Gig Guide

17 Abdullah Ibrahim with BBC Concert Orchestra and Big Band
Barbican Hall, London EC2

17 Jason Moran
Turner Sims Hall, University of Southampton, Southampton

17 The Neil Cowley Trio
Newark Jazz Festival, Newark

17 Jason Moran Band: In My Mind
Turner Sims Hall, University of Southampton, Southampton
Playing music from his new In My Mind album acclaimed US pianist Moran celebrates the work of Monk the man and his music to create a very personal statement about himself. For this Contemporary Music Network tour the band is built around Moran’s New York trio plus a superb British horn section. Monk has long played a vital role in Moran’s musical development and career, as while studying classical piano age 13, it was on first hearing Monk’s solo rendition of ‘Round Midnight that had a musical epiphany and immediately switched to studying jazz. In 2007 he was approached by San Francisco Jazz Institute to recreate Monk’s famous 1959 Town Hall concert for a performance last year, Monk’s 90th anniversary year, but rather than a straight recreation Moran began to conceive of a larger project that would look beyond Monk’s music and public image to reflect upon the man himself, his history and his creative process. In My Mind is a full-length original piece based on the 1959 Town Hall concert, W. Eugene Smith’s documentary work, and Moran’s 2007 pilgrimage to Monk’s ancestral home in North Carolina. With this as the stunning musical backdrop played by an exceptional band of Jason Moran (piano), Tarus Mateen (bass), Nasheet Waits (drums), Byron Wallen (trumpet), Jason Yarde (alto and soprano saxophone), Denys Baptiste (tenor and soprano saxophone), Fayez Virjii (trombone), Andy Grappy (tuba), this tour looks set to be one of the early live jazz highlights of the year.

17 Kimmo Pohjonen: Earth Machine Music
Park Farm, North Aston, Oxfordshire

17 Abdullah Ibrahim with BBC Concert Orchestra and Big Band
Barbican Hall, London EC2

17 Eddie Parker
Vortex Jazz Club, Gillett Street, London N16

17 Billy Jenkins Blues Collective
The Shed, Hovingham

17 Ian Shaw
Pizza Express Jazz Club, Dean Street, London W1

17 Claire Martin and Sir Richard Rodney Bennett
Palace Theatre, Newark

17 Myke Wilson & Guests
Matt & Phred’s Jazz Club, Tib Street, Manchester

17 Patrick Clahar Quartet
606 Club, Lots Road, London SW10

17 Abdullah Ibrahim
Barbican, London

Ronnie Scott's, Frith Street, London W1
see 30.06.08 Led Bib

Gallery Cafe, Queen’s Theatre, Barnstaple, North Devon,
see 25.06.08 Julia Biel

Charlie Wright's, Pitfield Street, London N1
see 27.06.08

Jazz FM To Return In The Autumn

Radio station Jazz FM will be relaunched later this year as a DAB station. The Local Radio Company, run by Jazz FM former chief exectutive Richard Wheatly has signed a three-year licensing deal with Guardian Radio to run the station GMG bought Jazz FM several years ago, relaunching it as Smooth FM, but retaining the rights to the name.
01.07.08

Vienne Opens with James Brown Tribute, Avishai Cohen and Diana Krall

The French jazz festival season got underway over the weekend with the start of the Jazz a Vienne festival in the small town of Vienne just a stone’s throw away from Lyon. The main concerts take place in the Theatre Antique Roman Amphitheatre that dominates the town. The opening night’s concert was themed around a tribute to James Brown and featured Rose Ann Diamalante and her band and then a fantastic band put together by Pee Wee Ellis and Fred Wesley featuring Cheikh Lo and singer Simphiwe Dana.

30.06.08

Soweto Kinch and the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble Set For Durham Brass Festival

A 15-day celebration of brass-inspired music draws Soweto Kinch and the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble to Durham next month for the genre-defying festival Brass, featuring brass bands, classical brass ensembles as well as folk and jazz groups.

27.06.08