Tabla de contenidos para April 2025 en Jazzwise

This month’s edition features a wealth of live music opportunities that only the jazz festival season can offer. It’s still remarkable that despite all the trials and tribulations musicians, venues, promoters, record labels and, let’s not forget, those invaluable festival volunteers, have been through in the last few years that such a wealth of music can be presented in such an array of wonderful locations, from capital cities or stunning countryside locales. It’s truly a testimony of everyone’s resilience that’s driven by a shared passion for live jazz. There’s also that sense of hope and Spring renewal with our cover stars, Gwilym Simcock and Emma Rawicz, who are shining examples of two generations of young British talent demonstrating that daring blend of technical excellence and high-flying creativity. I’m sure we’ll…

Multi-award-winning jazz vocalist and lyricist Georgia Mancio is set to celebrate her 25th anniversary in music with a series of concerts and the spring release of her ninth solo album, A Story Left Untold (Roomspin Records), co-written with Grammy-winning pianist/composer, Alan Broadbent. Throughout this landmark year, Mancio will perform with her Quartet (of Robin Aspland, Andrew Cleyndert and Dave Ohm); introduce new projects (with Sam Dunn, Tony Kofi and Alex Hutton) and revisit her most pivotal partnerships (Liane Carroll, Ian Shaw, Nigel Price, Kate Williams and Gareth Lockrane). Perhaps her most central partnership is her 12-year association with Broadbent, with whom she has written more than 40 songs; published two books; and performed across Europe and the US, including at London’s Ronnie Scott’s and New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center.…

The 36th Tallinn International Jazzkaar Festival, which runs from 26 April to 1 May in the capital of Estonia, has announced its main program with over 30 concerts and musicians from 14 countries. As a warm-up for the festival, rising US vocalist Michael Mayo got things underway in Tallinn with a preview concert on 11 March. Highlights of the strong line-up include Grammy-nominated vocalist Jazzmeia Horn, alongside headliners such as Lakecia Benjamin (USA, pictured right), James Carter Organ Trio (USA), Anomalie (Canada), Lambert (Germany) and Snarky Puppy duo Bill Laurance & Michael League (UK-USA). The festival also features top vocalists such as Luísa Sobral (Portugal) and Adi Oasis (USA), as well as talented groups Roseye (The Netherlands) and Poetic Ways (France). Local acts on the programme include saxophone player Maria…

Often celebrated as a top-tier sideman, John Patitucci has in fact produced 18 albums under his own name – including a Billboard chart-topper. He recently added two releases on UK imprint Edition to his extensive discography, namely Spirit Fall, and a live set from Italy with staunch allies Brain Blade and Chris Potter. Jazzwise spoke to the globetrotting virtuoso as he flew out for a concert and seminar at North Texas State. MJ: Your schedule has been hectic? JP: Maybe for the last 45 years I guess, haha. MJ: What is it about you that makes that the case? JP: I’m grateful to God, otherwise it wouldn’t have happened. I’m just a kid from Brooklyn and I always have been. MJ: But you were a known entity out west too,…

44th Move Anthem Black Acre Intricate beats and moody keys combine in real time on this trip-hoppish project from drummer Richard Spaven and UK keys star Alfa Mist. While sparse on jazz solos it’s their intricate stickwork and hypnotic synth soundworld, underpinned by Robin Mullarkey’s bass, that keeps you hooked. (MF) Callum Allardice Elementa Earshift Music Working with a piano-bass-drums trio, guitarist Allardice weaves his cinematic, sometimes dark six-string magic. Elementa is intended as a more intimate companion piece to his Cinematic Light Orchestra project and in that context, works beautifully. (KW) Loek van den Berg Seafarer ZenneZ/Berthold Records With his 2022 debut Wayfarer winning awards and plaudits, young saxophonist Loek van den Berg’s follow-up mines lyrical, watery moods. In a similar vein to the surging Scottish scene,…

BBC RADIO 2 88-91 FM and DAB Jamie Cullum show (Tues, 9pm) BBC RADIO 3 90-93 FM and DAB 'Round Midnight (Mon-Fri 11.30pm) Jazz Record Requests (Sun, 4pm) BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC DAB Gilles Peterson, Sat 3pm JAZZ FM DAB, Sky, Alexa, smartphone, tablet and online at jazzfm.com (Mon – Fri) 6.30am-10am Jazz FM Breakfast with Nigel Williams, 10am-2pm Danielle Perry, 2pm-6pm Afternoon drive with Simon Philips, 6pm-7pm Jazz FM’s Greatest, 7pm-9pm Jazz FM’s Dinner Jazz with Mark Walker. (Mon) 9pm-10pm Future Jazz with Ruth Fisher; 10pm-midnight Late Nite with China Moses. (Tues) 9pm-10pm Jazz Travels with Rouhangeze Baichoo; 10pm-midnight Late Night with China Moses. (Wed) 9pm-10pm Jazztronic with Dom Servini; 10pm-midnight Late Night with China Moses. (Thur) 9pm-10pm The British Jazz Show with Helen Mayhew; 10pm-midnight Late Night with…

The nominees for the 2025 Jazz FM Awards (presented in collaboration with PPL and PRS for Music) have been announced and include a host of high-profile names that reflect the depth and breadth of talent on the UK and international jazz, soul and blues scenes. The winners will be announced at a ceremony on Thursday 24 April at KOKO in North London. The 2025 nominees include the all-conquering Ezra Collective (fresh from scooping the Brit Award for ‘Best Band’ earlier this month), British sax star Nubya Garcia, UK singer-songwriter Michael Kiwanuka, US jazz vocalist Samara Joy, multi-instrumentalist Shabaka, ECM recording artist Alice Zawadzki, and Scottish collective corto.alto. The winners of the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, Gold Award, and Impact Award will be announced in the coming weeks. The Categories and…

As noted last month, 1940 saw RCA Victor sponsoring a run of Ellington masterpieces, while at the same time coining it with bands like those led by Artie Shaw and Tommy Dorsey. But, starting the previous year, they had also cashed in on the new revival of interest in traditional (or in US terminology 'Dixieland') jazz, producing dates led by both Jelly Roll Morton and Sidney Bechet and no fewer than four sessions by white cornettist Muggsy Spanier and his Ragtimers. Unlike the big-band stars, these players clearly weren’t offered exclusive contracts, since in 1940 Morton moved to one of the tiny specialist labels, while another small specialist outlet (Hot Record Society, aka HRS) brought together Spanier and Bechet on 28 March and 6 April to create their unique mixed-race…

There is a certain symbolism in the passing of Roy Ayers at the beginning of spring. The revered signature tune of the vibraphonist-composer-bandleader, who has died at the age of 84 following a long illness, was ‘Everybody Loves The Sunshine.’ Early March’s welcome bout of golden rays feels like a parting gift from the great man. Ayers had a huge international fan base built on a voluminous discography that saw him create a unique blend of jazz, soul, funk and Afro-Latin rhythms that had a magical combination of accessibility and virtuosity. Apart from the aforesaid anthem, he gained immense popularity throughout the 1970s and 1980s with tracks such as ‘Running Away’, ‘Red, Black & Green,’ ’Destination Motherland’, ‘We Live In Brooklyn, Baby’, ‘Love Will Bring Us Back Together’, ‘Chicago’, ‘Life…

It’s a pity that this feature only affords a limited space to spotlight the music and thoughts of Jonathan Enser. The inspirational London-based trumpeter, composer, bandleader, and disability advocate has recently released an EP, Silhouettes: A Dream Sphere Journal, under his project Matters Unknown, three years after his debut album, We Aren’t Just. It’s the start of a busy period; there’s a tour coming soon and another album underway. Yet, as we speak, Enser is recovering from a surgical procedure which took place the week prior, following years of chronic pain and a leg amputation in February 2023. These experiences have irrevocably fed into his music, which he describes as “functional therapy”. For Enser, music is a purpose and a voice, inextricable from its social and cultural context, serving as…

6161 6161 Severn Songs SEVS35 (CD, LP, DL) Matt Stockham Brown (d), Sophie Stockham Brown (as, ts), Jake McMurchie (ts), Tom Taylor (bs), Pete Judge (t), Dan Moore (ky, syn). Rec. date not stated After the brash, beat-driven frenzy of his former band Run Logan Run, drummer Matt Stockham Brown’s new project sees him almost return to a previous life in Dakhla. That award-winning sextet’s original brand of closely-composed brass ensemble jazz took them to the Proms with Jamie Cullum. Now 6161 (it’s an ‘angel number’, apparently) sees him reunited him with Dakhla trumpeter Pete Judge and saxophonist Sophie Stockham Brown as well as Judge’s Get The Blessing bandmate Jake McMurchie, the electronic keyboards of Dan Moore and Tom Taylor’s baritone sax. That’s a muscular horn section and Stockham Brown’s…

Kenny Dorham Blue Bossa in The Bronx: Live from the Blue Morocco Resonance HCD/LP 9072 (CD, LP, DL) RECORD STORE DAY RELEASE Kenny Dorham (t), Sonny Red (as), Cedar Walton (p), Paul Chambers (b) and Denis Charles (d). Rec. 1967 For a trumpeter who was so often in the right place at the right time, there’s not nearly enough of Kenny Dorham’s legacy available on record. This issue seeks to begin to put that right. The opening title track not only has a fleet solo from Dorham, but a rare outing for Chambers that shows he had far more to say than he had been allowed in the Miles Davis setting. Sonny Red isn’t the greatest alto saxophonist, but he mostly does a perfectly respectable job. But Dorham’s melodic invention…

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Foresythe’s saga In 1934, when sales of sheet music trumped revenue from records, Reginald Foresythe’s ‘Serenade For a Wealthy Widow’ was that year’s best-selling number, a fact missing from Stuart Nicholson’s article on the composer (Jazzwise 303). Perhaps this and a number of inaccuracies were possibly due to his piece being based on internet research and limited knowledge of the period; while I admire Stuart’s attempt to raise interest in Foresythe, corrections are due. Foresythe did not grow up in Mayfair in privileged circumstances, neither did he attend public school, as Stuart asserts. He actually lived in humble, rented homes in West London with his mother and sister, spent a year in Lagos, and attended the local primary before completing his schooling at an undistinguished boarding establishment in Essex. Zaidie…

1 What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye (1971) “Having grown up with Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, I continue to uncover new layers in its intricate compositions. Its masterful blend of harmonies and innovative fusion of soul, jazz, and orchestral elements ensure the album remains timeless. Its powerful political message is still relevant today, and adds to its enduring impact.” 2 Chet Baker Sings by Chet Baker (1954) “I love Chet Baker Sings because his airy trumpet sound and soothing voice have deeply impacted me as a trumpet player. His ability to use harmony so effortlessly and create lullaby-like melodies has shaped my approach to music, inspiring me to embrace emotion in every note I play.” 3 Ella and Louis by Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong (1956) “I grew up on Ella…

In the intimate landscape of jazz duos, where musical relationships often mature over decades, the story of pianist Gwilym Simcock and saxophonist Emma Rawicz stands out as a refreshing anomaly. Their debut album together, Big Visit (ACT Music), captures a musical partnership almost at its genesis – a rare documentation of two extraordinary talents discovering each other’s musical language in real time. The jazz world has seen its share of legendary piano-sax partnerships. Branford Marsalis and Joey Calderazzo’s 2011 album Songs of Mirth and Melancholy (Marsalis Music/Universal) had 13 years of music-making behind it, dating back to when Calderazzo replaced the late, great Kenny Kirkland in the Branford Marsalis Quartet in 1998. Prior to releasing their 2016 live album on Nonesuch, Nearness – six duets actually recorded five years earlier…

Sultan Stevenson El Roi Edition EDNLP1255 (CD, LP, DL) Sultan Stevenson (p), Jacob Gryn (b), Joel Waters (d), Josh Short (t, flhn) and Soweto Kinch (ts). Rec. date not stated In 2023 London pianist Sultan Stevenson broke coverwith an impressive debut called Faithful One. It unveiled a classic-yet-contemporary sound, reflecting a deep love for McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock and Kenny Kirkland, as well as gospel and funk. Two years on he’s back with El Roi, a meditation on faith and identity that takes its name from a term in the Hebrew bible meaning “God of sight” or “the God who sees me”. Sonically the two records have a lot in common, but El Roi feels quieter, more contemplative and more refined, as Stevenson distills those influences into a sound of…

Ashdown Roasted Saint bass guitar This is the second ‘step up’ bass we’ve received for test in as many months. Ashdown’s new line of ‘Roasted Bass’ (it takes its name from the roasted maple neck), is a full scale instrument aimed squarely at the beginner looking to acquire a more advanced instrument. With its P/J (Precision/Jazz) pickup configuration, this is a beautifully-presented, well-finished instrument. The gloss onyx green metallic livery of our sample wasn’t to our taste, but there are other colour/finish options in the series, so you’re sure to find one to your liking. The sculpted Poplar body carries the generic alnico pickups, together with three chrome knobs for volume, front and rear pickups. There is a fully adjustable tailpiece/bridge, a black pick guard (on our model) which incorporates…

ONLY £14.99 The 100 Jazz Albums That Shook The World is an exclusive 100-page definitive guide to the most important and influential jazz albums that have gone on to change and shape the course of the music from the 1920s to the present day. ◼ Print-only, premium quality, publication edited and conceived by Jazzwise’s editor-in-chief Jon Newey ◼ The first time a fully annotated top 100 jazz album countdown from 100 to No.1 has been published in book form ◼ Includes new in-depth editorial on each album from Jazzwise’s acclaimed team of writers, plus in-depth features on the making of the top three albums, a look at the albums that almost made the cut and a guide to buying the featured titles on LP and CD “This superbly written assemblage is…