One of the key new groupings of young jazz musicians to have emerged on the London scene in the last decade is the F-ire Collective. Next month many of its main members are due to take part in a special festival which will act as a showcase for the range of F-ire activities. Centred on the Vortex jazz club in Dalston the featival will also use venues such as Guanabara in Covent Garden, the Jazz Basement in Shepherd’s Bush and Pizza on The Park in Knightsbridge. As well as featuring the leading lights of the London scene the festival will also feature like minded musicians from the continent including leading Paris based flautist Magic Malik. 
22.11.06

Whitney Balliett, the man who memorably described jazz as "the sound of surprise" died yesterday at the age of 80 in New York. He had been suffering from liver cancer. One of the most admired jazz writers he spent most of his career writing profiles and reviews for The New Yorker magazine. The son of a businessman, Balliett was born in Manhattan in April 1926 and became interested in jazz as a schoolboy when he heard drummer Zutty Singleton perform at a New York jam session. After attending Cornell University he began to write for the Saturday Review and then later The New Yorker in 1957. 02.02.07

There's a wide range of family events taking place at this year's London Jazz Festival which begins next Friday and runs until 19 November. On the opening day Andy Sheppard's Dalston Saxophone Massive provides the opportunity for 200 saxophonists of all ages and abilities to play with the UK saxophonist and composer Andy Sheppard.  03.11.06

Jazz pianist and composer Hilton Ruiz died yesterday aged 54. 07.06.06

The jazz world is starting to come to terms with the death of alto saxophonist Jackie McLean who died aged 73 on 31 March after a long illness. 05.04.06

The HSBC Brecon Jazz Festival begins tomorrow and runs through until Sunday with US tenor great Joe Lovano as the artist in residence, Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra (plus Lulu) already sold out, Curtis Stigers, The Big Chris Barber Band, Jessica Williams, Mulgrew Miller Trio, Martin Taylor, Mose Allison, Ray Gelato's Giants of Jazz, Jazz Jamaica, Tina May, Tony Coe and Mica Paris. The festival is one of the highlights of the Welsh cultural and festival scene, with an influx last year of some 70,000 visitors to the festival who practically take over the town. Venues at the festival, co-sponsored once again by Jazzwise, include the main base of the beautiful Theatr Brycheiniog, the Guildhall, Market Hall, Brecon Cathedral and many other pubs and restaurants throughout the town. 
08.08.07

One of the mainstays of the original 1980s version of the Jazz Warriors, flautist Phillip Bent, launches his brand new record The Magic Of Your Spell, his first record in 15 years at the Jazz Café in London on 10 January. The record features a who’s who of the British jazz scene including Courtney Pine, Jason Rebello, Patrick Clahar and Jean Toussaint with Bent producing and performing on flute, keyboards and drums machine. 03.01.08

One of the mainstays of the original 1980s version of the Jazz Warriors, flautist Phillip Bent, has returned from the recording wilderness with his first record in over 14 years. Titled The Magic Of Your Spell it features a who’s who of the British jazz scene including Courtney Pine, Jason Rebello, Patrick Clahar and Jean Toussaint with Bent producing and performing on flute, keyboards and drums machine. Londoner Bent was encouraged early on in his carer by trumpeter and educator Ian Carr.
18.10.07

This year’s 22nd JVC Ealing Jazz Festival takes place from 26 July – 30 July at Walpole Park, London W5 and features over 200 musicians in one of Europe’s biggest free admission jazz festivals.
23.06.06

12.06.08

02.07.08

London's Spice of Life pub at Cambridge Circus hosts a busy bunch of gigs this month in the build up to next month's London Jazz Festival. Highlights include singer Nina Ferro (10 Oct), Fraud (11 Oct), Aronas (14 Oct), Periwinkle (19 Oct), Dune night (18 Oct), Underdog Ensemble (21 Oct) and Georgia Mancio (24 Oct). 09.10.07

The connection between free jazz improvisers and free noise experimenters is made in a special CMN tour set to launch on 28 April for a short tour. Evan Parker, one of the leading European free jazz saxophonists is at the forefront of the collaboration and cements his work already with the likes of Sonic Youth and leading avant rock groups. Some of the noise groups taking part in the tour include C. Spencer Yeh, who has a prolific record of over 40 releases on a dozen labels. Other performers taking part include Yellow Swans from Portland in Oregon, Californian John Wiese, free jazz veteran Paul Hession, Metalux who have recently collaborated with John Wiese, UK double bassist John Edwards known for his work with Sunny Murray and avant experimenters Culver. 07.03.07

The first five albums in a series of 50 covering a number of soundtracks featured in French cinema have been issued. The highlight of the batch is the Stan Getz/Philippe Sarde album Mort d’un pourri is from the 1971 film directed by Georges Lautner and staring Alain Delon. The 14 tracks feature Stan Getz on tenor saxophone and his own band’s rhythm section performing with the London Symphony Orchestra. Philipe Sarde created the second release soundtrack to two classic Roman Polanski movies of the 70s Tess and Le Locataire which are both on this one 22 track disc. Georges Delerue’s work can be heard on the Le Mepris soundtrack that also features a number of other soundtracks including La Peau Douce, Cartouche and Heureux qui comme ulysse. 
09.01.07

The International Association For Jazz Education is appealing to its members for donations in the face of a funding crisis described by Chuck Owen, the IAJE president, as “clearly the most challenging time in the Association’s history.” The campaign for jazz plan launched five years ago as a way of endowing IAJE programmes has fallen short of expectations and is now in debt. 26.03.08

The PRS Foundation has announced details of a new £60,000 funding scheme called British Music Abroad, to nurture emerging British music talent. 14.09.06