With enough rave reviews of his album Subterranean: New Designs on Bowie's Berlin to earn it a rightful place in all the end of year jazz polls, 2014 certainly ended on a high for drummer Dylan Howe.
The first South Coast Jazz Festival was an unqualified success.
From the opening tap of dry ride cymbal and warm, fluid guitar aloft some busy B3, lucky holders of this, the Watermill's most trumpeted ticket to date, were, at once, entranced by the emotive, almost telepathic interplay of this master trio.
A Sunday lunchtime slot can mean many things in terms of jazz programming: a nervy new singer being given their first break, a tired-but-safe pair of hands playing a predictable crowd-pleasing set, or an unwieldy big band performing a challenging bunch of five-page charts.
Pianist Darius Brubeck was warmly received on a busy Monday night at Pizza Express Jazz Club, marking the launch of the group’s new album Cathy’s Summer.
The launch of singer Fumi Okiji’s album Old Fashion (the first based around her Old Time Jazz Band ensemble) supported by fellow singer Brigitte Beraha, presented two contrasting experiences of the interpretation of existing repertoire.
It’s just over two years since a 21-year-old Laura Jurd released Landing Ground, her unnervingly assured debut album.
Undoubtedly a great reservoir of rhythm Brazil is also a limitless source of melody.
Family, friends, work associates, and fellow photographers all took turns on Ronnie Scott’s stage on Tuesday afternoon to tell us what many of us already knew.
A wet Monday in early January didn’t auger well, but an agreeable sized audience greeted UK trumpeter/composer Damon Brown at Pizza Express Jazz Club, boosted by the presence of American cousins, saxophonist Jesse Davis and drummer Billy Hart.
