Press release: Kings Place Announces 2027 Season With Major Jazz Programme and New Series Origins Unwrapped

Artist-in-Residence Alice Zawadzki presents three projects, including the acclaimed Bag of Bones and the world premiere of Replace Your Gods

Kings Place Jazz Orchestra named Jazz Ensemble in Residence and will present a series of projects, including a 70th anniversary celebration of West Side Story

Additional performances from Tony Kofi & Denys Baptiste, Joe Webb, Alexandra Ridout, Snowpoet, Olivia Murphy, Marlon the Pannist and more

Tickets on sale on Friday 25 September from www.kingsplace.co.uk

Album review: Janis Siegel - The Art of Vocalese (Origin Records)

Janis Siegel (vocals); John Di Martino (piano, arranger); Lonnie Plaxico (bass); Ed Cherry/Frank Vignola (guitar); Wayne Escoffery (tenor sax); Bobby Sanabria (drums); Raul Midón, Lea DeLario (vocal); JaLaLa vocal trio (Siegel, Laurel Massé, Lauren Kinhan)

An enjoyable romp by former Manhattan Transfer vocalist Janis Siegel that shows off her vocalese ability over nine familiar and not so familiar tracks.

Kicking off with  Bird's Barbados, Siegel cuts loose over Sanabria's Caribbean rhythm performing at speed yet making space for piano and bass solos. As part of her JalaLa vocal trio It's Sandman brings back shades of Man Tran or LHR - Lambert and Hendricks were part composers of the tune.

Bye, Bye, Blackbird has Midón sharing the vocal with Siegel. One of them produces some cornetish sounds. Michael Brecker had a hand in the intriguingly titled In the Presence of Absence of Each Other Escoffery puts his head above the parapet for a fine solo.

Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music 2026

This year's Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music begins today (Sept. 24) at Gosforth Civic Centre with the Arun Ghosh Sextet at Gosforth Civic Theatre.

See the graphic for full listing.

Also: Gosforth Civic Theatre. Lit & Phil. The Globe. The Glasshouse.

Album review: Clifford Jordan - Night of the Mark Vll (Time Traveller)

Clifford Jordan (tenor sax); Cedar Walton (piano); Sam Jones (bass); Billy Higgins(drums)

A reissue from 1975. A live recording of a Paris concert by Jordan initially released on the legendary Muse label and made available by Time Traveller's intrepid jazz detective Zev Feldman on a 180-gram 12" vinyl LP.

Even back then, eight years after his death, John Coltrane's spirituality was ever present as the eponymous opening track indicates. It's a slow dirge with lots of background chants but, to my mind, a throwaway track.

Brian Arthur Richardson (Oct. 11, 1933 - Aug. 31, 2026)

Courtesy Chris
Perrin

Brian was born in Newcastle UK and went to Rutherford College to study engineering.  He was evacuated to Lanercost near Brampton, Cumbria during World War ll. He went on to be an apprentice with Parsons Engineering of Newcastle.

He learned to play the cornet and then the trombone with the Salvation Army. This led to him playing in brass bands and he started his jazz career playing with local jazz bands including the Clem Avery Jazzmen.

He later moved to Canada to work in the wine industry and then on to San Francisco where he established a successful calibration business. When he ‘retired’ he became a consultant and was still testing the structural integrity of the Golden Gate Bridge up to his 90th birthday. 

RADIOPHONICX - Season 2026/27

BERLIN RADIO FESTIVAL 2026

I've just returned from the Berlin Radio Festival, where my audio short Nothing but hope was shortlisted for the MikroFlitzer competition. Truly inspired and uplifted by all the fantastic audio pieces and the enthusiastic audio makers, I am now looking forward to the second season of RADIOPHONICx, communal listening event at Cobalt studios.

RADIOPHONICX - Season 2026/27

Yes, we are back with more outstanding international audio plays and sound art. 

RADIOPHONICx is the only event in the north east dedicated to international radio and sound art. Celebrating a 100 year old art form, which resulted directly from the invention of a new communication medium, the radio.

From October to January Cobalt Studios will be hosting RADIOPHONICx, the communal listening event, once a month on a Saturday afternoon from 2 till 4pm. 

Lewis Watson Quartet @ the Lit & Phil: A John Coltrane Centenary Concert - Sept. 23

Photo © John Lyons

Lewis Watson (tenor/soprano sax); Mark Williams (guitar); Andy Champion (bass); John Bradford (drums)

If you weren't at Blaydon Jazz Club on Monday or the Lit & Phil last night then you have my sympathy - you missed one/two of the great moments in the ongoing saga of jazz on Tyneside. This was a gig worthy of Newport (Rhode Island) on a summer's day.

The spirit of John Coltrane hovered all around and it was given substance by the Lewis Watson Quartet's tribute to the appropriately initialled saxophonist who would have been one hundred years old yesterday had he still been with us in the flesh.

More Trane tomorrow - in the meantime...

The Lewis Watson Quartet's magnificent tribute to John Coltrane will be reviewed tomorrow. In the meantime log on to Roy Woodcock's three-part programme dedicated to JC himself on Roy's Blues and JazzTastic Mixcloud show..

The podcast link to the shows is HERE.

A word of warning - it works fine on my smartphone but not on my PC. Strange.

Let me know if it works for you. Lance

Stockport Jazz

This Sunday Stockport Jazz welcomes the US saxophonist/clarinettist/arranger Frank Griffith and his Quintet featuring renowned trombonist Lee Hallam with Robin Dewhurst (piano), Dave Tompkins (bass) and Mike Hughes (drums). 

Sunday 27th September 2026

8-10pm, doors open at 7.30pm

£5 entry on the door, all welcome

The Moor Club, 35 Heaton Moor Road, Stockport SK4 4PB  (next to the Elizabethan PH)

Neil Yates Quintet @ Llandudno Jazz Club - Sept. 21

© Richard Morris

Neil Yates (trumpet, tenor sax); Antony Stevens (trumpet);  Andrzej Baranek (piano); Grant Russell (double bass); Johnny Hunter (drums)

The concept for this concert, as explained by Neil Yates, was to have a band with two trumpets. There are a few albums that have explored this concept including Two Trumpets recorded by Art Farmer and Donald Byrd in 1956. 

Neil is renowned for his jazz trumpet playing. Antony Stevens is better known for playing the sousaphone on which I last saw him play at this venue. However, he gave a very good account of himself on the trumpet remarking that,at age 18, he was a student of Neil Yates and now at age 42 he was playing Step Lightly - a number Neil had taught him 24 years ago! Antony is a member of the roving brass band The Stray Horns who specialise in bringing their music to all sorts of events such as weddings, parties etc all around the country with other prominent members such as Jamie Brownfield and Mike Smith.