Jazzwiseの November 2022 の目次

The full EFG London Jazz Festival’s 30th birthday programme has now been announced, and runs from 11-20 November; spanning the capital’s concert halls and clubs and performance spaces in between. Newly added shows include a double header of Nubiyan Twist and Secret Night Gang at KOKO (17 Nov), the highly spontaneous Moment’s Notice improv session at The Wilds, (13 Nov) plus a second show of Lady Blackbird at The Broadway Theatre (19 Nov), both in the borough of Barking & Dagenham; there are also free shows presented by Total Refreshment Centre, J to Z Live and Kinetika Bloco among others. Distinct themes are woven throughout this year’s event, including the Beyond Margins strand highlighted by the Generations of Chicago Weekend at the Barbican (12-13 Nov), featuring the return of the…

At the time of writing UK Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s cavalier “mini budget” has caused a run on the pound, interest rates to head northwards and exacerbate a cost-of-living crisis that has barely begun. During such times, jazz and music in general can almost pale into insignificance – but this is the stuff that feeds the soul and keeps us going even in the most challenging of times – the pandemic proved that. So it’s remarkable to see the return of the EFG London Jazz Festival, this month celebrating its 30th birthday and improvising, enlightening and entertaining in the face of adversity once again. Yet this gathering of international names isn’t to be taken for granted, as one the festival’s headliners, Camilla George, explains in this issue, the very real consequences…

Spiky jazz-rock foursome Let Spin are set to mark their decade together with a new album, Thick As Thieves, released on 18 November on Efpi Records, and a multi-date UK tour. Formed in 2012, Let Spin combine the angular sax work of Chris Williams, the supple post-rock guitar stylings of Moss Freed, the sophisticated bass guitar of Ruth Goller and rumbling rolling beats of drummer Finley Panter, on sounds that have as much to do with the New York downtown scene of the late 1990s/early noughties, as they do the melodic Brit-jazz of Polar Bear and Loose Tubes. The band support the release with a UK tour for 2022 and 2023, dates are: Flute and Tankard, Cardiff (30 Nov); Metronome, Nottingham (1 Dec); Hexagon Theatre, MAC, Birmingham (2 Dec); Gregson…

1 Innervisions by Stevie Wonder “This album is one of my favourites, and always in heavy rotation on my turntable/phone. Stevie is one of the best song writers to ever have lived, and his balance between singable melodies and clever harmonic movement is unmatched in 'pop'-leaning music. As an artist who often takes on performing tracks solo, Stevie is an idol for me.” 2 What Cha Gonna Do For Me by Chaka Khan “Big soul bangers full of great riffs, and always something to belt out in the shower. This album never ceases to cheer me up and lift me through the day, so I tend to stick this on when I’m feeling low. I have my mum to thank for my love of 1980s soul.” 3 Shri Camel by…

This year, Pelin Opcin, the director of the EFG London Jazz Festival is in upbeat mood. After two years when she and her team have made every effort to keep the festival running, 2022 sees a return to the size and scale of the event as it was up until 2019. It stretches across London, taking in the big venues of the South Bank, the Barbican, and Cadogan Hall, as well as Kings Place, together with an array of clubs and smaller locations that do not just include obvious names like Ronnie Scott’s, the Pizza Express chain and the Jazz Cafe, but Karamel 22 in the Wood Green/Hornsey area, the Woolwich Works, London Grand Junction in Paddington and the Jazz Cafe Posk in Ravenscourt Park, not to mention that old…

Sound and vision is a meaningful combination. After all, the eye and the ear often work as one. When Henry Threadgill presented the dual shows One and The Other One in New York earlier this year, the audience may have been intrigued by his own exploration of these senses, for the ambitious multi-media project featured a band, pre-recorded spoken word, live recital and still images. An ordinary gig this was not. The performance was both logistically complex and exciting for its presentation of many facets of Threadgill’s world, but its breadth of content comes from a long way back. “I’ve always been interested in a lot of things. A lot of installation work resonates with me, it’s very important in terms of what my thinking is about,” he says on…

“People always want to put you in a box! I was at the Vortex and this very great jazzer came up, he says ‘I didn’t expect to see you in a place like this.’ Why not? Do they think I’m mainstream or something?” Geoff Eales laughs, good humouredly, but with a frustrated edge. Perhaps his years in theatre, film and radio, for every one from Joe Loss to Michael Ball, from cruise ships to Carreras, from Kiri te Kanawa to, um, Les Dawson, lead some to question his jazz ‘credibility’, what ever that curious phrase may mean. Yet nobody questions that notion more than Eales himself. Like all artists, he constantly asks ‘Am I the best musician I can be?’ Indeed, the question became so insistent that after 15 years'…

Claudia Acuña Duo Ropeadope RAD667 (CD, LP, DL) Claudia Acuña (v), Regina Carter (vn), Russell Malone (g), Kenny Barron, Fred Hersch, Carolina Calvache, Arturo O’Farrill (p) and Christian McBride (b). Rec. date not stated A new recording from Chilean vocalist Claudia Acuna is always cause for celebration, doubly so when it’s as thoughtfully programmed and lovingly performed as Duo. The new album, which follows her outstanding, Latin Grammy-nominated Turning Pages released in 2019, sees Acuna exploring a fascinating song list which ranges from ‘Medianoche’ (featuring the great Kenny Barron), penned by the illustrious songwriting partnership of fellow Chileans Patricio Manns and Horacio Salinas, to a transfixing – and entirely a cappella – version of Chick Corea’s ‘Crystal Silence’. One of more than 300 songs written by the Cuban singer-songwriter and…

Brew Moore Special Brew SteepleChase SCCD 36042 (CD) RECOMMENDED Brew Moore (ts), Harold Goldberg (p, alto hn), Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (b) and Alex Riel (d). Rec. 15 October, November 1961 It was US tenor man Brew Moore who famously stated, “Anybody who doesn’t play like Pres [Lester Young] is wrong” – and that said, set out to play like his idol. Only he didn’t… well, not exactly. On this hugely pleasing 1961 showing, his playing was certainly Pres-like, but at one remove, much in the same way as that other great Lesterian, Stan Getz. The flow of ideas marks Moore out, his unhurried phrasing and seemingly endless ability to invent coherent variations on standard tunes and bebop staples like ‘Yardbird Suite’, clearly out of the top drawer. And he swings…

Times Remembered: The Final Years of the Bill Evans Trio Joe LaBarbera and Charles Levin University of North Texas Press HB $24.95 LaBarbera was Bill Evans’ last drummer for some 20 months until the leader’s death, coverage of which period in both official and bootleg releases was more voluminous than for almost any other group in jazz history. The listing in the present book demonstrates this graphically, and the background to some of the live performances is discussed in the main section. But, while this publication has several things going for it, its actual text is comparatively slight and some of that is about the history of LaBarbera, his family and his pre-Evans career. On the plus side, the author writes well about the mechanics of working with the legendary…

BROUGHT TO YOU BY SONGLiNES Liraz Roya Glitterbeat Records (43 mins) Persian-Israeli pop singer unveils her best record yet Liraz was a Songlines cover star in 2020 courtesy of her sophomore album Zan, a border-busting work in which shimmering electro-pop met pulsing dance rhythms and retro Persian sonics. Several Iranian musicians also collaborated anonymously online, risking imprisonment or worse. Such cultural activism, along with her singular sound and live performances, helped win Liraz the Best Artist award in the 2021 Songlines Music Awards. A hard act to follow, indeed, but Liraz has outdone herself – her new third album Roya is easily her best recording yet. Recorded in top secret in a basement in Istanbul with her Israeli sextet and the same clutch of anonymous men and women from Tehran…

Casio is releasing its newest model in the Privia PX-S7000 collection. First introduced in 2003, the Privia is a full-sized digital piano, which combines great features and a sleek design. Made from a wood/resin hybrid material, the piano features two headphone outputs, a pedal output, three jack line outputs, USB Type A and B outputs and a mic in connector. The pianos are available either with stand, at a weight of 28.1kg; or without at 14.9kg. The latest Privia is available in mustard yellow, black or white. The mustard yellow version is particularly pleasing, standing out colourfully from other digital pianos, costing ?2,249, while the black and white models cost ?2,099. The PX-S7000 is an agreeable-sounding option for those looking for a piano which looks stylish at home on a…

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 Order online…

The extraordinary life of trailblazing saxophonist Albert Ayler, who remains an important influence among jazz and experimental musicians long after his death, is explored in an important new biography, Holy Ghost: The Life and Death of Free Jazz Pioneer Albert Ayler by Richard Koloda, to be published by Jawbone on 15 November. Ayler's turbulent, often polarising, music career and life, which lasted a brief 34 years, has been subject to myth and rumour right from his debut free jazz recording, Witches And Devils in 1964, through his 1964/5 dates for ESP (including the highly acclaimed, landmark album Spiritual Unity, which featured at No.28 in Jazzwise's The 100 Jazz Albums That Shook The World book) to his recordings for the Impulse! label, which signed him following a recommendation by John Coltrane.…

The Guinness Cork Jazz Festival returns for its 44th edition with a wide range of international artists on the Irish Bank Holiday Weekend from the 27-30 October. Among the highlights are two legendary Brazilian acts, iconic multi-instrumentalist Hermeto Pascoal (pictured) and beloved jazz-funk trio Azymuth, plus the Irish debut performance from exciting Brazilian piano virtuoso Amaro Freitas. Further shows include appearances by Brandee Younger, Jeff Parker X Alabaster dePlume, Andy Sheppard, GoGo Penguin, Seun Kuti & Fela’s Egypt 80, Jazzanova’s live band The Strata Project and revered acoustic guitar pioneer Ralph Towner, all performing at venues around Cork City. Emerging names on the bill include Laufey Toshin, Fehdah, Bricknasty and the return of Mas Exodus, among many others. Additionally, the Jazz Festival Club at the Metropole Hotel will host a…

On 18 November, Blue Note Records will be releasing Revival: Live at Pookie's Pub, a previously-unissued live recording of Elvin Jones’ quartet that captures the legendary drummer’s emergence as a bandleader at a little-known club in New York City (where he had a weekly residency after leaving John Coltrane's band in 1966). Featuring Joe Farrell on tenor saxophone, Billy Greene on piano, and Wilbur Little on bass, Revival was recorded between 28 and 30 July 1967, just two weeks after Coltrane died. The album shows the band stretching out on expansive versions of standards and bandmember originals such as Jones’ present to his wife, the 21-minute-long 'Keiko’s Birthday March'. Revival: Live at Pookie's Pub will be released in deluxe 180g 3-LP and 2-CD sets which include an extensive booklet with…

After the two hybrid festival editions with digital bridges to New York, Johannesburg, Cairo and Sao Paulo due to the pandemic, Jazzfest Berlin 2022 returns to the real-world space of the here and now, to welcome over 145 international musicians from all over the world to the Haus der Berliner Festspiele and surrounding venues from 3 to 6 November in the German capital. The 59th edition of the festival takes place in the recently renovated Haus der Berliner Festspiele, the Pierre Boulez Saal, the nearby clubs A-Trane and Quasimodo, and the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedachtnis-Kirche. Artists from 25 countries in 37 acts comprise this year's festival, with the programme also including numerous German and Berlin premieres. The line-up features established greats of the US avant garde scene such as Craig Taborn, Matana Roberts…

CLEMENS KURATLE YDIVIDE LUMUMBA Dee Byrne: Alto Saxophone Elliot Galvin: Piano, Electronics Chris Guilfoyle: Guitar · Lukas Traxel: Bass KATHARINA WEBER IN MÁRTA’S GARDEN Katharina Weber: Piano LUCAS NIGGLI – MATTHIAS LOIBNER STILL STORM Matthias Loibner: Hurdy-Gurdy, Electronics Lucas Niggli: Drums, Percussion DAVE GISLER TRIO WITH JAIMIE BRANCH AND DAVID MURRAY SEE YOU OUT THERE Dave Gisler: Guitar · Raffaele Bossard: Bass Lionel Friedli: Drums · Jaimie Branch: Trumpet David Murray: Tenor Saxophone OM 50 Urs Leimgruber: Saxophone · Christy Doran: Guitar, Devices · Bobby Burri: Double Bass, Devices Fredy Studer: Drums, Percussion KAJA DRAKSLER – SUSANA SANTOS SILVA GROW Kaja Draksler: Piano Susana Santos Silva: Trumpet GÜNTER BABY SOMMER & THE LUCACIU 3 KARAWANE Antonio Lucaciu: Saxophone · Simon Lucaciu: Piano Robert Lucaciu: Bass · Günter Baby Sommer: Drums…

When I joined the Don Rendell Quintet in December 1963, the lineup of the band was Ian Carr on trumpet, John Mealing on piano and Trevor Tomkins on drums. Trevor and I hit it off straight away – musically and socially. Trevor's approach to drumming was completely different to other drummers that I had played with around that time. He was a percussionist in every sense. He was a completely interactive player who would embellish the sounds from his kit in very creative ways. We developed a musical understanding from very early on which remained with us throughout our 59-year friendship which lasted until his sad passing in September. Trevor and I were joined at the hip in the 1960s and into the 70s. We recorded numerous LPs for Dennis…

There has been a longstanding relationship between musicians from Chicago and London, with anybody from Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf to Eddie Harris and Terry Callier, blues, jazz and soul legends from over there, having recorded over here. During the past decade an unofficial alliance has formed between a new generation of young musicians in Chicago and London with much of the activity based around Total Refreshment Centre in Dalston. Emerging talents such as drummer-producer Makaya McCraven, one of the figureheads of Windy City label International Anthem, played gigs alongside his British counterparts Nubya Garcia and Shabaka Hutchings. As part of this year’s EFG London Jazz Festival ‘Chicago X London’ at the Barbican, 12 November, presents something of an overview of the aforesaid developments. There will be surprise guests from…

Camilla George has some problems with her back. She calls in following a trip to the osteopath, slightly amazed that she’s made it back on time (“I think chiropractors are supposed to be quacks, I don’t know if they go to medical school,” she offers as a half-hearted justification for her choice of treatment). The cause of her discomfort? A compressed, stressful return to touring, featuring travel nightmares, lost luggage, and endless passport queues. We speak on a day of relative calm for the altoist, in that recuperative sweet spot as the final few summer festivals come to an end, but before the autumn tours start up again. The week before, George had played We Out Here Festival, where a last-minute cancellation saw her take to the Abbots Ripton main…

The Arild Anderson Group Affirmation ECM 6024 (CD, DL) Arild Andersen (b), Marius Neset (ts), Helge Lien (p) and Håkon Mjåset Johansen (d). Rec. November 2021 First, congratulations to Arild Andersen for his prestigious award on 26 September 2022 as Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St Olavs for his outstanding contribution to jazz music, by command of Harald V, King of Norway. Throughout his career Andersen has always encouraged younger players, such as a young Nils Petter Molvar in Masquelero (1983-1990), his band with Bugge Wesseltoft, Eivind Aarset and Molvar on the albums Sagn (1990) and Arv (1993), through to his current world class all-star ensemble. Affirmation, the ensemble’s debut album, is almost entirely the product of spontaneous interaction, often inspired by Andersen, whose contra bass acts as…

Arturia has released its latest piece of software; a distortion plugin which offers sound manipulation and a huge number of noise effects including bit crusher, tape simulator, and ‘force’ filter. One of the world’s largest hardware synth manufacturers, Arturia is also known for its analogue sound modelling plugins, which simulate iconic synths such as the ARP2600 or Prophet V. Arturia’s first instrument was a ‘sound station’ digital synth, followed since by more portable digital keyboard synths such as the Minibrute. Featuring animated or time-varying distortion, the plugin does not just add a standard effect to a recording, but can be changed throughout the track which can create more natural and interesting music. With advanced waveform editing and ‘dual engine architecture’, the Coldfire plug-in is one of the most sophisticated effects…

Acclaimed US alto saxophonist and composer Lakecia Benjamin has signed to the UK-based Whirlwind Recordings for her second album Phoenix, which will be release in January 2023. The album has been produced by award-winning drummer/composer Terri Lyne Carrington and features a 'stellar cast' of soon-to-be-announced special guests. A deeply personal project for the altoist, whose 2020 release Pursuance: The Coltranes was widely praised, Phoenix presents mostly original compositions and arrangements, solidifying her standing as an impressive player as well as a formidable young composer and arranger. The record aims to continue Benjamin’s determination to work with artists she respects and has been mentored or influenced by over the past two years; as well as "all that I have learned since the release of Pursuance at the cusp of the pandemic".…

● NEW CONCERT HALL AND JAZZ EDUCATION HUB FOR NINE ELMS World Heart Beat Music Academy are opening a vibrant new concert venue and music education centre in London's Embassy Gardens – including a 200-capacity concert auditorium, as well as state-of-the-art recording studios, teaching spaces, a broadcast studio and cafe/bar. The first season of concerts in the venue, taking place from January 2023, will be on sale from early November on the venue’s website. For more info visit www.worldheartbeat.org ● YAZZ AHMED FOR ARABIC BARBICAN NIGHT British-Bahraini trumpeter and composer Yazz Ahmed will present a curated evening of contemporary Arabic music at the Barbican on 13 December. She will be joined by two pioneering artists from the Middle East and North Africa, who have found a new home in Europe:…

The late Chick Corea was a serious person, a serious (and seriously good) musician who took his music seriously. What, then, he thought of the atrocious cover for this 1976 album, the Good Lord only knows. Nobody has ever come forward to take the 'credit' for this aerie-faerie rubbish (we presume it was a particularly untalented employee in Polydor's art department, but it could have also been made under the influence of Corea or his wife Gayle Moran, who sings on the album), but the main illustration comes over like a (very) bad Beardsley or a particularly minging Mucha. It's treacly-sick sentimental and actually quite creepy; no self-respecting jazz hipster would be seen dead with this under their arm, either back in 1976 or today (to be fair, despite a…

Despite the vast and varied music ECM has released over many years, its two biggest stars are undoubtedly Jan Garbarek and Keith Jarrett. When the two of them came together in April 1974, to create the quartet Belonging and the orchestral album Luminessence, it was Garbarek whose name was listed first. When their second quartet recording My Song was done on 31 October-1 November 1977, it was issued as a Jarrett album, no doubt partly because of the success of his 1975 The Köln Concert. It’s worth recalling that what became known as Jarrett’s ‘European quartet’ was basically the Jan Garbarek quartet of the past few years, including fellow Norwegian Jon Christensen on drums and Swedish bassist Palle Danielsson, but with Swedish pianist Bobo Stenson being replaced by Jarrett. (Note…

Betty Accorsi Quinet Growing Roots Betty Accorsi Music Italian-born soprano saxophonist-composer’s love letter to her new home Brighton captures something of the South coastal city’s boho vibe with its psych/pastoral jazz and folk-dance in a quartet (featuring the fine bassist Andy Hamill) that’s at its best when showing restraint. Barry Coates/Jimmy Haslip/Jerry Kalaf New Dreams Outside In Music Former Yellowjackets bassist Haslip is the best-known name here and guitarist Coates and drummer Kalaf are experienced all-round LA session guys, but the trio’s slo-mo quietly ambient soundscaping makes for a kind of mood music backdrop. Fractal Sextet Fractal Sextet Burning Shed Swiss guitarist-composer Stephan Thelen leads a post-rock supergroup with ex-Porcupine Tree bassist Colin Edwin and Ronin’s percussionist Andi Pupato, and gravitate to one of the more palatable sides of prog…

An invention emanating from Dolby Laboratories (of noise reduction fame) in 2012, Dolby Atmos was a way of creating a more immersive sound experience in cinemas. It built upon the pre-existing 5.1 and 7.1 surround-sound set-ups with surround channels coming from overhead, enveloping the audience in a ‘dome of sound’. But unlike traditional channel based systems, Dolby Atmos doesn't just send audio at discrete levels to each speaker. The technology can also produce up to 118 simultaneous ‘sound objects’, allowing the sound designer to place each sound and voice to exact points within the soundfield rather than simply assign them to specific channels. These ‘objects’ can be manipulated and moved around within the space creating a convincing 3D soundstage. It has proved a big hit with cinema audiences over the…

BROUGHT TO YOU BY GRAMOPHONE Simon Blendis violin Saoko Blendis piano Love is Like a Violin Nimbus Alliance NI6428 For those in far-flung places and younger readers, the name of Max Jaffa may be unfamiliar. Born in London in 1911, he formed his own band aged 17 (the Max Jaffa Salon Orchestra), became the youngest-ever leader of the Scottish Symphony Orchestra in 1929 and, after the war, formed the Max Jaffa Trio with cellist Reginald Kilbey and pianist Jack Byfield. From 1956 for the next 27 years his concerts with the trio and the Palm Court Orchestra were broadcast from The Spa, Scarborough. Jaffa was a national treasure. Everyone, whatever their musical tastes, had heard of him. He died in London in 1991. In 2000 Simon Blendis was able to…

The Promuco brand first emerged as a major player in the UK percussion world in the mid-1960s, producing a range of sticks and hardware that, with the approval of no less a master than Buddy Rich, helped to launch their products into the sought-after American market. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, Promuco sticks were the choice of many top artists. For some unexplained reason, and in their own words, ‘after a long period of rest’ the Promuco brand has been re-born – and is now once again making its mark on the percussion scene. The company offers two snare drum stands: the PSS100 and 200, the latter looking the sturdier of the two. The stand is described as a ‘professional, height adjustable stand for mounting 12-to-14-inch snare drums’; we took…

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) The best in jazz past present and future (5 November) EBU Jazz Competition (12 November) EFG London Jazz Festival Launch: J to Z Late with live music live on air from 11pm 1am (19 November) EFG London Jazz Festival Highlights (26 November) 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, 6pm-7pm Jazz FM’s Greatest with Mark Walker, 7pm-9pm Dinner…