2020 APPJAG Nominations Announced

(Press release)

The full list of nominees is as follows:

Jazz Vocalist of the Year

Georgia Mancio

Cherise Adams-Burnett

Liane Carroll

Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year

Sarah Tandy

Rob Luft

Liam Noble

Nubya Garcia

Jazz Album of the Year
Seed Ensemble Driftglass

Yazz Ahmed Polyhymnia

Kate Williams Four Plus Three meets Georgia Mancio Finding Home

Album Review: Fred Randolph - Mood Walk

A bass-playing leader playing his own compositions wasn't a recipe that filled me with eager anticipation and my first thought was, who will appreciate this more than I will?

Then I played it! Boy did I get it wrong. The moment the needle hit the groove (figuratively speaking) I knew this was mine.

LIVE in King's Hall

In the absence of live, in concert performances Newcastle University is making available a short series of weekly lockdown sessions performed by musicians in their own homes. Last week (Thursday 21) two members of the Northern Sinfonia gave a short recital for violin and cello. Jane Nossek (violin) and Gabriel Waite (cello) played pieces by Bartok, Martinu, Bach and Giliere. The performance is currently available on YouTube. 

DJAZZ 2020 cancelled.

(Press release) We’re sure this will come as no surprise but it is with a heavy heart that we have reached the decision to cancel the 2020 edition of DJAZZ.  We have spent the last few weeks taking stock of the situation and looking into various options, but have been unable to find a way to deliver the festival the way we’d like it to be. Like many others, we’ll be taking this time to consider the environment for live music amidst COVID-19. We will bide our time and learn from the music industry’s wider response as we work out what the role of DJAZZ is over the next few months. Please bear with us and know that we’ll be back as soon as the time is right.

2019 re-cap video (See previous post). This video documents the third edition of the festival which took place in June 2019... HUGE thanks to Oxley Media for capturing the essence of the festival so beautifully, and to all who attended and played. We couldn't catch everyone on cam, but it was all lush

DJAZZ: The Durham City Jazz Festival - 2019 recap

JAZZ AHEAD!

AS OF MAY 26 LISTINGS IN RED ARE RECENT ADDITIONS / AMENDMENTS / CANCELLATIONS / POSTPONEMENTS / RESCHEDULED EVENTS

The following selective gig list is somewhat speculative but, sooner or later, gig-going will resume. Fingers crossed that some/most/all of the gigs listed will go ahead. Contact the venue to confirm the gig is on! 

MAY 2020

FRI 1 - SUN 3 Darlington Jazz Festival. TO BE RESCHEDULED (DATES TBA).

 

SAT 30 Paul Edis + Francis Tulip & Ben Lawrence - Sage Gateshead. RESCHEDULED (see OCTOBER 7, 2020).

Preview: Ella - May 30

As you continue to observe the lockdown guidelines (unlike some with a nauseating sense of entitlement) there is little or no excuse for not being in front of the box on Saturday evening to watch Ella Fitzgerald: Just One of Those Things. 

The BBC 2 programme begins at 9:30 with numerous talking heads (including Kenny Barron, Tony Bennett and Smokey Robinson) linking archive film - some of it never publicly screened until now - of Ella in action. Distinguished documentary film maker Leslie Woodhead's previous subjects include the Beatles, the Stones and Tony Bennett. So, ninety minutes of Ella on stage and in conversation should be considered essential viewing. And there's more...

Following Ella at 11:00 there is another chance to see Jazz Divas Gold. More Ella alongside Peggy Lee, Nina Simone, Cleo Laine, Sarah Vaughan, Betty Carter,  Marion Montgomery, June Christy and others in an hour's worth of archive BBC material ranging from 1965 to 2008. That's Saturday night sorted.  

Russell

The All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group urge Arts Council England to reinstate National Lottery Projects Grants

(Press Release)

When Arts Council England announced its £160 million emergency rescue package to deal with the coronavirus crisis in March 2020, arts organisations and individuals alike were rightly delighted by such a swift and positive response.

However, an important creative cause is in danger of falling through the cracks. Jazz music, an increasingly dynamic cultural force, and a renowned and invaluable stimulus to many kinds of music-making beyond its own borders, has in recent years been significantly dependent on the National Lottery Projects Grants Scheme for the planning of tours and creative projects. The scheme has now been suspended to release funding for the emergency measures - but no provision for its jazz commitments has been suggested in Arts Council England's responses to queries.

Lockdown Lindsay - May 25

Lindsay Hannon (vocals/ukulele/shakers)

This Monday night's blues stream began with a shock to the system - Lindsay was drinking tea! Blues mamas don't drink tea! They may smoke it, but their street cred is gone if they're caught drinking the vile concoction. However, this was a temporary lapse and Earl Grey gave way to some gin laced with coke - we were back on track and the Earl returned to the top of his monument.

Preview: Strictly Smokin' Live Stream #2 - Thursday 28

At 8:15 on Thursday evening the second in a series of Strictly Smokin' live stream Facebook events features a quartet comprising SSBB MD Michael Lamb (trumpet), from the reeds Keith Robinson and Steve Summers, and special guest Paul Donnelly, guitar. 

Russell

Fergus McCreadie: Exclusive Livestream Concert @ The Globe.

(Press release)

We can’t run gigs at The Globe currently but this WON’T STOP US bringing you the very best new music! We are pleased to announce the fourth of our exclusive livestream concerts.

On Sunday 31 May at 8pm we’re delighted to be able to bring you an exclusive and intimate concert by award-winning jazz pianist Fergus McCreadie, which we will stream live to you through Facebook and YouTube. You can watch the gig again on either platform at any time.

Jimmy Cobb (1929 - 24/5/2020)

The word is out on the street that legendary drummer Jimmy Cobb has died aged 91.

As of yet there has been no official confirmation although the reports filtering through seem reliable enough.

Perhaps he is best remembered by most as the drummer on Kind of Blue in fact, until yesterday, Jimmy Cobb was the last surviving player from that legendary session. However, his association with Miles and Trane goes much further back and my own recollections are from an even earlier time - 1952 when Earl Bostic's Flamingo came out as a 78rpm on the Vogue label and Jimmy Cobb was on drums. It was his very first recording and I still have the record. 

Haruka Kikuchi & Z2 - Livestream in New Orleans - May 24

Haruka Kikuchi (trombone); Z2 (piano); Shouta (toys and things).

They were indoors this week, at home of course although, close your eyes, and this could have been an airshot from Preservation Hall. Open them and it was two Japanese expats and their son in the music room of their house in New Orleans. I don't know the address but if it had been Basin St., South Rampart St., Bourbon St. Perdido St.,Frenchman St. or any other of the streets that became synonymous with jazz in New Orleans I wouldn't have been overly surprised.

Review: New York Stories with Joe Pascal, BBC World Service - May 24

In the second of a two part series looking at aspects of life in NYC past and present, Joe Pascal recorded and presented a programme in front of a live, pre-lockdown, audience celebrating Harlem from its famed 1920's Renaissance era to the new century's inhabitants living and working amidst the borough's ever-increasing gentrification. 

CD Review: Chris Montague - Warmer Than Blood

Chris Montague (guitar); Kit Downes (piano); Ruth Goller (electric bass).

In a recent lockdown interview with London Jazz News, the composer of this CD Chris Montague was asked what was the first album he purchased as a "jazz musician". Montague's reply is interesting as he said that when he was 14/15 years old he bought a John McLaughlin compilation in HMV in Newcastle ('Why not from Windows ?' I imagine the BSH editor wondering). Not a bad choice for a young teenage aspiring guitarist but also interesting for the message he took from McLaughlin's music. He said, "It felt like a completely different aesthetic to the other stuff I'd been into which was much more blues/rock oriented". Clearly it opened his eyes to the possibilities of guitar playing and music generally.

Adrian Cox's Sunday Service - May 24

Adrian Cox (clarinet/vocals).

A look at four New Orleans clarinet legends by one of the UK's living legends in the idiom - Adrian Cox.

First up was George Lewis, the only one of the four I ever heard live - he played the City Hall, Newcastle, in 1959 and the New Orleans Jazz Club in 1966 - and he was represented here with My Old Kentucky Home; When You Wore a Tulip (actually played by Lewis at the City Hall - I've still got the programme) and that wonderfully titled triple negative classic, I Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None of my Jelly Roll which Adrian also sang.

Dominic Ingham Quintet - Album & Tour Update

The Dominic Ingham Quintet's forthcoming album, Role Models, will now be released on June 12 and their planned 14 day tour will be rescheduled for 2021 although it won't be coming any nearer to Newcastle than the original one did.

Still, listening to the album within the relative safety of your own home isn't a bad option.

Lance

Original album review.

Venues.

Album Review: Ambrose Akinmusire - On the Tender Spot of Every Calloused Moment

Ambrose Akinmusire (trumpet), Sam Harris (pianist), Harish Raghavan (bass), Justin Brown (drums)

(Review by Chris K)

The fifth Blue Note recording from this young (38) Californian, already feted as the trumpet player of his generation. 

What does it take to be anointed as the leading contemporary player in the 2020s? 

Expect startling technique, raw power, modern relevance and political messages: after all he played on Kendrick’s To Pimp a Butterfly and has torn it up with Kamasi Washington.  So, is he a “West Coast Get Down” version of his close contemporary, New Orleans born Christian Scott?  Scott is a top player with distinctive style and agenda, but Akinmusire has extra gears. In addition to high energy hip hop, post-bop and free experimental blasts, he also draws oblique lines through the ethereal spaces opened up by Kenny Wheeler and mapped out by the European School. 

Rico and Nils - Take 2

Enrico Tomasso (trumpet/vocals) ; Nils Solberg (guitar).

More Louis Armstrong music as played by Rico with, on this occasion, Nils Solberg adding his tasty Eddie Lang, Carl Kress etc. guitar licks and solos from afar.

The format has become standardised and non the worse for that. Rico warms up, introduces his guest, blows some Armstrong associated numbers over the backing, knocks back some beer, says hello to family and friends who have commented, tells a story or two related to the song, knocks back some more beer and blows some of the best classic jazz trumpet playing I've heard for many  a year as well as throwing in some vocals to give his lip a rest!

Jeremy Sassoon: Livestream - May 23

Managed to catch a couple of numbers from Jeremy Sassoon streamed from his flat via Manchester's Matt & Phred's F/b page wearing a shirt he may have borrowed from our Steve T, Jeremy sang and played blues piano. Jon Cleary's Frenchman St. Blues and Ray Charles' What'd I Say? whetted my appetite for more but I'd left it too late. 

There is so much streaming going on that it is impossible to keep track of it all unless the streamers give advance warning.

Lance

R.I.P. Ron Rubin (1933 - 2020)

There are so many jazz people departing this mortal coil these days that I trust we can be forgiven for the rare occasion when we allow "one of ours" to slip through the pearly gates unnoticed.

Such a person was pianist, bassist and humourist Ron Rubin who boarded the train to Gloryland on April 14.

In case anyone is thinking that I'm treating his death lightly let me assure them that this is far from the case and I doubt if he'd have wanted it any other way.

Streaming Rico 'n' Nils - May 22

Rico Tomasso (trumpet, flugelhorn, vocals); Nils Solberg (guitar, vocals)

Welcome to Rico's Popup Louis said our host. Rico Tomasso's Facebook live stream began a few minutes late for which he apologised. It was the usual technical issues associated with the medium. The time honoured solution...switch off then switch on again, problem sorted. 

Carefree Fred & Ginger

In these lockdown times the Beeb has probably attracted larger than usual weekday, daytime audiences. The best part of two hours of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers on a Friday afternoon was just what the doctor - a psychoanalyst at that - ordered. First, excerpts of Fred and Ginger singing the GASbook, then Carefree a late-period Fred and Ginger RKO movie.   

The plot to any Fred and Ginger film is all but immaterial, what counts is the music (invariably written by some of the great songwriters of the time - Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, the Gershwins et al) and, of course, the dancing. The plot: Fred (Tony) falls in love with...hang on a minute! On this occasion Ginger (Amanda) falls for Fred, comic capers ensue as Stephen (played by Ralph Bellamy) thinks he's in with a chance of marrying Amanda. Tony, a psychoanalyst, treats his patient (Amanda) and, as if we couldn't guess, they live happily ever after. The End. 

R.I.P. Lucky Peterson

(Photo courtesy of Raphaël Perez)

Time to dig out the Lucky Peterson albums, a couple of which I bought ahead of his Sage Gateshead gig in 2016, and the rest straight afterwards. 

It was part of the SummerTyne Americana Festival and somebody suggested it was the gig of the festival so far, before I questioned as to whether it was the gig of Sage Gateshead so far!

He released his first album aged five, having been taken under the wing of legendary songwriter, bass player and key Muddy Waters sideman Willie Dixon.

Paul Edis: Lockdown Live #10 - May 22

Paul Edis (piano/vocals)

Lockdown session number ten. Paul came in on the back of 134 previous tunes none of which were repeats and this lunchtime he added another 12 - all absolute masterclasses in jazz piano. Not many pianists go head to head with Keith Jarrett and come out unbloodied, but Paul managed to do just that on the rather beautiful Country - positively pastoral.

CD Review: Jo Harrop & Jamie McCredie - Weathering the Storm. Released today!

Jo Harrop (vocal); Jamie McCredie (guitar).

I know we're not yet halfway through this year but if, come December 31, there is a better vocal album released then it will be because Ella and Joe Pass have been reincarnated and, even then, it will be a close thing.

Yes, this is the real deal. Inspired by Ella and Joe as well as by the duo albums Tony Bennett did with Bill Evans, Jo and Jamie treat their inspiration with respect whilst, at the same time retaining their own individuality.

It's a Carefree Friday

This afternoon is one where you put the kettle on to make a cuppa (it's not quite wine o'clock*), raid the pantry for some nibbles then settle down for a three-part treat. Superlative piano playing, vocals and brilliant choreography with two of the best hoofers in the business setting a benchmark that few, if any, have got anywhere near emulating. 

At one o'clock, Live from London, pianist - and sometime vocalist - Paul Edis will conduct another one hour Friday lunchtime YouTube masterclass. A half hour break to refill the kettle (no, it's still not wine o'clock*) and tune to BBC 2 for an absolute treat. Astaire amd Rogers Sing the Great American Songbook (2:30). And if that isn't enough, at 3:05 Astaire and Rogers dance their socks off to Irving Berlin in Mark Sandrich's Carefree. As Fred almost sang...Hebburn, I'm in Hebburn...

* Wine o'clock is at six o'clock. Time your second glass for seven as you sit down to watch Rico Tomasso in another of his Louis Armstrong-inspired Facebook sessions. 

Russell

Hexham Clap Sessions #6 : Take Five

Album Review: Joan Watson-Jones - Choices

Joan Watson-Jones (vocal); Frank Wilkins (piano); Dave Zox (bass); Alvin Terry (drums).

To describe Joan Watson-Jones as late blooming is perhaps an under statement - her mother was dancing and boxing at the Parisian nightspot Moulin Rouge as far back as 1924! So, whilst I don't know JWJ's age she's certainly no ingénue. Which of course is totally irrelevant and I'm ashamed for even mentioning it! Much more important is that she can sing - and how!

Choices is her fourth album and the first one to contain predominately original songs.

Album Review: Florian Arbenz - Convergence

Florian Arbenz (drums); Jorge Vistel (trumpet); Maikel Vistel (tenor sax); Jim Hart (vibes); Nelson Veras (guitar); Rafael Jerjen (bass).

Well, you couldn't get much more international than this! The leader is Arbenz - a Swiss drummer - he has some tasty rolls (Swiss - get it?). A couple of Cuban horns, an English vibraphonist, a Brazilian guitarist and an Aussie on double bass. The end result proves that music, and jazz in particular, really is a universal language.

Street Life

I'd never heard of Rosetta Reitz but she must have been quite a woman! Visit her tribute site and you'll discover why.

Although an American, The Dutch named a street after her in Leiden, Netherlands, such was her charisma.

Her interests were many and varied ranging from jazz and blues, via her own record label (Rosetta Records), to the menopause and cooking with mushrooms, - writing authoritatively on all three subjects and probably many more.

Ros Rigby pays tribute to John Cumming

With the passing of John Cumming, long-time friend and associate of John and his wife Ginnie, Ros Rigby posted her personal tribute on London JazzNews which she has kindly shared with Bebop Spoken Here.

Thank you Ros. Apart from John's immediate family, no one else could have given such an insight to a person who did so much for the world of jazz and beyond.

May he Rest In Peace.

Lance.

See also...

Ballads Before Bed #2 - May 19

Paul Edis (piano)

A second in a developing series of Paul Edis' late night lockdown Ballads Before Bed YouTube performances. A brief introduction then, without further commentary, thirty minutes or so of relaxed, superlative piano playing. 

My One and Only Love (comp. Guy Wood/lyrics Robert Mellin) set the mood. A drink in hand (McEwan's Champion, a killer 7.3%)...ahhh! When I Fall in Love (comp. Victor Young/lyrics Edward Heyward), yes, this was perfect late night material. Our host took Rodgers and Hart's Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered at the right pace, that is, real slow with Lorenz Hart's lyrics (including the verse) sung in the listener's - and possibly Edis' - head. 

Tonight: Ballads Before Bed - May 19

Paul Edis (piano).

10:00pm.

Link

Album review: Dinosaur - To The Earth.

The latest Dinosaur album To The Earth is the third album that Laura Jurd has made with her Dinosaur group. The band have played together for over 10 years and the cohesiveness of the unit is clearly evident throughout. 

Within this collective structure all the individual members still find a way to shine. 

Unlike previous Dinosaur releases this is a mainly acoustic offering with very little electronic wizardry. The majority of the tracks are fairly subtle and low key. 

#saveourvenues Campaign Sees 140 UK Music Venues Removed from ‘Critical’ List ………For Now.

(Press release)

London, May 19th 2020 – Music Venue Trust (MVT) has announced that the #saveourvenues campaign launched three weeks ago today has now resulted in 140 grassroots music venues being removed from its ‘critical’ list.

#saveourvenues, which has so far raised over £1.5m in donations, was initiated by MVT in response to the continued economic threat to over 500 grassroots music venues throughout the UK.

Jazz in Newcastle - 1961

Trombonist Gordon Solomon reminded me of this event from almost 60 years ago that featured some of the northeast's greatest bands and musicians of the time. Most, fortunately not all, are long gone including the Brothers Carr (Mike and Ian) who went on to greater things at home and abroad.

Iconic pianist/composer Ran Blake to receive 2020 Jazz Journalists Association Boston Jazz Hero Award

(Press release)

Iconic pianist and composer Ran Blake is the 2020 recipient of the Boston Jazz Hero award from the Jazz Journalists Association.  Blake is one of 27 jazz heroes in 23 cities across the country chosen as "activists, advocates, altruists, aiders and abettors of jazz."  The complete list of honorees, with photo portraits and biographies, is posted here .
The Jazz Journalists Association, in partnership with New England Conservatory where Blake has taught for 52 years, will present the award to Blake during a virtual event at 7 p.m (midnight BST). on Saturday, May 23, 2020.  The event will include a solo piano performance by Blake and a short interview by veteran jazz writer and JJA board member Bob Blumenthal.  It will be free and open to the public. To register for the event, please go click on this link. 

John Cumming (1948 - 2020)

(Press release from Serious) 

The Serious family is saddened by the loss of one of its founders John Cumming – a much-loved colleague and friend. John loved jazz, theatre and especially his family. He met the love of his life, his wife Ginnie, when they were studying at Edinburgh University, and they had a daughter, Kate. From the late 1960s, he worked primarily in theatre as a director, lighting designer and occasional writer. As well as designing lights for Lindsay Kemp and the Welfare State, he co-founded the Pool Theatre in Edinburgh. Although he is celebrated for his work in music, it was that sense of theatre that drove him to create inspiring festivals and produce extraordinary musical collaborations.

Lockdown Lindsay - May 18

Lindsay Hannon (vocals/ukulele)

Another Monday night blues session by Lindsay who's rapidly becoming the authority on the subject - her and the late Alan Lomax.

Tonight's subject was the Devil which Lindsay seemed to be overly familiar with (joke!) so we heard Mary James' Go Away Devil; Go to Sleep Little Baby - a mix of versions by Harriet McLintock and Bessie Jones - Leadbelly's The Gray Goose and Sonny Boy Williamson's Dealing With the Devil, the latter number accompanying herself on ukulele.

Artists announced for Jerwood Jazz Encounters Fellowships to present jazz at festivals across England Inbox x

(Press release)

Four jazz artists have been commissioned to create ground-breaking new ways to present jazz at Festivals across England. They are Elliot Galvin, Faye MacCalman, Lara Jones and Witch ‘n’ Monk

Wynton Marsalis: the making of a jazzman

Today's edition of the BBC World Service's Outlook programme was devoted to arguably the world's most famous jazz musician - Wynton Marsalis. In conversation with presenter Emily Webb*, Wynton spoke about his childhood years (years during which the young Wynton didn't care too much for jazz), his siblings including brother Branford, forming a funk band at thirteen, later winning a place at Julliard.

Preview: Wynton Marsalis: the making of a jazzman - May 18

Tune to the BBC World Service at lunchtime today (Monday, 12:05pm) for a forty five minute exploration of the life and work of renowned trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. Outlook's Emily Webb presents Wynton Marsalis: the making of a jazzman with, in all likelihood, contributions from Wynton's family, friends and bandmates.

Russell

Elina Duni And Rob Luft @ Jazz Co-op Livestream May 17

Elina Duni (voice); Rob Luft (guitars, electronic effects)

A homely scene greeted us, Elina and Rob on the sofa with a few fairy lights behind, yet this was also an international gig, as shown by the names in the chat box and the greetings that Elina gave later, to people from France,  Albania, Kosovo, the USA. Excellent sound through my headphones and passable even without them.

 About 35 people listed as listening, enough to fill the jazz bar at the Globe – Alas! But this is a different sort of gig, which may continue in some form in the future, who knows?

Sarah Vaughan on Sunday Night at the London Palladium

Back in the day, the highlight of  Sunday night viewing was Sunday Night at the London Palladium. A variety show, it ran for many years and even today there is a version hosted by Bradley Walsh.

Watching the earlier editions it is amazing just how abysmal they now seem. Compere Tommy Trinder was even less funny then than today's crop of comedians are now which is saying something!

More from the Liberation Front

Further to my review of Ron Davis' Symphronica album - Instrumental Music Liberation Front and his subsequent comment, Ron has forwarded this extract from Jack Chambers *book: Sweet Thunder: Duke Ellington's Music in Nine Themes ** to strengthen his case.

Lance

*http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~chambers/jazz.html

**Canam Books: ISBN-10: 199905850X ISBN-13: 978-1999058500.

The Virtual Hexham Jazz Festival on air now!

Tune to Jazz Time on Aycliffe Radio - www.ayclifferadio.co.uk - to hear a selection of tracks from artists who were scheduled to appear at this weekend's Hexham Jazz Festival. On air now (6:00-7:30pm) Sunday...Jo Harrop, Paul Edis, Nathan Lawson and others. 

It Didn't Come to Pass...

One of our readers has recalled going with his wife to Gosforth Park for a concert by Joe Pass only to find out that Joe hadn't come under starters orders and the concert was cancelled. I contacted "Mr Guitar" i.e. Maurice Summerfield as to the date and the reason behind the cancellation.

Preview: Sunday Night is Billie Holiday Night

In 2015 at Hackney Empire Mike Dixon conducted the BBC Concert Orchestra in a centenary tribute to Billie Holiday. This evening on Radio 2 there is another chance to hear the edition of Sunday Night is Music Night which features Madeline Bell, Gloria Onitiri and Rebecca Ferguson singing numbers associated with Holiday. Trumpeter Guy Barker and saxophonist Ben Castle join the vocal triumvirate. Seven o'clock, Radio 2.  

Russell

CD Review: Ron Davis' Symphronica - Instrumental Music Liberation Front

Ron Davis (piano); Kevin Barrett (guitars/ loops); Aline Homzy, Brielle Goheen (violins); Mike Downes/Louis Simào (bass); Steve Heathcoate (drums/perc.); Laurence Schaufele (viola); Beth Silver (cello).

Ron Davis is a man with a mission - to liberate instrumental music. He points out that the history of western music is one of the instrumental living in harmony with the vocal whilst also stressing that, in recent years, instrumental music has become almost invisible in comparison to vocal music.

This is an interesting opinion and one that I am sure many, myself included, will contest.

In lockdown with the Louisiana Washboard Five: Swing 'n' Sweet @ Ole Bull Scene, Bergen - May 16

Steinar Sætre (clarinet, tenor sax, vocals); Ketil Sætre (trumpet); Ben Milenković (banjo); Rolf Seldal (washboard); Arnulf Røkke (tuba) 

A lockdown session from Norway with the Louisiana Washboard Five live streaming from Bergen's Ole Bull Scene! A club setting, the five on-stage musicians were undoubtedly filmed by a professional crew - the give away being the superb picture quality and multiple camera angles throughout the hour-long broadcast. It could be Norway's social distancing protocol is somewhat different to here in Britain as the five musicians performed as they would in concert (quite possibly at a distance of two metres!).