Features

Led Bib - X-ray vision

Curiously named after the protective garment used to shield dental patients during x-rays, Led Bib is set to shake up the UK jazz scene already gravitating to a new set of rules in the wake of Polar Bear and Acoustic Ladyland. Led by US drummer Mark Holub the group was initially influenced by New York downtown groups of the 1980s but is just as likely to bash out post-modern version of David Bowie as it is to double think whatever John Zorn is toying with. You won’t be bored, says Daniel...

Sonny Rollins - Brave New World

Sonny Rollins is full of surprises. Now well into his seventies, he has broken out on his own by setting up his own record label and arranging a distribution deal. As the first record, Sonny, Please, on his new label Doxy is released, Keith Shadwick finds out from Sonny the motivation he has for starting out on this new course and finds out that there could be some surprises to come on the label with a whole new archive of historic recordings now possible for release.

Michael Brecker - Farewell to a brother

The jazz world was stunned to learn of the death of Michael Brecker in January. Although he had been ill for some time there were tentative signs of recovery over the past months and Brecker had even been in the studio working on a new album. Brecker was easily the most influential saxophonist in jazz since John Coltrane. His legacy will live on in the records he has left behind. Stuart Nicholson looks back at the life and music of Michael Brecker.

Keith Jarrett - Hear Everything

Keith Jarrett, whose Köln Concert from 1975 has sold over three million copies worldwide, virtually defining the art of the solo piano concert in jazz in the process, has dramatically altered his style with his latest release The Carnegie Hall Concert. In a rare interview, he tells Stuart Nicholson how and why he changed his approach, the value of classical studies to aspiring young jazz musicians, what his own practice routine is at home, the state of jazz today and a whole lot more.

Gilad Atzmon - Not strictly kosher

Larger than life, with an extraordinary view of jazz, philosophy and politics, the Israeli saxophonist Gilad Atzmon tells Stuart Nicholson about his new creation Artie Fishel, a Jewish Jelly Roll Morton with his own theories about where jazz was created. Atzmon explains why he turned his back on his Israeli heritage, after serving in the Israeli army, diagreeing with the political aspects of the Jewish state and instead actively supporting the Palestinian cause. It’s a stance that has caused his...

Graham Collier - Big It Up

Composer Graham Collier turns 70 this year. One of the leading UK jazz composers of his generation, his work has recently been rediscovered by younger musicians and audiences with a taste for his sophisticated arrangements. Duncan Heining talks to Collier, now resident in Spain, about his career and plans for his special birthday year.

Colin Towns - Back from the brink

Keyboard player and composer Colin Towns is on the way back after his record company Provocateur skirted with disaster in the wake of the collapse of its distributors. Once the most adventurous and ideas-driven indie jazz record label in the UK, with a motto to match, “improvise not compromise”, a hostile record business climate brought the label close to the point of collapse. Best known for releases by Andy Sheppard and Guy Barker, whose album Soundtrack was Mercury nominated, Towns and his...

Fraud - Art of Deception

One of last year’s breakthrough groups Fraud shows what it can do on record this month as its debut album, also called Fraud, is released. Powered by drummer Tim Giles and saxophonist James Allsopp the group has made the journey from the London underground jazz clubs to become the more visible face of the new post free jazz British groups. Interview :: Mike Flynn

Branford Marsalis - Home is where the heat is

Something to brag about? Well, that’s what Branford Marsalis would like you to think he has achieved on his latest release Braggtown. A white knuckle ride with drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts punishing his drums time and time again, especially on the tune ‘Blakzilla’ inspired by the music from the Japanese horror film Godzilla. But the latest recording by his seasoned band, whose line up is completed by bassist Eric Revis and pianist Joey Calderazzo, also exposes another melancholic side of Branford’s...

Pat Metheny and Brad Mehldau - Meeting of minds

The release of Metheny Mehldau is the jazz event of the year by some distance. It’s the first time guitarist Pat Metheny and pianist Brad Mehldau have recorded together and presents a fascinating match of two musical forces who have become world renowned jazz figures.

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