Album review: Woody Shaw - Love Dance (Time Traveller)

Woody Shaw (trumpet); Steve Turre (trombone); René McLean (alto/soprano sax); Billy Harper (tenor sax); Joe Bonner (piano); Cecil McBee (bass); Victor Lewis (drums); Guilherme Franco (perc.); Tony Waters (organ) 

Originally released in 1976 on the Muse label and reissued on that seeker of wisdom and truth Zev Feldman's Time Traveller label it's a slam dunk contender for reissue of the year. How could it not be with such a line-up?

Sitting north of hard bop and south of jazz rock it's as near to perfection as you're going to get from any band working that side of the street.

Five compositions, three from inside the band, capture modern jazz at its zenith.

Greg Abate-Alan Barnes Quintet @ Brighton College - Nov. 4

© Stevie Mayhook

Greg Abate (alto sax, flute); Alan Barnes clarinet, alto sax/baritone sax);  Nic Saunders (grand piano!) Oz Dechaine (double bass); Simon Whittaker (drums)

As I was due to spend a couple of days  visiting family in the Brighton area and as Greg Abate was doing a gig at a venue close to where my daughter lives it seemed to be a gig well worth going to! 

The concert started at 8.00pm - one set with a 10.00pm finish - in  the Cairns Theatre,  a small venue  with  a grand piano  being played tonight by Nic Saunders who I had not seen before but whose work I liked. The bass player was up to scratch - very agile fingers! The drummer was another stranger to me and I thought  maybe the drums could have used one more mic. The ceiling was very high in the theatre which may have affected the sound.   

Classic Jazz Party 2026: Evening @ The Village Hotel - Nov. 6

A full house for Friday's evening session opened with the first of the weekend's Piano Professor sets. Morten Gunnar Larsen's typically elegant set holding the audience spellbound. 

Victoria Spivey with Red Allen featured Parisian vocalist Nicolle Rochelle and New Yorker Mike Davis, as Henry 'Red' Allen (cornet). Ms Rochelle is a star attraction here in West Allotment and first time visitors to the CJP, of which there were many, were very impressed - as was to be expected! 

Album review: Gary Bartz NTU Troop – I've Known Rivers and Other Bodies (Jazz Dispensary/Craft Recordings – Top Shelf Series 180-gram double vinyl)

Gary Bartz (saxes, voice); Hubert Eaves (piano, keys); Stafford James (bass); Howard King (drums)

There are certain recordings that do far more than capture a moment in musical history. They reflect the social and political landscape of their time, the aspirations of a generation and the determination of musicians to make their voices heard. Gary Bartz's I've Known Rivers and Other Bodies, recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1973, is undoubtedly one of those albums. More than half a century later, it returns to vinyl in a beautifully presented edition that reminds us just how extraordinary, and indeed how relevant, this music remains.

The early 1970s were a remarkable period for jazz. The boundaries that had once separated genres were becoming increasingly blurred, with musicians drawing inspiration from African rhythms, funk, soul, rock and the burgeoning world of electronic instruments. Miles Davis had already challenged convention with Bitches Brew, while Pharoah Sanders and the spiritual legacy of John Coltrane were taking jazz into territory that was as much about personal enlightenment and cultural identity as it was about musical exploration.

Stockport Jazz

This Sunday Stockport Jazz welcomes the Counterpoint Quintet to the Moor Club featuring Helen Pillinger (tenor saxophone) and Carole Williams (piano and trombone) with Peter Hartley (bass), Paul Hartley (guitar) and Tim Franks (drums). 

Sunday November 15th 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)

Album review: Burgamy-Hancock New Originators (Turtle Bay Records)

Colin Hancock (cornet); Hunter Burgamy (banjo, vocals); Robin Rapuzzi (drums); Tom Saunders (tuba, bass sax); Kris Tokarski/Joplin Parnell (piano); Dennis Lichtman (tenor sax, clarinet); Charlie Halloran, Jens Lindgren (trombone); James Evans (clarinet, c-melody sax); Jonathan Greene (clarinet)

Hot on the heels of the past weekend's Classic Jazz Party comes an album co-led by one of the big hitters from the party - cornetist Colin Hancock. It's a gem of its kind  and, in many ways, typifies the ambiance of the CJP. 

The chosen compositions are, in the main, blues, rags and stomps from jazz's early years referencing bands such as those led by King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, the New Orleans Rhythm Kings and more. Inspired by, without slavishly copying them, the nine piece ensemble present their own versions of  the music of New Orleans. In that respect the Burgamy-Hancock New Originators are well-named so roll back the carpet and get ready to do some struttin'.

Jazz on the Tyne Presents New Music for November 2026

For the 150^th edition of the podcast, presenter Colin Muirhead highlights some upcoming gigs in the North East and showcases new music by Matt Carmichael, the Lorne Lofsky-Nigel Price Quartet, Eleonora Kouneni, Leo Anaga, Matthias Schwengler, Christine Tobin, Look Left, Martin Fabricius, Yosef Gutman, and Édouard Ferlet.

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: Joshua Redman - If Ever You Should Leave Us (Blue Note)

Joshua Redman (tenor sax); Larry Grenadier/Christian McBride (bass); Marcus Gilmore (drums); Kevin Hays (piano tks 6, 7); Peter Bernstein (guitar tks 9, 10); Chris Potter (tenor sax tk 7); Cécile McLorin Salvant (vocal tk 5); Gabrielle Cavassa (vocal tk 10)

A short (1.15 min.) unaccompanied There Will Never be Another You opens up Redman's tribute to his first inspirational hero - Sonny Rollins. Short and bitter sweet the love oozes unchecked from Redman's tenor. He's joined by McBride for a duo recording of Rollins' Doxy. The bassist too unloads his emotion whilst Redman picks up on Sonny's sense of humour with a quirky phrase. 

The duo becomes a trio -  the classic Rollins' line-up - with the arrival of Gilmore on The Last Time I Saw Paris. No changes for another of Sonny's much loved compositions - Pent-up House. Redman swoops and soars like a bird of prey his fingers doing the walking his heart the talking with Gilmore and McBride spurring him on to that famous penthouse.

RADIOPHONICX presents voices from East Europe on the 21st of November at Cobalt studios

RADIOPHONICX

Interference - waves of conflict

21st November 2-4pm at Cobalt Studios, 10-16 Boyd Street, Newcastle NE2 1AP

Two audio pieces from Slovenia and Czeck Republic will give us a unique opportunity to connect with artistic voices from East Europe. 

Mother of God, banish Putin by Jiří Adámek Austerlitz is a multiple award winning audio drama about the Pussy Riot attempt to sing a protest song in the Cathedral of Moscow. It combines a highly political theme with a mesmerising musical score.

Late Night Chicago Radio with Denny Farrell (Nov. 5 - 11)

Paul Desmond/Jim Hall: You'd be so Nice to Come Home to.

Johnny Hartman: I Thought About You.

Horace Silver: Doodlin'.

Clifford Brown/Max Roach: ? .

Larry Branchetti:Fly me to the Moon.

Oscar Peterson: You Look Good to me.

Maynard Ferguson: Autumn Leaves.

Ella Fitzgerald: Love For Sale.

Andy Brown: Memories of You.

Gerry Mulligan: Boplicity. (For Lance & Bebop Spoken Here in England!)

Sam Cooke: Laughin' and Clowin'. 

LISTEN 24/7.