Book review: A Man Called Adam

In a year, a month and almost a day (tomorrow) when Miles Davis would have been one hundred years old the feeling in the jazz world is that he's not dead but just sleeping and that he, or at least his music, is alive once more.

And not just the music but the man, like his Caucasian counterpart Chet Baker, has been the subject of many books, films and TV documentaries that are interesting if not always accurate. How could they be with such an enigmatic genius as Miles?

A Man Called Adam makes no claim to be in any way related to Miles. Its antihero certainly doesn't bare any resemblance to Louis, Dizzy, Lee Morgan or any other jazz musician of the era and yet the aura of Miles is present throughout the book and, I'm sure the film, which I haven't seen, does likewise.

Paradoxically, Louis Armstrong portrays a Bunk Johnson related character whilst Sammy Davis, Jr. (no relation to Miles) plays the title role.

Miles Davis 100: Composer of the Week and more

Guess who's Composer of the Week? Yep, one Miles Dewey Davis III. Born one hundred years ago tomorrow (26 May 1926), Miles Davis is all over BBC Radio 3, Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra. Starting today (Monday) at four o'clock, in the first of five weekday broadcasts (Monday to Friday), presenter Kate Molleson and guest Nate Chinen discuss Miles' career and listen to several recordings from down the years.

Facebook favourites

Facebook, that seeker of wisdom and truth and the font of all knowledge (sometimes) recently posed the question to its followers as to who is their favourite jazz saxophonist of all time.

The results were predictable. Not those players who sat at the right hand of God (a.k.a Bean, Pres, Trane, Bird or Frog) but those who weren't even mentioned or received one vote at the very best.

Thus I offer: 

Alto: Lennie Niehaus, Sonny Criss 

Tenor: Wardell Gray, Brew Moore

Baritone: Serge Chaloff, Cecil Payne.

Album review: Peter Erskine - Peregrine (Hard Wag Records)

Peter Erskine (drums); Alan Pasqua (piano, elec. piano); Scott Colley (bass) + Kate Lamont (vocals tk 5); Bob Sheppard (saxes tks 5, 8); Brian Kilgore perc. tk 5)

A most enjoyable album by three fine musicians, plus guests, that doesn't insult your intelligence or have you searching for something that isn't there.

A well tempered mix of pop standards and originals that are tastefully  tailored to suit the trio's strengths (if they have any weaknesses I've yet to find them - chances are I never will.) 

Kate Lamont respects Phoebe Snow's enigmatic Poetry Man with a sensitive version. Less in your face than the original - there's room for both. Nice tenor solo by Sheppard and haunting percussion from Kilgore.

Miles and more Miles on JRR (Sunday)

On this afternoon's edition of Jazz Record Requests (May 24), Alyn Shipton introduces Miles and Miles of listeners' requests alongside interviews with former Miles Davis sidemen George Benson and Dave Holland. Tune to BBC Radio 3 at four o'clock. Either side of JRR, there is more, much more of Miles...

Jazz Time Aycliffe Radio - Sundays 6.30-8.00pm (repeated Tuesdays 8.00-9.30pm).

https://www.ayclifferadio.co.uk/listen.

Playlist 24/05/26 (repeated Tuesday 26/05/26)

Memories: Artie Shaw, Miles Davis, Zoë Gilby & Noel Dennis.

Seasonal: Blossom Dearie, Nat 'King' Cole, John Hallam.

Requests: Freddy Hubbard. 

New Releases: Gerald Albright, Heidi Martin, Hannah Horton.

Requests: Wigan Youth Orchestra, Lee Morgan/Ron Carter, Duke Ellington, Lester Young, The Boswell Sisters/Dorsey Brothers, Thelonius Monk/Milt Jackson, Sarah Vaughan/Dizzy Gillespie, Zoot Sims/Bob Brookmeyer, Art Tatum.

Paul Edis Trio @ The Gala, Durham - May 22

© Malcolm Sinclair

Paul Edis (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Steve Hanley (drums)

Another full house. What's new? The Gala's lunchtime concert series is on a roll with sold out performances now considered the norm. This afternoon's concert would continue the trend. Although now based in London, Paul Edis continues to programme the concerts, and today, for a change, pianist Edis himself would take centre stage.

Miles and Miles and Miles of Miles on the Beeb

Miles Dewey Davis III. A name to conjure with. Tuesday (May 26th) marks the centenary of the birth of Miles Davis and the BBC (radio and television) is marking the occasion with a slew of programmes. The first of them - Legend: the Miles Davis Story - a five-part series on BBC Radio 4, presented by Clark Peters, begins this morning at 10:30am (repeated Monday 4:30pm).

Announcing the Durham Jazz Festival!

Long in the planning, on Thursday evening (May 21st) the organisers of the Durham Jazz Festival opened the doors to the festival HQ. A low key launch event at 25 High Street (just off Durham Market Place) brought together several interested parties: sponsors, business representatives, promoters and, by no means least, the indispensable jazz fan. 

The Space Between the Notes took centre stage. John Lyons' photography exhibition will be in situ up to and including the festival weekend (Friday 23rd to Sunday 25th October). 

Album review: Lou Marini and The Italian Groovers - Playtime (Azzura Music)

Lou Marini (tenor/soprano sax,  flute); Alessandro Chiappetta (guitar); Gianluno Di Ienno (Hammond B3); Enzo Zirilli (drums)+ Alex “Kid” Gariazzo (guitar, vocals tks 1-3)

Woodwind artist “Blue” Lou Marini is one of the most recognized musicians in the world. From his early days on Saturday Night Live – who could forget his gilded-faced entry on Steve Martin’s King Tut? - to his bravura film performances and world tours with the Blues Brothers. With Playtime, Marini joins forces with a trio of Italian-based musicians plus guest to deliver a dozen superb tracks - all Marini originals, save one. The vibe here ranges from free to funk and to straight-ahead, all superbly performed.

The Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, South Gosforth, Newcastle - May 21

David Gray (trombone, trumpet, vocals); Jim McBriarty (tenor sax, clarinet, vocals); Brian Bennett (banjo); Jamie Wadkins (double bass)  

The Millstone, a stone's throw from South Gosforth roundabout, with the Ouseburn in Jesmond Dene eddying its way past the pub's beer garden, was to renew acquaintance with the local jazz scene. The Vieux Carré Jazzmen were a once familiar fixture, now, as the Hot 4, it would be like old times. 

The Glory of Love. We've been here before. The Vieux Carré playing Billy Hill's timeless number is nothing new, more power to their collective elbow. Bring Me Sunshine, a somewhat less predicable choice, kinda worked, Whenever You're Lonesome (Just Telephone Me) most certainly worked, all in an afternoon's work for the VC Hot 4.

Cheltenham Musings 2

Wandering round the town there seems to be more jazz around than in previous years. You could easily have a day’s entertainment flitting between the free stage in Montpelier Gardens and the new free stage in the Brewery Quarter, (we caught singer Josh Hicks and band sound checking, soulfully) not to mention the occasional busker, such as the bloke on a bench near the bogs running through some pin sharp Metheny-isms whilst we queued for the facilities. It does feel like jazz is all around.

Album review: Duchess: A Marvelous Party (ANZIC Records)

Duchess: Amy Cervini, Hilary Gardner, Melissa Stylianou (vocal trio) + Michael Cabe (piano); Jesse Lewis (guitar); Matt Aronoff (bass); Jared Schonig (drums); Erica von Kleist (alto/soprano sax); Jason Rigby (tenor sax); Owen Broder (baritone sax); Summer Camargo (trumpet); Nick Finzer (trombone); Oded Lev-Ari (piano tk 8)

Think of the Boswell Sisters, the Andrews Sisters, the Keynotes and, more recently, the Puppini Sisters. Girl vocal groups whose harmonies defined the times be it the Wall Street Crash, World War ll or its aftermath.

Duchess have absorbed all of those elements as well as adding a few distinctive harmonic touches of their own on this, their fourth release.

It's a concept album. Once upon a time you had to have a gimmick. These days you have to have a concept. In this case the concept is a party and given credibility by stringing together a dozen loosely related lyrics that form the basis of A Marvelous Party. 

So, let the party begin.

Cheltenham Jazz Festival: Yazz Ahmed @ The Parabola Arts Centre, Cheltenham - May 3

Yazz Ahmed (trumpet, flugelhorn); Ralph Wylde (keys, vibes, marimba); Elizabeth Knott (percussion); Berlinde Deman (serpent) (Yes, you read that right, it does say serpent)

The Cheltenham Festival has previous for commissioning works and, for this one at the Arts Centre, Yazz Ahmed, Anglo/Bahraini trumpeter, has recruited an unusual instrumental line-up. She has revisited some of her previous work and remodelled and ‘remixed’ those pieces for this new group, so, whilst the music may not be new, the treatment of it certainly is.

They open with Wah-Wah Sowahwah with the deep voice of the cello on the original album track being taken by the serpent. Deman’s playing seems to require her to play short passages before she manipulates her serpent’s sound using one of the array of pedals, switches and knobs arranged on the floor in front of her. 

An Interview with composer, author, poet, improviser, producer Mary Moreno by Nick Mondello

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZN2-H3Vizs

This is an interview I did yesterday with Mary Moreno. Mary was married to Blues Brother and trumpet great Alan Rubin.

She also spent time writing jingles and producing jingle sessions in the halcyon days of New York advertising and NY GREATS playing those jingles. She also is a classical composer studying at Juilliard and in Paris (under the Nadia Boulanger method à la Quincy Jones). Nick

Cheltenham Jazz Festival: Emma Rawicz’s INKYRA @ Parabola Arts Centre, Cheltenham - May 3

Emma Rawicz (saxophone); Gareth Lockrane (flutes); David Preston (guitar); Scottie Thompson (piano, Rhodes and prophet); Kevin Glasgow (bass); Jamie Murray (drums)

The Parabola Arts Centre is the space, at Cheltenham, for new, experimental ideas, unusual projects and Festival one-off commissions. It’s also the best opportunity to practice your contortionism as you knot your limbs up so they will fit into the seat rows.

Our second gig in the same seats on Sunday afternoon was for Rawicz’s INKYRA project. Rawicz is on a roll at the moment with three highly regarded albums on the German ACT label and a steady stream of awards. She’s here tonight with her INKYRA project and has been able to keep together the band from the album.

Stockport Jazz

This Sunday Stockport Jazz welcomes the Liam Byrne Quartet to the Moor Club, featuring Liam on tenor saxophone with Richard Wetherall (piano), Gavin Barras (bass) and Eryl Roberts (drums). 

Sunday 24th May 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)

Mark Williams Trio @ Blaydon Jazz Club - May 18

© Roly Veitch

Mark Williams (guitar); Paul Susans (bass); Rob Walker (drums)

More than a quarter of a century ago guitarist Mark Williams arrived on Tyneside from Belfast to study for a music degree. Our man stayed on and has long since been a mainstay of the regional jazz scene. 

On a mild May evening, Blaydon Jazz Club's faithful duly turned up to welcome Williams' established trio - bassist Paul Susans and drummer Rob Walker. The Black Bull crowd would be treated to an evening of original compositions. A man of few words, copies of his albums - Last Bus to Bensham and Long Way Out - were in his car parked outside the venue, clearly the 'hard sell' isn't Williams' style!

Album review: Terry Waldo & the Gotham City Band - Treasury Volume 3 (Turtle Bay Records)

Terry Waldo (piano,vocals); Mike Davis (trumpet, vocals); Colin Hancock (trumpet); Jim Fryer (trombone, vocals); Evan Arntzen, Ricky Alexander (clarinet); Jerron Paxton (guitar, banjo, vocals) Nick Russo, Arnt Arntzen (banjo); Brian Nalepka (bass); Jay Lepley (drums, vocals).

Treasury Volume 3 is pianist, historian Waldo's third* and final exploration of early jazz and ragtime and, like the previous two, features the best of Gotham City's hot musicians working in and around NYC.

It's a stomping, strutting, shimmying Dixieland clambake that's a potent mix of Chicago, New Orleans, Frisco and Whitley Bay. Yes, Whitley Bay deserves a mention as Fryer, Davis and Hancock are not unknown at the Classic Jazz Party (see right hand column) and it was only last week that Paxton was just up the road at Gosforth Civic Theatre.

Jazz on the Tyne Welcomes Alexia Gardner & the Hexham Jazz Weekender 2026

In the latest edition of the podcast, presenter Colin Muirhead talks with acclaimed vocalist Alexia Gardner, ahead of her quintet’s appearance at the inaugural Hexham Jazz Weekender.  Along with music by Alexia, you’ll hear tracks by the Chris Coull Quartet with Imogen Ryall, Abbie Finn, Paul Edis, SwanNek, Threeway feat. Ben Crosland, Modern Vikings, and Joe Steels, all of whom will be playing in Hexham. Colin also previews Courtney Pine’s gig at the Glasshouse in Gateshead.

You can listen to the show anytime HERE.

Plus, you can request music for future programmes, pass on news or leave feedback by emailing Colin at jazz.tyne.hive@gmail.com or by heading to www.jazzonthetyne.org.

Julian Lage @ Royal Festival Hall – May 15

Julian Lage (guitar); John Medeski (Hammond organ, piano); Jorge Roeder (bass); Kenny Wollesen (drums) 

There’s something about the walk along the South Bank towards the Royal Festival Hall that makes it feel as though the evening has already begun long before you reach your seat. London, in all of its colour and sound, slowly unfolding around you like an overture. The Thames catching the last of the early evening sun, the London Eye rotating gently against a softening sky while, across the river, the newly restored Elizabeth Tower glistens gold in the fading light. Overhead, triple sevens make their slow descent towards Heathrow Airport, banking low across the skyline, while below by Festival Pier the rhythm of a reggae band drifts upwards from an impromptu riverside performance that has stopped passers-by in their tracks.

And somewhere in all of that movement — the river traffic, the distant conversations, the hum of trains arriving and departing across the city — Stephen Sondheim’s words quietly come to mind: “Another hundred people just got off of the train…” London carrying on exactly as London always does. Alive. Restless. Beautifully chaotic.

Yet inside, another kind of listening waits.

Vince Dunn Quartet @ the Moor Club, Stockport - May 17

© Jeff Pritchard

Vince Dunn (drums); Mike Hughes (vibes); Richard Wetherall (keyboards); Dave Lynane (bass)

Although Vince Dunn was listed as the leader  of this group he delegated the announcements of tunes to his band-mate Mike Hughes - a vibes player from The Wirral who was also a person I had not heard before. The rest of the musicians were very well known to me and I suspect to the rest of the audience. The tunes played this evening were an interesting selection . 14 in total. Some familiar jazz standards and some great ballads you do not hear too much these days in jazz venues. There were some feedback issues during the opening number the Mike Gibbs composition Gentle Rain  but they soon got it fixed and by the time the second tune got under way things were ok soundwise. 

Sunday night @ the Globe: QOW Trio - May 17

© Dave Sayer

Riley Stone-Lonergan (tenor saxophone); Spike Wells (drums); Eddie Myer (bass)

Pronounced ‘cow’ from a tune by Dewey Redman, in case you were wondering. An evening of celebration in tha Toon as Newcastle score 3 for the first time, it seems, since Adam was a lad and from the same ‘Adam was a lad’ time scale we have, on stage, legendary drummer Spike (Michael to his mother) Wells and from a more recent era, Riley Stone-Lonergan, here along with Eddie Myer on bass and pleas to buy the new album they are touring The Rule of Three. The title track of which opens proceedings.

It rolls along nicely, mid-paced with an edge and lovely fluid runs from Stone-Lonergan, the others steady and solid behind him. The spare trio format throws all the attention on the sax, with Myer providing a prodding bass whilst Wells is on manoeuvres before an exchange of solos with Myer sharp and pointed, Wells bombing and snapping with delicate cymbal punctuations.

Cheltenham Jazz Festival: Camilla George @ Parabola Arts Centre, Cheltenham, May 3

Camilla George (alto sax); Daniel Casimir (bass); Renato Paris (keyboards, vocals); Rod Youngs (drums)

Camilla George is one of the leading lights of the current generation of movers and shakers that emerged from the Tomorrows Warriors/Jazz Jamaica nexus led and guided by Gary Crosby and Janine Irons. (Well-deserved OBE recipients both). Of her band this afternoon, only Paris is unknown to me. Casimir brought his own large ensemble to Cheltenham last year. George is another of the current generation who look directly to their own personal African roots as a source of inspiration and energy for their work, more than they look to jazz’ roots in America.

Album review: De-Phazz - belooped (MPS)

There’s a point somewhere deep into the evening — the last cocktail glasses catching the low light, conversations beginning to dissolve into the room’s soundtrack — where De-Phazz have always made perfect sense. Not in the traditional jazz-club way where audiences sit motionless in reverential silence, but in those beautifully blurred spaces where rhythm, atmosphere and memory seem to move together.

That has always been the magic of De-Phazz.

 And with belooped, that world collides with another equally distinctive one.

Taking the legendary MPS catalogue — recordings tied to the immaculate sound of Hans-Georg Brunner-Schwer and performances by artists like Oscar Peterson, Ella Fitzgerald and George Duke — and threading them through De-Phazz’s unmistakable electro-organic aesthetic could easily have become heavy-handed. Instead, it feels strangely natural, as though these recordings had been waiting patiently for someone to open a different door into them.

The Kaberry Big Band @ The Seahorse, Whitley Bay - May 16

The Seahorse is home to Whitley Bay FC's supporters' club. The clubhouse/pub is open to all and this evening the Kaberry Big Band would entertain an enthusiastic full house. Formerly the Vermont Big Band, the change of name honours the late Chris Kaberry, the band's much-missed MD.

Two sets, an interval with a free hot buffet (curry!), convivial company, what's not to like? Drummer Michael Mather, not unknown to BSH readers, is the ensemble's new MD and would direct affairs from behind his kit. Billed as 'Plays the Rat Pack & Sinatra', this evening's concert would, indeed, deliver what it promised on the tin/poster. 

The day the APPJG lights went out...

APPJG (All Party Parliamentary Jazz Group) voting forms were to be submitted by the midnight deadline on Friday (May 15). It's mid-afternoon Friday, right, let's make a start. Lots of time. And then...

At approximately 3:20pm the lights went out, metaphorically if not literally (it was broad daylight). Yes, a power cut or, as our American cousins might say, an 'outage'. Northern Powergrid estimated the electricity supply would be restored by 6:30pm. Damn! At half past six it would be time to set off to a gig. Oh, well...

The gig, the interval. A Northern Powergrid update suggested the power supply would be restored between 2:00 and 3:00am (Saturday). Oh, well, there is always the 2027 voting form...

Cheltenham Jazz Festival: Courtney Pine – A Modern Day Jazz Story - @ Cheltenham Town Hall - May 3

Courtney Pine, (tenor and soprano sax); Robert Mitchell (piano); Rio Kai (bass); Romana Campbell (drums)

Back in the day Fleet Street newspapers used to keep a jazz critic on staff. Their main duties were to live a troglodyte existence in the bowels of the print room and wait for the next wave of British Jazz to appear, like desert flowers that only bloom every 20 years. In the mid-eighties these critics lumbered into action as Loose Tubes and the Jazz Warriors appeared, along with some outliers in the colonies, such as Andy Sheppard in Bristol. Many who came out of that particular scene are still with us but the one that has remained the most prominent is Courtney Pine and he’s out again for another run around the festivals. A Sunday in May brought him, Robert Mitchell and a young bass and drums pairing to Cheltenham’s Town Hall.

Gerry Richardson Quartet @ Sunderland Minster - May 15

Gerry Richardson (organ, vocals); Garry Linsley (alto sax); Rod Sinclair (guitar); Paul Smith (drums)

Sunderland's thriving Cultural Quarter was a hive of activity. The Peacock was preparing to host a rock band, the Fire Station was readying itself for the arrival of several hundred ticket holders to a reggae concert, the Empire Theatre was about to host its third performance of the day (The Choir of Man) and, over the road at Sunderland Minster, we were about to enjoy another Old Black Cat Jazz Club concert.

Late Night Chicago Radio with Denny Farrell (May 14 - 20)

Oscar Peterson: I've Got it Bad (and that ain't good).

Paul Desmond/Ed Bickert: When Sunny Gets Blue.

?: Where or When.

McCoy Tyner Trio: That Old Devil Moon.

Billie Holiday: Billie's Blues.

Quintette du Hot Club de France.: Minor Swing.

Ray Brown: Time After Time.

Anita O'Day: Trav'lin' Light.

?: Ja-Da.

LISTEN 24/7.

Jazz at the Lit & Phil: Conor Emery Quartet - May 15

Conor Emery (trombone); Alix Shepherd (piano); John Pope (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums)

In the absence of regular Lit & Phil reviewers Sylvia T and our convalescing editor Lance, the following brief review will have to suffice. Home from a second cruise ship contract engagement, Liverpudlian trombonist Conor Emery returned to his erstwhile student home city to play a 'third Friday lunchtime in the month' concert on Westgate Road. 

Conor spent three years on Tyneside as a music degree student at Newcastle University and it was gratifying to see a full house supporting our Honorary Geordie. Conor called on the services of pianist Alix Shepherd, bassist John Pope and drummer Abbie Finn - all contributing to a successful afternoon

Jerron Paxton @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle - May 14

Jerron Paxton (banjo, guitar, violin, piano, harmonica, bones, vocals)

A full house - seating in rows rather than cabaret table layout - tells a story. Jerron Paxton was making a return visit to Newcastle and Gosforth Civic Theatre was packed to the rafters. From Los Angeles, with family roots in Louisiana, Paxton is a multi-instrumentalist of old school charm. His audience would, indeed, be well and truly charmed. 

The Tannery jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham - May 13

Joe Steels (guitar); Laurence Blackadder (double bass); John Bradford (drums) + Ben Lawrence (keyboards); John Weaver (trumpet); Chris Beaumont (guitar); Jimi Savage (guitar)

A first visit in a while to Hexham. The Tannery on Gilesgate is host to a second Wednesday in the month jam session and this month's gathering was, as always, fronted by Joe Steels. This evening, guitarist Joe, Laurence Blackadder (bass) and John Bradford (drums) would form the house trio. 

The trio would soon become a quartet with the arrival of pianist Ben Lawrence. Two sets, including tunes favoured by guitarists (I'll Be Seeing You, Darn That Dream and Stella by Starlight), found Joe in great form, a cut above standard jam session fare. Laurence and John were enjoying themselves, as were the evening's sitters-in.

Jazz Time Aycliffe Radio - Sundays 6.30-8.00pm (repeated Tuesdays 8.00-9.30pm).

https://www.ayclifferadio.co.uk/listen.

Playlist 17/05/26 (repeated Tuesday 19/05/26)

Fats Waller.

Memories inc. the centenary of the birth of Miles Davis: Miles Davis, Sidney Bechet, Woody Herman, Big Joe Turner Humphrey Lyttelton.

Requests: Scott Joplin, Wardell Gray Quartet, Samara Joy.

New Release: Julian Lage.

Requests: Louis Dowdeswell Big Band, Sonny Criss Quartet, Wes Montgomery.

What’s on in the NE: Rivkala, Paul Edis, George Gershwin.

Requests: JJ Johnson & Kai Winding, Dexter Gordon.

Aycliffe Radio is now available on DAB in County Durham & the Darlington area or via your smart speaker.     

Album review: Carlos Henriquez - Monk Con Clave (self)

Carlos Henriquez (bass, leader); Jesus Ricardo, Michael Rodriguez, Kali Rodriguez, Nathaniel Williford (trumpets); Marshall Gilkes, Elliot Mason, Dion Tucker (trombones); Sherman Irby, Ted Nash (alto sax); Chris Lewis, Abdias Armentero (tenor sax); Paul Nedzela (baritone sax); Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Osmany Paredes, Robert Rodriguez (piano*); Obed Calvaire (drums); Bobby Allende (bongoes) + Jeremy Bosch (vocals, flute tks 3,4,10); Anthony Almonte (vocals tks 4,10); Pedrito Martinez (congas, vocals tks 4,6,7,10)

*Pianists: Rubalco (tks 1,3,6); Paredes (tks 2,4,9); Rodriguez (tk 7).

Another 're-imaging' album! This time it's Monk's music that's being laid siege to. Richard Baratta's Charlie Parker inspired Another Kind of Bird was, despite my initial misgivings, an unmitigated success that hit just the right balance between the old and the new.

Cheltenham Jazz Festival: Makaya McCraven @ DEYA Arena, Cheltenham - May 3

Makaya McCraven (drums, electronics); Junius Paul (bass, electronics); Marquis Hill (trumpet, electronics)

Opener, Away, begins with jingling bells, trap cymbals and bubbling effects. Ghosts of cymbals, ghosts of drums slowly coalesce before the bass leads us out and a haunting trumpet line is wavered by the electronics. Busy hustling, restless drums support a trumpet that issues notes that are slingshots into a void. The bass erupts and the drums follow into a freer world. They go straight into a drum led hopping funk piece with a rock solid bass and rich round trumpet notes, more Nils Petter Molvær than Miles, bass and drums as subtle as a speeding truck, albeit one it’s a joy to be stood in front of. Longer trumpet notes, hypnotic bass and majestic drums support before the trumpet heats into a boiling fury before McCraven explodes on the drums to close.

Jo Harrop and Jamie McCredie – Weathering the Storm Duo @ Basement Bar, Green Note, Camden – May 1

Jo Harrop (vocals); Jamie McCredie (guitar)

There are jazz clubs, and then there are rooms like Green Note — spaces where the distance between performer and audience all but disappears. Tucked into Camden’s side streets, just a couple of doors up from the legendary The Dublin Castle, there is something wonderfully authentic about Green Note. No glossy VIP experience. No digital ticket wallets flashing at the door. Just your name on a list, artist posters blu-tacked to the window with dates handwritten along the bottom, and the feeling that you have stumbled into something quietly special. In an age where digital content often seems to matter more than the moments themselves, Green Note feels rooted in another time entirely. Even the name carries a kind of romance to it.

Press release: A final reminder that public nominations for the 2026 Parliamentary Jazz Awards close at midnight tonight (May 15)

The Parliamentary Awards celebrate and recognise the vibrancy, diversity, talent and breadth of the jazz scene throughout the United Kingdom.

"These awards are a great opportunity to celebrate the talents and energies of the great musicians, educators, promoters, record labels, jazz organisations, blogs, jazz magazines and journalists who keep jazz flourishing, in spite of the challenges they faced in the last couple of years”. Lord Mann and Dame Chi Onwurah MP, Co-chairs of APPJG and Jo White MP.

The Awards will take place at World Heart Beat on Tuesday 13 October 2026 at 7pm

To nominate please go to: Nominations Parliamentary Jazz Awards
Here is another link for the avoidance of doubt:
Parliamentary Jazz Awards 2026

Voting closes on Friday 15th May 2026 at Midnight

---

Please note the criteria for the different categories:
Jazz Album of the Year (released in 2025 by a UK band or musicians).
Services to Jazz Award (to a living person for their outstanding contribution to jazz in the UK). 
Jazz Newcomer of the Year (UK-based artist, musician or group with a debut album released in 2025).
Jazz Education Award (to an educator or project for raising the standard of jazz education in the UK).
Jazz Media Award (including broadcasters, journalists, magazines, blogs, listings, photographers and books).
Jazz Venue of the Year (including jazz clubs, venues, festivals and promoters).
Jazz Ensemble of the Year (UK-based group who impressed in 2025).
Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year (UK-based musician who impressed in 2025).
Jazz Vocalist of the Year (UK-based vocalist who impressed in 2025).

The awards are organised by the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Group (APPJG), co-chaired”. by Dame Chi Onwurah MP and Lord Mann.

 

Album review: Richard Baratta - Another Kind of Bird, Reimagining Charlie Parker (Savant Records)

Richard Baratta (drums, perc.); Vincent Herring (alto sax); Bill O'Connell (piano, elec. piano, arranger); Paul Bollenback (guitar); Michael Coetz (bass); Paul Russman (congas, perc.) +  Craig Handy (tenor sax tks 1, 2/flute tk 3/ sop sax tk 4); Abraham Burton (alto sax tks 1, 4); Eric Alexander (tenor sax tks 1, 4)

I groaned when I read the sub-title; Reimagining Charlie Parker. I didn't want to reimagine one of my heroes. I was quite content to worship the original without some Johnny-come-lately giving him a makeover.

Nevertheless, I prepared to give it a spin, my appropriately named Parker pen and a cartridge of vitriolic ink at the ready.

Needless to say my fears proved foundless. This album won't replace the originals but it will sit proudly alongside them happy in the knowledge that both have gained by comparision.

Cheltenham Jazz Festival: Bill Frisell & Eyvind Kang @ Cheltenham Town Hall - May 2

Bill Frisell (guitar); Eyvind Kang (viola)

A nearly empty stage with a guitar, recumbent on a stool and a small collection of fluffy toys next to a mic stand. This was not going to be the most extravagant show at the Festival. Frisell and Kang wander on stage, acknowledge the applause, sit down and begin. Frisell leads off strumming with increasing menace whilst Kang produces long drones on his instrument, the eventual pastoral excursions on the viola are picked up and developed by Frisell whose picking starts to approximate a melody line but he reverts to rising and falling chords following the viola and then a simple melody line of repeated motif is slightly embellished with a top string rhythm. It is intensely fragile music.

Cheltenham Jazz Festival: The Puppini Sisters @ Cheltenham Town Hall - May 2

Rosanna Schura, Marcella Puppini, Kate Mullins (vocals); Martin Gormley (guitar); Henrik Jensen (bass); Peter Ibbotson (drums)

Day 2 had started well with a great gig by Joshua Redman and we returned to the Town Hall soon after for the Puppini Sisters. Now Steve booked this one, and thought he was getting something sophisticated and jazzy. I had more than half an inkling it would be more comedy cabaret based solely on their contribution to Micky Bubble’s Christmas Album and that was what we got. It reminded me of Girls Talk, the group made up of Claire Martin, Barb Jungr and Mari Wilson who were around about twenty years ago, (no one who saw them could ever forget Jungr’s unladylike, bovine bellow of It should have been me).

Nick Mondello interviews Paul Mercer Ellington

Nick Mondello - "Our Man in New York" - interviews Paul Mercer Ellington.

Paul, grandson of Duke, currently leads the 2026 version of the Ellington band and offers fascinating information about both Duke and his (Paul's) father Mercer Ellington who played trumpet with Duke as well as leading his own band. Lance

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