Tabla de contenidos para October 2022 en Jazzwise

Further additions have been announced for this year’s 30th birthday edition of the EFG London Jazz Festival which runs from 11 to 20 November at concert halls, clubs and free stages across the capital. Having postponed her shows last year due to the pandemic, Dianne Reeves (top) has now added a second concert due to huge demand for tickets. With her date at Cadogan Hall on 12 November virtually sold out, the Grammy Award-winning singer will now also perform at the Queen Elizabeth Hall at the Southbank Centre on Sunday 13 November. There’s also a newly announced show at QEH from Havana-based pianist and composer Harold Lopez-Nussa (bottom), who dazzled the crowd at Love Supreme Jazz Festival in the summer and will bring his vibrant mix of Afro-Cuban music and…

The nominations for this year’s Jazz FM Awards have been announced and cover a wide range of genres and aspects of the current UK and international jazz scene. The winners will be revealed at an awards ceremony on 20 October, at a London venue (to be announced), with many guest presenters for each category and live performances by some of the nominated artists, while the recipients of the Gold Award, Impact Award and Lifetime Achievement Award will be announced in the coming weeks. The nominations are as follows: Breakthrough Act of The Year: Chelsea Carmichael, Jasmin Myra, Mica Millar. International Jazz Act of The Year: Lady Blackbird, Theo Croker, Trombone Shorty. Soul Act of The Year: Alex Isley, Cleo Sol, Mica Millar. Blues Act of The Year: Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram,…

Oregon/Elvin Jones Together Vanguard If this column has taught us anything over the past 20 years, it's that Bad Art Happens To Good Albums. This 1976 pairing of acclaimed 'world jazzers' Oregon and legendary sticksman Elvin Jones is a case in point. One would have thought that such a momentous summit meeting derserved better than a cobbled-together piece of hackwork, but no. According to guitarist and Oregon co-founder Ralph Towner, Jones was unwell for a cover photography session, as he'd just been on one of his infamous benders (he was hospitalised with a suspected heart attack). So what did the record company do do? They took a picture of the four Oregoners and slapped [according to Towner] "a big smiling picture of Elvin’s face on it like a sticker glued…

Turner Sims, the University of Southampton’s renowned concert hall and creative music hub, has announced its autumn season with some notable UK and international names set to appear. These include resurgent trumpeter Laura Jurd who plays music from her new album; leading UK saxophonist Courtney Pine and pianist Zoe Rahman (right) accompanied by a string Quartet and a rare regional show from dazzling South African piano star Nduduzo Makhathini who recently signed to Blue Note Africa. Full autumn dates are: Svaneborg Kardyb and RKDIA (14 Sept), Penguin Cafe – A Matter of Life (25 Sept); Laura Jurd’s Big Friendly Album (1 Oct); Chelsea Carmichael (15 Oct), Courtney Pine featuring Zoe Rahman (4 Nov); Don Vappie and Jazz Creole (8 Nov); Nduduzo Makhathini (22 Nov) and Swing Into Christmas With Down…

The Cardiff-based jazz discographer and columnist Bob Weir died on 8 July, aged 82. A well-known figure at jazz festivals around Europe, including Brecon, Vienne, Perugia, Belgrade etc, Weir filed festival reviews and compiled a jazz information column for Jazz Journal for many years. His abiding legacy to the jazz world lays in his published discographies, these offered in loose-leaf book form by Names and Numbers, the Dutch specialist publisher and as supplements to the biographies of such key figures as Buck Clayton and Sammy Price Having travelled with Bob in New York and New Orleans, I can attest to his knowledge and enthusiasm and also having provided data that he incorporated in his superb Teddy Edwards discography, I can confirm his meticulous attention to detail, his hand-written sheets (Bob…

Alina Bzhezhinska has always loved a mixtape. As a teenager growing up in Lviv, western Ukraine, in the 1980s, she’d make her own: a classical piece by Pierre Boulez, say; Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, cherry-picked from her parents’ vinyl collection; The Beatles. Metallica; Vangelis, soundtracking Blade Runner. Anything, really, that took her fancy. “So many different sounds and influences,” says Bzhezhinska, sitting in her North London living room flanked by her vintage Lyon & Healy practice pedal harp – the same 90-year-old model played by Dorothy Ashby, an all-time hero - and a Celtic harp that she bought when living in Scotland. Her black electro-acoustic pedal harp, on which she records and plays live, is downstairs by the front door, positioned for a speedy getaway. “I’m constantly pulling…

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PizzaExpress Live will present 50 shows in 10 days at its three London venues in Soho, Holborn and at the Pheasantry in Chelsea as part of this year’s EFG London Jazz Festival. Highlights include gigs from US vocal legends Take 6, who perform at Holborn (16-17 Nov); the 93-year-old vocalist Shelia Jordan with the Ray Gallon Trio on the festival’s opening night (11 Nov), plus a rare UK show from the 84-year old jazz star, pianist Steve Kuhn, who is known for his work with the likes of John Coltrane and Stan Getz (18 Nov). There are also appearances from Spanish singer/trumpeter Andrea Motis (pictured below), virtuosic US pianist Connie Han and her Trio, and top jazz bassist Linda May Han Oh. Plenty of Brit Jazz names also appear with…

Showing true grit and determination the 30th Marsden Jazz Festival will take place from 6 to 9 October despite losing its key funder for the first time since 2008, following Arts Council England’s decision in June not to support the festival due to “pressure on ACE resources”. Established in 1992, Marsden is one of the longest-running jazz festivals in the UK and owes much of its longevity to diverse programming and supportive audiences: from the jazz curious and festival-loving families, to the community cohort and core jazz fans. The Yorkshire-based jazz festival has galvanised to bring four days of high calibre live jazz to the picturesque Pennine village and will present a self-funded programme taking over the impressive St Bartholomew’s Church (aka ‘The Cathedral of the Colne Valley’) for the…

1 Laughing Stock by Talk Talk “My favorite album (if I had to pick one) is from the enigmatic English trio Talk Talk, a band that evolved from 1980s synth-pop to ambient minimalist downtempo Krautrock. In 2005, I heard the track ‘Ascension Day’, the second track on the album, while shuffling through a friend’s collection of music. The confluence of styles and the fact that it sounded both incredibly modern and timeless was a revelation for me. I wasn’t sure if I was listening to an album from the 1970s or a newish Radiohead B-side. I’m always discovering new sounds and textures every time I listen to this masterful work.” 2 Tago Mago by Can “A Krautrock classic blending deep grooves, swirling textures, and generative improvisation all orbiting around the…

She was born when her Scottish showbiz family was playing a theatre in suburban Surrey, and was brought up from age three by her Scottish showbiz aunt in Hollywood. Her musical ear would lead to work as a studio backing singer, and later to the vocal trio Lambert-Hendricks-Ross. But before that, she lived in Paris with drummer Kenny Clarke and made her first solo records in New York aged 21. For her second session on 9 October 1952, Annie Ross was encouraged by the Prestige label to imitate the success of King Pleasure, who had done his lyrics to a James Moody improvisation on ‘I’m In The Mood For Love’. According to Ross, she took home a few Prestige instrumentals including two by tenorman Wardell Gray (‘Twisted’ and ‘Farmer’s Market’)…

Korea-born, Amsterdam-based drummer Sun-Mi Hong is now well established in the Dutch jazz scene, with a distinct style combining grooves with explosive technique simmering beneath. Hong is the key jazz highlight of this year’s edition of K-Music that returns to the capital (and some regional venues) in October and November for its ninth edition, with Hong set to appear on 17 November at the Purcell Room, Southbank Centre as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival. The concert will feature music from the follow-up to Hong’s award-winning 2021 album, A Self-Strewn Portrait, (2021), as she releases Third Page: Resonance on Edition in November, while the Purcell room show will include a collaboration with guitarist Ant Law and saxophonist Alex Hitchcock, who perform the opening set. Further K-Music dates are: Dal:um…

The hugely talented trumpeter-composer Jaimie Branch died unexpectedly in late August at just 39 years old. She was best-known for her Fly or Die project (three albums, plus scores of concerts around the world) with percussionist Chad Taylor, bassist Jason Ajemian and cellists Tomeka Reid and Lester St Louis, and her various collaborations and guest appearances. She was also a key figure on the Chicago-based International Anthem Records. A charismatic, driven and occasionally confrontational live performer, Jaimie was also an improviser of brilliance who, despite her avant-garde leanings, also possessed a populist touch; as well as having an uncanny feeling for 'the groove', she knew how to make her music accessible, and how to integrate non-jazz elements into it, and won a large, committed following here in the UK, in…

What! Did no-one tell Nikki Iles, Rosie Frater-Taylor and now Olivia Murphy, that it’s a tad mad to front a jazz orchestra? Too expensive, too complex, just too much trouble. But then that talented trio aren’t ones to act on received – probably male – wisdom. They blaze their own trail. “A few people have suggested that,” laughs Murphy, that you have to be a bit mad, “But there’s something about standing in front of a jazz orchestra and conducting, about hearing my music, my arrangements and MD’ing it: it’s like ‘Why would I want to do anything else?'” And there’s nary a shred of ego in her enthusiasm. For Murphy the appeal of large ensembles is that ineffable mix of the communal and the individual discovering their own voices…

Nicki Adams & Michael Eaton Paraphrase SteepleChase A bop-centred selection of originals and tunes by Monk, Shorter and Coltrane given a virtuosic treatment by a young NYC-based sax-piano duo; it’s occasionally reminiscent of Lee Konitz’s duo work with pianist Nicki Adam’s effervescently imaginative input while maintaining a rock solid timekeeping role particularly standing out. Wolfert Brederode Ruins and Remains ECM A Dutch pianist, who has worked with vocalist Susanne Abbuehl among others, makes his debut for the mighty Munich label in duo with percussionist Joost Lijbaart and Matangi String quartet and it’s classic ECM improvised chamber-jazz with its patient development and spacey, minimalistic, meditative ambience. Dee Byrne Live At Cafe OTO Luminous Label London-based collective Lume is a platform for original composition and spontaneous invention, and here its co-leader, the…

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) Ron Carter Special (24 September) Trish Clowes in session plus Omar Sosa's inspirations (1 October) The best in jazz - past, present and future (8 October) Chicago-born, Brooklyn-based vibraphonist Joel Ross shares some of the music that inspires him (15 October) New Orleans master alto saxophonist Big Chief Donald Harrison on some of the tracks that have shaped his musical journey (22 October) The best in jazz - past, present and future (29 October) BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC DAB Gilles Peterson, Sat 3pm JAZZ FM DAB, Sky, Alexa, smartphone, tablet and online at jazzfm.com (Mon – Fri) 6am-6.30am Business Breakfast, 6.30am-10am Jazz FM Breakfast with…

Trumpeter and bandleader Mark Kavuma will present artists from his burgeoning imprint, Banger Factory Records, at Milton Court, Barbican on 18 November as part of this year’s EFG London Jazz Festival. Bursting onto UK the scene in 2021, the label has quickly established itself with its savvy mix of British jazz veterans and next generation young lions. The bill will include Zaitz and Kavuma – featuring guitarist Artie Zaitz and trumpeter Kavuma swapping their main axes for Hammond and piano respectively, joined by drummer Will Cleasby for the opening set. This is followed by The Banger Factory band that showcases intergenerational talent with revered saxophonist Mussinghi Brian Edwards lining up with the likes of Theo Erskine, David Mrakpor and Deschanel Gordon, plus an impressive guest-list of tuba star Theon Cross,…

The open nature of jazz has frequently inspired innovation – not least in the instruments it’s played on. A couple of examples spring to mind: the incredible lyricism the late Toots Thielemans brought to the humble harmonica is not just technically brilliant – but frequently poignant too. Likewise, dazzling New York banjoist Bela Fleck’s extraordinary improvisations defied the assumed limitations of his four-strings. Thus, the harp, as played by this month’s cover star Alina Bzhezhinska, is enjoying a new golden age in jazz – with an international presence thanks to the likes of Brandee Younger (US) and Edmar Castaneda (Colombia) among many other virtuosos. Alina’s skill to bring together formidable classical technique (I’ve heard her play Rachmaninoff transcriptions on the instrument), subtle electronica-infused loops and full-throttle jazz improv speaks not…

Renowned saxophonist Jean Toussaint is set to tour his new project Songs for my Sisters, Brothers and Others this autumn, ahead of a planned studio recording in early 2023. Toussaint explained the background to the new music: “The idea behind the project is to pay homage to my siblings, other family members, respected friends, and mentors etc. People who had a positive impact on my life and have helped make me who I am as an artist. During the lockdown I missed my family and friends greatly. With a lot of time at hand, I started thinking of them by focussing on their personalities and by trying to define them through music… this collection of compositions is dedicated to my siblings and other people important to my life. I’m planning…

• PENDULUMS RING OUT FOR TOUR The acclaimed yet quirky project Pendulums: Music for Bellringers, Improvisers and Electronics plays a series of dates at churches around the UK this September. The brainchild of lauded composer/pianist/electronics artist Andrew Woodhead, the bold new suite features an exciting band of trumpeters: Sam Wooster and Charlotte Keeffe; alto saxophonists Sam Andreae and Lee Griffiths, and baritone saxophonist Helen Papaioannou alongside the award-winning Bellringers of St Paul’s Church, Birmingham. Collectively they combine peels of bells and jazz improv with live electro-acoustic pieces, remixed field recordings from churches, bells, and related found sounds. Dates are: Sacred Trinity, Salford (22 Sept); St George’s, Jesmond, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne (22 Sept); St John’s, Ranmoor, Sheffield (24 Sept); St Peter Mancroft, Norwich (29 Sept) and St Paul’s JQ, Birmingham (30 Sept). For…

The innovative producer Creed Taylor made a huge impact on the album market in the 1960s and 70s. A keen trumpeter while studying for a psychology degree, he joined the fledgling Bethlehem label and succeeded with singer Chris Connor and the first 12-inch LP by JJ Johnson and Kai Winding. Moving to ABC-Paramount’s new record division, he garnered critical acclaim for the first album by the 23-year-old Quincy Jones and the first Lambert-Hendricks-Ross LP. For many listeners, his greatest achievement at ABC was creating the Impulse! label, with its gatefold sleeves and striking artwork. There, he borrowed Ray Charles from the company’s pop roster, produced Oliver Nelson’s Blues and The Abstract Truth and Gil Evans’s Out Of The Cool, and signed John Coltrane for the unique Africa/Brass album. There were…

“I suppose that to me, all music is really a form of collective meditation,” observes Oded Tzur, the Tel Avivborn and New York-resident saxophonist/composer. “The form of collective meditation. And to commence it one should probably whisper rather than shout.” As an insightful statement, delivered with measured care; the thought seems to mirror the unique music Tzur began crafting on a tenor saxophone from his college years in the early 2000s, and with which he has been entrancing small but fascinated audiences of fans and practitioners for the past decade. But with 2022’s Isabela, the second ECM release by Tzur and his brilliantly intuitive quartet – pianist Nitai Hershkovits, bassist Petros Klampanis, and drummer Johnathan Blake – the slow-burn arrival of this remarkable original looks about to heat up. Oded…

The days when people were waiting for the next hip thing in acoustic piano trio jazz passed some time ago. Back in 2006, when Andrew McCormack released his highly promising BBC Jazz award-winning piano trio debut Telescope, the likes of Brad Mehldau, Jason Moran, e.s.t., Avishai Cohen and The Bad Plus had been reinventing mainstream piano-bass-drums jazz with their embrace of everything from rock-song riffage, electronica and hip-hop through to minimalism and Middle-Eastern sounds. Phronesis and Neil Cowley Trio meanwhile, were among those leading the charge back home. But the 44-year-old pianist-composer Andrew McCormack has never been one for jumping on bandwagons. He was nurtured by Tomorrow’s Warriors early on in his career, joining key bands Gary Crosby’s Nu Troop and Denys Baptiste’s Mercury nominated/MOBO-winning quartet, and continuing the Warriors…

Landmark Recording Excellent Good Average Disappointing According To The Sound In-Tension Losen Records LOS 2722 (CD) Adam Parry-Davies (p, ky, MIDI keyboard), Patrick Case (g, syn, strings, programming, MIDI p, string arr). Plus: Gary Alesbrook, Mike Rodriguez, Ambrose Akinmusire, Theo Croker (t), James Morton (as), Sam Shotokova, James Carter (ts), Jim Barr, Adam King, Pasquale Votino (b), Otto Hashmi, Alex Hutchings (el b), Jake Goldbas, Justin Brown (d), Alex Fryer (cond) plus The Academy of St Mary-le-Bow (strings). Rec. date not stated This is the second release from British ‘concept studio band’ According To The Sound, aka core duo, pianist Adam Parry-Davies and guitarist/programmer/synth player Patrick Case, supplemented by an exciting array of musicians recorded in the US. And it’s the second to bear a title with a hyphen; in…

Landmark Recording Excellent Good Average Disappointing Andy Bey Experience And Judgment Atlantic/Real Gone Music RGM 1403 (LP, DL) RECOMMENDED Any Bey (v, p) George Davis, Richard Resnico_ (el g), Slewart Clark (vn), Bill Fischer (ky), Wilbur Bascomb (el b), Ira ‘Buddy’ Williams and Jimmy Young (d). Rec. 1974 A recent reissue (reviewed on p50) of Max Roach’s 1968 masterpiece Members, Don’t Git Weary provided a welcome opportunity to hear the heavenly voice of Andy Bey, who sang the title track so beautifully. This solo debut by Bey, released six years after, has long been a much sought-after collector’s item and for very good reason. It remains the record that emphatically supports any claim for him to be ranked alongside the likes of Jon Hendricks, Johnny Hartman and Al Jarreau, even…

Classical BROUGHT TO YOU BY Plínio Fernandes Saudade Decca Gold 485 7617 Saudade means a melancholy longing, and the São Paulo-born guitarist Plínio Fernandes’s debut recording is suffused with it. The repertoire he offers here leans heavily on arrangements of popular songs – the music he heard and loved growing up in Brazil before he moved to London in 2014 to study at the RAM – with Villa-Lobos’s Five Preludes as the centrepiece. His tone is gloriously rich – far warmer and rounder than either Bream or Zanon. Not only that but he’s acutely attentive to detail. The popular selections are nicely varied and Fernandes takes just as much care with them as he does in the Preludes. Thus a harmonically complex song such as ‘Ponta de Areia’ by Milton…

Increasingly iconic legacy synthesisers and keyboards are popping up as virtual studio technology (VST) plugins and are making waves in the production world – we decided to look at two this month: Roland Jupiter 4 Jupiter 4 is one of Roland’s collection of analogue polysynths, a bundle of software synths which simulate their legendary early products, from the JD-800 to the TR-909. Using Analog Circuit Behaviour (ACB) technology, Roland have analysed the original hardware and circuitry and used data to recreate authentic circuit behaviours of the instrument, which gives the synth a highly accurate and characterful sound. Featuring a single VCO but using an oscillator, filter, LFO and phaser, flanger and other effects to emulates the original hardware well, the new Jupiter 4 will inspire many interesting sounds, just as…

Write in to us here at Letters Dept, Jazzwise Magazine, St Jude’s Church, Dulwich Road, London SE24 0PB or email letters@jazzwise.com Essex policies’ deleterious effect on the county’s jazz scene As a born-and-bred Essex geezer, I was sad to hear the news that The Jazz Centre was being kicked out of its current home (The Beecroft Art Gallery) at the sudden behest of Southend Council to make way for more ‘objets d’art’. The Jazz Centre always felt unique in being dedicated to preserving the rich jazz history of this country as well as offering gigging opportunities to both professional and young up and coming musicians. I really believe they had taken huge strides in furthering the appeal of the venue as a charity (despite the pandemic), which can be seen…