jazz
EFG London Jazz Festival 2018, round-up review - winners young and oldMonday, 26 November 2018Jazz musicians of just about all ages and persuasions have been on show in this year’s 10-day EFG London Jazz Festival. Some were making their first mark, some taking stock of who and where they are, some trying new things or changing where they’re... Read more... |
Māris Briežkalns Quintet, EFG London Jazz Festival 2018 review - a Rothko symphonyMonday, 26 November 2018![]() One part of the brain, they tell us, responds to visual art and another, quite different, to music; we can't cope adequately with both at once. Which is why I'm often wary of those musical organisations which think that what we hear needs to be... Read more... |
Jazzmeia Horn, EFG London Jazz Festival 2018 review - searching for the unexpectedFriday, 23 November 2018![]() Aside from her incredible time feel, exceptional range and consistently beautiful timbre, what was most impressive about Jazzmeia Horn’s bravura performance at a sold-out Ronnie Scott’s was the sense of joyousness and vitality that coursed through... Read more... |
Orphy Robinson’s Astral Weeks, London Jazz Festival 2018 review - reimagining a masterpieceWednesday, 21 November 2018![]() After failing to make the charts on its release 50 years ago this month, Astral Weeks has long since passed into pop mythology, its unique amalgam of jazz, folk and soul influences inspiring musicians, writers and filmmakers alike.Martin Scorsese... Read more... |
EFG London Jazz Festival, first weekend review - Jeff Goldblum a jazz musician?Monday, 19 November 2018![]() The choice of what to go and hear in the London Jazz Festival can be bewildering: this first weekend of its 10-day run presented over 120 events. I managed to attend eight, of them at least in part, including some of the show that has predictably... Read more... |
Hadestown, National Theatre review - new folk musical is hotter than hellWednesday, 14 November 2018![]() The road to full musical theatre production has been a long one for Hadestown. It began back in 2006, with Anaïs Mitchell’s song cycle – a folk/jazz take on the Orpheus and Eurydice myth – toured around Vermont in a school bus, then grew into an... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Jazz on a Summer's DaySunday, 11 November 2018![]() When Jazz on a Summer's Day was first seen in American cinemas in March 1960, it showed that seeing popular music live could be a leisure activity akin to watching high-end sports. Indeed, director Bert Stern intercut the musical performances he... Read more... |
Album: Jeff Goldblum & The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra - The Capitol Studios SessionsMonday, 05 November 2018![]() Wow, this is truly infectious! Feel-good music played so well and by a guy whose day job is as an actor. And not a bit-part player – this is the man who gave us David Levinson in Independence Day and Dr Iain Malcolm in Jurassic Park and who made his... Read more... |
Caro Emerald, Royal Albert Hall – an injection of sunshine for the weary soulFriday, 02 November 2018![]() “We will be taking you on a journey,” promises Caro Emerald at the start of tonight’s return to the Royal Albert Hall, which she last played back in April 2017 – and for the next 90 minutes, that’s what jazz-pop queen Emerald and her slick seven-... Read more... |
Best Albums of 2018Wednesday, 31 October 2018![]() 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. Baxter Dury, Etienne de Crécy and Delilah Holliday - B.E.D. ★★★★★ A small... Read more... |
theartsdesk on Vinyl 43: Pixies, Nazareth, Yumi and the Weather, Beta Band, Northern Soul and moreFriday, 05 October 2018![]() There’s been a lot of conjecture over the last couple of years about HD Vinyl. It is, we’re told, a more precise and rounded analogue experience, taking record-listening to the next level. The company’s Austrian MD Guenter Loibl has explained that... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: The Michael Gibbs Big Band, The Gary Burton QuartetSunday, 30 September 2018![]() Gary Burton fans with an eye for detail will know that “Fly Time Fly (Sigh)” from his second album, 1962’s Who Is Gary Burton?, had a writer credit of “Gibbs”. The American vibes-ace’s next album, 1963’s 3 in Jazz, a collaboration with Sonny Rollins... Read more... |
