jazz
theartsdesk at Love Supreme Festival 2016: Kamasi Washington, Esperanza Spalding and Stanley ClarkeTuesday, 05 July 2016
“Can you take a picture of us looking really middle-aged?”Two woman in their forties are enjoying the sunshine on the opening afternoon of Love Supreme, sipping prosecco from the comfort of their fold-up camping chairs as a charismatic, vapour-... Read more... |
Pat Metheny, Ronnie Scott'sSaturday, 02 July 2016
£100 – £175 is a lot of money to pay for two hours of music, but that’s what it cost to see Pat Metheny at Ronnie Scott’s this week. The guitar great is in town with his new quartet, a dream team comprising British pianist Gwilym Simcock, bassist... Read more... |
CD: Paper Tiger - Blast OffSaturday, 25 June 2016
Around the turn of the millennium, two producers – the Californian Otis Jackson Jr aka Madlib, and the late James Yancey aka J Dilla from Detroit – started a revolution in hip hop: knocking beat patterns off the musical grid, searching further and... Read more... |
2016 Parliamentary Jazz AwardsWednesday, 11 May 2016
Compered by Jazzwise magazine’s gregarious editor-in-chief, Jon Newey, the winners of this year's Parliamentary Jazz Awards were announced last night in the Terrace Pavilion at the House of Commons.Now in their twelfth year, the Awards, organised by... Read more... |
CD: Gregory Porter - Take Me to the AlleySunday, 01 May 2016
I find myself incredibly conflicted by a musician like Gregory Porter. Is my lack of response to his effortlessly soulful voice (the “liquid spirit”, perhaps, of the 2013 Grammy-award winning album of the same name) a symptom of some sort of... Read more... |
Jazz FM Awards 2016Thursday, 28 April 2016
A diverse mix of musicians from the worlds of jazz, blues, soul and beyond were honoured at the third Jazz FM Awards on Tuesday night, which took place in the 1920s art-deco setting of London’s Bloomsbury Ballroom.Hosted by writer, actor and... Read more... |
Miles AheadThursday, 21 April 2016
Catching the essence of the mercurial, secretive and notoriously abrasive Miles Davis on film might reasonably be described as a mission impossible, but Don Cheadle has put his heart and soul into it. He directed it and plays the title role, he co-... Read more... |
CD: Melt Yourself Down - Last Evenings on EarthWednesday, 20 April 2016
Relentless is the word. The second studio album from post-punk jazzers Melt Yourself Down starts as it means to finish. It opens with a hard, pulsing bass guitar which sets the scene for “Dot to Dot”, a persistent chant suggesting Sufi adepts with a... Read more... |
CD: Phronesis - ParallaxMonday, 18 April 2016
It seems fitting that the propulsive playing of drummer Anton Eger is the first sound you hear on this latest studio recording by the Scandinavian/British jazz trio, Phronesis. While there’s plenty of warm-hearted lyricism and vibrant harmonic... Read more... |
CD: Joachim Kühn - Beauty & TruthMonday, 11 April 2016
The youthful old master of European jazz raps on the Doors of Perception for his latest album, Beauty & Truth, with his piano trio of drummer Eric Schafer and bassist Chris Jennings. Their subject for analysis is The Doors’ “The End” and “Riders... Read more... |
Eliane Elias, Ronnie Scott'sSunday, 10 April 2016
Masterly improvising, outstanding compositions, a complete understanding between the musicians. On every count this was an exceptional set, as emotionally engaging as it was lovingly delivered.Working for three years in her late teens with the great... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Estonia: Tallinn Music Week 2016Sunday, 10 April 2016
“If we want to keep this free and democratic Europe of ours free and democratic, we must enlist ourselves, our skills and our commitment to liberty and justice. The problems we face are too great to simply say let the politicians do it. I say this... Read more... |
