Note and Proper Music’s much admired – and missed – David Fraser (1951-2022) produced a regular news letter for the label. For the August 2003 edition he had me select my top 10 favourite ECM releases. Bright Size Life was […]
Reviewed: Vilhelm Bromander Unfolding Orchestra | Kazzrie Jaxen & Don Messina | Georgia Mancio and Alan Broadbent - Jazz Journal
Vilhelm Bromander Unfolding Orchestra: Jorden Vi Ärvde (Thanatosis Produktion THT41) In 2023, Swedish bassist and composer Vilhelm Bromander released his new big band’s debut album. That ensemble now takes its name from the recording – Unfolding Orchestra. Their second album Jorden Vi Ärvde (“The Earth We Inherited”) reflects on the state of our planet. Compositions and arrangements […]
Reviewed: Lance Ferguson | Alessandro Sgobbio | The Action 4s - Jazz Journal
Lance Ferguson: L’Océan De Toi (Pacific Theatre PT016) Musical inspiration can strike from the most unexpected sources. For Lance Ferguson, the spark behind L’Océan De Toi came from the rediscovery and restoration of a long-lost 1981 film of the same name. Tasked with composing its new soundtrack, Ferguson infused the project with laidback, jazz-tinged elements, […]
The Village People play Sicilia Jazz Festival - Jazz Journal
Now in its fifth edition, the 2025 Sicilia Jazz Festival (22 June – 6 July) offers 85 concerts and involves 385 musicians, among them the Village People, Nina Zilli, Piero Pelù, Jazzmeia Horn, Victor Wooten, John Pizzarelli, Cécile McLorin Salvant and Eliane Elias. Curious as it may seem for a jazz festival, Village People open […]
Reviewed: Jonah David | Adrian Galante | Mingus - Jazz Journal
Jonah David: Waltz For Eli (Swish Tap Records STR-4001) Born in South Orange, New Jersey in 1977, drummer Jonah David was initially drawn to jazz after listening to a Preservation Hall Jazz Band recording of his father’s. He later recalled “There was a drum solo on one of those tracks I couldn’t stop playing. I […]
The Life And Writings Of Ralph J. Gleason - Jazz Journal
Ralph J. Gleason (1917-1975) was a jazz journalist, prolific writer, critic, entrepreneur, political commentator and pundit from the 1930s until his death. His notable books were Celebrating The Duke & Louis, Bessie, Billie, Bird, Carmen, Miles, Dizzy, & Others (1975), and Conversations In Jazz (edited by his son Toby Gleason) taped at his home with […]
Geoff Hearn, Olie Brice and Spike Wells in Brighton - Jazz Journal
I’d long known about Brighton’s safehouse project, an enduring and admirable enterprise dedicated to improvised music, initially founded in Poole by the late ZAUM drummer Steve Harris. Over the years safehouse has used several venues in Brighton and played host to players like Evan Parker, John Tchicai and Eddie Prevost. But until now I had […]
Reviewed: Steve Gregory | Joe Lovano | Matteo Paggi | Simon Paterson’s Electric Gumbo - Jazz Journal
Steve Gregory: Frolic (JRL-SGS Records) On his website, Los Angeles session musician Steve Gregory lists a huge number of projects he has been involved in over the years. These range from live performances with big name artists including Ray Charles and Leonard Cohen through to work on television shows, commercials and backing work on albums […]
Reviewed: The Steve Holt Jazz Impact Quintet | Anne Burnell & Mark Burnell | Pete McGuinness Jazz Orchestra - Jazz Journal
The Steve Holt Jazz Impact Quintet: Impact (Inner Music IMD108) This is Canadian jazz at its finest, featuring Steve Holt’s regular working group – Kevin Turcotte (trumpet and flugelhorn), Perry White (tenor), Duncan Hopkins (bass) and Terry Clarke (drums). Turcotte is a prolific recording artist who has worked with Rob McConnell’s Boss Brass where he […]
Reviewed: Noah Preminger | Ingrid Laubrock | Eric Scott Reed - Jazz Journal
Noah Preminger: Ballads (Chill Tone CT0003CD) New York based tenor saxophonist Noah Preminger has made over 20 albums. Often known for his fiery delivery, here he adds a different perspective to his diverse discography. It echoes the example set by Coltrane when he unveiled a gear-change to a more lyrical, gentler side in his similarly […]
Shai Maestro drummer Ofri Nehemya makes leader debut - Jazz Journal
Ofri Nehemya might be a name familiar to those who’ve followed the work of such luminaries as Avishai Cohen (bass), Omer Avital, Shai Maestro, Ben Wendel, Eli Degibri, Aaron Goldberg, Gilad Hekselman, Yotam Silberstein and Avishai Cohen (trumpet). Israeli drummer and composer Nehemya played with them all. Born in 1994 to a musical family, Nehemya […]
Reviewed: Anders Filipsen Trio | Ronny Graupe's Szelest | Phil Haynes | Phil Haynes & Ben Monder - Jazz Journal
Anders Filipsen Trio (AFT): Aldebar Nights Of Mangos (ILK368CD) All four of the albums in this month’s round-up speak of the way in which the powerful forces of personality, intellect and innovation are constantly broadening and renewing the tradition. Like many of his fellow travellers at Copenhagen’s artist-led ILK Music, pianist Anders Filpsen’s interests span […]
Reviewed: Ronan Guilfoyle’s Bemusement Arcade | Yonglee & The Doltang | Yotam Ben-Or - Jazz Journal
Ronan Guilfoyle’s Bemusement Arcade: At Swing, Two Birds (Livia 2505) There’s a shortage of supply of Guinness in Amsterdam. The famous stout is currently a TikTok hype in hip local bars, leaving the legion of hardcore Irish pub goers at a loss. But at least jazz imports from Ireland don’t lag behind. The latest CD […]
Stomp Off, Let's Go – The Early Years Of Louis Armstrong - Jazz Journal
Ricky Riccardi, Director of Research Collections for the Louis Armstrong House Museum in New York, began his trilogy of biographies with the intention of reappraising Armstrong’s later work. Hence his first volume was What A Wonderful World: The Magic Of Louis Armstrong’s Later Years. The second volume, Heart Full Of Rhythm: The Big Band Years Of Louis […]