Pianist Sam Leak writes about the Wednesday jam sessions at Oliver's Music Bar, Nevada Street, Greenwich
Olivers Jazz Bar, an authentic old fashioned style Jazz club hidden away in a basement near Greenwich park, is one of Greenwich's best kept secrets.
For years some of the best known UK and International Jazz Musicians have graced it's stage, from Mark Turner and Will Vinson to Kit Downes and Jim Hart. The Wednesday Jazz Jam has long been a favourite haunt for London's top Jazz musicians and students, particularly from the local Trinity College Of Music.
Recently the Jam has been taken over by the new promoting team of Saxophonist Tom Stone, Vibraphonist/Drummer Lewis Wright, Pianist Sam Leak, and Saxophonist Jon Shanoy who have recently unveiled an exciting new season featuring some of the top names in British Jazz including Anita Wardell, Steve Fishwick, James Maddren, Jim Hart and Gareth Lockrane.
The Jam is an open environment for Musicians to perform music with a wide variety of musicians, often including some of the best musicians in the UK. The promoters say: "The Jam has a welcoming and supportive vibe and is always an exciting night for musicians and members of the public alike."
WEDNESDAYS IN FEBRUARY
01/02/2012 - Sam Leak/Gareth Lockrane/George Crowley/Calum Gourlay/Jim Hart
08/02/2012 - Lewis Wright/James Gardiner-Bateman/Will Rixon/Steve Pringle/Tim Thornton
15/02/2012 - Lewis Wright Quartet
22/02/2012 - Jon Shenoy/Sam Crowe/Spencer Brown/Corrie Dick
29/02/2012 - Jon Shenoy/Alam Nathoo/Pat Davey/Matt Ridley
WEDNESDAYS IN MARCH
07/03/2012 - Tom Stone Quartet
14/03/2012 - Lewis Wright/ Josh Arcoleo/Bass tbc/James Maddren
21/03/2012 - Sam Leak/Brandon Allen/Steve Fishwick/Sam Lasserson/Jim Hart
28/03/2012 - Jon Shenoy Quartet
WEDNESDAYS IN APRIL
04/04/2012 - Tom Stone/Billy Adamson/George Moore/Tom Farmer/Shane Forbes
11/04/2012 - Lewis Wright Quartet
18/04/2012 - Sam Leak/Mike Chillingworth/Alex Merritt/Sam Lasserson/James Maddren
25/04/2012 - Jon Shenoy Quartet
We reviewed an evening in 2009
Olivers Music Bar at Myspace
Sam Leak writes about the Wednesday Jam at Oliver's in Greenwich
Review: Systems Quartet
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| Rudi Mahall. Drawing by Geoff Winston Copyright 2011. All Rights Reserved |
Systems Quartet
(Vortex, Tuesday 24 January 2012. First night of 6-night season, 'May I suggest ...', curated by Evan Parker. Review and drawing by Geoff Winston)
For the first of six Anglo-German collaborative concerts at the Vortex, devised by Evan Parker and generously supported by the Goethe-Institut, Systems Quartet offered a reassuringly uncomfortable collision between live instrumentation and electronic intervention in what Parker reckoned would probably be the most confrontational event of the series.
Alex Dörner with his specially adapted Firebird slide trumpet and laptop, and Rudi Mahall on a substantial bass clarinet, took up the leftstage, complemented to the right by the black-clad rhythm section of Adam Linson on string bass and electronics and Parker's long-time collaborator, percussionist Paul Lytton.
They served up a complex sonic brew, rarely straightforward, often juddering in and out of bleak, mechanically-hinted environments, with the spectre of electrical malfunction hovering overhead. The insinuation of unlikely processed sounds and a perpetual unravelling of morphed transformations suggested the shifting scenes of a film's soundtrack. Frenzied and frentic, rising to the density of sound associated with the ICP Orchestra, they could equally drop to ethereal, delicate pulses and waves.
Paul Lytton used his fingers so lightly on his snare that a ladybird might have been scuttling across the skins. Dörner blew on a mike which picked up the edges of his breath; he sampled and reprocessed sounds so that for moments there would, disconcertingly, be no active players, even though virtual duets were being enacted.
Sparks and crackles, thunderous semaphore and various strands of interference were introduced to build up a spacious yet condensed landscape. Evan Parker has described Mahall as one of the few players "who can play hard reeds on big open mouthpieces"*, (Point of Departure, Issue 9, January 2007)and his sustained, physically demanding flights of pure jazz woodwind owed as much to Parker's soprano sax phrasing as to Dolphy's pioneering bass clarinet work. Linson's intense application to fretboard and bridge confirmed an anchoring presence, linking in to Lytton's exceptional, low-key percussive invention with great assurance.
The nervous anguish of the siren sounds, the waves of weather and insect swarms were complemented by the odd touch of humour - Muhall and Dörner battering a single high note with ear-splitting intensity, only for Muhall to return to it for a moment in a faux introduction to the next number, with a great smile making sure that the audience understood the gesture.
Carefully considered randomness it may have been, but the musicians' instincts and experience made it all hang together with finely-wrought coherence.
Adam Linson: bass and electronics
Rudi Mahall: bass clarinet
Alex Dörner: trumpet and electronics
Paul Lytton: drums
Previewing: Spitz Collective Sunday Nights at the Park Plaza SE1
The Park Plaza Hotel in SE1 hosts Sunday night jazz, produced by Spitz Collective.
Saxophonist Pete Grogan (above - appearing this Sunday January 29th with Hannes Riepler – guitar- and Karl Rasheed Abel – double bass) writes:
For me, the great thing about the Spitz collective
is it's uniqueness in bringing together such a diverse collection of musicians and allowing them to share in their mutual love. Its very easy in London to feel the divide between musicians that is, to a certain extent dictated by geography if not by genre/sub genre etc.
The get-together's and 'plays' that we all have on a regular basis become locked into small groups of musicians simply because it's tough to travel the length or breadth of London to play for an hour so - it makes sense to do this with your neighbors. The Spitz blows this problem out of the water by inviting us all to come and play. It works out as a great way for us to meet and play with fellow musicians and combinations arise that otherwise would simply not happen. This alone means it never fails to be an enjoyable and exciting play. Thanks a bunch.
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Saxophonist Pete Wareham (appearing on February 5th with Lewis Wright – vibes- and Tim Thornton – double bass) writes:
The Spitz Jazz Collective is a great thing to be part of as it has a relaxed, informal feeling to it and one regularly meets musicians of all ages who enjoy playing jazz in an untroubled, unaffected way.
When I turn up to play at the Park Plaza on Sunday evening I'm never quite sure who I'm going to be playing with as I know that whoever Jane Glitre has booked to play that night will be friendly and interesting musicians.
The trio gigs down there are always very enjoyable as one gets treated exceptionally well by the hotel itself, and the audiences are always enthusiastic.
Long may it continue!
spitz.co.uk
RIP Clare Fischer (1928-2012)
The track, In The Beginning from The Clare Fischer Big Band album, Continuum (Clavo Records) is nominated for a 2012 Grammy award in the Best Instrumental Arrangement category.
An appreciation to follow.
clarefischer.com
Neil Yates - Five Countries
Neil Yates - Five Countries
(Edition Records EDN1029. CD Review by Chris Parker)
The 'Five Countries' of the title refers to the various birthplaces, migration destinations and current homes of the three musicians involved in this project: trumpeter Neil Yates, classical guitarist Zsolt Bende and percussionist Cormac Byrne.
Yates, who plays flugelhorn, whistle and tenor horn, plus FX, in addition to trumpet, composed most of the music on this ten-track CD, and it ranges unaffectedly between softly pattering flamenco, traditional Irish music and folk-tinged jazz, Yates's pleasantly breathy playing tellingly complemented by Bende's gently propulsive but strikingly dexterous guitar and Byrne's skilfully chosen percussion sounds, which include bodhran and cajon drum.
The natural world is clearly the inspiration for much of the set, and 'Storm on the Irish Sea' begins with tempest effects, while 'Frozen Forest', 'Snowdonia' and 'Rainy Harbour' are all suitably atmospheric, Yates meditative or strident as required, Bende delicate or neatly brisk in support.
Another fine, carefully programmed and impeccably recorded album from Edition.
www.editionrecords.com
Honours refused. Humph (?) Garumph.
A very surprising omission from the list just published by the Cabinet Office of people who refused honours in the years 1951-99.
The Lyttelton family have correspondence concerning one honour turned by Humphrey Lyttelton (1921- 2008) under the Callaghan government in the late 1970's, and also of a knighthood offered to him under the Major government in the early 1990's. Samantha nods in approval. A legend.
CD Review: Andy Sheppard/Michel Benita/Sebastian Rochford - Trio Libero
Andy Sheppard/Michel Benita/Sebastian Rochford - Trio Libero
(ECM 278 6630. CD Review by Chris Parker)
Andy Sheppard first played with Algerian-born bassist Michel Benita in the 1980s, when the former was a Paris resident, playing with the performance big band Urban Sax, but all the members of Trio Libero, which is completed by drummer Seb Rochford, first performed together as part of a band celebrating the music of Serge Gainsbourg at the Coutances Jazz Festival in 2008.
Sensing a mutual compatibility, described by Sheppard thus – 'I just felt that anything was possible with these guys' – the Bristolian saxophonist 'locked the trio in a room for four days and said: "Let's just improvise together, record everything and see what we come up with."' In this way, they achieved an ease of interaction based on hair-trigger sensitivity to each other's playing that is apparent throughout this thoroughly absorbing album. Sheppard sums up their approach: 'Improvise, write it down, develop it, then replay the tune with fresh improvisation: a trio libero.'
This mix of spontaneity and familiarity infuses everything the trio play with improvisational tension, each player (as in many ECM productions) clearly having a firm grasp on the outline of each piece, but able to plot his own highly distinctive and original path within it. The resultant (largely rubato) music incorporates not only Sheppard's great strengths – a sure ear for an affecting melody, a sculptural approach to his saxophones' sound, an ability to move seamlessly between freedom and structure – but also Benita's extraordinary versatility and Rochford's uncanny ability to choose precisely the right cymbal/skin stroke to push the music along and subtly embellish the band sound.
The overall effect will perhaps remind many ECM aficionados of Paul Motian's various albums for the label, but Trio Libero's strength comes from the grace and elegance with which three utterly distinctive talents have been able to gel to form a unit that consistently lives up to its name.
Trio Libero will be touriing in the UK in May / ECM Records
BLINQ at Bedales School
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| BLINQ: Brendan Reilly, Liane Carroll, Natalie Williams, Ian Shaw. (out of shot: Gwilym Simcock) |
The debut of BLINQ at Ronnie Scott's last August was one of my gigs of the year.
So, for the sheer pleasure of hearing them again, I've just driven down the A3 to Petersfield and heard their second outing.
No regrets. Only joy. For sheer exuberance, entertainment, collective madness, impromptu harmonizing.... this group (Natalie Williams, Liane Carroll, Brendan Reilly, Ian Shaw, Gwilym Simcock) may have its equals, but it certainly won't be beaten. They're fabulous. And already, from gig 1 to gig 2 the repertoire has expanded.
And if entertainment to keep the listener attentive through every moment of every tune is not enough, then those who love a piano, and their purely musical treats will have been knocked out too: to give just one example of many, the smoky magic which Simcock was conjuring up in a Scriabinesque, impressionistic, quiet preamble to Noel Coward's Mad About The Boy was something very special indeed.
Bedales School has a fine purpose built theatre with very good sound. Their next promotion is on 4th May - Abram Wilson's Septet featuring Peter King, Jean Toussaint and Winston Rollins.
Mark Murphy at Ronnie Scott's and Morley College
Mark Murphy comes to town.
On 30th-31st January, Ronnie Scott’s will play host to one of the greatest jazz singers in the world today: 6 time Grammy nominated Mark Murphy,writes SARAH ELLEN HUGHES.
This return trip to London has been a long time coming – for the last three years Murphy has been very ill, his situation exacerbated by the fact that for two years he had been misdiagnosed with Alzheimer’s and placed on incorrect medication. Now, thanks to a re-diagnosis and correct medical care, a wonderful new agent and a new record (which was recorded whilst residing in a care home), Murphy can tour again.
He will be bringing with him George Mesterhazy, who was Shirley Horn’s pianist when she could no longer play the piano (Horn had to have a foot amputated following complications from diabetes.) In the past, Murphy has not been able to bring a pianist to London, so this will be something very special indeed.
I spoke to Gill Manly about his visit, as she has had a massive hand in organising his trips to London in the past.
They met in 1991, when Murphy was playing a gig at Pizza on the Park, and only two people turned up to watch – Gill and Ian Shaw! From that day they became great friends, Gill starting off as his fan, then his student, and then organising workshops for jazz singers when he came to town. This was before there was a plethora of excellent jazz courses available in this country, so singers such as Tina May, Christine Tobin and Anita Wardell would all come to Mark Murphy workshops for part of their education, surely helping them along the way to forging formidable careers themselves.
So, to take advantage of the fact that Murphy is such a great educator, Gill has organised an event which was initially intended to be a simple workshop – but because of Murphy’s profile and the fact that it’s been so long since he was in this country, it’s turned into an interview/demonstration/Q & A session which will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Jazz Lineup.
Claire Martin will present the session, talking about his career, health and education, and inviting Murphy to sing a couple of songs and ‘demonstrate some of his teaching techniques for jazz singers.’
A panel of British jazz stars including Ian Shaw, Norma Winstone, Pete Churchill, and possibly Curtis Stigers, who is an ex-pupil of Murphy’s, (Cleo Laine has been advertised but unfortunately will not make it owing to illness) will each pose a question to Mark. This will focus on the development of jazz education and his role in the education of jazz singers, especially in London.
There are only 80 tickets – which are available for free to Morley College students, and only £10 to external visitors. It’s not just a singer’s event – horn players come down too! See a man who’s played with some of the greatest horn players in the world.
The event runs from 11-1pm on Monday 30th January at Morley College, Westminster Bridge Road, SE1. Tickets are available by pre-booking only. Email mmm@morleycollege.ac.uk to reserve a place.
Review: Rachel Gould
Rachel Gould with the Renato D'Aiello Quartet
(Pizza Express Dean Street. January 19th 2012. Review by Sarah Ellen Hughes)
Rachel Gould is an American jazz singer, now resident in the UK having spent many years living in Holland. As such, the maturity and experience that she brings to her profession is considerable. A singer who has recorded with Chet Baker amongst others, proved at the Pizza Express Jazz Club, that she is up there amongst the best.
Gould was performing with an international quartet led by UK-based Italian saxophonist Renato D’Aiello, whom she met whilst singing in Europe. Their friendship has remained strong, and their rapport on stage showed the mutual respect they have for each other.
The quartet was fantastic: Enzo Zirilli, as always a force to be reckoned with at the drums; bassist Nicola Muresu with his nimble fingers. Renato D’Aiello was superb on tenor saxophone, his soloing terrific throughout. Boy, can he swing. And Bruno Montrone was a revelation at the piano, drawing lyrical horn-like phrasing out of the instrument, whether ballad or bebop. No wonder he’s hailed as one of Italy’s finest young players.
Gould, though, was the star of the show. Admittedly, I felt that she was not entirely comfortable at points – this may have been owing to her slight bashfulness and unassuming personality – but she certainly nailed the vocals. There was a touch of Carmen McRae about her, particularly in the swooping and soaring of phrases, the deeply resonant low notes and faultless diction. Gould's sprightly and sure-footed octave-hopping (I reckon the range is about three) in I want to be happy was particularly impressive.
Two tunes really grabbed me. A D’Aeillo original (instrumental) called Sea Goddess, was wonderful, and gave Muresu a chance to show off his fast fingerwork. Gould’s rendition of What is there to say, by Vernon Duke, was the highlight of the second set – a daringly slow arrangement impeccably delivered.
Now that she’s a resident here, I hope to be seeing Rachel Gould on our jazz stages much more.
Rachel Gould at jazzmasters.nl
CD Review: Andre Canniere Group - Forward Space (and this week's prize draw)
Andre Canniere Group - Forward Space
(Whirlwind Recordings WR4619. CD Review by Chris Parker)
Written while trumpeter Andre Canniere was in the process of relocating from New York to London, the material on this album, which he calls his 'first major statement as a composer and bandleader', is appropriately dynamic and wide-ranging in both its musical styles and concerns.
Few record labels are as suitably named as Whirlwind -– previous releases include albums by Partikel, Phil Robson, Alex Garnett, Jeff Williams, Patrick Cornelius and Michael Janisch – and the sheer driving urgency of Canniere's music is what immediately impresses (the opening track, 'Crunch' derives its slightly hysterical, frenetic vigour from Canniere's reaction to the 'false sense of euphoria that existed leading up to the [2008 global credit] crisis').
Subsequent tracks, however, ring the changes between the imaginative originality of the title-track (perfectly described in the album's publicity material as 'Steve Reich typing Morse Code at a party while dancing to Parliament Funkadelic') and more contemplative, often downright wistful lower-tempo material ('Marshlands Blackout' was inspired by a visit to Canniere's childhood home in rural Pennsylvania, 'Song for J', on which Canniere plays trumpet, Rhodes piano, guitars and cahon, by his feelings for his son, Jonas). Forward Space is thus a perfect demonstration of the freewheeling energy that is generated from close association (Canniere's bandmates, guitarist Hannes Riepler, keyboards player George Fogel, bassist Ryan Trebilcock and drummers Jon Scott and Chris Vatalaro have all, according to Canniere, 'played an important role in developing these specific compositions in an organic and intuitive way' since the trumpeter's arrival in London in 2008).
An impressive debut from a technically assured, highly individual soloist and a gifted composer.
- Forward Space was successfully fan-funded via Kickstarter
- A copy of Forward Space is offered as the LondonJazz weekly prize draw, an exclusive for newsletter readers. The sign-up box is top left.
- whirlwindrecordings.com
"Book now for Stalin at the Ashmolean" - first Oxford Jazz Fest @oxjazz gigs on sale
Couldn't resist the headline. Swedish vocalist Cecila Stalin will be singing in the Ashmolean Museum Dining Room on Thursday 5th April.
It's one of the first gigs announced and on sale for this year's Oxford Jazz Festival . Here's what else is there/ on sale so far:
Thu, 05 Apr Cecilia Stalin Quartet Ashmolean Dining Room 7.30pm
Thu, 05 Apr Adam Waldmann with The Spin Trio Spin Jazz Club 9pm
Fri, 06 Apr Larkin’s Jazz with Alyn Shipton Randolph Hotel 3pm
Fri, 06 Apr Abram Wilson 10 Year Anniversary Tour Randolph Hotel 8pm
Sat, 07 Apr Michael Janisch and the New York Standards Quartet Tim Armacost- sax, David Berkman - piano Oxford Playhouse 8pm
http://www.oxfordjazzfestival.com/
CD Review: Zoe Rahman - Kindred Spirits
Zoe Rahman - Kindred Spirits
(Manushi Records manucd005. CD review by Chris Parker)
Since establishing herself as one of the UK jazz scene's most talented pianists in 2005 with her Mercury-nominated album Melting Pot, Zoe Rahman has steadily consolidated her reputation with a trio (plus guest Idris Rahman) recording from London's Pizza Express (Live, 2007) and a jazz/Bengali music fusion album, Where Rivers Meet.
Kindred Spirits draws on all the musical influences, from straightahead jazz (she cut her teeth in Clark Tracey's 2000s band) to the music she hears when visiting her family in Dhaka, that informed these albums, but adds another strand: Irish traditional music, experienced on Rahman's recent tour of the country that was her maternal grandmother's home.
Add the inspiration drawn from the 150th anniversary of Bengal's most celebrated writer/musician and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, and you have an absorbingly multi-faceted set, beginning with the tumultuously robust 'Down to Earth', in which Rahman strikes sparks off her fiercely interactive rhythm section, bassist Oli Hayhurst and drummer Gene Calderazzo, and concluding with a characteristically irresistible Stevie Wonder tune, 'Contusion' but, in between, touching bases ranging from Tagore compositions featuring brother Idris's clarinets, Irish folk ('Butlers of Glen Avenue') and even the odd burst of free music ('Outside In'). Rahman, though, is very much her prodigiously gifted self throughout, whether throwing off alternately sparkling and thunderous runs, merging more delicately with her brother or guest Courtney Pine's playing on less overtly jazz-based material, or spinning compelling piano-trio jazz from her own infectiously lively compositions.
A rich confection of what Rahman simply describes as 'tunes that I love playing', Kindred Spirits provides what liner-note writer Julian Joseph accurately terms 'a powerful and fresh portrait of her combined English, Irish and Bengali heritage'.
Kindred Spirits was released on Friday 19th January. Tour Dates include Pizza Express Dean Street on February 6th and 7th.
Preview: Bob Van Luijt writes about Cuong Vu at the Vortex on Feb 20th
Vietnames-American trumpeter Cuong Vu, with Dutch-based German drummer Yonga Sun and Dutch bassist Bob Van Luijt will be at the Vortex on February 20th, straight off a seven-date tour in the Netherlands, and just before a recording for Dutch TV.
Bob Van Luijt writes:
I first heard the music of trumpeter Cuong Vu in 2004 - I was just 18 years old - in the Dutch TV programme "Vrije Geluiden" (Free Sounds) and since then have followed Cuong's music, especially with the Pat Metheny Group - the albums Speaking of Now and The Way Up - as well as his collaborations with Bill Frisell and Jamie Saft. His beautiful lines and note choices combined with electronic effects are unique! I find that I get drawn in,both by the rougher edges of, and by the beautiful and the melodic in his playing.
The video above is of Cuong Vu at Berklee in 2010 with bassist Stomu Takeishi (recently in London with Henry Threadgill) and drummer Ted Poor.
Cuong Vu gave one of the most talked-about concerts at the 2010 Cheltenham Jazz Festival. John Fordham wrote in a Guardian review:
Vietnamese-American trumpeter Cuong Vu probably stole the day, with a thundering mix of orchestral electronic effects, flat-out improv of astonishingly assured audacity, unexpected dissections of a couple of standard ballads, and the raw power of a free-rhythmic rock trio.
Bookingss: www.vortexjazz.co.uk / more information at www.bobvanluijt.com
Live Music Bill passed in House of Commons/ RIP Etta James
Two news stories broke simultaneously today.
AT LAST (1) . After years of fighting the disproportionate and unnecesary powers given to Local Authorities by the 2003 Licensing Act, Don Foster's Live Music Bill which removes the need for small venues to have licenses for events ending before 11pm has been passed. The devil will be inthe detail, and never underestimate the complexities and "transition provisions" yet to be dreamed up to complicate the system and make it more costly...but this is a victory, most notably for that completely indefatigable campaigner on the issue, jazz drummer Hamish Birchall.
AT LAST (2) RIP Etta James, whose death today at the age of 73 has just been reported. Sad.
Jack's been thinking... about voting for the Forge Venue
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| The Forge Venue in Camden Town Photo credit: Chris Huning |
Our regular Friday column from trumpeter/ bandleader has a suggestion for who to nominate in the Parliamentary Jazz Awards (lists close 20th February). Jack writes:
Before you cast your vote in the venues category of the Parliamentary Jazz Awards, I’d like to draw your attention to the work being done at The Forge Venue in Camden Town.
While most London jazz gigs take place in the upstairs or downstairs room of a pub, or clubs where music seems to be little more than a soundtrack the comings and goings of waiters and barmen, The Forge is a rare breed: a quiet, dedicated arts space.
True, weekends see the large wooden walls slide back and open out onto the attached restaurant, but the respect for the music is always maintained. The venue is at its intimate best when in chamber hall-like small form. The impressively appointed wooden floor and spacious size provide a warm, generous acoustic, while unusually good lighting completes the sense that this is something special - real care has gone into the design and planning of this place.
Adam and Charlotte Caird are the pair who have shouldered the burden of planning, programming and maintaining this venue. They are both musicians –Adam a composer / pianist, and Charlotte a saxophonist – and their musical openness is one of the factors that makes The Forge such an important venue.
Their programming exhibits a bravery and trust that few venues can compete with. Focussing purely on the jazz side of things (which belittles the cross-genre importance of this place), The Forge has put on London debuts for many fantastic bands, as well as programming a myriad of things other venues fail to put on. It is worth noting a few: Joe Wright’s pioneering duo with drummer James Maddren had its first outing at The Forge, and Kit Downes made his prepared piano debut on the Forge’s Steinway with Shabaka Hutchings in 2011’s London Jazz Festival at the special request of The Forge’s Adam Caird (There's more on Kit’s blog). And a Jazzwise album of the year was recorded there.
The venue announced last month that Loop Collective are resident musicians for 2012, and the launch event of their residency series will take place on Friday 10 February 2012 , featurnig Rory Simmons' Monocled Man and Hanslip/Hurley/Sanders.
Other events to look forward to are Shabaka Hutchings' Sons of Kemet, as well as a new multimedia project emerging from the Royal Academy's jazz course.
Charlotte and Adam set aside a Friday night to put on my own big band a year or so ago when I was struggling to find venues to perform at, and the full hall turned a potentially nerve-wracking debut into an immensely rewarding and most of all encouraging experience.
London needs more places like The Forge, and The Forge deserves our ongoing support, and appreciation.
And here's the place you can show it
forgevenue.org.
Preview: Rob Garcia/ Noah Preminger at Servant Jazz Quarters/ Oliver's/ Spice
George Crowley writes:
I’m looking forward to the opportunity to see some fantastic musicians unfamiliar to UK audiences next week, in the form of three gigs from the Rob Garcia / Noah Preminger Quartet.
Drummer Rob Garcia (Wynton Marsalis, Anat Cohen, Chris Cheek) has been a mainstay of the New York jazz scene for over ten years. Along with the highly lauded young tenor saxophonist Noah Preminger (Cecil McBee, Billy Hart, Fred Hersch) and Barcelona-based bassist Masa Kamaguchi (Paul Motian, Dave Douglas, Tony Malaby), he will be hitting London next week for three gigs as a leg of a European trio tour. On the London dates, they will be joined by Jim Hart on vibes.
Gigs like this always fill me with anticipation. Though Rob Garcia and Noah Preminger are regular collaborators in NYC, this line-up with Jim is an altogether newer thing. The prospect of witnessing musicians of a really high calibre playing and exploring together without a great deal of playing history provides, for me at least, a genuinely exciting and fascinating experience.
I’m particularly looking forward to hearing Noah Preminger. His album "Before the Rain" (Palmetto) was in no fewer than seven Best Albums of 2011 lists in the US. He has a lovely sound, an open approach and a knack for finding surprise in his lines and phrases, and I’m excited at the opportunity to hear him opening out on tunes in such great company. I don’t mean to ignore the contributions of the other members, but hey, I’m a tenor player! noahpreminger.com
Jim Hart is a musician who never approaches any playing situation with anything but an open mind and heart, and the remarkable ability to adapt and support to an incredibly high standard.
To anybody who’s feeling the January blues, and the urge to check out some great original music from some players they might not have previously been aware of, I couldn’t recommend these gigs highly enough – see you on Monday!
The Rob Garcia / Noah Preminger Quartet play at
- Servant Jazz Quarters in Dalston on Monday 23rd (NOT the Oxford as advertised)
- Oliver’s in Greenwich on Tuesday 24th
- Spice of Life in Soho on Wednesday 25th with vocalist JO WALLFISCH.
Musician biogs and more details at theoxfordjazz.com
St Paul's Cathedral. 12thJuly. The return of Garbarek/ Hilliard Ensemble
Look up. Next Monday 23rd Jan, booking will open for the return of Jan Garbarek and the Hilliard Ensemble to St Paul’s Cathedral. They.ve been invited back for the 50th anniversary season of the City of London Festival.
Last time they were here was June 2009. They played a memorable 90-minute set. What they do works in the space. And large audiencesenjoy it. I can vividly remember Garbarek's mischievous smile as he sent out a "row of sonorous, low honking B flats, chasing each other around the cathedral. How satisfying as a saxophonist, how impossible to resist, to hit home hard , low and powerfully into every last corner of Christopher Wren's vast echoing masterpiece."
The date this year is July 12th. Here's a link to the COLF site.
Jazz Video Guy's Six Minute Report on JEN
JEN is the Jazz Educators Network, who have just had their third annual conference in Louisville, Kentucky. JEN emerged from the ashes of the IAJE which filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy with debts estimated at around $1m in April 2008. An enthusiastic report, stressing the vital sense of community in jazz from Bret Primack.
Jazz Education Network
Dave Ohm at Ronnies
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| Dave Ohm Photo credit: Oleg Katchinski |
Drummer, bandleader and producer Dave Ohm has long been an unsung hero of the British jazz scene; a crime that seems to befall many other very fine players of the same instrument. For a change the billing is reversed as he takes up residence at Ronnie Scott's 16 -20 Jan to lead five different groups in the support slot opposite Carmen Lundy and James Taylor Quartet.
His recent work includes Gregory Porter, Karin Krog, Rebecca Parris, Dena DeRose, Wess Anderson and Benny Golson but his association with Ronnie Scott’s Club goes back over 15 years where he has performed many times with Claire Martin, Deborah Brown, Ian Shaw, Peter King and the Ronnie Scott’s Allstars.
A creative and musical drummer with an almost uncanny intuition, Ohm is at once a "powerhouse" (Time Out) and subtle storyteller. You can hear the Art Blakey and Elvin Jones dynamism, you will also recognise the crisp brushwork of John Poole and yet always unmistakeably his own sonic stamp.
His collaborators over the week will include: Nigel Hitchcock, Paul Stacey and Laurence Cottle (18 Jan); Ben Castle, Mark Edwards and Arnie Somogyi (17 Jan); Georgia Mancio, Nikki Iles and Julie Walkington (20 Jan) as well as some very special suprise guests. Who can resist?
ronniescotts.co.uk
Preview/Interview : Eddie Daniels
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| Eddie Daniels |
Benny Goodman, who commissioned a Clarinet Concerto concerto from Copland in 1947, once called the clarinettist Eddie Daniels “my successor”.
On a rare visit to the UK – the first for about fifteen years - Daniels will be performing the concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra, on Thursday February 9th at the Barbican, So let' be clear: we're talking about a performance of authority, legitimacy at an off-the-scale level. And - yes, still, at the age of seventy - serious chops.
The clarinettist has lived with the piece, thought about it, and performed it, for decades now. In a conversation which I had with the him by telephone at his home in New Mexico earlier this week, he launched straight in with how he will approach the work:
“We'll be opening the doors, we're letting Benny in”.
One part of the concerto where this will be abundantly clear is the cadenza. The concerto comes complete with a long, fully written-out solo cadenza section which links the movements. It has its problems. Classical players who follow it verbatim. struggle to find the right kind of freedom. For Daniels the constraints of it are different: he suggested to me that Goodman had already moved on stylistically from the primitive swing feel of that cadenza by the time the work was written. Daniels will be playing most of the original cadenza, but will be "peppering it with entrances or doorways for Benny to come in, in several places. "He [Benny]will go wild!" promises Daniels.
Eddie Daniels will also bring to the work the unique experience of having had several part-improvised concertos written for him, and collaborated actively and productively with their composers, something which didn't happen – for various reasons - with Copland and Goodman.
Daniels also brings a level of technique which will enable him to breeze through the screechily high parts of the Copland Concerto which Goodman disliked, and chose to take down the octave.
Carying forward that idea of legitimacy, Daniels also has it when it comes to the performance of the Leonard Bernstein work, Prelude Fugue and Riffs. Daniels also quoted to me something which Bernstein wrote – to a New York periodontist, about Daniels' album Breakthrough:
Dear Ron, Your friend Eddie Daniels combines elegance and elegance and virtuosity in a way that makes me remember Arthur Rubinstein. He is a thoroughly well-bred demon. Lenny
This "well-bred demon" has had an extraordinary career, and there is a substantial and valuable back-catalogue. An early record which is still getting played – two friends told me unprompted it is something they go back to a lot is a duo session on which Daniels plays flute, clarinet and bass clarinet with guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli from 1973 entitled A Flower For All Seasons on the Choice label, later reissued on CD as Blue Bossa.
As the years have gone on, Daniels in the conversational duo context has moved far beyond that. Bucky Pizzarelli was a fine swing/rhythm guitarist, but in pianist Roger Kellaway , with whom Eddie Daniels has recorded two albums – the latest recorded in the Library of Congress in February 2011, and attracting rave reviews , there is that sense of being able to travel anywhere. “Roger has the whole universe”, Daniels told me.
Daniels' recent work with the WDR Big Band with Mike Abene (the two have known each other since they were teenagers in the Newport Youth Band is vintage stuff. This live performace of Daniels' tune/arrangement "This Is All I Have" recorded live (!) deserves a play:
Daniels' visits to the UK have been lamentably rare in recent years. I remember him playing the Weber Quintet at the old Stables in Wavendon in the 1980's. Brian Priestley told me he has fond memories of interviewing him for radio when he visited the Bass Clef in London, again in the mid 80's . Daniels also recorded the album “Breakthrough” with which Larry Rosen and Dave Grusin of GRP with the Philharmonia, which launched the most visible phase of his career. Eddie Daniels reckons it's at least fifteen years since he last played here.
If Daniels was once capable of nailing everything as the perfect sideman - listen to him on Freddie Hubbard's Hub of Hubbard, or in the key albums of Thad Jones-Mel Lewis or Don Sebesky, or indeed on Billy Joel's album Nylon Curtain or Sister Sledge's hit I've got to love somebody ) these days he has earned the right to take absolute authority as soloist.
As clarinettist Paquito D'Rivera has said: “I would dare to say that his enormous contribution to the almost extinct art of Jazz-clarineting is so significant, that now we can even talk about the instrument as BE and AE (Before Eddie and After Eddie)."
So the end of the Barbican concert will be the moment when we can really celebrate the presence of a unique figure in jazz at the Barbican. Daniels says that condutor Kristjan Järvi has instructed him what he wants him to do in Duke Ellington's “Harlem” –
“I want you to come out, and just blow over it.”
When Daniels walks out on the stage at the end of the evening, his hand-built Morrie Backun clarinet in hand, this is the kind of invitation Eddie Daniels will, as ever, fulfil completely.
Barbican Hall , Thursday February 9th
London Symphony Orchestra
JOHN ADAMS The Chairman Dances
BERNSTEIN Three Dance Episodes from 'On the Town'
COPLAND Clarinet Concerto
MILHAUD La création du monde
BERNSTEIN (orch. FOSS) Prelude, Fugue and Riffs
ELLINGTON (orch. HENDERSON) Harlem
Eddie Daniels will also perform with the David Rees- Williams Trio at St Edmunds School Canterbury on Sat Feb 11th
www.lso.co.uk
Benefit gig for John Barnes - 100 Club 9th Feb Lunchtime
There's a fundraiser for once ubiquitous baritone saxophonist/clarinettist John Barnes, organized by Alan Barnes.
It's at the 100 Club on Thurs 9th Feb, start time 11.30am.
John Barnes has been a major figure on baritone saxophone, Downbeat Rising Star on the instrument in 1969, on the strength of an appearance he made at the Newport Jazz Festival.
John Barnes had a stroke while on holiday in Greece and then ensued an undignified scrap with a medical ensurance. After delays he is currently recovering in hospital in SW14.
The loyal and strong turnout which John deserves is promised. Here's the line-up:
Trumpets: Bruce Adams, Digby Fairweather, Rico Tomaso, Mike Cotton
Trombones: Roy Williams, Ian Bateman, Mike Hogh
Reeds: Art Themen, Julian Stringle, Robert Fowler, Ron Drake, Alan Barnes, Willie Garnett
Vocals: Val Wiseman
Guitar: Jim Douglas, Dominic Ashworth
Piano: John Pearce, Nick Dawson, Martin Litton
Bass: Dave Green
Drums: Bobby Worth
Plus other Special Guests
A new venture- Platform 33 (@cbplatform33) - Will Rixon writes
This Thursday night 19th sees the launch of a brand new night – Platform33, run by Chloe Booker.
Chloe aims "to showcase the most interesting and exciting artists in an informal and fun way - removing the pretence and introducing the people and stories behind the arts. It will showcase the most diverse art forms."
The launch event this Thursday alone features an opera singer, a graffiti artist, a string quartet, a beatboxer a dj and ...WILL RIXON - jazz trumpeter.
Will Rixon will have 33 minutes on Thursday, to communicate on his own terms, to educate and to inspire the audience about jazz.
Will Rixon writes:
Here is a typical conversation for me:
Girl in bar: “So what do you do for a living?”
Will Rixon: “I’m a musician.”
Gib: “Oh right! So are you in a band?”WR: “Sort of. I play in a few bands, I’m a freelance musician.”Gib: “Do you play the guitar?”WR: “No, the trumpet. I play jazz mostly.”Gib: “Ah jazz, I really wish I was into jazz - but I just don’t understand it…”
Thes conversations set me thinking about how I could contribute to changing things, bringing people closer to understanding jazz.
Sometimes I talk about the process of improvising; explaining a bit about what is actually going on during a performance with a hope that it might help them enjoy the experience more. But the point it is not to try and make everyone a semi-jazz-intellectual, it is to excite them about the true purpose and meaning of the music. After all, it was the beat, the interplay between the musicians, the sensitivity and love I felt that drew me in at the age of 10.
For many people, the idea of jazz oozes sophistication and cool but when they turn on a recording they are met with a sound that is often esoteric and impenetrable so they give up. I can guarantee to any new listener that it’s not about trying to understand anything; it’s about being open. Jazz is more than a type of music, is an experience that you feel. It’s a palpable, live art form steeped in a history of old masters and technicians.
Jazz clubs are not simply places to go and listen to music. They are sacred places that give you the unique opportunity to witness moments of art unraveling. There is nothing like watching the process of 5 people move together, improvising a sound that has such a breadth of sincerity and maturity. Ears and minds are open. Added to that is the happiness I get from seeing a room of ordinary people feeling it, everyone on the same page. Each night is a party that celebrates the music and its depth ofemotion and empathy.
Complex things to master and to convey but so natural and powerful that it will be running through your body by the time you find your seat. If you simply wish to enjoy the music, forget 'understanding': leave the mystery to the participants - this takes years of dedicated and passionate practice. Everyone reading this has a responsibility.
Musicians don’t lose sight of your purpose. Jazz fans spread the word. And new fans, just take my word for it.
Platform 33 this Thursday 19th Jan is at the Upper Bar of Union Chapel, Upper Street N1.
£11 in advance and £15 on the door.
All profits are going to the NGO Thinking Development, which works with earthquake victims in Haiti.
Twitter: @cbplatform33
www.platform33.co.uk willrixon.com
Review: London Vocal Project
London Vocal Project
(Kings Place Hall One, 14th January 2012, part of London A Capella Festival 2012. Review by Frank Griffith)
The London Vocal Project is an eclectic ensemble bridging a multitude of styles including Afrobeat, Gospel, 1970s Soul and post-war swing. The twenty strong choir boasted mostly women along with seven male singers which included their illustrious director, Pete Churchill singing bass.
Talk about a polymath, there is nothing that his guy (Pete Churchill) cannot do. His subtle, yet clear conducting while covering the bass parts were augmented by his frequent and detailed announcements describing the numbers and the choir's processes learning them. In addition, Pete's arrangements were widely featured varying from treatments of songs by Neal Hefti, Steve Swallow, Kenny Wheeler and Stevie Wonder. The music of Bobby McFerrin was also included to great effect.
The LVP featured a handful of soloists that brought alot to the party. These included Kwabena Adjepong 's passionate reading of Stevie Wonder's Love's In Need of Love Today while the choir "cooed and hawed" underneath. Newcomer Emma Smith also shone on Steve Swallow's folksy yet profound City of Dallas which closed their set with her repeated mantra of "sweet dreams when you sleep".
Not to shirk away from soloing chores himself, Mr Churchill offered his refreshing take on John Beasley's Lucky Old Sun (popularised by Ray Charles, apparentlly) that included a more than credible scat chorus or two.
A couple of points also worth noting are that the LVP make a strong visual impression as well. Their well themed oufittery- largely black with the odd addition ("oddition") of a white or red pastel along with red silk ties on the blokes gives off a distinct glow.
They are clearly engaged with the music and the audience with their subtle moving and grooving to the music without being over the top or distracting with it. Of equal importance of course is the wonderful blend they exact along with the immaculate control of pitch and articulation. This, coupled with thier flawless memorisation of lyrics and parts make the London Vocal Project a truly impressive ensemble. Bravo!
Londonvocalproject.com
Your Call, York Hall, Radio 3 and boxing
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| Boxing poster from 1980 Source:www.londonexboxers.org.uk |
To this Londoner, clearly not in the know, and who drops the occasional "H" it sounds for all the world like YORK HALL, a 1200-capacity venue in Bethnal Green which also has a gym and a swimming pool, and which for generations (since 1929 in fact) has been synonymous with the aspirations of young boxers from the East End wanting to hit the big time. And each other. Something tells me that in the rarefied world of Radio 3 there are very few people interested in boxing. What can they mean? :).....
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