The
multi Grammy Award winning Yellowjackets
are at Zeffirellis in Ambleside on Tuesday June 30 & Wednesday July 1
(8.00pm start both nights).
Tickets £35.00 or side
seats £28.00 (to book visit the online calendar in the Live
Music tab and select either June 30 or July 1 or call 015394
33845).
These Are the only UK appearances of their European tour.
Russell Ferrante (keys, piano); Bob Mintzer (sax); Dane Alderson (bass); William Kennedy (drums)
“Jazz buffs know about the Yellowjackets. This is a
Grammy-winning band that writes and performs intricate compositions that cross
countless boundaries.”
- The Arts Fuse
Sometimes the simplest evenings turn out to be the most memorable.
As I made my way to Union Chapel there was every chance this was going to be a wet one. The skies over North London were heavy with grey cloud and umbrellas were very much at the ready. Yet somehow, whether through luck, timing or a little divine intervention, the rain never came. Instead, the clouds gradually parted and shafts of evening sunlight began to stream through the chapel’s magnificent stained-glass windows, filling the vast space with a constantly shifting palette of colour and light.
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| © Roly |
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| © Jeff Pritchard |
This quartet, I was surprised to learn, was formed back in 2013. All four musicians are much in demand and it must be difficult to get them all together in one place to play the sort of hard-driving music they like.
Grant Russell ls the leader of this remarkable quartet, his formidable technique commanding the attention of the Moor Club audience. It is the ideal venue to demonstrate his talent. Kyran Matthews is well known to jazz followers in the UK and I have seen him many times in large and small ensembles and he is always amazing.
These qualities were evident on several occasions in the north east. Particularly at the now long gone Gateshead International Jazz Festival which was a much loved event held at the then Sage (now Glasshouse).
Some albums tell you exactly where they come from within a few bars.
Falcón In Blue is one of those records.
Close your eyes and you can almost feel
Havana around you. The heat rising from the streets. The sound of conversation
drifting from open windows. Music spilling from doorways and courtyards. A city
where rhythm is woven into everyday life and where the line between tradition
and modernity feels wonderfully blurred.
That spirit runs through every note of
Alejandro Falcón’s latest album.
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| © Sheila |
It was with an air of joyful anticipation that I sallied forth to the corner of Railway and Plummer where that edifice to jazz in Newcastle, the Globe, plays host to top notch bands from both near and afar.
I was particularly looking forward to last night's offering, the Eddie Gripper Trio, having found their most recent album, Americana, very pleasing albeit not what it said on the tin. The Americana that Gripper found his inspiration from was a six weeks long jaunt hitch-hiking from the northern tip of Alaska to the sweltering heat of California.
All the tracks from the album were played, preceded by introductory remarks by Gripper which helped paint a fuller picture of the background to each one.
In 2006, in an All Music Review of the Brecker Brothers’ album, Some Skunk Funk (Telarc, 2005), the well-respected jazz critic, Scott Yanow wrote: “The individual songs may not be overly memorable, although Some Skunk Funk has been getting covered by other musicians.” That jazz-funk-fusion classic was originally released in 1975 and has become influential and a modern era jazz staple. What the Breckers and Yanow could not envision back then was the effect that that 1970s track and other Brecker Brothers work – especially that of the late saxophonist Michael Brecker - would have on outstanding Las Vegas-based saxman, Rick Keller.
This had nothing to do with the World Cup where one of the World's super powers, as is their wont, was taking on a banana republic. No, this was Stingray djazz, a Dutch channel that broadcasts jazz 24/7.
When I tuned in they were screening Jaco playing The Chicken - wow! Since then a Kenny Barron quintet live in the then peaceful Ukraine, the Art Farmer/Jim Hall Quartet and several concerts from the North Sea Jazz Festival.
As I type I'm listening to the Woody Herman Herd of 1964 live in the UK.
https://www.ayclifferadio.co.
Playlist 14/06/26 (repeated Tuesday 16/06/26)
Requests: Bunny Berigan.
Miles Davis remembered: Charlie Parker/Miles Davis (A Night in Tunisia).
Köln 75 (film): Keith Jarrett.
Memories: Anita O'Day/Gene Krupa, Shelly Manne, Chick Corea/Stan Getz, Erroll Garner.
New Release: Duchess.
London Jazz Festival: Matt Carmichael.
What’s on in the NE: Dean Stockdale, Emma Fisk's Hot Club du Nord, New Century Ragtime Orchestra.
RIP Sonny Rollins. Sonny Rollins (The Bridge).
Requests: Slim Gaillard + Dizzy + Charlie Parker.
Seasonal: Stacey Kent.
Miles Davis/J.J Johnson/Lucky Thompson/Horace Silver/Percy Heath/Kenny Clarke/Laura Jurd.
Aycliffe Radio is available on DAB in County Durham & the Darlington area or via your smart speaker.
In the afternoon there will be local community groups performing, including the Albemarle Jazz Camp, the Hull Jazz Jammers, the Lewis Kilvington Guitar Jammers, the Marlborough Avenue Ukulele Group (MUGs) and Greg Jones on piano.
Photos courtesy/© John Lyons Photography. Lance
It was back in 2011 when I first heard Starace live. Since then many of his albums have graced these pages and not a lemon amongst them!
Live at the Beaver Inn captures the best of both worlds - the excitement and the spontaneity of a live gig coupled with the expert mixing and mastering (by Anthony Galatis at Uptown Studios) of an in-house recording.
After an introduction by Peter Hames, organiser of the North Devon Jazz Club's sessions at the Beaver Inn, picturesquely set on the Torridge estuary, the trio take flight on Monk's We See. Starace is on fire and the flame is fanned by Jenkins and Harbon.
Sunday 14th June 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)
It's a regular occurrence for a queue to form outside Cluny 2 long before the doors open. This evening it was unusually quiet on Lime Street. On entering the subterranean venue it was somewhat surprising to see the floor space devoid of seating - cabaret style-layout or otherwise. As the punters began to arrive most of them made a beeline for the tiered seating at the back of the room.
We were there to listen to the Dave Bristow Quintet. It's one thing to check out musicians online, it's another thing altogether to hear them live, in concert. As Bristow's Paris-based quintet walked out onto the stage, would the gulf of some ten metres between musician and listener skew the experience?
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| © Jeff Pritchard |
This turned out to be a very interesting gig with lots of great tunes, ten in total, five per set. Although Rod had brought along three horns to play, he featured only his tenor sax during the first half of the two hour show. His high energy playing was well in evidence tonight and he seemed to inspire his bandmates to greater heights.
Paul Hartley was in multi-tasking mode announcing tunes and playing some fine guitar solos as well as making sure the lighting was up to scratch. I think it was Paul who suggested the Sam Jones composition Bittersweet and Rod really nailed this 32 bar theme. The powerhouse drummer Dave Walsh was the ideal person for this group and his time-keeping is excellent especially when bossa novas are called for.
There’s a lot unfolding in this unerringly cheerful album, (a follow up, after a manner, to 2008’s Stramash), as Steele and friends cover several strands of Scottish folk and run them through a bit of New Orleans and some Harlem Swing. Much of the credit for the success of the album must go to arranger Dave Milligan whose charts cause the music to flow beautifully across the tracks, using simple lead and rhythm section, at times, and swinging the whole dectet at others. At times the folk and jazz elements are set up in contrast with each other and at others each is used to add background colour as the other dominates. Sometimes it’s just a grand stramash as the two elements barge into and through the other, inviting the listener to try and separate and follow individual threads if he can. Most of all, this is a celebration of Scotland and Scottishness and of the current high profile of Scottish jazz, as, at the moment there are considerably more successful Scottish musicians than could fit into a large motor home.
The family has written a beautiful obituary, which I encourage you to read in full below. Lydia Liebman
It’s Alright with Me if you want to skip your Meditation and come for a Moondance, When Somebody Thinks You're Wonderful at the Globe this coming Thursday. These are a fraction of the songs that will be performed by Jen Errington, Jenny Lingham, Carrie McCullock, David Edgar and Paul Close (also on guitar).
A slightly depleted crowd of regulars
today with several stalwarts off on holiday. However, the unusually empty
chairs were quickly taken up by some new faces who were checking out what The
Crescent Club has to offer. As I was leaving they were talking of coming back
and bringing friends. Be prepared to get there early if you want a seat
otherwise you’ll be standing at the bar!
https://www.ayclifferadio.co.
Playlist 07/06/26 (repeated Tuesday 09/06/26)
RIP Sonny Rollins: Sonny Rollins, Sonny Rollins and MJQ,
Requests: Cannonball Adderley/Louis Hayes, Clark Terry Sextet w. Ben Webster.
Memories of Cole Porter: Ella Fitzgerald, Lee Morgan, Ella Fitzgerald.
Requests: Frank & Duke, George Wettling, Johnny Hodges, Kenny G.
Tony Eales’ Best of British Big Bands: Tubby Hayes Orchestra.
Requests: Marc Johnson.
What’s on in the NE: Sarah Spencer's Transatlantic Band, Eddie Gripper.
For the Enthronement of the Bishop Of Durham: Oscar Peterson/Joe Pass.
Miles Davis remembered:
Aycliffe Radio is available on DAB in County Durham & the Darlington area or via your smart speaker.
Founded in Germany and renowned for their precision, energy and adventurous programming, the IKS Big Band has built a reputation as one of Frankfurt’s leading large jazz ensembles. Blending classic swing tradition with contemporary big band writing, their performances are characterised by tight ensemble playing, bold brass, and a fearless commitment to the full power and colour of the big band sound.
For one reason or another this one never quite reached the top of my review pile - there always seemed to be some upstart jumping the queue - 'shy boys etc.'.
This is an unforgivable oversight on my behalf not least because a) it's been smouldering in my in-tray since February, b) with so many female singers arriving by trains and boats and planes, a new male voice makes for a pleasing contrast and c) it's a damn fine record!
Over the last decade he has become one of the most recognisable musicians on the planet, yet he has achieved that status by doing precisely the opposite of what the music industry usually demands. Rather than choosing a lane and staying in it, Batiste has spent his career moving effortlessly between jazz, classical music, soul, gospel, R&B, film scores, popular music and outright performance art.
For many people he first appeared as the charismatic bandleader on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Others discovered him through Pixar's Soul, for which he shared an Academy Award. More recently there was the extraordinary American Symphony, the deeply personal project and documentary that revealed both his immense ambition and the challenges he and his wife, Suleika Jaouad, were facing away from the stage.
Stockport Jazz welcomes the return of multi-saxophonist Rod Mason to the Moor Club, with Paul Hartley (guitar), Ken Marley (bass) and Dave Walsh (drums).
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)
The Heavyweight Champion of hipspokenword strikes again with a muscular straight-ahead offering titled It’s Gotta B U! The pulsating track simmers straight-ahead over Killer Joe-like changes and vibes all sent up by a B-3 heavy groove with bassist Richie Goods and “Headhunter” Mike Clark driving.
It’s a shorter track in which Adamo again uses his ultra-cool vocal styling to offer a jazz history lesson and a soulful message pointed right at you, the listener. You’ve got to be cool indeed and hand it to Adamo that in this age of fabricated and less than sincere unhip jazz offerings, Adamo is genuine, sticks to his pure jazz guns, and knows his endgame is to deliver utter hipness.
