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LP REVIEW: Bill Evans – Another Time – The Hilversum Concert

April 7, 2017, 7:37 am
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Bill Evans – Another Time – The Hilversum Concert
(Resonance Records HLP-9031. LP review by Andrew Cartmel)

Resonance Records just keeps on exhuming treasures from the history of jazz, and the history of Bill Evans in particular. A year ago saw their release of Some Other Time — The Lost Session from the Black Forest (Resonance HLP-9019 - reviewed here). This was a crucial recording since it represented the only studio album by the great Evans trio comprising Jack DeJohnette on drums and Eddie Gomez on bass. It was made five days after their Grammy-winning live recording at the Montreux Jazz Festival (15 June 1968). The Black Forest record is now an expensive and sought after collector’s item on vinyl, and the new release looks to be just as essential — and just as enjoyable. Another Time – The Hilversum Concert is a second live set, recapturing an appearance in Holland exactly a week after the classic Montreux gig.

Well, I say “live set”… The music was taped in a radio station studio (VARA Studio 8 at Netherlands Radio Union in Hilversum) with excellent and lucid acoustics in front of a small, attentive and select audience, so it really represents the best aspects of both a live and a studio recording. This makes it a fascinating halfway point between the Montreux and Black Forest albums. And it’s a pleasure to hear more from the masterful DeJohnette on drums — he would shortly leave the trio to join Miles Davis, while bassist Eddie Gomez would stay with Evans for over a decade. But that’s not the only standout virtue of this set. It also has a particularly strong selection of tunes, only three of which overlap with the Black Forest recording (You’re Gonna Hear from Me, Very Early and Turn Out the Stars) and two with Montreux (Embraceable You and Nardis). A special treat is the Bacharach-David Alfie which would become a regular feature for Evans and is brimming with brio and inventive wit here. DeJohnette provides almost subliminal cymbal and brush work and Gomez sits out or plays sparingly, giving the leader plenty of breathing space to spill brightly chiming notes and sequences. Evans tugs at the loose threads of the melody — drawing it into new and charming patterns rather than pulling it apart.

In Embraceable You, Eddie Gomez comes into the spotlight with an introduction which dismantles the tune to the point of abstraction before Evans comes rolling in, with DeJohnette giving light accents on the brushes and the three of them uniting to present a rollicking, swinging and recognizable take on this standard without sacrificing any of Gomez’s modernism. You’re Gonna Hear from Me is both contemplative and merry, with Evans cannily approaching the melody from different angles and Eddie Gomez’s upright bass providing the sinews of the piece.

But the real treasure is Johnny Mandel’s Emily, another tune set to become a favourite, which brings out the most gentle and sensitively explorative approach from Bill Evans, with Gomez’s bass dexterously propulsive and DeJohnette’s drumming crisply minimal, providing an attractively light and airy cage for Bill Evans’s playing — a rare bird of exceedingly beautiful plumage. The trio loops through Mandel’s appealing and seductive tune, finishing up with such economy we’re left longing for more.

One of the surprises of this album is the delicacy and judicious diffidence with which DeJohnette plays throughout. There’s a sense of strength and inventiveness to spare, all held in reserve. Until Nardis, that is, when the power, density and complexity of his drumming is given a showcase. The intensity of his performance on this Miles Davis number has a flavour of the prophetic, given that Davis would come into Ronnie Scott’s in a few weeks’ time, hear DeJohnette, and make him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

This limited LP release is on high quality, low noise 180gram vinyl, mastered by Bernie Grundman and it comes in an exceedingly handsome package —a gatefold sleeve with a large eight page booklet featuring some attractive photographs and informative essays including one by the excellent jazz blogger Marc Myers. The album’s producer Zev Feldman suggests that this is “one of the best-sounding of all Bill Evans’s live albums.” Personally, my money’s still on Waltz for Debby but let’s not quibble. This is a terrific record.

The vinyl will go on sale on April 22nd (Record Store Day). The CD will follow on September 1st. More information HERE 
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PREVIEW/VIDEO: Elliot Galvin Trio (Kings Place, 13 April)

April 7, 2017, 9:05 am
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Elliot Galvin Trio
Photo credit: Dave Stapleton
Pianist Elliot Galvin introduces his trio gig coming up next week at Kings Place - and he has a video to share.

"We are really looking forward to playing at Kings Place on the 13 April," says Elliot Galvin. "It will be our only London date this year. It always feels like a bit of a homecoming playing in London and Kings Place is one of my favourite venues to play so I'm pretty excited about it."

The concert is part of a UK wide tour the trio has been on over the last two months - it finishes with at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival on 29 April. 



"The band has undergone a little change recently with the addition of Corrie Dick on drums. Me and Corrie have a really long musical relationship, having both played together in Laura (Jurd)'s band for the past seven or eight years. "

Dick replaces Simon Roth. The bassist remains Tom McCredie.

"The trio is moving in a new musical direction and I'm currently writing some brand new music which we will be recording for our next album at the end of May. As well as playing music off our last album, Punch, on the 13th we are planning to premiering a couple of brand new pieces off the next album, one of which you can hear a snippet of in the video.

The Elliot Galvin Trio is at Kings Place Hall 2 at 8pm on Thursday 13 April. Tickets : £12.50.


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LP REVIEW: Wynton Kelly Trio/Wes Montgomery – Smokin’ in Seattle, Live at the Penthouse

April 8, 2017, 3:04 am
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Wynton Kelly Trio/Wes Montgomery – Smokin’ in Seattle, Live at the Penthouse
(Resonance Records HLP-9029. LP review by Andrew Cartmel)

Jazz guitar legend Wes Montgomery first collaborated with pianist Wynton Kelly in 1962 on the outstanding Riverside album Full House, recorded live in San Francisco. And it wasn’t just Kelly in the mix, but the whole Miles Davis rhythm section from the late 1950s, with Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums (plus Johnny Griffin on sax). Montgomery and this stellar rhythm section reconvened in 1965 for Smokin’ at the Half Note, another classic, recorded partly live in New York by Rudy Van Gelder, and partly at Van Gelder’s studios in New Jersey. It was released on the Verve label and Pat Metheny has called it the “greatest jazz guitar album ever made.”

Metheny isn’t alone in that opinion and these two LPs represent some of Montgomery’s most sought after recordings. So word of a newly discovered Wynton Kelly/Wes Montgomery session was very welcome indeed. The label behind the find is once again Resonance Records who have, over the last few years, shown a remarkable talent for seeking out and releasing lost gems of jazz. The sessions that form the basis of this album were recorded at the Penthouse in Seattle, Washington on April 14th and 21st 1966. By that time Wynton Kelly’s trio had undergone one change in its personnel, Chambers had left to be replaced by Ron McClure on bass. The half-century old tapes have survived the years admirably unscathed and the sound quality here is live, dynamic and exciting.

It might be expected that Wes Montgomery would be the headliner on this record — the title after all evokes his milestone Half Note album. But the procedure on those gigs back in 1966 was to have the Kelly trio open each evening, playing several numbers before Montgomery joined them. And Resonance have decided to reflect this by including four tracks (out of ten) of Wynton Kelly’s men without Wes. A risky move since the guitarist is the star here. Luckily, the Kelly trio material is excellent, vibrant and rollicking, and you wouldn’t want to miss it.

Indeed, Wynton Kelly’s piano playing is so rich and musical the listener begins to forget that there are other instrumental possibilities; they certainly don’t seem necessary. There is No Greater Love is notable for the brisk, scampering freshness of his quicksilver piano and Jimmy Cobb’s solid chunking drums, with a spattering of cymbals. The up-tempo midsection of Not a Tear features swift, swooping runs which are reminiscent of Horace Silver’s Señor Blues. And If You Could See Me Now is a beautiful piece, with the probing persistence of Kelly’s piano decisively chipping away at the tune to reveal bright slices of melody.

But then Wes Montgomery appears on West Coast Blues and we’re in a whole new sound world, funkier and fatter and richer. Jimmy Cobb’s drumming responds and rises to the occasion by becoming more punchy and Kelly impresses by seamlessly seguing into a comping role, closely configuring himself to the guitarist. Montgomery carves out big chunks of music with his characteristic chubby chordal playing. Jobim’s O Morro Não Tem Vez is a beautiful sunny bossa nova and Jingles has a thumping impact with piano, guitar and Ron McClure’s bass hitting in unison before Montgomery separates from the pack and unspools a long thread of a solo. In contrast, What’s New is slow and warm and intimate, the guitar as smoothly insinuating as a friendly cat, with Cobb making good use of the brushes and Kelly brightly constructing fills.

This is an exciting and engaging release which again pulls off what is proving to be Resonance Records’ trademark trick — finding lost sessions by a major artist in one of their finest groups. I still suspect that there’s a case to be made for doing separate albums of the piano trio material and the guitar quartet, but whatever the configuration you don’t want to be without the music here.

In 1966 Wes Montgomery was absolutely in his prime, but it’s the collaboration with Wynton Kelly which really puts him at the top of his game. Like Resonance’s recent Bill Evans LP (REVIEWED), this is a limited edition release, mastered by Bernie Grundman and pressed on impressively noise free vinyl by RTI.

Smokin ' in Seattle will be released on April 22nd to coincide with Record Store Day. The CD version (HCD-2029) will be available in the UK and Ireland on May 19th.

LINK: Smokin' in Seattle at Resonance Records
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REVIEW: Tigran Hamsyan solo at Kings Place

April 8, 2017, 11:30 am
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Tigran Hamsyan solo
Kings Place Hall One.  6th April 2017. Second house. Review by AJ Dehany)

It’s a rare work of art that can transport you four thousand years back in time and show you the present. Imagine the volcanic landscape of the Ararat Valley opening out into the present Armenian Republic: the same rivers and mountains, the same birds and animals, the same people, transposed into a harder modernity.

Armenian pianist and composer Tigran Hamasyan’s new album An Ancient Observer (Nonesuch) is a softer journey than his pathfinding genre-defying heavy-vamping trio albums (culminating in the visceral Shadow Theatre of 2013), and a subtler realization of his themes and ideas than the jawdropping expansive choral and orchestral opus of 2015’s Luys I Luso that polyphonically reimagined Armenian sacred music from the fifth to twentieth centuries.

Hunched over the piano, head almost touching the keys in the manner of Glenn Gould but with deliberate rather than distracting vocalizations obeying the characteristic straight-tone vocal style of Armenian sacred music, Tigran’s second concert of the evening at King’s Place London on his current European tour found a rock star’s reception for the still-young prodigy who was acclaimed as a genius even before he won the Thelonious Monk prize in 2005 at the age of eighteen.

His synthesis of styles and forms is breathtaking, evident even in this concert of solo piano and with the scrupulously reduced compositional palette of the album, which is resequenced and played with greatly extended improvisations on the composed material. Live performance brings an enhanced drama that complements the album’s contemplativeness and adds a new excitement.

The palate-cleansing synth washes of New Baroque 2 and the spiritual overtures of Fides Tua (Latin for “your faith”) lead us into the oneiric textures of The Cave of Rebirth with its rolling chordal motifs and Arabesque falsetto leading lines. Markos and Markos is a superbly honed melody with a hummable folk-naif quality, bluesy drive, Chopin-esque ornamentation and Rachmaninovian chordal flurries. It opens the album on a gentle note, but in performance mid-concert leads to a denser conception.

Egyptian Poet is inspired by a book Tigran bought among a stack of thirty volumes for seven dollars from a guy by the side of the road in Yerevan. The semitonal slippages in the rolling arpeggios give way to long pedal points punctuated by beatboxed rhythms. Without words, it captures the surprisingly modern-feeling equivalence of the sublimation and exclamation of love and longing in the fascinating poetry of 2000BC Middle Kingdom Egypt, characterized by love poems, prophetic and spiritual texts.

Encore Lilac, an exquisite highlight from Hamasyan's 2015 album Mockroot (Nonesuch)  varies even more between performances. This yearning melodious work is based around two alternating themes opening with chordal apreggios reminiscent of the feel and mystery of Philip Glass’s Facades, alternating with and relieved by the trilling Chopin-esque delicacy of the lighter melodic second theme. The simplicity of the material allows great scope for improvisation while retaining the ‘ancestral’ sense that it shares with his best work.

The epic centrepiece of the concert is Nairian Odyssey which has the same structure but tripled in length from the reading on the album. It affords ample space for reflection - on four thousand years’ worth of disappointed love. The technical aspects of Tigran’s ambitious piano conceptions (and his beatboxing, which leaves ambivalent feelings) can distract us at such times from tender but forthright moments of melodic writing that encapsulate not just ‘ancient’ observations, but also profound human connections:

My heart is in harmony with thy heart
And I can not tear myself away from thy beauty...
Only thy sigh gives life to my heart,
Now that I have found thee,
Let Aten make you mine in eternity."

(*) Text from a love poem, c. 2000 BC, quoted in Art and History of Egypt. 5000 Years of Civilisation by Alberto Carpiceci

LINKS: Review of Tigran in Cagliari in 2011
CD Review A Fable
Interview by Tigran with Stephen Graham from 2015
CD Review - Luys y Luso
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ROUND-UP REVIEW: Bergamo Jazz Festival 2017

April 8, 2017, 12:06 pm
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Marilyn Mazur’s Shamania at Bergamo Jazz 2017
Photo credit: Gianfranco Rota

Bergamo Jazz 2017
(Bergamo, various venues, 23-26th March 2017. Round-up review by Andy Hamilton)

At Bergamo this year, festival director Dave Douglas continued his very thoughtful programming, and as in 2016, his artistic success rate was very high. The festival has a split between performances in the historic upper town, and the lower town. The opening gig, on Thursday 23rd March, followed the traditional pattern– it was at the Teatro Sociale in the upper town, and featured Rudy Royston's OriOn Trio, with Jon Irabagon on tenor and soprano saxophone, Yasushi Nakamura on bass and Royston on drums. It was interesting to hear from the drummer that he was the son of a musical instrument repairer, and grew up surrounded by children's instruments, including percussion. His trio offered a very satisfying mix of grooves and free playing, with Irabagon – which, I learned from Dave Douglas's introduction, is pronounced Irabagon – on tenor and soprano saxes. The programme of original compositions was taken from the group's latest CD Rise Of Orion (Greenleaf) – the Bergamo gig was part of a European tour to promote the disc.

The evening's second set was by Francesco Bearzatti's Tinissima Quartet, performing a tribute to Woody Guthrie. In some affecting performances, Bearzatti (tenor saxophone), Giovanni Falzone (trumpet), Danilo Gallo (bass, electronics) and Zeno De Rossi (drums) played compositions by Guthrie, or in his style.

Bill Frisell and Kenny Wolleson at Bergamo Jazz 2017
Photo credit: Gianfranco Rota


Subsequent main events were held at the Teatro Donizetti in the lower town – a larger, 900-seat version of the Teatro Sociale, also with boxes in operatic style. Here, the opening concert featured the Bill Frisell-Kenny Wollesen Duo, with guitarist and drummer presenting a long, 80-minute set. The pair made no announcements, but the first thirty minutes was a set of what seemed to be original compositions, each seguing into the next. Frisell is the major jazz musician most clearly influenced by Country music – as well as rock – and even in the jazzier numbers that followed, there were more than hints of a Country feel. Lush Life is not something you'd immediately expect from Frisell; it was followed by a funky re-composition of Misterioso. Oleo was the jazziest number, in a straight swing groove, with Wollesen contributing a rare and intensely musical drum solo. Bob Dylan's Hard Rain Gonna Fall moved the approach away from jazz.

Frisell sometimes plays loud, but never fast. I guess this performance could be described as chamber jazz, but the pair deployed a wide dynamic range, projected by a beautifully-balanced sound system – one of the great advantages of the Bergamo festival. The audience was respectful and enthusiastic, something that's also always apparent at Bergamo. Frisell was clearly relaxed and happy.

Regina Carter's Simply Ella set featured the violinist with Marvin Sewell (guitar), Reggie Washington (bass), Alvester Garnett (drums). They began with the Country song Hickory Wind –"Ella liked to do lots of styles including Country & Western", the violinist commented, and more's the pity, I'd say. This piece was followed by the much more interesting Imagine My Frustration, a little-known, bluesy number that Ellington wrote for Fitzgerald. But these excellent musicians were prisoners of a lacklustre concept; the trio were often muted, or condemned to use sentimental effects such as kitsch slide guitar. There was an air of politeness, even Palm Court – a strange experience at Bergamo.

Christian Wallumrǿd Ensemble at Bergamo Jazz 2017
Photo credit: Gianfranco Rota


In complete contrast, the early evening concert the following day, the Christian Wallumrǿd Ensemble at Auditorium Di Piazza Della Libertà, was one of this year's highlights. With Wallumrǿd on piano and harmonium were Eivind Lønning (trumpet), Espen Reinertsen (tenor saxophone), Katrine Schiøtt (cello) and Per Oddvar Johansen (drums, vibraphone). In a largely continuous and quite magical set, they explored the instrumental impulse essential to improvisation – though it was hard to decide how much was improvised, and jazz connections were implicit at most. By "instrumental impulse", I mean what Derek Bailey captured when he described the instrument as "not just a tool but an ally...a source of material...technique for the improviser is often an exploitation of the natural resources of the instrument". As other writers have commented, the ensemble possesses a rare ability to realise the leader's compositions, with their patient and close attention to timbre and dynamics.

Later that evening, at Teatro Donizetti, we heard William Parker's excellent Organ Quartet, with the burly tenor-saxophone of James Brandon Lewis, Cooper Moore's wild explorations on keyboards, plus William Parker (bass) and Hamid Drake (drums and percussion) anchoring the rhythm. This was a loose, mostly groove-based and incredibly exciting performance; ecstatic jazz whose psychedelic intensity was mainly due to the presence of electric keyboard with an organ setting – not in this case really an Organ Quartet therefore. James Brandon Lewis was a name new to me, and his thick, curdled, dark-toned tenor reminded me of the excellent Mark Shim. The set comprised a continuous forty-five minute performance, and here Cooper Moore used an organ setting, and Parker contributed a long and exciting arco solo. On the second piece, the keyboardist changed to a piano setting. The encore was "Moment Without Notice", presumably a reference to the Coltrane classic. 

Parker's group were followed by Marilyn Mazur’s Shamania, an eleven-strong, all-female group of instrumentalists, with vocalist and dancer, in their first performance outside Scandinavia. Mazur apart, saxophonist Lotte Anker was the only name known to me; predominantly this was a polyrhythmic, polystylistic percussion ensemble. The vocalising and maybe the dancing were an acquired taste, but the percussion was exciting and involving.

Melissa Aldana at Bergamo Jazz 2017
Photo credit: Gianfranco Rota


The final evening featured the Melissa Aldana Trio, with the leader on tenor saxophone, Pablo Menares on bass and Craig Weinrib on drums. This was a programme mostly of originals by leader and bassist, but also including the ballad Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most. The young Chilean-born tenorist recently won the Thelonious Monk Prize, and on the evidence here of her very individual, intensely melodic and sonically original approach, the award was richly deserved. She created a distinctive soundworld, intensely-felt, without surface virtuosity or grandstanding. The last song of the set, an original, was dedicated to Sonny Rollins, who – she declared – was a main influence on her playing. It was good to hear that this influence was deep, but not obvious. The young musicians that made up the trio were totally simpatico.

Enrico Pieranunzi & The Brussels Jazz Orchestra, featuring Bert Joris, performed the maestro's music, with Pieranunzi on piano and Bert Joris on trumpet as main soloists. Joris commented that "When I first heard Enrico's compositions, I immediately fell in love with them", while Pieranunzi himself was pleased to hear "another voice" for them. The compositions included Fellini's Waltz, With My Heart In A Song, and – I think – Don't Forget The Poet. The big band had a Birth of The Cool tinge, and it was good to hear these wonderful compositions in a new format, their structures articulated by orchestral arrangements – though the concert didn't change my view that their finest interpreter is Pieranunzi himself, unaccompanied.

Other highlights included the Andy Sheppard Quartet with Eivind Aarset, Michel Benita and Seb Rochford; Evan Parker solo soprano and tenor saxophone at Biblioteca Angelo Mai; and cellist Ernst Reijseger solo. This was a festival put together with great care and artistic subtlety, and as always at Bergamo, the results paid off.


LINKS: Full listings for Bergamo Festival 2017
Round-up of Bergamo 2016
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PREVIEW/INTERVIEW: Jaques Morelenbaum (CelloSambaTrio - Pizza Express 24th April)

April 9, 2017, 12:00 am
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Jaques Morelenbaum
Photo credit: Sara Deidda

Brazilian musician JAQUES MORELENBAUM enjoyed long associations with Antônio Carlos Jobim, Caetano Veloso and Egberto Gismonti, and has gained during a stellar career at the highest concert hall level, international renown far beyond his homeland of Brazil in his collaborations with the pianist-composer Ryuichi Sakamoto and Portuguese fado great Mariza. Touring in Europe this month, the cellist plays an exclusive London date in the intimate surroundings of the Pizza Express Jazz Club. Ahead of the London gig, interviewed by Stephen Graham, he recalls his life changing work with Jobim and Veloso and expresses his admiration for João Gilberto and the great Spanish film director Pedro Almodóvar.

LondonJazz News: What was the most inspirational thing about touring with Jobim from this distance of time?

Jaques Morelenbaum: Jobim represents the supreme gift I was so lucky to receive in my life among a few other with great relevance. He was a real master, but also the best, and funniest, friend; and sometimes he acted also like a father. Paulo Jobim [Tom’s son], a great friend was my band mate so this sounds very natural for me. Jobim’s music is a total inspiration and identification for my Brazilian cultural roots. When I began playing with Antônio Carlos Jobim I was 30 years old, and my last concert with him, his last concert, happened on my 40th. So, at that time, during a quarter of my life, I had the opportunity to play his outstanding music, perform side by side with one of the most interesting and inspiring personalities that have ever existed, and learn so much from the maestro about life and music. That’s why I bring with me in my memories those times as the best possible, and every day I am still surprised with little or huge details that this music still reveals to me.

LJN: What did Caetano Veloso most want out of you as a musical director and how daunting for you was that to achieve?

JM: At the risk of appearing to be presumptuous, but not being it at all, Caetano wanted me to be myself. He is a fantastic creator, however totally self-taught. After working with pop bands for decades, I guess what he was looking for in me was someone who could help him not only expressing his pop feelings about music, but also his deep and complex erudition in intellectual and cultural terms. Besides giving me all the freedom I could desire, he collaborated a lot with my job, giving me signs of what he expected from the arrangement, even in terms of timbres, form and the aesthetic. After that, I had his total confidence to do what I wanted, and during 14 years working together, he has never suggested one single dot of change on what I wrote for him. He also trusted me as a record producer, so I could expand a lot my knowledge about this kind of art. My first work with him was Circuladô (live) in 1992, which differently from previous projects I had taken part in, we did not use a single score. We created collective band arrangements with enough freedom to change our parts and arrangements at every concert. My second one was Fina Estampa, and then I admit it was really daunting writing for posterity arrangements for someone I’ve idolised as an artist since my earliest childhood. Also it was all about remakes, I mean, new versions of old, and very well known, material, and suddenly I was there, with an orchestra in my hands, so much responsibility, and I wanted to be better than I really am.

LJN: What’s the fundamental meaning of the spirit of samba to you in terms of how it makes you feel as a player?

JM: Samba is the spirit and soul of Brazilian music, joining its African and European roots and origins. It is for Brazilian people, in my opinion, what jazz is to American, and rock and roll is to English, people: a vast field for us to plant and grow our ideas of freedom and expression. I love playing samba, because I am sure then that I am Brazilian, and I am bringing to my listeners what I most appreciate from my homeland.

LJN: As a composer what inspires you most and how often do you write? It would be great if you can describe the last piece that you wrote and give us an idea of how you did it, just a hint of some of the little details so we can imagine the process.

JM: I do not write original compositions very often. However, I think the arrangement craft is very similar to the composition, because composers also impose certain limitations for themselves in order to make this craft more thought-provoking and challenging. My last piece, ‘Nesse Trem Que Eu Vou,’ ("in this train I take") was conceived during a train trip, and through my dreams and daydreams, while listening to the train ‘samba’ engine rhythm, I have established that my music would take me to other places like the train. I began to scat a melody, and it became more and more defined as the landscape vertiginously changed. When I finally got home I gave the melody the harmonic treatment that for me would clearer describe my desires in music.

LJN: How do you think differently about composition after working with Ryuichi Sakamoto? Was that a turning point working with him?

JM: For sure! Working with Jobim taught me a lot about economy of expression elements, in order to achieve a maximum of beauty and comprehension. With Sakamoto I have learnt a lot about breathing, about how silence can be so expressive, about how music reflects what life is all about.

LJN: If your wife the great singer Paula Morelenbaum who you have worked with extensively over the years were to describe you musically in one word what do you think would be the first thing she would say?

JM: Paula is here at my side, complaining about having to choose only one word to describe me in music. After a while she has sent me by Messenger the following sentence: ‘Jaques has no idea of the musical power within him.’ What can I say?

LJN: Turning to the CelloSambaTrio why and when did you decide to form this band and how does the trio function best live? For instance is it on slower material or when there is space for further improvisation?

JM:The CelloSambaTrio came to my mind after listening over and over again to João Gilberto’s 1973 album, which consists of only voice, guitar and light percussion. It has always impressed me so much how it was able to fill the entire sound space with so few elements, and still make us not miss anything else! Also, I loved so much Gilberto’s understanding of samba and the way he dislocates the rhythm in order to create surprises, that I have decided to transcribe some of his recordings to learn his special view and articulation of every song on my cello. I guess in any case, doing slower material, or not so much, playing fast sambas with lots of space for improvisation. in all cases we have so much fun playing this music, and we expect our audiences to follow us.

LJN: Did you hear of the trio's guitarist Lula Galvão and drummer Rafael Barata first of all to think about hiring them?

JM: Lula Galvão was my bandmate on Caetano’s last project that I did which was called A Foreign Sound. I became a great fan of him during this time, and I did not have any doubt about inviting him to join me on the CelloSambaTrio. Ten years before, when Gal Costa invited me to substitute her musical director, all other members of her band recommended this talented guitarist from Brasília to me. However, at that time I have been working for a long time with the guitarist and arranger Luis Brasil, with whom I have recorded Fina Estampa. So I invited him to play with Gal, but I had always in mind Lula’s talent. When we began to record A Foreign Sound I suggested him for Caetano to record Sophisticated Lady, and Caetano loved his playing. When we formed the band for the concerts Caetano asked me to invite him again. For our first European tour with the CST I invited the percussionist Marcelo Costa, my old bandmate from the beginning of my career in the musical group A Barca do Sol, and also Caetano’s drummer on Circuladô and Fina Estampa. For him being so busy, and as he couldn't join us in a next tour, Lula Galvão suggested this young genius of percussion Rafael Barata to me, and he blended so much with our style of music that we kept him till now. His sense of dynamics and particular skills on playing samba made his presence indispensable for our sound.

LJN: As an eclectic artist comfortable in many styles you are in a perfect position to see how different kinds of music suit different atmospheres, people and places. What is it about samba that joins the dots between so many musical styles and why do you think so many great jazz artists from the United States feel so close to Brazilian music?

JM: I could say samba is just universal music with lots of sensuality, swing and beauty. Its rhythm is addictive, and after Jobim and so many others began to treat and complement this rhythm with sophisticated melodic lines and intelligent and inspired harmonic directions, it became irresistible to musicians and music lovers all around the world.

LJN: Do you think film directors have a different sense about music to musicians themselves and if so how hard is to match the two approaches? What specific musical demands for instance in essence did Pedro Almodóvar require of you when you worked with him?

JM: I have worked with Almodóvar only one time, and this was our live performance at his film Hable con Ella (Talk to Her). In this case, we performed the song Cucurucucu Paloma the way we liked to do it, and the way Caetano thought it to us, and Almodóvar was just smiling and enjoying it. I wish some time I can write music for one of his next movies as I am a huge admirer of his cinematography. The answer to your question will vary a lot from one director to the other. Some of them want to be the composer themselves of the whole thing, but as they don’t know how, they invite us then. Some of them like movies with no music at all, and they invite us under a producer’s pressure. I had this funny experience once. And some of them think making music is the easiest thing in the world, so they decide to throw out our hard work very easily and ask for another option, as if that grows on trees. And sometimes we are lucky enough to work with a director who listens to our ideas with an open mind. This is heaven!

LJN: What’s the best and worst thing about touring?

JM: We used to say that playing is not our job. Our job is being away from home and family, dealing with airports, security, traffic jams, hotel receptions, packing and unpacking suitcases, sound-checking, closed restaurants (in Germany and Italy), and not sleeping enough. However, on the other hand, every time we are on the road we miss home badly, and every time we stay a little longer at home we miss the road! (pp)

Jaques Morelenbaum and his Cello Samba Trio play the Pizza Express Jazz Club, London on 24 April.Tickets
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CD REVIEW: Martin Pyne - Behind the mist

April 9, 2017, 12:39 pm
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Martin Pyne - Behind the mist
(Tall Guy Records TGCD007. CD review by Mike Collins

This solo, improvised set on vibraphone by Martin Pyne comes with an advisory: ‘This music is mostly very quiet and should not be over-amplified’. Taking the injunction seriously, I retreated to a quiet room with noise cancelling headphones.

Listen closely and the music swirls and envelops. Nine pieces, inspired we are told, by tales of faeries from the British Isles, unfold and conjure atmospheres, using only the vibes, the very occasional hint of live electronic manipulation of the sound and Pyne’s imagination and speed of thought; each piece was a live improvisation recorded in one take.

Niamh of the Golden Hair tiptoes in. Single notes bloom and hang in the air. Little flurries introduce movement, but the spaces grow and create a sense of anticipation. Yarthkin rustles and patters across the octaves, suddenly bursting into rhythm before sliding away into the mist. Behind the mist plays with call and response and echoes. Repeating motifs and echoes create an insistent momentum with ideas emerging, changing shape and evaporating only to return. Asrai returns repeatedly to a ghostly wow in the lower register in between contrasting skitters and runs. In Spriggans patterns dance around a recurring rhythmic pulse. Minimal electronica in Changeling introduce mystery, before more scampering, teasing and enticing phrases in Will o the Wisp quicken the pulse.

These pieces, together with tenth based on one of Pyne’s own themes, Song for Grace Melbury, are spontaneously improvised, an adventure embarked on apparently after some LUME music sessions. His composer’s sense of development is strong throughout. There’s a conversational feel to them, with a sense of structure and development unfolding with every piece. The production makes the most of the distinctive, delicate nuances of the vibraphone sound. This is as the advisory declares, quiet music, but it is enthralling painting alluring pictures in sound.

Mike Collins is a pianist and writer based in Bath, who runs the jazzyblogman site. Twitter @jazzyblogman
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CD REVIEW: Arne Torvik - Northwestern Sounds

April 10, 2017, 12:00 am
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Arne Torvik - Northwestern Sounds
(Øra Fonogram. CD review by Mike Collins)

Pianist Arne Trovik references his geographic location in Norway with the title of his debut release on Øra Fonogram, but he’s absorbed an international flavour to his music, expressed in the six original compositions on this recording. Trovik leads a sextet through the set with attractive melodies as a constant thread and plenty of nods to relaxed, funky grooves, overtly rocky beats and more meditative folky moments.

Heart starts with a slow rubato statement, Kristoffer Eikrem’s warm sound on trumpet drawing the ear as it does throughout and blending with Martin Myhre Olsen’s alto. Then the bass and and drums of Dan Peter Sundland and Tomas Järmyr kick in and we hear Martin Myhre Olsen’s guitar for the first time re-stating the tune over an easy groove.

Leaving’s chanting theme sets the scene for a gently rocking ballad with a beautifully paced solo from Elkram, swelling over the contours of the emotional tug of the harmony and the band joining in to build to climax. Over the quietly ticking pulse of Once More Olsen stretches out. Oslo S creeps in, the leader’s piano sketching a mood, tracing out a theme and then, after an exploratory bass solo, building a solo, melodic fragments and broken phrases gradually accumulating to build momentum and excitement. After the racing clatter and urgent pulse of Ørsta, Day and Night moves from theme through patiently built solos from Trovik and Olsen to a declamatory climax.

This a warm, emotional set from Arne Torvik and his band with fine playing all round.

Mike Collins is a pianist and writer based in Bath, who runs the jazzyblogman site. Twitter @jazzyblogman
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CD REVIEW: Georgia Mancio/Alan Broadbent - Songbook

April 10, 2017, 12:30 am
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Georgia Mancio/Alan Broadbent - Songbook
(Roomspin Records 1923. CD Review by Jane Mann)

Roomspin are releasing Songbook, a new album of originals by pianist/composer Alan Broadbent and vocalist/lyricist Georgia Mancio on 23rd April 2017, which is also Alan Broadbent’s 70th birthday.

Broadbent has had lyrics written to his music before, most notably by Dave Frishberg (of I’m Hip and Sweet Kentucky Ham fame), and Mancio has provided lyrics for tunes by Pat Metheny and Kate Williams among others, but this is the first album of solely Broadbent compositions with Mancio lyrics - a Georgia Mancio / Alan Broadbent songbook.

The pair first performed together in 2013 as a duo and it went well, so soon they played as a quartet with Oli Hayhurst on double bass and Dave Ohm on drums and percussion. This is the line-up for Songbook.

Broadbent initially invited Mancio to write a lyric for The Long Goodbye, a lovely tune which featured on Charlie Haden’s Quartet West 1991 album Haunted Heart. The lyric she wrote, retitled The Last Goodbye, was inspired by a visit to her late father’s house. It is a moving account of grief and loss. The success of this first collaboration led to the reworking of some of Broadbent’s earlier work. For me The Last Goodbye is the standout song on the album. The piano playing is exquisite, effortlessly melodic and the lyrics are delivered with touching sincerity.

The Journey Home from Broadbent’s 2005 ‘Round Midnight album, is a delightful laid back tune with an imaginative bass solo from Oli Hayhurst. It already sounds like a West Coast standard. One for Bud from the 2009 Pacific Standard Time album, a homage to Bud Powell, is reminiscent of Annie Ross’ Twisted, and features thrilling performances from the whole quartet. There are exciting but brief solos from all the band, and Mancio’s vocal line is a high wire feat. Just Like a Child (originally a 1997 tune called Chris Craft) is another breath-taking musical flight with fantastically dexterous drumming from Dave Ohm, a driving bass and wonderfully intricate piano.

Cherry Tree, with its subtle piano and understated bass and drums, is musically a homage to Tadd Dameron, and its poignant lyrics continue the recurring theme of this album – the passing of time. Where the Soft Winds Blow is a tune from 1964 when, incredibly, Broadbent was 17. It’s a delicate piece with nods to Michel Legrand and a hint of a Californian cocktail lounge at closing time. There are also brand new songs like Hide me from the Moonlight, which at first you think you must have heard before, so redolent it is of a Rodgers and Hammerstein love song, including 1950s style sentimental lyrics. In the same vein, Ella Fitzgerald surely would have chosen to sing Close to the Moon had it been written in time for her. Someone’s Sun could be a Tropicália hit for Baden Powell and de Moraes, with its beguiling bossa nova rhythm and soft sinuous singing. I bet it would sound great in Portuguese.

These are sophisticated well-crafted songs, and the musicianship is outstanding. Georgia Mancio’s singing is appropriately elegant, Alan Broadbent’s playing is immaculate, and Oli Hayhurst and Dave Ohm provide faultless bass and percussion throughout. I would love to hear these songs live.

The quartet are currently touring Europe with Songbook.
Georgia Mancio has London dates in the summer at E17 Jazz, the Crypt and the 606. 

LINK: Podcast Interview with Georgia Mancio about Songbook
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REVIEW: Pete Hurt Orchestra at Jazz Cafe Posk

April 10, 2017, 6:06 am
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The Pete Hurt Orchestra. L-R:Martin Hathaway, Nick Mills, Tony Woods,
Dave Powell, Mick Forster, Pete Hurt
Photo credit: Liz Rawson


Pete Hurt Orchestra
(Way Out West at Jazz Café Posk, 7th April 2017. Review by George Foster)

Way Out West is a collective of musicians based in West London running sessions at the Bulls' Head in Barnes, one of the longest established pub venues in London. There are also monthly sessions at the Cafe Posk in Hammersmith, an adventurous venue in the basement of the Polish Cultural Centre, which has featured visiting Polish musicians such as Krzystof Smietana, Michael Urbaniak, and Urszula Dudziak. Last Friday night the Posk was standing room only for a rare treat - a gig by Pete Hurt's 17-piece orchestra.

I knew of Pete as a regular reed player at the Bull's Head - a fine soloist on tenor in groups led by others, but I soon became aware that he was regarded with awe by other musicians. I found out why when I heard his superb CD A New Start (Trio, 2016). This beautifully recorded album was the first release under Pete's name for over 20 years. He is an outstanding composer and arranger with a mastery of one of the skills that define the difference between a band and an orchestra, namely the ability to "voice" - to obtain a wide range of fresh and surprising music by scoring individual instruments in unusual combinations to produce new and unexpected sounds. It means that the arranger/composer has a much larger repertoire of sounds to draw upon.

The great jazz arrangers, especially Gil Evans, possessed this skill. By adding a tuba and a French horn to the standard brass sections of 3 trumpets and 3 trombones and by having his 4 reed players use a variety of flutes, saxes and a bass clarinet, Pete has a greater and more diverse palette of mixed colours at his disposal, and he really knows how to use them.

Jazz is, in Whitney Balliet's memorable phrase, "the sound of surprise" and the best music plays with our expectations by playing variations and then teasing us with them, unexpectedly doubling or slowing tempo or dynamics. (Think of Monk's Misterioso or Miles' 1963 Stella by Starlight.) Pete's arrangements and original compositions show an advanced capacity to juggle poly-rhythms as in Triangle with its shifts in tempos, rhythms and unusual harmonic changes. The result ón Friday was a constantly shifting feel to his work, which was challenging, always interesting and brought out the best in the soloists and ensemble.

Of the soloists Kate Williams fitted perfectly with the angular but lyrical Triangle, Josephine Davies really shone on tenor on the ballad Thinking of You. The other soloists I would single out included Martin Hathaway, Tony Woods, Mick Foster, John Parricelli, Henry Lowther and Robbie Robson. The rhythm section swung and had a fine grasp on the dynamics of the music and the venue.

There was a samba, (Backfoot Samba), a nod towards funky blues (Forbidden Fruit), a ballad for baritone sax and even a rousing jig-like finale Les Parapluies de Stoke Newington all familiar forms but all doing something unexpected. But if the pieces developed in ways which were challenging and surprising, they were somehow logically and organically growing - never strained or gimmicky.

Does that mean the music was difficult to listen to? Not at all - the packed house loved it and I can't wait to hear them again.

THE PETE HURT ORCHESTRA

Arm Waving (*) (and a fine solo on Forbidden Fruit) – Pete Hurt
Reeds & woodwinds– Tony Woods, Martin Hathaway, Josephine Davies, Mick Foster
French Horn – Jim Rattigan
Trumpets – Noel Langley, Robbie Robson, Henry Lowther
Trombones – Nick Mills, Tom Dunnett, Richard Henry
Tuba – Dave Powell
Piano -Kate Williams
Guitar – John Parricelli
Bass – Andy Cleyndert
Drums – Jon Scott

(*) Pete Hurt's expression

LINKS: Feature about the backround to A New Start
CD review of A New Start
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NEWS: Artists announced for main UNESCO #JazzDay Celebration (All-Star Global Concert, Havana Apr.30th

April 11, 2017, 2:03 am
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The interior of the Gran Teatro de La Habana Alicia Alonso
Photoi credit: Thomas Münter / Creative Commons

The artists have been announced for the All-Star Global Concert. the main event of the sixth celebration of International Jazz Day, which will take place at - and be livestreamed from - the Gran Teatro de La Habana Alicia Alonso. Herbie Hancock and Chucho Valdés are joint artistic directors, and they and UNESCO have assembled an impressive array of names:

The full release text from Jazzcorner.com is as follows:

"The sixth annual International Jazz Day, which will be celebrated worldwide on April 30, 2017 will culminate with an All-Star Global Concert presented at the Gran Teatro de La Habana Alicia Alonso, under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture of Cuba, the Cuban Institute of Music and the Cuban National Commission for UNESCO. The concert will be live streamed on JazzDay.com and will feature an extraordinary array of artists from around the world paying tribute to the international art form of jazz.

The musically vibrant and culturally rich city of Havana, Cuba, has been selected to serve as the 2017 Global Host City, presented each year on April 30th. In partnership with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, International Jazz Day highlights the power of jazz as a force for freedom and creativity, promotes intercultural dialogue through respect and understanding, and unites people from all corners of the globe. The day is recognized on the official calendars of both UNESCO and the United Nations. International Jazz Day programs are made possible by Toyota, the 2017 lead partner.

The All-Star Global Concert will have Herbie Hancock and Chucho Valdés serving as the artistic directors, and John Beasley and Emilio Vega as the evening's musical co-directors. The Concert will feature stellar performances by a truly international roster of artists including:

 Ambrose Akinmusire (United States), Carl Allen, (United States), Marc Antoine (France), Richard Bona (Cameroon), Till Brönner (Germany), A Bu (China), Igor Butman (Russian Federation), Bobby Carcassés (Cuba), Regina Carter (United States), Kurt Elling, (United States), Kenny Garrett, (United States) Herbie Hancock (United States), Antonio Hart, (United States), Takuya Kuroda (Japan), Ivan Lins (Brazil), Sixto Llorente (Cuba), Marcus Miller (United States), Youn Sun Nah (Republic of Korea), Julio Padrón (Cuba), Gianluca Petrella (Italy), Gonzalo Rubalcaba (Cuba), Antonio Sánchez (Mexico), Christian Sands (United States), Esperanza Spalding (United States), Chucho Valdés (Cuba), Ben Williams (United States), Tarek Yamani (Lebanon), Dhafer Youssef (Tunisia), Pancho Amat (Cuba), César López (Cuba) and others, with further details to be announced in the days to follow.

"UNESCO is proud to be associated once again with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, as well as with the Instituto Cubano de la Música to raise the flag for jazz, for freedom, for creativity, for diversity and for unity. This year's focus on Cuba is testament to the power of jazz to build bridges and join women and men together around shared values and aspirations", said Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO.

Many acclaimed musicians and educators from Cuba and around the world will participate in free jazz performances, master classes, improvisational workshops, jam sessions and community outreach initiatives. Programs will take place at schools, arts venues, community centers, jazz clubs and parks across the city of Havana and throughout Cuba beginning on Monday, April 24th and leading up to the festivities on April 30th.

Additionally, jazz history and education programs will be provided for tens of thousands of students in over 11,000 schools across Cuba. These programs will be among the thousands of International Jazz Day live performances, educational activities, and community service programs taking place in more than 190 countries on all continents. Herbie Hancock, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Intercultural Dialogue, said: "Afro-Cuban jazz and its rich history have played a pivotal role in the evolution and enrichment of the entire jazz genre.

The incomparable trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie along with beloved Cuban musicians Mario Bauzá, Machito and Chano Pozo, infused American jazz with Afro-Cuban rhythms to create a brand new, energetic sound that defined modern music. We are so pleased that Havana, Cuba, will serve as the Global Host City for International Jazz Day 2017. On behalf of the worldwide family of jazz musicians, educators and enthusiasts, I would like to thank the citizens of Havana and Cuba for their enormous support of this truly global musical art form."

The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz is once again working with UNESCO and its field offices, national commissions, networks, associated schools, universities and institutes, public radio and public television stations, and NGOs to ensure their involvement and participation in International Jazz Day 2017. Additionally, in countries throughout the world, libraries, schools, universities, performing arts venues, community centers, artists, and arts organizations of all disciplines will be celebrating the day through presentations, concerts, and other jazz-focused programs.

 The celebration in Havana of the International Jazz Day in 2017 marks the seventieth anniversary of Cuba's accession to UNESCO and the foundation of the National Commission for UNESCO."

Release ends

To see the events on Jazz Day or to register events on the official website, visit www.jazzday.com .

LINK: 2014 Interview with Chucho Valdes
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REVIEW: Georgia Mancio / Alan Broadbent Songbook album launch at Ronnie Scott's

April 11, 2017, 3:23 am
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Alan Broadbent, Georgia Mancio in 2016
Photo credit: Carl Hyde


Georgia Mancio / Alan Broadbent Songbook album launch
(Ronnie Scott's. 3rd April 2017. Review by Brian Blain)

What an amazing vibrant a completely sold out Ronnie Scott's last Monday week to welcome Georgia Manciofor her first headline show since she first 'appeared' at the same venue some seventeen or eighteen years ago as a waitress, when she became inspired to follow a musical path in the footsteps of so many of the artists she heard in this most famous of jazz venues. First appearance in the club also for New Zealand born pianist Alan Broadbent, who has worked with Charlie Haden's Quartet West, conducted for Shirley Horn and Diana Krall, and produced a half dozen albums by Natalie Cole as well as accompanying the legendary Irene Kral. Along the way he as acquired Grammy nominations for numerous jazz albums by his own trio and worked alongside major artists such as Michael Brecker and Lee Konitz

As he confided to the audience, he had brought to the table a number of compositions,some years old, written in the classic idiom of the great American song writers, but it had taken Ms Mancio to add the kind of lyrics that he had, perhaps unconsciously, been looking for. For me that meant neither the me-me-me of angsty self absorption of the arty end of contemporary rock song writers nor the 'I Love You and You Love Me' or the Dry Martini wit of the classic Broadway show school of Porter and Rodgers and Hart.

Beginning with a strong melody, The Journey Home, from a Quartet West album, conveyed a characteristically poignant mood that surfaced in several songs: one that was particularly touching The Last Goodbye about waving to an old neighbour through his window while passing by, and then discovering he was no longer there to greet. A small gesture of life affirmation and friendship ended. The inexorable passage of time seems to mean a lot to Mancio and the recent deaths of both her and her partner's fathers also produced strongly affecting pieces.

Forever, however, a slowish waltz made me smile at the thought that 'the young think that they'll stay young forever'-sharp and thought provoking. A jazz bossa, Someone's Sun , and a samba encore allowed bassist Oli Hayhurst - beautiful sound throughout-,and drummer Dave Ohm to really spark and crackle behind Broadbent's Latin-voiced chords. Georgia Mancio does 'bright' as well as anyone and One for Bud, a tribute to piano great Bud Powell , with its fiendishly twisting lyric would have put a smile on Annie Ross's face without a doubt.

On song after song Broadbent just oozed the kind of understated class that derives from complete mastery of virtually every kind of jazz in existence and on Small Wonder it was great to hear Ohm and Hayhurst fall in with the master and produce that mature, relaxed time feel that comes from playing just that more often with your partner-in-rhythm.

A wonderful night of jazz for grown-ups that owed more than a little to the man on the sound desk (Sahan Sapis),and which ended with that kind of applause that made you feel that you had been in on something special.

LINKS: CD Review of Songbook
Podcast interview with Georgia Mancio
Interview with Alan Broadbent from 2014
Review of Quartet West in London in 2011
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REVIEW: Surge In Spring festival at mac, Birmingham

April 11, 2017, 5:57 am
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Sid Peacock and Surge Orchestra at mac, Birmingham, part of the Surge In Spring festival
(Photo credit: Brian Homer)

Surge in Spring festival
(mac, Birmingham, 8 April 2017. Round-up review by Peter Slavid)

A couple of hours up the motorway from London lies the mac, a fine modern arts centre with multiple performance spaces. Surge In Spring was an all-day programme using all the spaces to put on a real variety of music.

For the price of a restricted view seat in the Barbican you could see the four main acts, plus any of the 12 shorter free gigs.

The whole programme was put together by Sid Peacock, leader of the Surge Orchestra. Sid is an imaginative composer, arranger and educator who takes a very broad view of musical styles and this festival reflected that.

Throughout the day there were around a dozen free short sets in either the small Hexagon theatre or the bar, and I could only catch a few of these. The Floe is an all strings folk band that came together at Birmingham Conservatoire, including Ruth Angell and Helen Lancaster, both members of the Surge (Ruth is also Sid Peacock's partner in the Peacock Angell conglomerate). It featured some very delicate arrangements and nice songs. I missed most of the experimental Drawlight that was paired with them and from reports afterwards it sounds like I missed a good one.

The Froe at Surge In Spring
(Photo credit: Brian Homer)
What was impressive about the programme was the sheer variety of it. There were school bands, Asian bands, African and Caribbean bands – music everywhere.

The four main concerts got off to a flying start with a really storming collaboration between the Surge big-band and the Ray Prince Gospel Project. A complete contrast followed with free improv jazz from Paul Dunmall, John O'Gallagher, Mark Sanders and Steve Tromans.

The third concert was a reconstruction of Indo-Jazz Fusions featuring Jonathan Mayer (son of the original creator John Mayer who was a long time teacher in Birmingham). I was a big fan of the first version back in the 1960s, and it's great to see the music being revived and developed, with new versions and new tunes - even if it never really stood a chance of coming up to my nostalgic memories of the original.

The day finished for me with a rare live performance of the full Surge Orchestra performing pieces from its excellent CD La Fête.

I'm very impressed with Surge as a band. In full flight it's a powerful animal with a stonking sound.  Maybe not the most perfect or elegant, but bags of invention and bags of fun. Sid Peacock himself is one of those rare jazz artists who really engages with the audience and brings them in to the performance – he chats, tells stories, bounces around and generally makes sure everyone has fun.

I'm full of admiration for what Sid has achieved in this project, administratively almost more than musically. So many different bands, so many different styles, and so many young people and children enjoying the music. This was a music festival after my own heart, so let’s hope the funders agree to make it an annual event!

  • Surge In Spring was the first Grow Your Own festival, a new initiative in conjunction with Birmingham City University and supported by Arts Council England and mac, Birmingham.
  • Peter Slavid broadcasts a radio programme of European jazz at www.mixcloud.com/ukjazz
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FEATURE: Newport Jazz Weekend (Isle of Wight, 1st - 4th June)

April 11, 2017, 6:53 am
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Newport IoW
Photo credit: Ian Mitchell

Mention the Isle of Wight to people of a certain age and it usually stirs up memories of childhood holidays on golden sandy beaches. To some it is home to one of the world’s most famous sailing events with Cowes week whilst others remember the hippy sixties and the world famous musical festivals. Well the music lingers on but these days it is the annual Newport Jazz Weekend that is stirring up the interest. Ian Mitchell(*) tells us more: 
Started in 2011 by a small group of local jazz enthusiasts the event has gone from strength to strength and is now a recognised feature on the UK jazz calendar. The event is based in the island’s county town which is itself steeped in history. Charles 1 is reputed to have regularly visited the town’s oldest pub, under armed guard, whilst he was held prisoner in Carisbrooke Castle.

Dave Newton
Photo Credit: Ian Mitchell

Much industry has vanished in recent years but the legacy has been put to good use as a former riverside brewery now houses the local Quay Arts Centre where the Anthony Minghella Theatre, named after one of the Island’s more famous sons, is one of the Jazz Weekend venues.

Nick Page
Photo Credit: Ian Mitchell

Event director Jim Thorn said “Newport is the heart of the Island but is very compact. It is very easy to walk between venues and as well as the Arts Centre we have the Apollo Theatre which has superb acoustics having started life as a church. We also use the local Methodist Church and the Minster for some of our main concerts and the town has a buzz with a series of free fringe events dotted around the town.”

Derek Nash
Photo Credit: Ian Mitchell

The Sunday usually sees an event at the local Medina Theatre and last year saw Stacey Kent close the weekend to a standing ovation. This year the organisers have booked the National Youth Jazz Orchestra to play there and with many of their graduates now gracing the scene this is a great opportunity to see some of the names of tomorrow.



The whole weekend is packed with what promises to be a superb event with concerts ranging from Island based guitarist Nick Page premiering his new “Isle of Wight Suite” to the Savoy collection, who are an offshoot of the famous Syd Lawrence Orchestra, who will be performing some big band jazz classics. Zoe Rahman closes the Friday night and the highly popular Lianne Carroll appears on the Sunday.

Liz Fletcher
Photo Credit: Ian Mitchell

Festival favourite Alan Barnes makes two appearances, both co-incidentally jazz brunches, on the Saturday with vocalist Liz Fletcher whilst Sunday sees him with pianist David Newton. There will also be a double appearance from Sax Appeal front man Derek Nash who on Saturday afternoon will be rocking the Apollo Theatre with his Quintet before re-appearing in the evening with fellow Sax Appeal front man, and local boy, Gary Plumley who fronts in a funk style aggregation known as the Alley Cats.
Gary Plumley
Photo Credit: Ian Mitchell

Well those sandy beaches are still there and the Island is easily accessible. There are direct road links to the ferries and bus routes serve the cross Solent foot passenger services. The Island is also well served with hotels for visitor accommodation. The event is timed to fit in with half term so why not combine a traditional beach holiday with some of the best names in jazz.(pp)

(*) Ian Mitchell is an Isle of Wight-based photographer and a member of the Newport Jazz Weekend Committee. He presents a specialist blues and jazz programme on local community radio station Angel Radio Isle of Wight.

Check out Newport Jazz Weekend for details of the full line up, and ticket prices.
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NEWS: 2nd International Jarek Śmietana Jazz Guitar Competition launched (28 Jun – 1st Jul, Kraków)

April 11, 2017, 9:28 am
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Jarek Smietana (photo courtesy of Smietana Competition) 

Mary James writes

The second International Jarek Śmietana Jazz Guitar Competition has just been announced and entrants should apply by 30 April. It is in honour of an indispensible figure in Polish jazz, the guitarist Jarosław (known as Jarek) Śmietana. The Jury includes Mike Stern and John Abercrombie.

Prize money totals around £7000 plus a special prize founded by Anna and Alicja Śmietana.

Entry requirements: a short biography, two audio files and one video file need to be submitted online by 30th April 2017, accompanied by a non-refundable 30 Euro Registration Fee. Entrants must be under 35 years of age. The organisers accept all types of guitars, including acoustic and electric instruments. Candidates will be informed by 15th May if they have progressed through to the next round.

Costs: The semi-finalists and the six finalists who are invited to Kraków will need to cover their own expenses.

Requirements after entry: An important part of the competition will be for the contestants to have included tunes by Jarek Śmietana into both their semi-final and final programmes. Entrants must be under 35 years of age. The organisers accept all types of guitars, including acoustic and electric instruments.

The competition: The Semi-Final auditions and Final rounds will be held in Kraków on 28th June – 1st July. There will be a gala concert finale, and also jam sessions.

In 2015, there were 54 entrants from 21 countries. The winner of the inaugural competition was Szymon Mika from Poland, a musician presently gaining recognition both in Poland and overseas , and who has since recorded an album featuring drummer Ziv Ravitz, and who now studies with Wolfgang Muthspiel.

Mary James, who lives in Gloucestershire, is a jazz promoter working with Maciek Pysz and others. Twitter @maryleamington

LINKS: Competition website  
Entry form 

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RIP Stan Robinson (1936 -2017)

April 11, 2017, 3:12 pm
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Stan Robinson


Saxophonist Stan Robinson died on Sunday 9th April, just five days before what would have been his 81st birthday. He had been treated for heart arrhythmia for some time but his final illness lasted just two days. He had been playing as recently as a couple of weeks ago with Kate Williams at the Princess of Wales Sunday session in Primrose Hill.

He was born in Salford and came to London in 1959. He was at various times a member of the Tubby Hayes Big Band, the Ronnie Ross sextet, the Maynard Ferguson orchestra (for two years including a US tour). He toured with Aretha Franklin, accompanied Dizzy Gillespie, and made two tours of the US with the Charlie Watts Big Band.

This video of him playing at Frank Holder's 91st gives the briefest of glimpses of his strong sound and his natural and clear way of working through harmonic changes:


Geoff Castle has posted this tribute:

'Stan was a wonderful tenor player and he had a great sense of humour. He had many stories to tell, including one about decorating the first Ronnie Scott's Club with Georgie Fame and Ronnie, just days before its opening. He featured at the club on its very first Saturday night and his quartet continued to appear regularly at the club right up until the change of ownership. Stan always spoke his mind in a very forthright way, which didn't always go down well, but underneath the slightly abrasive surface lay a heart of pure gold, a tremendous enthusiasm and massive musical talent. His original tunes were very quirky and a pleasure to play though, sadly, he tended to hide these under a bushel and stick with the standards. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him and played with him. RIP Stan.'

Funeral details will be posted later. In  Sadness.
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PHOTOS: Skelton Skinner All-Star Septet The Odd Couple album launch at UWL in Ealing

April 13, 2017, 6:44 am
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Matt Skelton
Photo credit: Monika S Jakubowska/ MSJ Photography

Photographer Monika S. Jakubowska has come back with a stunning set of photos from the launch of "The Odd Couple" (Diving Duck) , a new CD by the Skelton Skinner All Star Septet - their first CD was for big band -  at the Lawrence Hall of the University of West London in Ealing on Monday April 10th 2017.

The launch gig marked  a return to the same room where the new album was recorded in October 2016. The septet consists of the section leaders from Skelton and Skinner Big Band:  Mike Lovatt (trumpet) Colin Skinner (alto sax/arranger) Alan Barnes (tenor and baritone sax), Gordon Campbell (trombone), Rob Barron (piano), Jeremy Brown (bass) and Matt Skelton (drums).

 Each of the players chose a tune, and Colin Skinner - who  takes his inspiration from great arrangers such as Billy May, Bill Holman and Marty Paich -  arranged the tunes to put a spotlight on each of the soloists in turn.

The Skelton Skinner All Star septet can be heard at the Swansea Jazz Festival on Saturday 17th June and on 27th June in London "a kind of party for us - and the jazz community" as Skelton describes it, at Pizza Express Dean Street. Links below....


L-R: Alan Barnes, Colin Skinner, Mike Lovatt, Gordon Campbell
Photo credit: Monika S Jakubowska/ MSJ Photography


Alan Barnes
Photo credit: Monika S Jakubowska/ MSJ Photography


Mike Lovatt
Photo credit: Monika S Jakubowska/ MSJ Photography


Jeremy Brown
Photo credit: Monika S Jakubowska/ MSJ Photography

Rob Barron
Photo credit: Monika S Jakubowska/ MSJ Photography


Acknowledging the applause at the end
Photo credit: Monika S Jakubowska/ MSJ Photography

LINKS: Diving Duck Records 
Swansea Jazz Festival
Pizza Express Link to follow
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12" SINGLE/ DOWNLOAD REVIEW: Mop Mop – Lunar Love Remixed

April 13, 2017, 8:04 am
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Mop Mop – Lunar Love Remixed
(Agogo Records AR100V.  12” single/digital download - Review by Mark McKergow)

This collection is the latest release from Hannover-based Agogo Records, the outfit behind many interesting new developments on the edges of jazz, afro, funk and electronic dance music (EDM).  The nine tracks here (four also issued on a 12” vinyl release) are remixes of last year’s Lunar Love album by Mop Mop, strongly featuring the gorgeously rich voice of British/Trinidadian poet Anthony Joseph, and are full of brooding atmosphere and intensity. 

Mop Mop (real name Andrea Benini) is an Italian musician, producer and composer currently based in Berlin.  His Mop Mop persona is, slightly unusually for this field, not simply as a one-man producer but also includes a regular group of fellow musicians -  Alex Trebo on piano, Pasquale Mirra on vibraphone, Guglielmo Pagnozzi on sax, Bruno Briscik on bass and Danilo Mineo on percussion.   Mop Mop’s Lunar Love album was released on Agogo Records in May 2016 and garnered a good deal of praise around the world. 

However, this is not a review of that album.  This is a collection of remixes based on tracks from Lunar Love, and so we get a whole other set of voices joining the picture.  Each of the nine tracks here is the work of a different remixer – often a DJ/producer (the lines between those two fields are getting very blurred indeed) who takes the original material and transforms it into a new version.  For those who haven’t heard a remix since the 1980’s 12” extended versions of tunes like Blue Monday, this is not merely an extension of the original, but instead a whole re-collaging of different elements which can change the whole feel of the track. 

Remixers, for those finding their way into these avenues, alleys and snickets, are often to be found on Soundcloud, curating their recordings and output which can usually be streamed free and purchased for download (and perhaps subsequent mashing up, mixing and transforming again).   And in keeping with this new ethos, the whole collection can be streamed free from the Agogo Records website (link above). In most cases here two remixers start from the same base track and produce strikingly different outputs.  

Of these nine remixes lasting a total of 50 minutes, six feature the resonant vocalising of poet Anthony Joseph, and it’s Joseph’s voice which holds this collection together.  Nicola Cruz’s mix of Totem makes a great opener, with Joseph intoning “To be born again” over distinctly African drums and woodwind.  The same track in the hands of DJ Khalab mixes the vocals lower, starting almost trip-hop slow before doubling tempo and gathering momentum with hand drums. 

Kalbata’s take on The Barber, enthusiastically premiered on Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide radio podcast, picks up a dance-friendly 125 beats per minute with dub elements of Joseph’s vocal echoing behind the main groove.  Don’t DJ turns the same material into a sparse almost ambient drumscape with slightly off-time drums adding a lilt which becomes more and more hypnotic.  The Serpent emits funky synth grooves and electro-drums from sUb_modU (perhaps my favourite track) with Joseph’s “Take the dark away, leave me the day” vocals well up. 

Also featured are two remixes of Supreme featuring Nigerian vocalist Wayne Snow, whose lighter voice style makes for a good contrast with Anthony Joseph.  Daisho shows a lightness of touch, flexing Snow’s vocals around marimbas, brass stabs and percussion into a flowing melange that carries us forwards.  French DJ/producer Azaxx  goes for a more free-form marimba workout emphasising the flowing nature of Snow’s vocal lines in a very chilled style.

This is quite possibly the first 12” single to be reviewed on London Jazz News, and  I hope it won’t be the last – there is so much new creativity from the interaction of musicians, DJs and producers that this is the new playing field for those artists wishing to work around the edges and overlaps of musical form, rearranging and recombining material in new ways.  Isn’t that what jazz is?


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CD REVIEW: Charlie Watts and the Danish Radio Big Band - Charlie Watts Meets The Danish Radio Big Band

April 13, 2017, 8:15 am
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Charlie Watts and the Danish Radio Big Band - Charlie Watts Meets The Danish Radio Big Band
(impulse!. CD Review by Patrick Hadfield)

This project grew out of a conversation between flugelhorn player and arranger Gerard Presencer and the Rolling Stones' drummer Charlie Watts. Before the Stones, Watts had spent some time in Denmark, where Presencer had just started working with the Danish Radio Big Band, and they decided to explore Watts' music within this context.

Watts has lead several jazz bands, including a big band in the 1980s, a quintet in the 1990s and his "tentet" in the mid 2000s, many of which have featured his life-long friend, bassist Dave Green, who joins him here, too. Watts expressed his admiration for several jazz drummers with the percussion-rich, rhythm heavy Charlie Watts / Jim Keltner Project, from which Presencer has arranged the two part Elvin Suite. The original is loose and driving, featuring a choir and vocalist. Presencer has given these voices to the Danish Radio Big Band in a consummate soulful arrangement. The second, faster part of the Elvin Suite is a powerful, drum and percussion lead piece that is full of motion - it's hard to stay sitting down listening to this. The Danish Radio Big Band starts growling and finishes roaring.

Several of the other tunes are Jagger/Richards compositions from early in the Stones' career. Faction is Presencer's rearrangement of Satisfaction, taken with a slight Latin lilt. You Can't Always Get What You Want is taken fast and tight, with Presencer's flugelhorn leading the melody over the band riffing. The Hammond-like organ creates a funky feel. Pernille Bevort extended solo on soprano sax ramps you the excitement to a climax. In contrast, Paint It Black is slow and brooding, Per Gade's guitar giving it a moody edge. Presencer's solo is suitably dark and oblique, before Gade cones back with the theme.

They finish with Molasses - not a remake of Brown Sugar, but a Joe Newman tune, transcribed from original Woody Herman charts by Mårten Lundgren. Featuring Kaspar Vadsholt on bass and Søren Frost on drums in addition to Green and Watts, this is a bluesy, blowing number which lets the band stretch out. The double rhythm section power along in a fast shuffle.

Charlie Watts and Gerard Presencer
Photo courtesy of Gerard Presencer

Originally recorded for a radio broadcast in 2010, this CD captures the excitement of the performance. Presencer has worked some magic with the arrangements, breathing new life into otherwise familiar pieces.

Patrick Hadfield lives in Edinburgh, occasionally takes photographs, and sometimes blogs at On the Beat. Twitter: @patrickhadfield.
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REVIEW: Simon Allen Quintet / Nonet at the 606

April 13, 2017, 3:44 pm
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Steve Rubie introducing the band for the first set

Simon Allen Quintet/ Nonet 
(606 Club. 12th April 2017. Review by Sebastian Scotney)

This gig brought to my mind a scene from Moliere's The Miser (Act 3 Scene 1). The character Maitre Jacques gets so irked that he has to act as both cook and driver for his cheapskate boss, he insists on putting a different hat on for each role, and makes it clear that he will only take instructions for one of his jobs at any one time.

So, why has this review started with a random and even obscure French lit tangent? Because, for jazz musicians, what is required, what is completely normal is the exact opposite of Maitre Jacques: they are expected to combine all of their roles, and to function in them and to traverse from one to another seamlessly, and do them all well, and in public, and in real time.

And if that is true in general, it is particularly true for Simon Allen. He has a particularly assured and structured way - even when struggling with a cold as he was last night - of simultaneously occupying of all of his many roles: alto saxophonist, tenor saxophonist, bandleader, arranger, composer, and Head of Jazz at the Purcell School. Last night he seemed to required to act as stage manager and librarian too. As well as general enthuser and inspirer of some ferociously talented young players, with the additional pressure of some parents looking on...(is that ten functions or eleven?)

As an alto player Allen has a strong, full and penetrating lead alto sound, and astonishing technical facility. On tenor he also gives that sense of things being said definitively. I was reminded of the sheer persuasiveness of the sound of, say, George Adams.

For the first half he was - apart from one exception - with his regular quintet, playing originals and specifically crafted arrangements.  Trumpeter Martin Shaw was his eloquent self, often delighting himself - and the audience -  in inserting those unexpected unobvious "out" notes into a line. Tom Cawley is another constant source of unexpected delight. Drummer Mike Bradley navigated all of the tricky twists and turns in Allen's arrangements without flinching or straying.

The exception in the band, in place of regular electric bassist Laurence Cottle, was an 18-year old player who is something of a phenomenon, Manchester-born Seth Tackaberry. He just seemed completely in command, whether joining in the rapid-fire bebop head to Vincent Herring's Folklore, or chordal soloing, or punctuating and grounding a Tom Cawley right hand solo - both of those on Three's a Crowd. He's hugely impressive, certainly a name to watch out for....and he hasn't even started at music college yet (!)

Seth Tackaberry
I heard a little of the second half in which four more young jazz musicians still at the Purcell School  were added. They really are top talents: Alexandra Ridout has already won BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year. Sean Payne is being casually referred to as the next Nigel Hitchcock, a by-word among London sax players for "watch out." and there were a trombonist and baritone saxophonist too (names please?). The proficiency and assurance of all of these young players is both inspiring and daunting. And Simon Allen is clearly helping them all to aim very high indeed.

The nonet in the second half 
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