Durham Jazz Festival: Marvin Muoneké with SSBB @ Gala Theatre, Durham - Oct. 24

© Richard Morris

Marvin Muoneké (vocals, trumpet); Michael Lamb (MD, trumpet); Tom Rushton, Dick Stacey, Billy Bradshaw (trumpets); John Flood, Chris Gray, Kieran Parnaby, Alex Utting (trombones); Steve Summers, Keith Robinson, Jamie Toms, Matthew Forster, Sue Ferris (reeds); Jonny Winter (piano); Pawel Jedrzejewski (guitar); Michael Whent (bass); Jack Littlewood (drums); Alice Grace (vocals)

This concert on the second day of Durham Jazz Festival was billed as a thrilling meeting of velvet vocals and full throttle big band swing with classic crooner charm, punchy brass and a show with timeless standards. On this evening as part of the festival  2025 Mercury Music Prize nominees Knats were also  playing down the road at Fabio's Bar and jazz vocalist Eleanor Kouneni was at the Claypath Delicatessen. What a lineup the organisers of the festival had fashioned for this evening. I was pleased with my choice of concert and the Gala Theatre was very close to a full house. 

Down for the Count record two albums in three days at Angel Studios, including new Christmas record Count Down to Christmas

© Jack Childs

Press release: Fan-funded swing orchestra Down for the Count has recorded two full-length albums in an intensive three-day session at Angel Studios in London, engineered by John Barrett (Abbey Road Studios), mixed by Fiona Cruickshank (AIR Studios) and mastered by Cicely Balston (New Ground Audio).

The first album, Count Down to Christmas, is a festive record for the orchestra’s 40-piece big-band-with-strings line-up, with most of the musical arrangements written by conductor Mike Paul-Smith and fellow arranger and original band member Simon Joyner. It is the orchestra's second Christmas album, following Swing Into Christmas, released in 2021, and brings together festive standards and lesser-known seasonal material in Down for the Count's unique large swing ensemble setting. A second, non-festive album follows in spring 2027.

Alex Clarke w. the Dean Stockdale Trio @ the Moor Club, Stockport - Oct. 25

© Jeff Pritchard

Alex Clarke (alto sax); Dean Stockdale (keys); Adrian Knowles (double bass); Gaz Hughes (drums)

This concert should have included singer/saxist Emily Masser but, as Paul Hartley explained in his opening announcement, her car had broken down at Heathrow.

I thought I knew most of the bass players that worked in the north west but I don’t think I've come across Adrian Knowles before. He’s from the Leeds area and can play that’s for sure. 

Alex started the show with that great Clifford Brown 12 bar blues  Sandu  a good choice I thought. The second number was a standard that I think was from Frank Sinatra's epic album  Songs For Swinging Lovers - You Make Me Feel So Young. 

Other tunes were by composers such as Thelonious Monk, Bronislaw Kapers Kurt Weill ; Hank Mobley; Carlos Jobim etc.

Durham Jazz Festival: Dean Stockdale Quartet “Celebrating Oscar Peterson” @ Durham University Music School - October 25

© Richard Morris

Dean Stockdale (piano) ; Jamie Taylor (guitar}; Gavin Barras (double bass); Gaz Hughes (drums) 

This concert took place on Sunday, the last day of the three day Durham Jazz Festival 2026, to a sold out audience. I thoroughly enjoyed the three day festival attending eight concerts. Most were sell outs or very close to it. The festival was exceedingly well organised. It was many decades since I last stayed in Durham so all the venues I attended were fresh to me. This venue provided a large stage for the musicians with good acoustics and a large Steinway grand piano for Dean to feast his fingers on. This was the first concert of the day for Dean but a marathon day for him would include playing piano at another concert and then a long drive to Stockport for an evening concert. What a trooper!

Durham Jazz Festival: Vasilis Xenopoulos/Paul Edis Quartet @ St Chad’s College - October 24

© Richard Morris

Vasilis Xenopoulos (tenor/soprano sax); Paul Edis (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Steve Hanley (drums) 

Another sold out concert, held in the interior courtyard of St Chad’s College, opened day two of the three day Durham Jazz Festival 2026.

The afternoon’s programme consisted of tunes composed by Paul and Vasilis from a soon to be released album titled A Place Called Home. Andy, Steve and Paul, of course, are musicians I have seen play live on multiple occasions but this was the first time I had seen Vasilis play live and it most certainly will not be the last. He is an amazing player on both tenor and soprano sax.

Durham Jazz Festival: Ronnie Scott’s All Stars Soho Songbook @ Durham Redhills Miners Hall October 23

© Richard Morris

Alex Garnett (tenor sax); James Pearson (piano); Sam Burgess (double bass); Chris Higginbottom (drums); Polly Gibbons (vocals) 

Like many of the concerts in the 2026 Durham Jazz Festival, the opening night - held within the glorious setting of a grade ll listed building - was a sell out

Although the show has been touring the UK for a number of years, I’d previously only seen Polly, Alex and James at an actual gig. Polly has forged a successful career on the international jazz circuit and been twice nominated as best jazz vocalist by the BBC and Jazz FM, Alex is a very impressive saxophone player and James is well on his way to becoming the iconic figure the show’s inspiration was

A couple of instrumentals for starters, including Dizzy Gillespie’s, Groovin’ High before Polly joined the band on stage - her vocal range and technique immediately apparent. This was particularly noticeable on Duke Ellington’s  I’m Just a Lucky So and So and I Let a Song go Out of my Heart. Both these songs were recorded by Sarah Vaughan who was Ronnie Scott’s favourite female vocalist. 

Press release: New Glasgow Jazz Club

Saturday 7th November| Glasgow Art Club | Doors 7.00pm | Music 7.30pm

Members: £15 / Non-Members & guests of members: £20

A new chapter for live jazz in Glasgow continues with Glasgow Speakeasy, an intimate new monthly jazz club created by musician, composer and Del Amitri keyboard player Andy Alston. The theme for this night is '7 Deadly Sins', and features singer-songwriter Xan Tyler. 

Album review: Arnie Somogyi & Mark Edwards - The Ellington Piano Project: Eastbourne 1973 Reimagined. Echoes from Duke's Last Recording (Rubicon Jazz)

Arnie Somogyi (bass, comp., arranger); Gideon Tazelaar (tenor sax); Mark Edwards (piano, B3, banjo, accordion, tuned perc., comp., arranger); Matthew Holmes (drums) + Sara Oschlag (vocals tks 6, 9, ); Ashley  Slater (trombone tks 5, 9, 10. trumpet tks 5, 11); Jon Newey (perc. tks 5, 10)

It's almost two years since I reviewed Arnie and Gideon at Blaydon Jazz Club (LINK). On that occasion they were with local boys Joe Steels on guitar and John Hirst on drums. It was a splendid gig organised by the Dutch Arts Council and the Dutch tenor saxist well-deserved his country's support.

During the course of my review I made reference to an Ellington project that Arnie was involved in and, lo and behold, here it is.

Martin Taylor @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead - Oct. 18

Martin Taylor (guitar)

A rare (first?) appearance for Martin Taylor at Gateshead's Glasshouse (formerly Sage Gateshead). The stalls in Sage Two (one of the Tyneside venue's more intimate spaces) were well-populated. On the stroke of eight, unannounced, the award-winning, globetrotting Taylor walked out onto the stage. 

Suited and booted, a smiling Taylor set about playing some jazz guitar. Looking around the room, members of the local branch of the six-stringers union were conspicuous by their absence. Perhaps they had gigs of their own. 

Durham Jazz Festival: Jo Harrop – ‘Love Now, Pay Later’ Hometown Album Launch @ St Chad’s College, Durham – October 24

© Colin Muirhead

 Jo Harrop (vocals); Paul Edis (piano); Jamie McCredie (guitars); Andy Champion (electric bass); Peter Adam Hill (drums)

Day two of the Durham Jazz Festival got off to an auspicious start with the return to the north east of vocalist Jo Harrop. Now based in London, Jo was showcasing her new album Love Now, Pay Later, recorded in L.A. and produced by Chris Seefried. The north east connection carried through to Jo’s band, with Jamie and Paul having also grown up in the area and Andy still based here (no pun intended).

The venue was the light and airy atrium inside St Chad’s College; a lovely location, although it was difficult to see all the musicians from the back of the room.  And, like many of the concerts at the festival, the event was sold out, with standing room only around the edges of the quad.