London-based saxophonist Tom Smith has a new double album ‘Drifter Days’ with a trio led by Czech pianist Daniel Bulatkin. The launch will be at Pizza Express Dean Street on Monday 23 May. ‘drifter days’ was recorded after a nineteen-date tour of venues and festivals both large and small in the Czech Republic in 2019, … Read more
Hermeto Pascoal and the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (St Andrew’s Hall, Norwich – 13 May 2022. Review by John Arnett) Hermeto Pascoal, Jovino Santos Neto, members of NYJO. Photo (from Barbican concert) credit Tom Howard/Barbican It would be hard to imagine a more exhilarating and celebratory opening night than this one, the first concert of … Read more
Vocalist, actor, entertainer. West Midlands-born Richard Shelton has a complex relationship with Frank Sinatra. Captivated from a young age, he developed an affinity with Ol’ Blue Eyes that has lasted a lifetime. He has played the part of Sinatra in ‘Sinatra: RAW’ and ‘Rat Pack Confidential’, performances which won him acting awards both in the … Read more
Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers With Thelonious Monk Deluxe Edition (Atlantic R2 670841/RHINO 603497842384, released May 20. Album review by Leonard Weinreich)When some empty head on TV exclaims “I’m going to raise my performance up to another level”, wave this album vigorously at the screen. More than any other, it defines the real meaning of ‘another … Read more
This first article appeared at All About Jazz on May 13, 2006. It’s a warm October Saturday, the first year of the new Century. Small leaf storms are rising into the cloudless blue sky. The early autumn peace is broken by the news in the paper that Betty Carter has died in New York City … Read more
By Paul Acquaro British saxophonist John Butcher is no stranger to Berlin. Linked to the Echtzeit scene that emerged during the heady days of post re-unification Germany in the abundant derelict spaces that served as breeding grounds for creativity. Butcher, on the occasion of this 65th birthday, held a short residency in November 2019 at … Read more
Visit a pro audio retailer and almost every studio monitor speaker you see will have amplification built in. But visit a high-end audio store and you’ll see mostly old-school passive speakers, which have to be connected to an amplifier. Audio production professionals might wonder why the consumer audio industry hasn’t embraced a technology that’s been … Read more
Kirk MacDonald, Derrick Gardner, Lorne Lofsky, Brian Dickinson, Neil Swainson, Bernd Reiter & Virginia MacDonald (Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, 11 May 2022. Live review by Charles Rees) The Canadian Jazz Collective (LR: Brian Dickinson, Virginia MacDonald, Lorne Lofsky, Derrick Gardner, Neil Swainson, Kirk MacDonald & Bernd Reiter). Photo credit: Robert Crowley The modern jazz audience … Read more
Matchbox Bluesmaster Series (Set 7: MSESET7 – 6 CDs – Album Review by Chris Parker) Disc 1: Lonnie Johnson Vol. 2 1927–32 Disc 2: The Famous Hokum Boys 1930–31 Disc 3: Songsters and Saints Vol. 1a 1925–31 Disc 4: Songsters and Saints Vol. 1b 1925–31 Disc 5: Songsters and Saints Vol. 2a 1925–31 Disc 6: … Read more
Steve Lacy was once a brilliant bebop player. Yet conventional wisdom says the opposite. Many have long argued that a key to the innovative soprano saxophonist’s stubborn originality over a 50-year career was precisely the fact that he never Played bebop, the common-practice language of jazz since about 1950. The Lacy creation myth unfolds like … Read more