Randy Weston (above) was there, folding his lanky 90-year-old frame onto a stool at a baby grand and smiling as his longtime sidemen, double bassist Alex Blake and saxophonist/flautist T.
So widespread is the phenomenon of the jazz festival throughout Europe that it is easy to forget that older forms of black music also command the faithful from Sicily to Scandinavia.
There are certain people who have fallen under the radar as far as popular recognition is concerned, but ask any Soho-ite or working musician and they will confirm their admiration and respect for pianist Kenny Clayton.
The synergy between ex-prog rock guitarist Johnathan Kreisberg’s quartet and The Spin audience in Oxford was palpable during what was only one of three UK stops on his European tour.
The Jazz Repertory Company presents ‘100 Years of Jazz… in 99 minutes’ – a conceit that needs substantiation, surely? How can an ensemble numbering just six at its peak convey the onward rush of jazz development in all its shapes and sizes from its earliest origins to the present day in a mere 99 minutes? A fallacy, something for Trade Standards to check, wouldn’t you say? Can it be true? Well, having seen these spirited players at work before, and having again witnessed their heady mix of...
Captivating, insightful, lyrical, Gwilym Simcock's 'Jaco Pastorius Project’, featuring the exceptional pianist alongside bass guitar virtuoso Laurence Cottle and much in-demand drummer James Maddren, artfully explored the inner workings of Pastorius’ music in a performance of quite breathtaking beauty and, at times, startling power.
It’s a well known fact that guitarists go to hear other guitarists, and this concert in support of International Jazz Day was no exception at the Restaurant in the Park, Leamington Spa– several locally respected contemporary and blues axemen in the capacity audience showed their approval.
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Guitarist Ant Law has made two very well received albums and toured with quintets, so it’s a new departure for him being out on the road with only drummer Asaf Sirkis and double bassist Conner Chaplin, the latter recently heard in Oxford as part of Laura Jurd’s Dinosaur.
With Motown The Musical at the Shaftesbury and Soul: The Untold Story Of Marvin Gaye at the Hackney Empire the capital’s theatres are vibrating to the sound of black music.
