improvisation
CD: Denys Baptiste - The Late TraneSaturday, 24 June 2017
Denys Baptiste's deep dive into the mid-1960s work of jazz icon, sax player and composer John Coltrane also serves to mark 50 years since Coltrane's shockingly early death at the age of 40. The saxist's core quartet features two... Read more... |
CD: Binker and Moses - Journey to the Mountain of ForeverSunday, 28 May 2017
Two of the most impressive young musicians on London’s jazz scene, tenor saxist Binker Golding and drummer Moses Boyd hoovered up every award in sight following the release of their debut album Dem Ones, including a brace of gongs at the Jazz FM... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Bergen: Questions upon questions at Borealis FestivalTuesday, 14 March 2017
There comes a point in any experimental music festival when you have to accept the silliness and go with it. And at Borealis, that point comes very early. Only a couple of hours off the plane in Bergen and we're in a pedestrian tunnel under the bus... Read more... |
The UK Pun Championships, Leicester Comedy FestivalWednesday, 15 February 2017
The UK Pun Championships have quickly become a fixture of the Leicester Comedy Festival, and this year the organisers installed a boxing ring at De Montfort Hall to underline the event's competitive element.The eight contestants – a mixture of... Read more... |
CD: Xam Duo - Xam DuoWednesday, 23 November 2016
Everything about Xam Duo’s debut album, out earlier this month on Sonic Cathedral, has a wonderful sense of self-indulgence: from the freeform, experimental feel, the stretched-out tones and resulting melodies that exist almost by implication, to... Read more... |
Rava / Herbert / Guidi + Murgia, Kings PlaceSaturday, 19 November 2016
There was an Italian flavour to the EFG London Jazz Festival programme at Kings Place on Thursday night. Enrico Rava is an eminent statesman of European jazz, who emerged in the 1960s as a disciple of Miles Davis. He was collaborating with young... Read more... |
CD: Gruff Rhys - Set Fire to the StarsMonday, 26 September 2016
Super Furry Animals front man Gruff Rhys is a quietly prolific talent. Every few years or so, there’ll be another album, complete with the kind of thought-through concept that gives lift to his literate and expressive story songs and colours them... Read more... |
CD: Bitch 'n' Monk - we are peering overThursday, 18 August 2016
Bitch ‘n’ Monk is a duo of London singer and guitarist Heidi Heidelberg and Colombian flautist Mauricio Velasierra. They make work of uncompromising novelty - dense but exhilarating collages of soaring vocals, restless guitar and intricate,... Read more... |
CD: Elliot Galvin Trio - PunchMonday, 11 July 2016
Ludic, ironic, kaleidoscopic, highly stylised, this follow-up to the Elliot Galvin Trio’s acclaimed 2014 debut, Dreamland, packs an exhilarating feast for the ears into its shortish 38-minute time frame. Like that greatest of musical magpies, Igor... Read more... |
Whose Line Is It Anyway?, London PalladiumSaturday, 11 June 2016
At least half the audience for this live version of the short-form improv show, which was shown on Channel 4 between 1989 and 1998, couldn’t possibly have seen Whose Line Is It Anyway? when it was first broadcast, so one assumes they must have... Read more... |
CD: Phronesis - ParallaxMonday, 18 April 2016
It seems fitting that the propulsive playing of drummer Anton Eger is the first sound you hear on this latest studio recording by the Scandinavian/British jazz trio, Phronesis. While there’s plenty of warm-hearted lyricism and vibrant harmonic... Read more... |
Eliane Elias, Ronnie Scott'sSunday, 10 April 2016
Masterly improvising, outstanding compositions, a complete understanding between the musicians. On every count this was an exceptional set, as emotionally engaging as it was lovingly delivered.Working for three years in her late teens with the great... Read more... |
