Album review: Sullivan Fortner - Leave That in There (Artwork)

Sullivan Fortner (Steinway D piano, synths, B3, vocals); Kayvon Gordon (drums, perc.); Tyron Allen ll (double bass, Moog Sub 37); Jack DeBoe (perc., background vocals)

Difficult for me to equate with what's going on here with all these synths and things making sounds that are barely music let alone jazz. Then, like a break in the clouds, the Fortner that I know and love from his previous album the Grammy-winning Southern Nights, bursts through and normal service is, more or less, resumed. Of course these are fragmentary moments and the electronic effects are never too far away.

Album review: Paula Jeanine Bennett & Richard X Bennett - Amaryllis 2 (Ropeadope Records)

Paula Jeanine Bennett (lyrics, vocals, perc.); Richard X Bennett (music, piano, melodica, production)

The Brooklyn-based couple, Paula Jeanine and Richard X Bennett, composed the eleven new art songs on Amaryllis 2 which are primarily about love, pain and the natural world although you don't need me to tell you. One listen or even just reading the track titles will suffice.

Jazz Time Aycliffe Radio - Sundays 6.30-8.00pm (repeated Tuesdays 8.00-9.30pm).

https://www.ayclifferadio.co.uk/listen. 

Playlist 23/08/26 (repeated Tuesday 25/08/26)

Seasonal: Andy Schumm & the Fat Babies.

Requests from the John Settle gig: Milt Jackson, Lionel Hampton/Benny Goodman, Coleman Hawkins, Count Basie, Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, Ninine Garcia, Enrico Pieranunzi Trio, Quincy Jones.

Memories: Jack Teagarden, Miles Davis, Art Farmer.

New Release: Tara Minton.

Memory: Jimmy Rushing.

What’s on in the NE: Brian Jackson.

Peace: Tim Boniface. 

Aycliffe Radio is available on DAB in County Durham & the Darlington area or via your smart speaker.     

Happy Birthday Kim

Today (August 22) is Kim Parker's 80th birthday. Kim, stepdaughter of both Charlie Parker and Phil Woods, inspired 'Bird' to pen this tune for her.

Thank you Nick Mondello for drawing this to my attention.

We wish her the very best. Lance

Jazz @ the Lit & Phil: Andrzej Baranek Trio - August 21

© Patti

Andrzej Baranek (piano); Joshua Cavanagh-Brierley (bass); Dave Walsh (drums)

Two days, two gigs, two trios. Last night a young band on a voyage of discovery. This lunchtime a trio of seasoned campaigners on the same journey but someway further along the line. Both did what they do do well so to make comparisions would be pointless.

Once again the Lit and Phil was sold out and justifiably so. Baranek doesn't make too many trips across the Pennines so that when he does it's a gig not to be missed.

The emphasis was on highlighting compositions by some of jazz's greatest piano masters with a particular leaning towards bebop and its offspring kicking off with Tadd Dameron's Our Delight which couldn't have been more appropriately named judging by the audience reaction - they liked it! Lullaby of Birdland is always a crowd pleaser and today was no exception. I particularly liked the fact that, rather than clone Shearing, Baranek was very much his own man.

Promenading for Miles - tonight (Friday 21st)

If you listened last night (BBC Radio3), you'll want to watch it tonight. If you didn't listen last night, you'll want to watch it tonight. What's that? You ask. BBC Proms...a tribute to Miles Davis is BBC Four's screening of last night's Prom featuring American trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire in a salute to Miles Dewey Davis (marking the centenary of the trumpeter's birth, b. 25. 5. 1926). Tune to BBC Four at 8:00pm. If you're so inclined, you could watch a repeat at half past two in the morning (Saturday morning). Russell

Edson Angus Trio @ the Black Swan, Newcastle - August 20

© Patti

Jascha Bingham (keys); Jamie Watkins (double bass); Edson Angus (drums, leader, composer)

The gig was billed as by the Edson Angus Quartet but I only counted three players so it begun as a trio and finished as a trio. When David Gray turned up during the interval I thought he might be the missing link but no, he was just passing through. Still it was a stellar performance by the trio, with all hands to the pump to contain the fire being ignited in the performance area.

I'd heard Bingham and Watkins in various settings but Angus was a new name to me - a one to remember. Watkins I only remembered as an electric bassist but he proved equally adept and agile on the larger instrument. He soloed at great length sometimes at too great a length. However, what he was putting down was always interesting and relevant.

Late Night Chicago Radio with Denny Farrell (Aug. 20 -Aug. 26)

John Coltrane: The Wise One.

Norah Jones: Come Away With me.

Blossom Dearie: If You Don't Like my Peaches.

Johnny Hodges: Things Ain't What They Used to be.

Modern Jazz Quartet: Django.

Lee Wiley: I've Got a Crush on You.

Gerry Mulligan: Moondreams.

Roy Eldridge. Black and Blue.

Billie Holiday: St. Louis Blues.

Stan Getz: Desafinado.

Lou Rawles: 'Tain't Nobody's Business if I do.

Eddie Harris: ? .

LISTEN 24/7.

Preview: Ambrose plays Miles - tonite, Radio 3

In the centenary year of the birth of Miles Davis, the 2026 BBC Proms couldn't pass up the opportunity to mark the occasion. This evening, live from the Albert Hall, American trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and an all-star jazz band joins conductor Miho Hazama and the BBC Concert Orchestra in a programme of Gershwin, Falla, Rodrigo, Weill and more (including several of Gil Evans' arrangements). Tune to Radio 3 at seven o'clock. Russell

Valery Ponomarev @ The Jazz Bar, Edinburgh - Aug. 19

Valery Ponomarev (trumpet); Tim Armacost (tenor sax); Paul Kirby (piano); Brian Shiels (double bass); Max Popp (drums)

Leaving the former Soviet Union for America in the 70s, Valery Ponomarev first emerged on the international scene as Art Blakey's favoured candidate to occupy the coveted Jazz Messenger trumpet chair. Predecessors included storied names: Dorham, Morgan, Hubbard et al. Successors would include Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, starry names indeed. After a stint of some four years, Ponomarev quit the Messengers to embark upon a career as an international touring artist.

For the last thirty three years Valery Ponomarev has made an annual appearance at the Edinburgh Fringe. Thirty three years! Clearly the Fringe likes Ponomarev and on the evidence of the first night in a run of five at this year's gathering, Ponomarev likes the Fringe, the Jazz Bar in particular.