Jazzwiseの December 2022 - January 2023 の目次

As Jazzwise was going to press the first names were confirmed for the 2023 edition of the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, which will take place across six days and nights on 26 April to 1 May. Top international artists and the cream of the current UK scene will perform alongside a richly varied selection of exciting Europeans and stars from the US at the festival's venues that include the Big Top, Jazz Arena, Parabola Arts Centre, Town Hall, as well as the publicly accessible Free Stage in the Montpellier Gardens festival site and at participating venues around the picturesque Cotswold spa town. Among the first names announced will be the return of the hugely successful vocal star Gregory Porter, who is back as Artistic Curator. Also confimed is pianist Fergus MacCreadie…

UK-based indie label Whirlwind Recordings has announced the first female artist, German baritone saxophonist/singer Kira Linn (pictured above), to receive support as part of its 'Step Forward, Reach Back' one-year programme to support emergent female talent, across all ages, on their roster. Her new album, Illusion, is set to be released on 7 April 2023. Commenting on her music, Linn said: “The album reflects emotions and thoughts that arose in a time of loneliness, silence and uncertainty. During this period, I learned to enjoy the deceleration, and set out to discover and try out new things.” Linn has released two albums with her sextet, Linntett, which features herself on baritone sax, bass clarinet and vocals with Christopher Kunz (tenor/soprano sax); Nino Wenger (alto sax/alto flute/flute); Lukas Großmann (piano, Rhodes, synth);…

Music sleuth Zev Feldman (pictured) has announced his new imprint, Jazz Detective (a division of the newly created Deep Digs Music Group and named after his affectionate epithet), which launches on Record Store Day’s Black Friday event on 25 November with two double-LP sets of previously unreleased live recordings by master pianist Ahmad Jamal. The albums will also be available as 2CD sets and downloads on 2 December (see review on page 47). The two volumes of Emerald City Nights: Live at the Penthouse, capture spectacular 1963-64 and 1965-66 performances by the legendary pianist’s trio at the Penthouse in Seattle. Produced by Feldman and supervised by Ahmad Jamal himself, the vinyl is issued on 180-gram discs transferred from the original tapes and mastered by the renowned Bernie Grundman. Packages include…

JAZZWISE 2022 TOP 20 ALBUMS – NEW RELEASES 1 Cécile McLorin Salvant Ghost Song Nonesuch 2 Charles Lloyd Trios: Chapel Blue Note 3 Immanuel Wilkins The 7th Hand Blue Note 4 Mary Halvorson Amaryllis/Belladonna Nonesuch 5 Fergus McCreadie Forest Floor Edition 6 Redman, Mehldau, McBride, Blade LongGone Nonesuch 7 Avishai Cohen Trio Shifting Sands Naive 8 Nduduzo Makhathini In The Spirit of Ntu Blue Note 9 Trish Clowes A View With A Room Greenleaf Music 10 Terri Lyne Carrington New Standards Vol.1 Candid 11 Julia Hülsmann Quartet The Next Door ECM 12 Tigran Hamasyan StandArt Nonesuch 13 Julian Lage View With A Room Blue Note 14 Oded Tzur Isabela ECM 15 Gareth Williams Short Stories Miles Music 16 Arun Ghosh Seclused In Light Camoci 17 Ches Smith Interpret It Well…

When saxophonist Albert Ayler was found floating in New York’s East River in 1970 at the age of 34, it marked the end of a troubled period in his life. It was the same year that Jimi Hendrix died; two shooting stars who had lit up the night sky and who were abruptly silenced in their prime. And like Hendrix, the rumour mill went into overdrive, especially in Ayler's case, when the New York Medical Examiner ruled that he had died by “asphyxia by submersion – circumstances undetermined.” What were those circumstances? Soon stories of dark deeds were circulating among musicians: a shooting by the Police, the Mafia or drug dealers, despite the coroner’s report indicating there were no bullet wounds and that people close to Ayler said he did…

Romantically speaking, fairy tales and New York are certainly connected, although few can be said to have begun in the drunk tank – as the Pogues’ greatest anthem would have it – or, for that matter, on the Bowery. For a century or more, the Bowery was New York’s Skid-Row, a place of squalid bars, broken-down tenements and stinking hovels. Of broken people as much as a street of broken dreams. You will know the famous photographs. They were the work of Jacob A Riis, journalist and reformer, the first person to use photography to raise public awareness of social injustice by showing the squalour he found on the Bowery. He did it by working out how to get enough light inside those dark hovels to use a camera; his…

O’Higgins & Luft Pluto Ubuntu UBU0126 (CD, LP, DL) Dave O’Higgins (s), Rob Luft (g), Ross Stanley (p), Misha Mullov-Abbado (b) and Rod Youngs (d). Rec. 9 January 2022 Three years ago the O’Higgins/Luft alliance mined a rich vein covering the songs of Coltrane and Monk on the appropriately monickered Plays Monk & Trane. Now they’ve embedded that experience with an album of their own material, complemented by covers of Monk’s ‘Four in One’ and the inevitable ‘Giant Steps’. The underlying vibe remains the same: O’Higgins taps into his long love of tenor men like Henderson and Brecker, his hard but never oppressive swing anchoring Luft’s more charm-ful, visionary flights. It’s a potent mix, especially with Stanley’s piano on board, providing more harmonic space. O’Higgins takes most writing credits, whether…

Write in to us here at Letters Dept, Jazzwise Magazine, St Jude’s Church, Dulwich Road, London SE24 0PB or email letters@jazzwise.com The Jazz Centre UK needs a new home… a patron writes I was saddened to hear of the notice served to The Jazz Centre UK. As a patron of the centre, I would like to express my enthusiasm for the Centre and the organisation as a whole, and really emphasise how I strongly feel that the centre must find a suitable new site. The Jazz Centre is a real pillar in the UK jazz music scene for performers, educators and listeners of jazz music. With a decline in live music venues across the UK owing to the pandemic, and now the rise of energy costs which is threatening real…

The Cambridge Jazz Festival returns with a strong line-up from in mid-to-late November packing in two weeks of headline shows, talks and workshops from a variety of leading UK and international acts. Among the numerous highlights will be bassist Jasper Høiby’s Planet B trio playing new music from their latest album What It Means To Be Human (see review on page 38) – on a double bill with talented jazz-folk-fusion four-piece Lydian Collective (17 Nov, Cambridge Junction); Swiss harpist Julie Campiche stops off on one of her three UK dates at the Gonville Hotel (17 Nov), while there are a series of intimate solo and duo performances from Ashley Henry (solo, 18 Nov, St Catherines' College); Tim Garland & Jason Rebello (25 Nov, Stapleford Granary); Courtney Pine’s Spirituality featuring Zoe…

It's perhaps a cliché to say that music is as perennial as the grass, but at times like these it's nothing short of miraculous that the UK and international jazz scenes continue to flourish despite the devastating headwinds we're now facing. If 2022 has been a year of chaos and confusion, then October went into overdrive with governmental meltdown and the sort of economic turbulence few of us have ever known. Thus, surveying our Albums of the Year Critics Polls - for both New Releases and Reissue/Archive albums from the last year – it's been something of a purple patch for jazz. What's striking to me, is that jazz artists are increasingly less concerned about adhering to the genre itself - yet simultaneously embracing tradition alongside innovation. Whether it's Cécile…

Hedvig Mollestad Ekhidna LP / CD / DL Mollestad’s Brutalist riposte to the Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Birds of Fire. —MOJO The ensemble peak at a level of relentless intensity, and their inspired playing here helps take her music to a new level. —THE WIRE If you are searching for an album of pure jazz metal and shimmering compositions, look no further. This guitarist is touched by genius. —JAZZ JOURNAL Easily her most mind-blowing music to date. —PROG Hedvig Mollestad Trio Enfant Terrible LP / CD / DL Carries all the sweaty swagger of classic Led Zeppelin. —JAZZWISE An irresistible mix of jam-band alacrity and methodical rigor. —PROG Loaded with attitude. Mollestad at her most recklessly virtuostic. —ALL ABOUT JAZZ Hedvig Mollestad Tempest Revisited LP / CD / DL An inspiring and…

The long-awaited biography of one of jazz’s true giants is to be published on 15 December by Da Capo Press. Based on more than 200 interviews by author Aidan Levy with Rollins himself, his family members, friends, collaborators, and consulations with Rollins’ extensive archive, Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins, compiles Rollin’s life, starting with his beginnings in Harlem and his relationships with fellow jazz icons, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, and many more. Aidan delves deep in Rollins’ making of classic albums such as Tenor Madness, Freedom Suite, and the titular Saxophone Colossus. Apart from the music the book showcases Rollins’ confrontation with the criminal justice system, overcoming drug addiction, and his use of jazz to advance the civil rights movement and promotion…

A tireless advocate for UK jazz and its musicians, the promoter, writer, and activist Brian Blain has died aged 92. Latterly prominent as the programmer of the yearly jazz series at Lauderdale House, the arts centre in Highgate, London, Brian had previously chaired the Jazz Centre Society, been a director of Jazz Services and a valued contributor to Melody Maker and Jazz UK magazine. Born in Salford, he taught at a junior school in Lancashire before moving to London, retraining as a PE teacher and working in the East End. He then became an official of the Musicians Union staying in post for the rest of his career. He helped launch the union’s ‘Keep Music Live’ programme, travelling the length of the UK organising big band and rock workshops, with…

With his recent band album Summer Chill on the market, national tours with his trio Webb City, and work with musicians as varied as guitarist Rob Luft, clarinettist Adrian Cox and the Kansas Smitty’s collective, Joe Webb is not only one of the UK’s busiest pianists, but also one of the most versatile, with a keyboard mastery that transcends ordinary boundaries of genre or style. His love of jazz goes back to his early childhood. “It was my granddad who got me into piano,” he says. “I’d travel over to see him in Basingstoke, and he’d play a range of tunes including some of the songs I play on gigs today. It was just a hobby for him, but whenever he had any spare time, he’d go over to the…

Atlanticus Blue Haven Union Records US tenorist Peter Fraize’s robust soloing style is a main attraction on B3 organist Terry Seabrook’s retro straightahead Brighton-based quartet’s debut that covers all bases from Hammond R&B, hard bop to post-1960s modal on some neat originals and a well-judged Afro Cuban twist on ‘Moanin’’. Kim Åge Kim Åge Furuhaug Jansen Records From a three-album project created by each member of Norwegian trio Orions Belte, it’s the turn of the drummer Åge and his eerily infectious ambient ensemble recording with its alt-indie spacey pop textures, stark cinematic soundscapes, and Euro-jazz instrumental breaks featuring Norwegian improvisers among them Ole Morten Vågan. Caity Gyorgy Featuring… La Reserve Records A Canadian singer-songwriter, along with a solid quartet backing and guests including compatriot Christine Jensen, gives some personality to…

Sun Ra Art On Saturn: The Album Cover Art of Sun Ra’s Saturn label Irwin Chusid and Chris Reisman Fantagraphics HB $75.00 While there have been numerous books and articles written about Sun Ra and his interplanetary musical vision, few have focused on the visual aspect of his work. Notable exceptions in this field include John Corbett’s Sun Ra + Ayé Aton: Space, Interiors and Exteriors, 1972 (Picture Box/Corbett Vs Dempsey, 2013); his Pathways to Unknown Worlds: Sun Ra, El Saturn and Chicago’s Afro-Futurist Underground 1954-68 (Whitewalls, 2006) exhibition catalogue; and the latest edition of Hartmut Geerken and Chris Trent’s Omniverse Sun Ra (Art Yard, 2015), a personalised devotion to the man, his music and his art, complete with Trent’s meticulously detailed (and possibly definitive) discography. Now comes this heavyweight…

Fifty years after his death, a major biography of British drum legend Phil Seamen has just been published. Written by Peter Dawn, who hails from Seamen's hometown of Burton-on-Trent, Phil Seamen 'Percussion Genius' - Legendary Rebel and Born Raver is a richly-illustrated, 750 page hard back epic tracing Seamen's colourful and ultimately tragic life as an exceptionally talented kingpin of the UK jazz scene. From his early semi-professional drumming career in Derbyshire through to post-war big bands, the hot-bed of 1950s/60s Soho with Ronnies Scott, Tubby Hayes and Joe Harriott bands, to working with Alexis Korner and Ginger Baker's Airforce, Dawn has spent many years researching and writing this hugely immersive study of Seamen's work, life, drug problems, fellow musicians and the culturally charged times he lived and played through.…

1 Jazz Advance by Cecil Taylor “I believe that Cecil first brought the beginnings of the super expansive conception into jazz and in music generally. The title ‘Free Jazz’ is only partially descriptive. This album shows the early signs of a restless creative drive. Someone who can hear they are on the verge of a breakthrough – a very exciting and unique atmosphere marks the whole album. Pivotal for me during student years!” 2 An Evening with Herbie Hancock & Chick Corea: In Concert by Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock “One of my earliest jazz album purchases! Immense conversational and creative power on show here. Must have been a dream to be in the audience for these!! I did a little two piano playing as a student – hugely influenced…

A few months ago, we alluded to the 1942 recording strike by the US Musicians’ Union (AFM), which lasted 13 months until some smaller labels accepted the union’s terms, while it took over two years for majors like RCA and Columbia to sign up. However, in late 1947, the second strike was pending and, having been caught out once, the labels were busy stockpiling material as insurance. Dizzy Gillespie’s big-band did two record sessions for RCA within the last 10 days of December, while Duke Ellington did three for Columbia. Charlie Parker recorded for both of the companies that thought they had him under exclusive contract (Dial and Savoy) and, while all this activity produced some notable material, the person who arguably benefitted most artistically was Woody Herman. Initial sales…

With ACT Music celebrating its 30th anniversary with a big concert of ACT stars at the prestigious Berlin Philhamonie on 10 and 11 November, under the banner ‘30 Years in the Spirit of Jazz’, its founder and CEO, the perspicacious Siggi Loch, took time out for Jazzwise for a moment of reflection. “The 30 years with ACT have been the most important in my professional life,” he says, “ACT is a passion, not a business model – simply to have had the freedom to release and support the kind of music I really care for and to contribute to the visibility of jazz from Europe and Germany has meant a lot to me.” Thirty years ago, Loch, whose whole career had been in the record industry, was the European Head…

Why is it that female vibraphonists tend to take up little more than a footnote in jazz history reference books? Who better to ask than a 22-year-old Californian New York-based vibraphonist-composer Sacha Berliner, a fresh-sounding, exciting new voice on the instrument, who looks like breaking the mould with her recent striking quartet album Onyx. For Berliner, the lack of female role models on the vibes has been partly circumstantial but as well the result of a ‘history’ that doesn’t, it could be said, include ‘herstory’ [sic]. “One of the best vibraphonists who’s a woman not alive now is Terry Pollard who ended up wanting to start a family and focus on that and that’s why she didn’t end up pursuing the vibraphone into later life,” she tells me on a…

Landmark Recording Excellent Good Average Disappointing JD Allen Americana Vol 2 Savant SCD2202 (CD) J.D Allen (ts), Charlie Hunter (g), Gregg August (b) and Rudy Royston (d). Rec. January 2022 Since Detroit-born tenorist JD Allen’s solo recording debut in 1999, this unobtrusively fine musician has figured in DownBeat Critics’ Polls, led over a dozen albums, and worked as a sideman for artists from Meshell Ndegeocello and Nigel Kennedy to Dave Douglas. Americana Vol 2 engagingly revisits the rootsy folk-derived agenda of its 2016 predecessor, with Allen’s long-time trio partners on bass and drums, but now with exhilarating guitarist Charlie Hunter added on eight of its 11 tracks. The saxophonist’s economy of line, understated melodic twists, and nuanced solidity of tone make almost all of this music a compelling listen, and…

Landmark Recording Excellent Good Average Disappointing Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers Four Classic Albums Avid Jazz AMSC1420 (2 CD) Art Blakey (d), Bill Hardman, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard (t), Curtis Fuller (tb), Jackie McLean (as), Wayne Shorter (ts), Sam Dockery, Ray Bryant, Bobby Timmons, Cedar Walton (p), Spanky De Brest, Oscar Pettiford, Jymie Merritt, Reggie Workman (b), Jo Jones (d), Charles Wright (d, timp), Candido and Sabu (bo). Rec. 12-13 December 1956, 22 February 1957, 13-14 June 1961, 23-24 October 1962 The four named albums (Hard Bop, Drum Suite, Impulse!!! and Caravan), emanate from a period when Blakey and company were seldom out of the studios, coursing through these Columbia, Impulse! and Riverside sessions while fitting in extended road assignments. What a time this was. Still, none of these…

BBC RADIO 2 88-91 FM Big Band Special (Mon, 11pm), Jamie Cullum show (Tues, 9pm) BBC RADIO 3 90-93 FM J to Z (Sat 5pm) BBC Young Jazz Musician Highlights (3 Dec) The best in jazz - past, present and future (10 Dec) Festive Special (17 Dec) New Years Eve Special (31 Dec) The best in jazz - past, present and future (7 Jan) The best in jazz - past, present and future (14 Jan) The best in jazz - past, present and future (21 Jan) The best in jazz - past, present and future (28 Jan) Jazz Record Requests (Sun, 4pm) Freeness with Corey Mwamba (Sat, Midnight) BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC DAB Gilles Peterson, Sat 3pm JAZZ FM DAB, Sky, Alexa, smartphone, tablet and online at jazzfm.com (Mon –…