Album review: David Bowden - Unsung Songs (self released)

David Bowden (solo double bass)

I must confess that 26 minutes of solo double bass playing can be a daunting prospect even when the perp. is the award-winning Glasgow based bassist David Bowden.

A musician and composer, Bowden is a former Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year, a crucial member of Fergus McCreadie's internationally acclaimed, Mercury Prize-nominated trio as well as being a much sought after bassist in the Scottish jazz and folk scene. 

Jazz at the Lit and Phil: Russ Morgan Quartet - April 17

© Pam

Russ Morgan (drums); Harry Keeble (tenor saxophone); Mark Williams (guitar); Andy Champion (double bass) + Zoë Gilby (guest vocalist).

If it’s the third Friday in the month, it’s Jazz at the Lit and Phil’s lunchtime concert. These concerts are sold out well in advance and almost 100 people took their seats this Friday afternoon. Quite often the musicians have travelled far and wide to get to Newcastle but today all the musicians have either studied, worked or are resident here, so they were playing to a home crowd. (Russ Morgan lived and worked in Newcastle for several years before relocating  to the Kingdom of Fife a couple of years ago from where he travelled today) Regular audience members will have seen each of them in various other combinations at these concerts over the years and in this guise as recently as March when they played the Black Bull, Blaydon.

The Jazz Cavern Latest

Below is updated information on my weekly radio show - THE JAZZ CAVERN.  My next show will be broadcast starting Monday, April 20. It will be largely new releases from Hannah Horton, Gary Topper, Malcolm MacFarlane, Eleanor Kelly and the band Five Way Split. There will also be earlier recordings from John Taylor/Stan Sulzmann and the NDR Big Band as well as the Dutch Jazz Orchestra playing rare pieces by Billy Strayhorn. There will also be a brief tribute to the late Mike Westbrook who sadly died on April 20 at the age of 90. He will be sorely missed for all that he contributed to British Jazz. 

Happy listening! Frank Griffith

www.purejazzradio.com.

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

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

Playlist 19/04/26 (repeated Tuesday 21/04/26)

Seasonal: Harry James.

Requests from Joe Steels' Bishop Auckland gig: Wynton Kelly/Wes Montgomery, Branford Marsalis, Daniel John Martin, Oscar Peterson, Charlie Byrd.

Michael Bede Dunlop introduces his new album

Requests: Tommy Dorsey, Ella Fitzgerald and the Inkspots.

New Releases: Jed Levy/Phil Robson, Javon Jackson, Madeleine Peyroux.

Tony Eales’ Best of British Big Bands: Skelton Skinner Allstars Big Band.

Request: Kurt Elling with the WDR Big Band.

Seasonal: Billie Holiday.

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

Late Night Chicago Radio w. Denny Farrell (April 16 - April 22)

Gerry Mulligan: Five Brothers.

Chet Baker: All the Things You Are.

Bud Shank: Shank's Pranks.

Ella Fitzgerald: The Man That Got Away.

Concord All Stars: Alone Together.

Jonah Jones: Tin Roof Blues.

Sarah Vaughan: Street of Dreams.

Don Elliott: Imagination.

Larry Branchetti: For Once in my life.

Stan Getz: Girl From Ipanema.

Beegie Adair: Stairway to the Stars.

LISTEN 24/7

Norman Redhead funeral details announced

The funeral of Norman Redhead who passed away on April 9 will take place on Friday May 8 12.30.

May he REST IN PEACE

Jazz FM Awards 2026

Winner's Names are in Bold Type

Breakthrough Act of the Year 

Donovan Haffner; Earth-o-Naut; Poppy Daniels 

International Jazz Act of the Year 

Linda May Han Oh; Nate Smith; Samara Joy 

Blues Act of the Year 

Alice Armstrong; Gary Clark Jr.; Mavis Staples 

Soul Act of the Year 

Omar; RAYE; Young Gun Silver Fox 

Press Release: Public nominations are now open for the 2026 Parliamentary Jazz Awards

Public nominations  are now open for the 2026 Parliamentary Jazz Awards. Entries are open to anyone. Public nominations open on Friday 17th April with the final deadline set for midnight on Friday 15th May 2026. 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 13th October 2026 at 7pm

Single Review - Fogging Up the Windows – Keith Fiala (Wayfarer Records)

Keith Fiala (trumpet and programming.)

Trumpeter Keith Fiala has not-so-quietly been solidifying his place as one of the more creative composers and highly talented trumpeters in the music world. Coming off the charting success of his last Wayfarer release - the moodily beautiful Dream of Me - the Texan has been touring the world as a key member of Arturo Sandoval’s ensemble where he’s a featured soloist and part of the killer horn line.

Fogging Up the Windows continues Fiala’s fine work. What’s most interesting and inviting about his efforts is the fact that, unlike some formulaic presentations of “Smooth Jazz,” (a description this writer finds nebulous and incongruent), Fiala’s compositions and arrangements defy that “norm” structurally and from an improvisational standpoint. He’s much more of a jazzer than some others on the scene. That’s no disrespect, but simply a listener’s observation.

Nick Mondello interviews Steve Lipman of Independent Music Schools

Another pertinent interview by Nick Mondello on the subject of finding the best music school for your child in the USA.

What are the options? Where to look? Who to guide you?

HERE IS A GOOD PLACE TO START. Lance