Sirius Septet @ Llandudno Jazz Club – Nov. 2

© Richard Morris

Neil Yates, Antony Stevens (trumpet); Mike Smith, Jeff Guntren (tenor sax); Misha Gray (piano); Grant Russell (double bass); Ric Weedon (drums)

Apart from on the trad nights, a septet is probably the largest ensemble to feature at the club. Most of the musicians were familiar faces although it was the first time I had seen Mike Smith. Seven fabulous musicians, several of them bandleaders, composers and arrangers in their own right. To say that they are the crème de la crème of the north west’s jazz scene would not be an understatement. Save for Neil, who is local, they had travelled from Liverpool, Manchester and Shropshire.

Mike,a multi-instrumentalist with saxophone being his primary instrument, I’d seen with Antony in the Stray Horns in September. As well as bread and butter function gigs he tours with Elkie Brooks, Martin Fry and ABC and Echo and the Bunnymen amongst others. The repertoire for this concert consisted of some great jazz standards plus some compositions by Misha Gray who invariably comes to concerts with not only his electronic keyboard but also his piano stool packed with sheet music.

Jasmine Myra @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead - Nov. 4

© Dave Sayer

Jasmine Myra (alto sax); Jasper Green (piano); Ben Haskins (guitar); Sam Quintana (bass); Alice Roberts (harp); Rianna Henriques (tenor sax, flute); Joel Stedman (flutes) George Hall (drums)

Some people round here have mithered on about the paucity of jazz at The Glasshouse in recent years, yet here we are for number one of two on consecutive days, both in the small Hall. Fergus McCreadie tomorrow, Jasmine Myra tonight.  Myra’s music has been described as having a spiritual element to it and, indeed, blessed are they who find themselves in Sage 2 tonight for they are spared the horror of Queen Orchestral which is befouling the air of the big hall next door. It will take some cleaning to get rid of the stench of Fat Bottomed Girls.

Back in Sage 2 we open with Reflection, a wide-ranging ‘reflective’ piece which builds as congeries of delicate notes on guitar, harp and piano infringe on space that is slowly and steadily filled as the piece evolves and the waves of music fall and flow with greater force; English Country pastoral. A lovely sound. Echo has marginally more urgency and a fuller sound as Henriques’ tenor and Myra’s alto intricately interweave in duet. Reverie opens with pointillist harp notes and bass and guitar attach themselves, piano is folded into the blend. Myra’s solo develops themes, lifted onwards by the guitar’s delicate, dancing run of notes. Two flutes and the alto together provide a fuller, richer sound.

Album (EP) review: Eleonora Kouneni - Independently Blue (G2 Records & Publishing)

Eleonora Kouneni (vocals); Chris Lee (piano); Martin Young (bass); Manuel Figueiras (drums)

High winds, heavy rain and uncertain transportation meant I missed the inaugural Durham Jazz Festival and the sold-out concert by Eleonora Kouneni. If I'd heard Independently Blue earlier, i.e. before the festival I'd have thrown caution to that pesky wind and got myself a front row seat!

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Album review: Noel Langley – Syzygy "From the Brass Band to the Space Between the Stars" (Saratan Records)

Noel Langley (trumpet, flugelhorn, various ethnic instruments); Alcyona Mick (piano, prepared piano, organ) 

There's a fair chance you've heard Noel Langley without necessarily knowing it. His career has taken him through the wonderfully inventive Loose Tubes, the London Jazz Orchestra and sessions with artists including Radiohead, Adele and Lou Reed. Then there's his acclaimed production work with Yazz Ahmed. That's a considerable amount of music made in the service of other people's ideas. Syzygy, only his second album under his own name, brings his own story into focus, and what a fascinating story it is.

For a musician accustomed to leading trumpet sections and working alongside some of the biggest names in music, Syzygy is a surprisingly intimate affair. It's an album that seems less concerned with demonstrating technical brilliance than exploring the emotional possibilities of sound, silence and the musical conversations that happen somewhere in between.

Stockport Jazz

Back by popular demand, this week Stockport Jazz welcomes the return of Swing 26! featuring Julian Gregory (violin) and Matthew Compton (accordion). This time the group features a special guest, fellow BBC Philharmonic member Paul Turner on drums and percussion, together with Ken Marley (double bass) and Paul Hartley (guitar). The quintet play an eclectic range of material, from gypsy jazz and 1930s swing to music from Parisian cafés, Eastern Europe and South America. Get there early to claim the best seats!

Sunday 8th November 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)

Press release: BBC Introducing One to Watch's Marina Josephina brings 10-piece jazz-soul band to Newcastle's PILGRIM

Teesside singer-songwriter Marina Josephina will headline PILGRIM,* the 250-capacity soul and jazz venue on Newcastle's Pilgrim Street, on Thursday 19 November, fronting a 10-piece band.

Named one of BBC Introducing North East's Ones to Watch for 2025, Marina writes neo-soul that pulls together jazz, soul and R&B with a pop edge. Her songs deal with love, loss, mental health and female empowerment, and she names Corinne Bailey Rae, Amy Winehouse, RAYE, Nectar Woode and Hope Winter among her influences.

Her live show has taken her to Kendal Calling, Sound City, The Great Escape and Soundwaves, and onto bills supporting soul great Alexander O'Neal and Brooke Combe.

Press release: Tobin launches “heroic” album at London Jazz Festival

Singer-composer Christine Tobin launches her latest album, Pseudologia Fantastica at World Heart Beat in Nine Elms on Saturday November 21 as part of EFG London Jazz Festival.

Meaning ‘pathological liar’ Pseudologia Fantastica is a collection of eighteen short pieces that navigate the current sea of disinformation and misappropriation of new technologies.

“Over recent years our perception of the world and sense of reality, of what is true or false is gradually unravelling,” says Tobin. “It has been eroded with the emergence of new phrases such as ‘alternative facts’, and a rolling, bludgeoning, narrative where all is back to front and upside down.”

Album review: Louis Armstrong - One Night in Highland Park (Verve)

Louis Armstrong (trumpet, vocals); Trummy Young (trombone); Edmund Hall (clarinet); Billy Kyle (piano); Squire Gersh (bass); Barrett Deems (drums)

A previously unreleased concert recorded before 1,200 fans at Highland Park High School 27 miles north of Chicago by what many consider the All-Stars' greatest line-up. With all due respect to Messrs Teagarden, Bigard, Hines and Cozy Cole/Catlett they're probably right - collectively if not individually.

Armstrong was still at his best both vocally and instrumentally. The trumpet soaring majestically above the ensemble, the voice still the raspy gravel that fooled trad trumpet players into thinking they could sing little realising that the Satchmo voice was a one off.

Nigel Price & Libor Smoldas @ Davenham Players Theatre - Oct. 29

© Richard Morris

Nigel Price (baritone guitar); Libor Smoldas (guitar)

It was with high expectations that I attended this concert by two of the best jazz guitarists in Europe. A full house had similar expectations and we were not disappointed. Nigel, in a career spanning more than 30 years, is widely acknowledged as one of the most highly regarded and hardest working jazz musicians in the business having received many much-deserved awards during those three decades. He met Prague based jazz guitarist Libor, who has worked and recorded with many international stars, some eight years ago.

The concert was billed as Price & Smoldas playing a selection of well chosen standards, as well as a few originals, delivered with a reverence for the past masters whilst putting their own spin on the music.

Digital single review: Laila Biali - Free Man in Paris

© Robert Ricard

Laila Biali (vocals, piano, arr.); George Koller (bass); Ben Wittman (drums, perc.); Glenn Patscha (B3); Kevin Turcotte (trumpet); William Carn (trombone, horn arr.); Tara Davidson (alto sax); Kelly Jefferson (tenor sax); Shirantha Beddage (baritone sax); David Quackenbush (French horn)

Back in the days of my blinkered youth I'd have regarded the coupling of Joni Mitchell and jazz as bizarre as Ronnie Scott's famed one liner - "... and next week it's Jim Dale sings Thelonious Monk!"

Well Jim Dale is but a forgotten name in the annals of pop history whereas the work of Joni Mitchell, as horizons widen, is held in the highest regard by musos of all genres. It probably began for me through her collaboration with the great bassist Charles Mingus and grew.