Table of contents for September 2022 in Jazzwise

Don Cherry tribute, AZIZA, Guy Barker Concertos, Rosie Frater-Taylor and more announced for EFG London Jazz Festival A third wave artists have been announced for this year’s 30th anniversary edition of the EFG London Jazz Festival that runs from 11 to 20 November at venues spanning every corner of the capital. These include a special Don Cherry Tribute at the Barbican on 20 November with work presented by Kahil El Zabar Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, who will be joined by special guests, legendary LA jazz singer, Dwight Trible, keyboardist and son of Don Cherry, David Ornette Cherry, singer Neneh Cherry (above left) and more guests from the incredible musical family. Cuban pianist, composer and arranger Chucho Valdés celebrates his 80th birthday with his new composition ‘La Creación’, and selected pieces from…

Reinvention is, in theory, one of jazz’s founding principles and yet it’s fair to say that there are plenty of ardent fans who kind of liked it how it was circa 1959 and don’t see the need to fix what isn’t broken. I’d hazard a guess that most people reading this magazine have a more open mind when it comes to what we call ‘jazz’ today, and yet this month’s iconic cover star encountered such regressive attitudes to his forever forward-looking approach and ceaseless creativity. It was perhaps inevitable that for someone frequently ahead of his time, Miles had to tolerate the disdain of the jazz police nearly as often as he changed direction. Thus, the music uncovered in the latest Bootleg Series release is enthralling and whatever your opinion…

Multi-award winning vocalist Claire Martin will perform two nights at Piano Smithfield, the intimate jazz venue located in the Barbican, London EC1. Martin was the recent winner of the Jazz Vocalist of the Year at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards, which is the latest in a long line of accolades and awards she’s won, and here she will present her new Three’s Company show alongside Brit Jazz bass great Dave Green and acclaimed pianist Nikki Iles – all three appearing on 15-16 October. Further October nights are Polly Gibbons and Ross Stanley (6 Oct); Alan Barnes Quartet (13 Oct); Liane Carroll – Solo (20 Oct); Dave & Judith O’Higgins (27 Oct). The Jazz Greats series concludes with an evocative performance of Stan Tracey’s timeless Jazz Suite: Under Milk Wood – with…

The London-based UK imprint Ubuntu Music has announced a varied and busy release schedule for the second half of this year, with some promising new signings in the offing for 2023. The label continues its ethos of nurturing new talent and being a home for some of the UK’s most established artists. Chief among these is award-winning pianist Andrew McCormack who returns with a new trio of bassist (and labelmate) Joe Downard and hard-hitting US drummer Rod Youngs [pictured top right] who all combine on a lyrical Mehldau and Jarrett influenced set, Terra Firma, slated for October. Another of the label’s established stars, tenorist Dave O’Higgins, releases a new EP with his wife and fellow saxophonist Judith O’Higgins [pictured bottom right], with Omicron a set of ‘tough tenor’ tunes named…

Recently the recipient of the Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards, saxophonist Tony Kofi (pictured) is set to embark on one of his most ambitious projects to date when he teams up with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO) for a tour this autumn presenting music from Thelonious Monk’s classic 1959 album Monk at Town Hall. The original album features a stellar line-up with the likes of Donald Byrd, Phil Woods, Charlie Rouse, Pepper Adams, Sam Jones, Art Taylor and more on a seminal large ensemble recording, which will be recreated under the direction of Kofi and NYJO’s dectet of emerging UK talent. The brass-meets-rhythm section configuration will be performed by a band of George Garford (alto sax), Emma Rawicz (tenor sax), Alex Clarke (baritone sax),…

Looking back on his classic 1976 recording A Kaleidoscope of Rainbows, composer and bandleader Neil Ardley told me, “Barbara Thompson’s soprano saxophone solo on ‘Rainbow 4’ was just about the best solo anyone ever played for me. It was overdubbed late at night. Barbara was playing alone in the studio, and Paul Buckmaster, who was producing, said, ‘Look at my arm!’ All the hairs on his arm were standing on end – it was simply spine-tingling what she was doing.” Hearing her recreate this solo live with Neil and the expanded version of Ian Carr’s Nucleus at the Stables in Wavendon 20 years later was no less stimulating, and she again stole the show. In a career that began with a summer season for Ivy Benson, before starting studies at…

“It feels so good,” Emma Smith notes about finally releasing new music into the world, 10 years after her acclaimed debut, The Huntress. As a long-established vocalist touring with marquee acts including Michael Bublé, Robbie Williams, Georgie Fame, Cyndi Lauper and Seal, Smith’s long-awaited follow-up, the remarkable Meshuga Baby, has finally hit the streets. “Other artists mark their development every couple of years, whereas mine feels like: Child, Woman,” she laughs. Life got in the way of making Meshuga Baby – the album’s creation was intimately bound up with Smith discovering her Jewish heritage, plus there was the small matter of Covid to navigate. And the virus wasn’t the only unforeseen consideration that Smith had to wrestle with. “My voice changed, not necessarily because of Covid, because I wasn't singing.…

Landmark Recording Excellent Good Average Disappointing Alex Acuña Gifts Le Coq Records (CD) Alex Acuña (d, perc), Lorenzo Ferrero (ts), Otmaro Ruiz (p, ky), Ramón Stagnaro (g) and John Peña (b). Rec. date not stated Alex Acuña has played on close to 900 albums and soundtracks in 60-plus years as a unique percussionist – with Elvis and Weather Report as his two most famous employers – but he’s made only a handful of albums as a leader, with this quintet set his first in 17 years. Gifts is a convivial cruise around Weather Report-like sax-and-keys fusion, Afro-Cuban grooves, evocative ballads, and two classy covers – of Joe Zawinul’s 'Mercy, Mercy, Mercy' and Herbie Hancock’s 'One Finger Snap'. The leader’s flawless balance of accompanist’s restraint and gracefully insistent inventiveness is plain…

Landmark Recording Excellent Good Average Disappointing Azymuth Telecommunication Milestone/Jazz Dispensary CR00517 (LP) Jose Roberto Bertrami (p, el p, ky), Alex Malheiros (el b), Ivan Conti (d), Helio Delmiro (g) Aleuda and Cidinho (perc). Rec. 1982 While America was at the cutting edge of electric fusion, Brazil made a sizeable contribution to the sub-genre by way of legendary Rio De Janeiro superband Azymuth. It is not inaccurate to summarise the trio as a samba-based response to the innovations of Herbie Hancock, Weather Report and Chick Corea, yet there was a creative ingenuity at play that made the music more than a Latinzation of US grooves. On this follow-up to their 1980 set Light As A Feather, which contained the breakout hit ‘Jazz Carnival’, Azymuth took the intricacy of Afro-Brazilian percussive traditions…

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) Highlights from We Out Here Festival 2022, including Brazilian jazz-funk legends Azymuth and Afro-Cuban big band New Regency Orchestra (3 Sept) Ron Carter shares his inspirations (10 Sept) More We Out Here Festival Highlights (17 Sept) Trish Clowes in session plus Omar Sosa’s inspirations (24 Sept) 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 Nigel Williams, 10am-2pm Midmornings with Deb Grant, 2pm-6pm Afternoons with Jamie Crick, 6pm-7pm Jazz FM’s Greatest with Mark Walker, 7pm-9pm Dinner Jazz with Mark Walker. (Mon) 9pm-10pm The…

The Australian Jazz Quartet The Australian Jazz Quartet Bethlehem Records What’s that you say Skip? A decent quality jazz album by an unheralded group’s stuck down the Art Failure grief hole? Let’s get over there right away! Alas, it’s too late – here’s another album condemned to eternal mockery thanks to a screw-up by someone in the art department (in this case, Burt Gold blatt, who helped shape the visual language of jazz with superb sleeves for Atlantic, Savoy, Bethlehem and others. Burt, what were you thinking?). I know that some people say Australia’s a cultural backwater, but really? Is the only thing that anyone associates with Australia is the ‘roo? And badly cut-out ‘roos on a bright orange background to boot? By any measure, this sleeve for a 1955…

Charles Mingus once wrote about how tenor players doing ‘Flying Home’ felt obliged to copy Illinois Jacquet’s solo from the 1942 Lionel Hampton disc. Similarly, tenormen in the Ray Charles band would repeat the iconic solos on ‘I Got A Woman’ and ‘Hallelujah I Love Her So’, originally done by Don Wilkerson. But it’s not only saxophonists – a lesser-known example is the live Jazz At The Philharmonic recording of Oscar Peterson revisiting ‘Tenderly’. The back-story is that, after the pianist’s sensational “walk-on part” during a Jazz At The Phil concert at Carnegie Hall in September 1949, he finished up his Canadian record contract and began working full-time for Norman Granz. At his first session for Granz’s Clef series, playing in duo with Ray Brown, the final track was an…

● BRIGITTE BERAHA’S LUCID DREAMERS SLIP OUT ON TOUR Adventurous vocalist Brigitte Beraha’s acclaimed band Lucid Dreamers – featuring George Crowley, Alcyona Mick and Tim Giles – continue supporting their most recent album Blink with more dates this autumn. Mixing Beraha’s ethereal vocals with electro-acoustic sounds, live effects and improvisation, the band play the following dates: Pizza Express Jazz Club, Dean Street, London (14 Sept); Shrewsbury Jazz (17 Sept); North East, Newcastle (1pm 18 Sept); NQ Jazz, Manchester (19 Sept); Dora Stoutzker Concert Hall, Cardiff (28 Oct); St George’s Bristol, (1pm, 29 Oct) and Jazz at St Giles, Oxford (29 Oct). For more info visit www.brigitteberaha.com/luciddreamers ● NIGEL PRICE FOR NATIONAL JAZZ ARCHIVE FUNDRAISER The National Jazz Archive presents top UK guitarist Nigel Price with his Organ Trio and saxophonist…

Having launched in 2017, filling the void left by the closure of the original festival in 1995, the Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music returns from 24 September to 2 October at venues around the city. Presenting an innovative and diverse international line-up, packed with boundary pushing bands seeking to challenge perceptions of jazz and improvisation. This year expands on the festival’s regular town centre activities to incorporate three nights of music in the Northern suburb of Jesmond. Popularly interpreted as ‘Jesus Mound’ things fittingly begin on the first weekend at St. George’s Church, followed by two nights at one of the city’s newest and hippest venues, Bobiks at The Punch Bowl. The following weekend the festival moves to the prestigious Literary and Philosophical Society, with a Sunday afternoon…

When Miles Davis died on 28 September, 1991 at St John’s Hospital Health Center in Santa Monica, jazz lost its only surviving bona fide superstar. Once an omnipresent figure in the music, from the time he played Hal to Charlie Parker’s Hotspur in the 1940s, to his final recordings with rap artist Easy Mo Bee in 1991, his music was always subject to change. What was significant was that the changes in his music often influenced the evolutionary path of jazz itself. While his passing created a permanent void at the top of the bill, one aspect seldom commented on was that even his most effusive obituaries grew noticeably ambiguous about the last 20 years of his life, and especially the last 10. This was because he had left the…

The icebreaker to a conversation with a stranger can come in any shape or form. And nothing beats a shot of humour, especially when delivered deadpan. It brings everything to life straightaway. The sight of Henry Franklin stretched out on a bed, iPhone screen hovering over a fluffy pillow, is enough to force any diehard stone-face to crack a smile, especially as his opening salvo has a pleasingly rock-solid wit. “Hey, I’m just waking up around here at home in Perris, California, I’ve lived here just a short while now… only about 35 years,” quips the 81-year-old, his voice a heartily reassuring tone on a wavering zoom call. Franklin grins mischievously at my laughter. But those decades he mentions underline his position as an elder statesman in improvised music, especially…

Avishai Cohen Trio Shifting Sands Naïve M7594/3700187675950 (CD, LP, DL) EDITOR’S CHOICE Avishai Cohen (b), Elchin Shirinov (p) and Roni Kaspi (d). Rec. August 2021 Following the orchestral manoeuvres of 2021’s epic Two Roses, shape-shifting Israeli bassist Cohen returns to the trio format – and the result might just be his best album since Gently Disturbed 14-years ago. The protean qualities that make Cohen such a compelling musician to follow are also married to a consistency that’s remarkable for so lengthy and varied a career – compositions such as this album’s title track, 'Intertwined' and 'The Window' are up there with his best – but what lifts Shifting Sands from very good to truly great is the playing (described by my Jazzwise colleague John Fordham as "incandescent") and interplay of…

Forgotten gems from the jazz vaults Harvie Swartz Smart Moves Gramavision 18-8607 1 Harvie Swartz (b), Charlie Mariano (as), John Stubblefield (ss), Ben Aronov (p), Mike Stern (g), Victor Lewis (d) and Mino Cinelu (perc). Rec. February 1986 Harvie Swartz – now known as Harvie S – is an eloquent bassist with impeccable intonation who contributes four well conceived compositions to Smart Moves. They come embedded in an overall group conception – not simple vehicles for a blowing fest, but structures that demanded empathy in their interpretation, a less-is-more awareness of contributing to a distinctive group sound. It’s less standing up and blowing for a few choruses but more finding a voice within the composition where improvisation serves to enhance both mood and colour of the composition at hand. Swartz…

Jon Hiseman’s Journey in the Time Machine Album by Album Martyn Hanson Temple Music PB £23.99 Martyn Hanson wrote the admirable Playing the Band (available from the same publisher), his biography of the much-missed Jon Hiseman, and Time Machine is its perfect companion. Broad in its encyclopedic ambition, it attempts to review every recording Hiseman played on between 1965 and his death in 2018. And beyond that of course there are the re-issues. And, boy, is that a lot of music! Hanson doesn’t include the film and TV music, such as that for A Touch of Frost, (although Cats is in there) and doubtless the likes of Repertoire Records and Jazz in Britain will continue to dig up gems that Hiseman played on. But given all that, this is still…

Visesnut ‘Premier’ Guitar Case The guitar case has been around for almost as long as the instrument itself, and you wouldn’t think that much could be changed, other than making the case lighter or giving it a shallower profile or cutaway to fit to the form of that particular instrument. All of which means that each instrument has its own case, which not only involves cost, but also space. So, what if you were to design a one case which fits all kinds of instruments, where you could adjust the interior of the case to fit various guitar body shapes and sizes? ‘Jeep’ Visesnut, himself a talented guitar builder from Thailand has done just that with an ingenious design that suspends the guitar within the case by way of an…

Ronnie Scott’s… or Istanbul? When one lives outside of London or similar big cities, seeing quality live jazz can be a challenge. My personal preference is indeed for London, not least because of the fantastic burgeoning young scene in recent years (shout out Janine Irons and Gary Crosby – genuine heroes of our time). Unfortunately (for me) an evening at Ronnie’s or similar requires a train and overnight hotel (my last return train is 10.30pm!). So, all in all, around £200 is needed. But hey, don’t you work all your life to be able to indulge in your retirement? An advert in Jazzwise, for a ‘festival’ in Istanbul (in collaboration with EFG London Jazz Festival), caught my eye a while ago; it featured Kokoroko, Nubya Garcia, Sons of Kemet, and…

On 18 November, ACT Music will release HOME.S., a previously unreleased solo piano album by Esbjörn Svensson, the late great Swedish pianist. Having focused almost his entire creative energy and recording activities on his work with his renowned trio e.s.t. – with bassist Dan Berglund and drummer Magnus Öström – these new recordings are the first, and practically only, later sessions that show Svensson in a setting other than that of the trio. The recordings for HOME.S. were made only a few weeks before Esbjörn Svensson’s sudden death on 14 June 2008. He recorded the music in his Swedish home studio and for almost a decade, the album remained untouched in his widow Eva’s personal archive. For its release the music will be played in its entirety to the public…

Soho’s renowned PizzaExpress Jazz Club and restaurant reopened in early July following a £500,000 refurbishment, with an initial performance by Club favourites and leading UK jazz names, Ian Shaw and Guy Barker. Two notable residencies also return to the club this month with Brit jazz guitar hero John Etheridge (top left) lining up with his own band plus classical master John Williams and his dazzling salute to Frank Zappa with his Zappatistas. Another reliably exciting series, Sounds Of Denmark, is also back with the explosive electronica-jazz duo RKDIA(main picture) – featuring keyboard whiz Morten Schantz and extrovert former Phronesis drummer Anton Eger – making a welcome return to the club – plus a debut appearance by Svaneborg Kardyb (middle left), aka Nikolaj Svaneborg (Wurlitzer, Juno synth) and Jonas Kardyb (drums,…

The Hammond organist selects five of his favourite albums 1 The Sermon by Jimmy Smith “This was the first introduction for me to Jimmy Smith – I was 10 years old then and had just recently got introduced to the Hammond B3. And I realised from the jump that he was a True Master of the organ. And I became a massive fan of his music. And I had the honour of meeting him at the age of 12, then I became his student. We became very close. I miss him very much.” 2 Organ Grinder Swing by Jimmy Smith “This album is one of my favourite albums by Jimmy, he had by then really developed his iconic sound. This album had a lot of influence on my playing – the…

An all-star cast has assembled for Here It Is: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen that’s set for release on 14 October on Blue Note. The project is produced by acclaimed producer/bassist Larry Klein whose illustrious career includes winning four GrammyAward and 10 nominations, producing albums such as Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell and Tracy Chapman’s Our Bright Future; and as a top-level jazz bassist such greats as Freddie Hubbard and Wayne Shorter as well as writing songs with the likes Warren Zevon and Bonnie Raitt. Notably this project directly echoes his production of Herbie Hancock’s 2007 album River: The Joni Letters, which won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year (and on which one of the featured singers was, in fact, Leonard Cohen). Thus Here It Is seeks…

The Israeli bassist-composer Avishai Cohen, aside from his other notable talents, has that certain something in common with other premier jazz band leaders: the ability to nurture a star of the future. Drummer Mark Giuliana and pianist Shai Maestro are the best examples of a pair who have emerged at the high end of contemporary jazz since their beginnings as members of Cohen’s band. It’s no exaggeration to say he very likely has another one on his hands with the 21-year-old drummer Roni Kaspi, who’s making heads turn with her super-crisp yet sizzling energy and all-embracing nufusion beats on Cohen’s new back-to-form trio album Shifting Sands (see review and Album Interview, page 35) which also features the pianist Elchin Shirinov. While an unexpected phone call or being plucked from obscurity…

“When I heard Donny’s voice… something happened to me. I found a way to keep that song on repeat all night!” I still remember the first day I heard Donny Hathaway, and the song ‘Someday We’ll All Be Free’ from Extension Of A Man. I was in Vancouver, taking some private voice lessons with Dee Daniels, the jazz singer. I was in this beautiful home, with this amazing woman, and listening to all kinds of things. My first manager had organised it – he was a quirky, odd man but perfect for me at that time, because he was taking me to people and exposing me to things to see how I’d respond. I was in my early twenties, from Atlanta, and I’d never been to the North West; and the…

Ambient Jazz Ensemble London Fields Here & Now Recordings Something like Miles’ In a Silent Way might come to mind when you think of Ambient Jazz, which is the moniker of composer/arranger/producer Colin Baldry’s ensemble; instead Baldry offers a widescreen urban pop-soul sound canvas with its softly massaging jazzy horns and percussive dance elements that’s anyway a likeable alternative. SH Alex Bayer Radar Mono-Ton Records German bassist Alex Bayer likes to make music ‘that grows from small cells’; on his last album he used trichords as the basis of his compositions; here, backed by a drummer, woodwind, pianist and vibraphonist, he weds this approach to collective improvisation. Nice! KW E3 By Alex Lakusta Radar Self-release Lakusta’s funkily improvised bass takes the lead role here and he fronts an electric piano…

Classical BROUGHT TO YOU BY Joel von Lerber Légende Claves (50-3048) Like a mythical harp-playing bard, Joel von Lerber too is a teller of legends. But such is the Berlin-based Swiss harpist’s sweeping command of colour and line that he has no need for words. The music, almost all of which takes its inspiration from tales or poems, says it all. Von Lerber’s album is also a homage to that great harp virtuoso, composer and pedagogue Henriette Renié. Her darkly dramatic ‘Légende d’après ‘Les elfes’ de Leconte de Lisle’, with its echoes of Schubert’s ‘Erlkönig’, and the sprightly ‘Danse des lutins’ are two of the highlights of the programme, showing offvon Lerber’s supple technique and narrative skills to their best advantage. There are also more straightforwardly tuneful if often equallyvirtuoso…