Album review: Nicolas Meier World Group – Elysian Drift. (MGP Records)

Nicolas Meier (guitars); Alex Hutton (piano); Tom Mason (bass); Demi Garcia Sabat (percussion); Randolph Matthews (voice) + José  Almarcha (Flamenco guitar on A Night in Sant Cugat)

There are musicians who travel in search of inspiration and there are those whose music becomes a map of the places they have visited. Nicolas Meier belongs firmly in the latter camp. For years the Swiss-born, UK-based guitarist has built a musical language that comfortably inhabits jazz, Turkish folk traditions, flamenco, North African rhythms and contemporary European improvisation. On Elysian Drift, those influences don’t compete for attention—they coexist beautifully.

 

Inspired by journeys shared with his wife, artist Songul Yilmaz-Meier, whose evocative artwork graces the album cover, Elysian Drift feels less like a travelogue and more like a collection of memories. The destinations may stretch from the Mediterranean to the Middle East, but the real journey is emotional rather than geographical.

Album review: Mari Wilson - Girl About Town. (Beehive Records)

Mari Wilson (vocals, compositions) + unnamed support

The last time Mari Wilson was on my radar was at Harrogate in a show called Girl Talk where she sang in a triple dead heat with Barb Jungr and Claire Martin (see graphic). This was circa 2005 which was pre-BSH so I have no record to prompt my memory of the evening.

Since then whilst Martin and, to a lesser extent Jungr, have had their show of exposure within this realm, Wilson seemed to have vanished, like Harrogate Town from the Football League - until now!

Now, Harrogate has begun the return to respectability with a 5-2 win and Mari is releasing this album which, in its soul-retro pop genre, is about as good as it gets.

If These Walls Could Talk: James Pearson, Jamie Safir and an unforgettable evening of stories, songs and Soho @ Yamah Music

James Pearson, Jamie Safir (pianos, storytelling)

There is something rather magical about Soho on a warm summer evening.

 This summer in particular.

 

Long after office hours officially end, the streets refuse to slow down. Thursday has quietly become the new Friday, and nowhere illustrates that better than Wardour Street. By six o’clock the pavements were already overflowing. Pints balanced precariously on window ledges, wine glasses caught the evening sunshine and conversations spilled effortlessly from pubs into the street. There was laughter, optimism and that unmistakable feeling that London, when the weather allows it, remains one of the world’s great cities.

 

The sun beat down on pavements bleached almost white by weeks of relentless heat. It is a summer that will surely be remembered for years to come.

 

Jazz on the Tyne Welcomes Back Abbie Finn & Harry Keeble

In the latest edition of the podcast, presenter Colin Muirhead welcomes back to the show drummer Abbie Finn and saxophonist Harry Keeble.  Abbie and Harry talk about the Finn-Keeble Group, ahead of their gig at Pizza Express in Soho on 19^th October, as well as their other projects.  Along with music by the group, you’ll hear tracks by the Abbie Finn Trio, Five-Way Split, Omar Sosa, Fergus McCreadie, Fraser Fifield, The Scornful Four, and Knats.

You can listen to the show anytime HERE.

Plus, you can request music for future programmes, pass on news or leave feedback by emailing Colin at jazz.tyne.hive@gmail.com or by heading to www.jazzonthetyne.org.

Album review: Tim Garland & Geoffrey Keezer - Mezzo - take two. (ECN)

Tim Garland (mezzo-soprano/soprano sax); Geoffrey Keezer (piano).

Internationally respected contemporary jazz icons, Tim Garland and Geoffrey Keezer celebrate their 25 year collaboration with Mezzo, a duo this time round recorded in one  five- hour session in NYC in May 2025.

Drawing from varied influences including 20th Century classical and non-western music the duo continues along similar lines of Storms And Nocturnes, the trio they formed in 2001 with vibraphonist, Joe Locke. The album title refers to a rare soprano sax with only twenty extant in the world.  Pitched in the key of G it goes a minor third lower than the normal soprano (presumably) giving it a more alto-like darker tonal timbre.

Album review: Alex Hamburger & José Luiz Martins - Catalogue of Dreams (Challenge Records)

Alex Hamburger (flute, voice, synth); José Luiz Martins (piano, synth, keys)

I was hooked from el (the) get go by Alex's flute intro and her  exuberant vocal on Gil Gilberto's Ladeira Da Preguica. By contrast, Alex's Catalog is suitably dreamy, the voice feeding those moments, late at night, when you're not quite asleep nor fully awake. It can be the highest or the lowest part of your day.

Nothing dreamy about Moreira's Tombo in 7/4. Flute and piano bounce notes and phrases off each other with a reflective break in the middle and, after the twists and turns that are inevitable in 7/4 time, they switch to a 4/4 samba beat closing down with the flute growling amidst other strange sounds.

Detour Ahead is as beautiful as any recording of Herb Ellis' emotive ballad (co-composed with John Frigo and Lou Carter). Special mention of Alex's husband José's contribution on piano.

Didn't the boy do good?!

Back in 2008 when BSH was still a precocious child I posted an item announcing guitarist Jamie McCredie's departure for London's prestigious Guildhall School of Music.

That trip certainly paid off judging by Jamie's stellar performance with Jo Harrop at the Globe last month.

My original post included a link to an Evening Chronicle article related to Jamie's departure. The link, unfortunately, no longer works. However, whilst rummaging among some bits and pieces of this and that I came across a cutting of that original article which can now be viewed above. Lance

Album review: Ferg's Imaginary Big Band – The New Atomic (Trash City Records via Bandcamp)

Dan Coulthurst, Emyr Penry Dance, Ernie Moore, Fee Buckton, Olivia Cuttill, (trumpets); Felix Burling (trumpet, tuba, trombone); Sam Ehret’Pickett (trumpet, marching baritone horn); Aidan Ruffle, Benji Arnold, George Murray, Peter New, Adam Chard (trombones); Nat Martin (tenor horn); Flo Taylor, Saul Duff (alto saxes); Sophie Speed, Will Gibbon, Harvey Parkin-Christie (tenor saxes); Bess Shooter (baritone sax); Alex Fisher (bass sax, sopranino sax); Aby Vulliamy (viola); George MacDonald, Nico Widdowson (keyboards); Conall Mulvenna, Will Lakin, Joe Cross (guitar); Woody Hayden, Joe Cross (bass); Josh Ketch, Theo Goss, Jonathan Lodder, (drums); Jonathan Lodder, Richard Moulton, AJ, (percussion); Hamish Dixon (noise); Amy Clark, Sunday Lendis, Rebecca Herrington, Rosie Miles, Laura Kindelan - The Imaginettes; Conall Mulvenna, Fergus Quill, Jonathan Lodder, Joe Cross (vocals); Poppy, AJ (spiritual advice); Fergus Quill (various)

Album review: Stefon Harris + Blackout feat. Casey Benjamin (Motéma Music)

Stefon Harris (vibes, marimba); Christian Sands (piano, keys); Dezron Douglas (bass); Terreon Gully (drums); Casey Benjamin (vocoder, alto/soprano sax, aerophone) + Weedie Braimah (djembe tks 1, 4, 9, 10); Dwayne Clark (spoken word tk 10); Scott Arcangel (wind, string orch. tks 3, 6, 8, 11); Anne Drummond (flute tks 3, 6, 8, 11); Oran Etkin (clarinet tks 3, 6, 8, 11); Eric Eaton (cello tks 3,11)

Harris describes Legacy Dances as both a celebration and a tribute to electro-soul-jazz innovator Casey Benjamin who passed away in 2024. These are his last recordings. They are memorable for his crusty sax solos as well as his vocoder voice manipulations and the strange sounds from the aerophone.

Back down on Planet Earth, along with his band Blackout, Harris plays vibes and marimba very effectively throughout. Libation features Braimah's djembe and there's all sorts going on beneath Dwayne Clark's dramatic narration of We Are an African People.

The Bridget Metcalfe Band @ Dorman's Jazz Club Middlesbrough - Aug.6

Bridget Metcalfe (vocals); Dave Archbold (piano); Josh Bentham (alto/concert flutes); Dan Johnson (alto sax); Vilda Kuby (double bass); Steve Fletcher (drums).

The new line up of the Bridget Metcalfe band promised to give the audience an entertaining night of  music that would include several of her original compositions.

Starting with an instrumental number, Billy Taylor's I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to be Free was a good choice enabling the musicians to immediately display their talents with an intro from Josh on flute, piano solo from Dave, more flute from Josh and sax from Dan backed up with solid bass and drums from Vilda and Steve respectively making for an excellent  start.