jazz
Ralph Towner and Egberto Gismonti, BarbicanFriday, 28 February 2014
The Barbican brought two of the great originals of contemporary music together last night. Ralph Towner and Egberto Gismonti are temperamentally very different, but complement one another wonderfully, in an inspired piece of... Read more... |
Alexander Hawkins' One Tree Found, Cafe OTOTuesday, 04 February 2014
Bach, Duke Ellington and free jazz improvisation met at Cafe OTO last night, and joyously warped some minds. Composer Alexander Hawkins’ BBC Radio 3 commission, the nonet piece "One Tree Found", was part of last year’s Baroque Spring season. It... Read more... |
Lift to the ScaffoldMonday, 03 February 2014
A woman tramps the streets of Paris looking for a man. It’s night. It’s raining. She pops into bars asking for him. Everyone knows who he is. He’s been seen, but not recently. Earlier, early in the evening, she was supposed to meet him but he hadn’t... Read more... |
Just in From Scandinavia: Nordic Music Round-Up 10Wednesday, 29 January 2014
Finland’s Jaakko Eino Kalevi, who played his debut British show last November, heads up theartsdesk’s latest regular round-up of what’s come down from the north. A spellbinding display of individualistic pop, the London outing coincided with the... Read more... |
CD: Zara McFarlane - If You Knew HerSunday, 26 January 2014
The pared-down beauty and integrity of this remarkable new album is all the more exciting given the quantity of stylistic clutter typically associated with its two principal genres, jazz and soul. Showing excellent taste and artistic self-confidence... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Dory Previn, Count BasieSunday, 26 January 2014
Dory Langdon: My Heart is a HunterAs a singer-songwriter, Dory Previn’s reputation rests on the extraordinary quartet of albums she made for United Artists in the opening years of the Seventies. This, her debut album, was issued in 1958.... Read more... |
Zhenya Strigalev's Smiling Organizm, Ronnie Scott'sTuesday, 21 January 2014
The musical concept behind this constellation of international stars at Ronnie Scott’s last night was simple. Take a sextet of some of the world’s finest improvising jazz musicians, give them either a funky groove, gentle swing or a bass-fired post-... Read more... |
Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Awards 2014, KokoMonday, 20 January 2014
In a world where everyone is expected to be a “brand”, Gilles Peterson sets some very interesting precedents. Probably best known as a radio DJ – currently on BBC 6 Music, plus his globally syndicated Worldwide show – he also remains as in demand to... Read more... |
Album of the Year: Wayne Shorter Quartet - Without A NetFriday, 03 January 2014
In jazz, 2013 belonged to Wayne Shorter. In recognition of a remarkable six-decade career as a saxophonist, educator and composer, Shorter, who turned 80 in August last year, received a lifetime achievement award from the Thelonious Monk... Read more... |
Album of the Year: Sons of Kemet - BurnWednesday, 18 December 2013
The Sons of Kemet’s peculiar forces of two drummers, tuba and reeds have been on the road for over two years now, their performances landing on an unsuspecting crowd like a petrol bomb on seasoned timber. With the tuba playing as part of both the... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: German Measles, Mobilisation GénéraleSunday, 15 December 2013
Various Artists: German Measles Vol 1 – Flames of Love / German Measles Vol 2 – Sun Came Out at SevenFor the years between The Beatles inventing themselves in the clubs of Hamburg and the evolution of what was dubbed Krautrock, Germany’s... Read more... |
Essentially Ellington, Queen Elizabeth HallSunday, 24 November 2013
Now in its eighteenth year, the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra (SNJO) demonstrated last night why it's considered one of Europe’s finest big bands. Brilliantly directed by tenor sax player Tommy Smith and featuring the great Brian Kellock on piano... Read more... |
