Inhaltsverzeichnis für February 2023 in Jazzwise

A stellar line-up is set to appear at the 10th anniversary of Europe’s biggest outdoor jazz festival when Love Supreme returns from 30 June – 2 July 2023. Following its record-breaking post-pandemic return in 2022, which saw over 60,000 music fans in attendance across the weekend, the Love Supreme Jazz Festival has announced the first wave of artists confirmed to perform at Glynde Place in East Sussex. The three-day event will feature a host of stars from across the worlds of jazz, soul and R&B, including Grammy-winning bassist and vocalist Thundercat; bassist, producer, bandleader and close Miles Davis collaborator Marcus Miller; legendary soul singer Candi Staton; the father of Ethiopian jazz Mulatu Astatke; internationally-acclaimed Blue Note alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins; US gospel-soul trio Gabriels and multimillion-selling, Grammy-winning American soul group…

1 One Down, One Up: Live at the Half Note (1965) by John Coltrane “This concert is some of the most inspirational playing for me. John Coltrane has a way of centering himself in the music where you can hear the intense amount of focus that can only come from a deep meditative state on the bandstand. The chemistry, the listening, and the rhythmic propulsion of the quartet is at a peak for me on this album and they seem to not be able to lose.” 2 When I Get Home (2019) by Solange “Solange is one of my favourite writers and composers. I had the opportunity to work with her for a brief amount of time in 2017, and it changed my life. Seeing how involved she was with…

1923 was the year when the nascent record industry really opened up to black music. The first-ever discs of Jelly Roll Morton and King Oliver all happened in the spring, slightly preceded by the debut of Bessie Smith. Of course, blues of a rather theatrical kind had been available on disc for three whole years, beginning with the unrelated Mamie Smith (11 years older than Bessie) who achieved the first best-selling single by a black vocalist with her second 78 release, ‘Crazy Blues’. Bessie herself had been a singer and dancer in touring shows since around 1910, when she was in her late teens, and there were rumours in the press about her making records as early as 1921, but nothing has ever surfaced. When the call went out from…

Anglo-Trinidadian vocalist, Tessa Souter, whose distinctive style of jazz evokes Andalusian Spain, North Africa and the Middle East, as well as Celtic folk music, is set to play two intimate shows at the Pheasantry in Chelsea on 20-21 January 2023. She’ll be joined by talented UK players Conor Chaplin (bass) and Jim Watson (piano) plus New York drummer Billy Drummond, who rarely gets to the UK (the last time was with Carla Bley's Lost Chords around 14 years ago). Described by Jazzwise’s own Peter Quinn as “utterly compelling… stunningly original”, this is a great chance to hear Souter up-close-and-personal on these UK shows. For more info visit www.tessasouter.com/gigs/…

Winterspring, the debut album from the California-born, Prague-based vocalist, songwriter and teacher Allison Wheeler, announced itself as one of the standout vocal releases of 2022. Wheeler’s lyrical sound-world appears to draw from multiple stylistic wells, from the piano music of Debussy and Ravel (as evidenced by the beautiful interlocking piano lines heard at the beginning of ‘Love’) and subliminal folk influences heard on songs such as ‘Nosedive’, ‘Ophelia’ and a setting of the celebrated Yeats poem ‘The Song of Wandering Aengus’ (the result of an online songwriting class with Becca Stevens), to more overt jazz influences such as the rhythmic fluidity of ‘Something Good’ which calls to mind the work of Gretchen Parlato. Speaking via a Zoom call from Prague, Wheeler cites two important touchstones in terms of her own…

Samuel Blaser Routes Yellow Bird/Enja Premiered at 2019’s Tampere Jazz Happening, the Swiss trombonist Blaser’s tribute to Skatalites rude boy and fellow T-boner Don Drummond is colourful and positively skanking; ably supported by MC-ing altoist Soweto Kinch and keyboardist Alex Wilson, there’s an added bonus of Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry dubs remixed just before he passed away in 2021. Patricia Brennan More Touch Pyroclastic Records One of the more original vibraphone/marimba players around, Patricia Brennan’s group creates an intriguing soundworld from a mix of pulsating percussion inspired by her Mexican roots and Afro-Cuban music (featuring Marcus Gilmore and percussionist Mauricio Herrera no less), avant-chamber classical and spooky electronica. Sarah Elizabeth Charles’ SCOPE Blank Canvas Stretch Music/Ropeadope Records For all her earnest intent, this young Brooklyn-based chanteuse and her songs are curiously…

Classical BROUGHT TO YOU BY Vadym Kholodenko Rzewski – The People United Will Never Be Defeated! Quartz Beethoven’s early Variations on a Russian Dance from the ballet Das Waldmädchen by Wranitzky has rarely been played better. Vadym Kholodenko’s ear-tickling trills and textural transparency in the opening theme set the stage for the intimate, subtle and crisply detailed playing to come. Note how he articulates rapid scales so that the notes are individually distinct yet still smoothly connected. I once asked the late composer-pianist Frederic Rzewski if he had ever imagined just how many young virtuosos would be taking up his monumental set of variations on Sergio Ortega’s Chilean resistance anthem The People United Will Never Be Defeated!. His main concern was that pianists bring something new to the table, infusing…

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) Anat Cohen's inspirations, plus spiritual jazz saxophonist Nat Birchall in concert (28 Jan) The best in jazz - past, present and future (4 Feb) The best in jazz - past, present and future (11 Feb) Nina Simone 90th Birthday Special (18 Feb) Rising star pianist Rebecca Nash in session (25 Feb) Jazz Record Requests (Sun, 4pm) Freeness with Corey Mwamba (Sat, Midnight) 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,…

Piano luminary Brad Mehldau is to issue his first full album of Lennon and McCartney songs on 10 February on Nonesuch Records. The live solo album, Your Mother Should Know – Brad Mehldau Plays The Beatles, was recorded in September 2020 at Philharmonie de Paris, and will feature the pianist-composer’s interpretations of nine songs by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and one by George Harrison. Although other Beatles songs have long been staples of Mehldau’s solo and trio shows, he has not previously recorded any of the tunes on Your Mother Should Know; the album ends with David Bowie's 'Life on Mars' that establishes a connection between The Beatles and the classic pop songwriters who followed in their wake. Commenting on the release, the 52-year-old pianist said: “There is an…

Welcome to our first issue of the year - it’s never an easy one to work on as it’s started in the tail end of December then finished in that fuzzy first week of January, but deadlines wait for no one. If you’re struggling to find things to get excited about amid the ongoing crises at home and abroad then look no further than the music and musicians within these pages. It certainly looks like it'll be a big year for our cover star, Lakecia Benjamin, who’s been steadily building a reputation as a player both technically assured and one whose spiritual and emotional strength matches her striking sound and vision. She also came back from a terrible car accident in 2021, which makes her latest release, Phoenix, all the…

We kick off our new monthly record shop column with a visit to Sound Records in Stroud. First opened in a tiny retail unit in 2018, the shop's current location in the town centre on 23 George Street, enables it to stock more than 5,000 records, CDs, and books; you can even get a coffee, served by local barista legend Noni. Owner Tom Berry explains how jazz is increasingly a key part of the shop’s focus: “Although we sell across all genres, jazz is one of the areas we have greatest passion for. We're always seeking new collections, so if you're looking to offload do get in touch as we are very transparent and pay fair prices for good quality vinyl! "We have everything from classic bebop through to the…

• SCARBOROUGH JAZZ FESTIVAL IS BACK IN 2023 The popular Scarborough Jazz Festival is set to return for its 2023 edition from 22 to 24 September. The full line up will be announced soon, but as always you can expect three days of top-class jazz at the highly accommodating Scarborough Spa Day, Afternoon and Evening tickets will be available to purchase later this winter. For more info visit www.scarboroughspa.co.uk/scarborough-jazz-festival-2023 • NORMA WINSTONE TRIO AND LAW/HITCHCOCK FOR STAPLEFORD GRANARY There are some more notable jazz nights happening at Stapleford Granary, near Cambridge, among their varied music programmme that also includes folk and classical music. This month’s featured artists, Ant Law and Alex Hitchcock appear on 22 January in a high-flying quartet with bassist Ferg Ireland and drummer Ernesto Simpson; while Brit-jazz…

Tom Ford divides his time between land and water. Situations like his – home in Birmingham, a boat in South East London – are an increasingly popular way of existing in the capital: a cheaper, more solid option in a place where soaring rents and insecure work rules. Around the quays, Ford meets all kinds of people in a similar position – videographers, dancers, directors, even the former trumpet player from Simply Red. “There's also a kind of nostalgic pull, I guess,” says Ford, more positively, from his Birmingham base. “In a way, it’s quite bucolic.” Diving into nostalgia is something central to Ford’s music. An in-demand session player popping up with Poppy Ajudha, Chris Dave, and Reuben James, the guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer returns to the solo picture…

Landmark Recording Excellent Good Average Disappointing Matt Anderson Quartet The Town And The City Hidden Threads HTR-001 (CD, DL) Matt Anderson (ts, ss, bv), Alberto Palau (p), Will Harris (b, el b) and Jay Davis (d). Rec. May 2021 Matt Anderson’s CV includes working alongside the trumpeter Laura Jurd in his Wildflower Sextet. Now a Dankworth Prize-winning composer and London-based jazz teacher at the Royal Academy of Music, the North Yorkshireman’s third album sees him explore the live, small-group tradition of Wayne Shorter’s Speak No Evil and Sonny Rollins’ Saxophone Colossus. His classicist sense of melody and often airy, European sensibility show different roots, ‘Ode to Europe’ opening with a Beethovenian piano flourish by Alberto Palau, who then matches Jay Davis’s steaming bop momentum in the engine room of a…

Landmark Recording Excellent Good Average Disappointing Louis Armstrong The Uncollected Singles 1955-1961 Jasmine JASMCD2753 (CD) Louis Armstrong (t, v) with his All-Stars and various bands, Hal Mooney, Russell Garcia and Erwin Halletz (cond) plus Red Nichols (t), Duke Ellington (p), Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Danny Kaye, Nina & Fredrik, Velma Middleton and Gabriele (v). Rec. 28 September 1955–3 April 1961 A glance at that personnel listing tells you this is a leftover from the Christmas market and, discographically, it’s a nightmare that hardly merits unravelling beyond the scant details in its booklet. The singles in question are from a variety of labels, American and European, including items that were excerpted from albums and film soundtracks; and – while many but not all of the B-sides are omitted – in the case…

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

Award-winning vocalist Georgia Cécile is to join the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra on a four-date tour of Scotland towards the end of February. Glasgow-born Cécile, who won UK Jazz Act of the Year and Vocalist of the Year at the Jazz FM awards last October, and who is a former Jazzwise One to Watch, released her debut album, Only the Lover Sings, to much acclaim in 2021. She has already appeared at prestigious venues including the Royal Albert Hall, where she opened at four sold-out nights for Gregory Porter, and has headlined her own show at Ronnie Scott’s. The concerts with the SNJO, entitled This Is A Communion, continue Cécile's partnership with pianist and composer Euan Stevenson who will be writing and orchestrating a complete concert of new compositions specially…

Irish traditional folk singer Cathy Jordan, who’s well known for her long involvement in the band Dervish, has teamed up with pianist Liam Noble and percussionist Paul Clarvis for a new folk-meets-jazz collaborative album, Freight Train. Released on 6 January via the Village Life imprint, the album is the result of sessions that happened remotely in lockdown and then were completed live in the studio in 2022. Born in County Roscommon, Ireland, Jordan is an accomplished singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist while leading UK jazz musicians Noble and Clarvis have previously released their album Starry Starry Night (2009). The new group set out on a series of live dates at the following venues: 1000 Trades, Birmingham (6 Jan); Vortex, Gillett Square, London (7 Jan); The Stade, East Hastings Sea Angling Association…

The National Youth Jazz Orchestra will celebrate the music of Ray Charles in a special collaboration with renowned soul-jazz singer Tommy Blaize on a UK tour in March and April 2023. The 19-piece band features some of the most talented young jazz musicians in the UK who, alongside Blaize (currently the voice of the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, and with a CV that includes work with Diana Ross to Queen, The Beach Boys, Amy Winehouse, Joe Cocker, and Stevie Wonder) collectively salute Charles, who is regarded as the godfather of soul. Tour dates are: Taunton Brewhouse, Somerset (3 Mar); Repertory Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent (4 Mar); Stoller Hall, Manchester (10 Mar); Norwich Playhouse, Norwich (16 Mar); The Concorde, Eastleigh (26 Mar); The Apex, Bury St Edmunds (30 Mar); Woolwich Works, London (1…

In early December 2022, the National Jazz Archive (NJA) announced the appointment of a new Executive Chair of its Board of Trustees, with Mark Kass taking up the role at the NJA Annual General Meeting when the previous Chair, Paul Kaufman, stepped down after eight years. Kass (pictured left), formerly CEO of the Jazz Centre UK (the Southend-based local jazz museum that acts as a satellite archive of the NJA) is currently the Founder and Festival Director at not-for-profit jazz development agency London East Jazz Network CIC, where his responsibilities include leading a team of volunteers across live event curation, jazz promotion, local community engagement and audience development. He is also a Board member of the Jazz Promotion Network, the national trade body for jazz; and is Chair of Governors…

Play through pain is an expression frequently heard in the world of sports, but it resonates powerfully with musicians, too. The physical demands that are placed on any artist by an instrument they seek to master are all too real, as limbs and lips do not ache and swell without reason. If the mind and spirit are willing, then the flesh can ill afford to be weak. Given such provisos a nightmare scenario for any bandleader or accompanist is serious injury. This is precisely what befell Lakecia Benjamin. The alto saxophonist was involved in a major car accident in September 2021 that left her more with more than whiplash or minor cuts and bruises. “Yeah, my jaw was broken… first it was dislocated, and then became fractured,” she tells me…

Soweto Kinch/LSO White Juju LSO Live (DL, with LP planned for release in April 2023) Soweto Kinch (ts, as, ss), Rick Simpson (p), Nick Jurd (b), Gregory Hutchinson (d), Lee Reynolds (cond) and the London Symphony Orchestra. Rec. November 2021 With 2019's The Black Peril, saxophonist, rapper, composer and former history student Soweto Kinch further stretched the list of cultural references, artform hybrids, genre fusions from ragtime to hip hop, and experiments with instrumentation that had been blossoming in his work for a decade. Now comes White Juju, recorded live at the 2021 EFG London Jazz Festival with a powerful transatlantic jazz quartet framed by the London Symphony Orchestra's chamber ensemble, and themes reflecting a world jolted out of habit by lockdown, Black Lives Matter, crises of policing, and much…

Phil Seamen ‘Percussion Genius’: Legendary Rebel and Born Raver Peter Dawn Brown Dog Books HB £45 Blessed with a prodigious natural talent from a very young age; held in the highest esteem by drum giants Philly Joe Jones, Kenny Clarke, Buddy Rich and Ginger Baker; and the first-call drummer for the UK’s top big bands and modern jazz ensembles from the late 1940s to the late 60s, Phil Seamen was dubbed ‘the greatest jazz drummer in Europe’ before chronic drug use led to his early demise 50 years ago. Recent decades have seen fellow Brit-jazz trailblazers Ronnie Scott and Tubby Hayes lauded worldwide. Now’s the time to give the drummer some. Running to more than 750 pages and illustrated with 300 rare photos, press cuttings and memorabilia (and with a…

Write in to us here at Letters Dept, Jazzwise Magazine, St Jude’s Church, Dulwich Road, London SE24 0PB or email letters@jazzwise.com More of your memories of Cootie Williams needed… I’ve enjoyed Val Wilmer’s writings and photography immensely over the years. I’m writing a biography of Cootie Williams and Val’s story in the last issue on Edmond Hall was very interesting, as Williams and Hall were bandmates in the band of Alonzo Ross and I have a copy of the interview that Val did in the August 1967 issue of Jazz Journal titled ‘Cootie Williams talks to Valerie Wilmer’. I was wondering if Val or any Jazzwise readers had any stories about Cootie and what your impressions of him were; I did a presentation covering Cootie’s years as a bandleader for…