Monthly Archives: November 2015
Rescued From The Vaults: Vinnie Colaiuta (1994)
Most solo albums by sideman drummers are disappointments – not this one. It goes way beyond the call of duty. Vinnie’s obviously been a great listener during his time playing with Frank Zappa, Joni Mitchell, Sting and Chick Corea because he’s assimilated their compositional styles, analysed what works for him and come up with his […]
David Sinclair: 25 Years Of Jazz Photography @ Royal Albert Hall
There’s still time to see a rare exhibition of David Sinclair’s jazz photography at the Royal Albert Hall. It is showing as part of the London Jazz Festival and runs until Saturday 28th November. He is possibly best-known for his striking black-and-white photographs which make the most of light and shadow, such as the image […]
DVD Review: Tubby Hayes
It isn’t easy to make a documentary about jazz these days, and that’s an understatement. BBC Four will very occasionally shoehorn some jazz into their output, usually a bought-in product from the States or something from the vaults, but the chances of getting the funding for a new documentary are slim or none. After ‘Whiplash’ […]
Jarrod Lawson @ Shepherds Bush Empire, 14th November 2015
The vacuum left by North London genius Lewis Taylor’s virtual disappearance from the music scene has left space for various young blue-eyed soulsters (Bo Saris, Allen Stone, Mayer Hawthorne et al), but Jarrod Lawson has surely emerged as the pick of the bunch. His assured, ambitious and well-received 2014 debut album announced a major new talent, […]
Hans Groiner: Does Humour Belong In Jazz?
Does humour belong in jazz? It’s a tough one, whichever way you slice it. Jazz and comedy were certainly frequently intertwined in the ’30s. Later, Spike Jones‘ incredible bands often featured jazz musicians and consistently tickled the funny bone though rarely at the expense of jazz itself – he mainly used the virtuosity of his […]
Sounds Of Surprise 