jazz
theartsdesk at the New Orleans JazzFestSaturday, 04 May 2013
Jazzfest has managed to succeed as a mainstream rock festival. The first weekend’s headliners on the main Acura Stage included John Mayer, Billy Joel and Dave Matthews, while this weekend promises Fleetwood Mac, Maroon 5 and The Black Keys. If the... Read more... |
Liane Carroll, Pizza Express Jazz ClubSaturday, 27 April 2013
Some vocal jazz can be so anodyne that it barely registers on your consciousness, as anyone who's ever heard a jazz wannabe dusting down “My Funny Valentine” will know. A Liane Carroll gig, on the other hand, offers a roller coaster ride of emotions... Read more... |
CD: Kit Downes - Light From Old StarsThursday, 25 April 2013
The CD booklet note by NASA astrobiologist Daniella Scalice is just the first of many striking features on this third Basho CD by the Mercury Prize-nominated pianist Kit Downes. Joined by his core trio of bassist Calum Gourlay and drummer James... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Art Ensemble of Chicago, Nathan Abshire, Nick Drake, DonovanSunday, 21 April 2013
Art Ensemble of Chicago: A Jackson in Your House/Message to Our Folks/Reese and the Smooth OnesA New Orleans brass band plays a death march. What sounds like a saucepan is tapped steadily. The music suddenly dives into swing. A bicycle horn... Read more... |
Kurt Elling, Ronnie Scott'sThursday, 18 April 2013
OK, so you've given your copies of Rod's It Had To Be You and Robbie's Swing When You're Winning a few listens (released many, many years ago, the latter is still top of the iTunes jazz albums chart in a gazillion countries). You've memorised the... Read more... |
BBC Concert Orchestra, Nu Civilisation Orchestra, Lockhart, Queen Elizabeth HallMonday, 25 March 2013
Any conductor who ends a concert with only one leg on the ground, as if engaged in the Highland fling, is either a little fanciful or has been utterly carried away. In Keith Lockhart’s case last night, it was probably a bit of both. No-one can take... Read more... |
Mark Lockheart, Kings PlaceSunday, 24 March 2013
Suddenly, it's raining Duke Ellington homages. Stateside, there's Terri Lyne Carrington's Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue, a brilliant reimagining of Ellington's classic 1963 trio recording with Charles Mingus and Max Roach that recently hit the... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Del Shannon, The Stark Reality, The Deviants, Mighty MightySunday, 10 March 2013
Del Shannon: The Complete UK Singles and More (1961-1966)The plaintive, urgent drama of Del Shannon’s debut single, 1961’s “Runaway”, will always identify him. But amazing 45s like 1965’s crunching “Break up” and the ferocious garage-punk of “Move... Read more... |
Farewell Kenny Ball, 1930-2013Thursday, 07 March 2013
The death today at age 82 of trumpeter Kenny Ball makes him the first of the big three chart regulars of Britain’s trad jazz boom to pass away. Both Acker Bilk and Chris Barber are still with us. It’s easily forgotten, but trad actually was bigger... Read more... |
Dancing on the Edge, Series Finale, BBC TwoTuesday, 26 February 2013
Stephen Poliakoff's slow-burning drama had turned into a propulsive whodunnit by this final episode, hurtling towards a resolution with panache and surprise. The five-part mini-series about a black jazz band in early 1930s high society has had the... Read more... |
10 Questions for Musician Soweto KinchMonday, 18 February 2013
Born in London in 1978 to a Barbadian father and British-Jamaican mother, Soweto Kinch is one of the most exciting and versatile young musicians to hit the British jazz and hip hop scenes in recent years. Following a degree in modern history at... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Family, Latin Noir, Arve Henriksen, WidowmakerSunday, 17 February 2013
Family: Once Upon a TimeFamily were always difficult to place. This lavish box set doesn’t make getting a handle on them any easier. They were as idiosyncratic as Jethro Tull and, in Roger Chapman, had a vocalist as offbeat as Joe Cocker. Not that... Read more... |
