It’s that time of year again when we look back and cast half an eye into the next year. I have heard some excellent music this year, too much in fact to review everything I’ve listened to. There have been some great gigs in unusual places, some at odd times of the day and it seems to me that this music we love keeps on expanding outwards, both at the fringes of jazz itself, but also by bringing music from other genres into the fold. (Whilst typing this I am listening to Seb Rochford’s Finding Ways, as fine a selection of grunge jazz as you’re ever likely to hear. One of the most pleasant surprises has been finding jazz in places, such as Rothbury in Northumberland and Burford in the Cotswolds, which are away from the larger towns and cities. In both of those cases a group of enthusiasts are doing it for themselves because no one else will and I can only wish them every success.
On the other side of the
equation I recall a couple of interesting conversations with some of the
musicians that visited the North East this year which, I think, give an
indication of where jazz as a business is at at the moment.
On the first instance
after I asked one why they were no longer releasing albums on CD. They said that
it wasn’t really financially viable anymore and went on to tell how they had
done a quick stock take of their own CDs and decided to only keep a few of each
title for sale at gigs. They took the unwanted extra copies to the local
household waste site and an Operative at the Site approached them as they were
dropping the CDs into the miscellaneous, non-recyclable skip asking if these
CDs were theirs. Thinking they might have a fan in the making, they replied,
proudly, that, “Yes, they were,” whereupon the Operative told them that they’d
be classed as trade waste and there was a charge for disposal.
I also had a discussion
with Jamil Sheriff at Hexham about Spotify and he explained that when he
uploaded music onto the site he would look to find all of the playlists it
could possibly be included on. Thus, as well as the obvious ones, such as
‘Jazz,’ ‘Modern Jazz,’ ‘Contemporary Jazz’ and ‘Jazz Piano’ he would also add
it to ‘Relaxing Jazz Piano’, ‘Contemplative Jazz’ and so forth, basically any
list that might gain extra attention. He added that there was always the hope
that someone looking for music for a film or television series might hear
something of his, like it and bring it to wider public notice.
In 2026 I am already
looking forward to new albums from local stars John Pope and Faye MacCalman and
to many more interesting gigs at The Globe, some of which (Trish Clowes' My Iris
Quartet, The QOW Trio) are already available for booking on the Gobe's
website
Finally, I’d like to wish
all the best for the Festive Season and for 2026 to Lance, my fellow scribes
and all of those out there with open hearts and ears to hear and here are my
end of term lists of the jazz I have most enjoyed this year.
New
albums
Misha Mullov-Abbado - Effra
Dave Mannington’s Riff Raff - Weightless
Dream Weavers – Woven in
Time
Yazz Ahmed – A Paradise
in The Hold
Ensemble C – Every
Journey
Brigitte Beraha – Teasing
Reflections
James Brandon Lewis –
Apple Cores
James Brandon Lewis –
Abstraction is Deliverance
Sebastian Rochford –
Finding Ways
Fergus McCreadie – The
Shieling
Laura Jurd – Rites &
Revelations
Second hand bargains of the year
John Coltrane at
Newport
Thelonious Monk – Monk’s
Dream
58 – Alan Barnes + Eleven
The Encyclopaedia of Jazz
& Blues – Keith Shadwick[DS1]
Re-Issues
Charlie Watts Big Band –
Live at Fulham Town Hall
Izipho Zam (My Gifts) –
Pharoah Sanders
Love Is Here – Pharoah
Sanders
Gigs of the year
Claire Martin at
Cheltenham Jazz Festival
Billy Cobham at CJF
James Brandon Lewis at
CJZ
Olivia Murphy Orchestra
at CJF
Laura Jurd at the
Cumberland Arms, Newcastle
The Noonan Trio at the
Globe, Newcastle
Kamasi Washington at the
Glasshouse, Gateshead
Jamil Sheriff at Hexham
Library
Hejira – Celebrating Joni
Mitchell, Alnwick Playhouse
Lady Nade Sings Nina
Simone at Gosforth Civic Theatre
The Exu, Newcastle
University
Dave Sayer
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