The National Youth Jazz Orchestra is one of Britain’s longest running ensembles and has served as a real-world finishing school for countless young professionals including illustrious alumni such as Guy Barker, Mark Nightingale, Gerard Presencer, Pete Long, Dennis and Winston Rollins and Amy Winehouse.
A singular force in the realm of spontaneously created music, Keith Jarrett turned 70 on 8 May with an unmatched body of work that straddles both jazz and classical worlds.
A journey man giant of jazz, Joe Lovano’s prolific career since the 1970s has been propelled by his passion for absorbing and assimilating a vast array of influences.
London-based trio Partikel have been threatening to do big things since their fine eponymous 2010 debut, and its melodically-charged follow up, Cohesion.
Dee Dee Bridgewater is at the top of today’s jazz vocal tree, yet this isn’t just thanks to her technical prowess, armful of awards or her impeccable work to date, but also through her powers as a storyteller and an impassioned live performer.
Kyle Eastwood may have inherited his famous father’s life-long love of jazz, and composed his fair share of Hollywood film scores, yet it’s only in the last five years that his long-running jazz quintet has really hit its stride, thanks to his increased maturity as a bandleader, his virtuosic bass technique and a blossoming empathy with his London-based band.
Saxophonist Andy Sheppard has been a constant presence on the British, and international, jazz circuit since he emerged as part of the late 1980s young UK jazz scene, yet for all his widespread popularity he’s remained hungry for exploring sonic pastures new.
For all of the welcoming warmth of her instantly recognisable voice, Cassandra Wilson has never taken the safe option in a career that now spans almost three decades.
Bassist Avishai Cohen has in the last decade of his prolific, high-level 20-year career, moved from bass hero and bandleader, into the echelons of significant stylistic innovator and powerful musical mentor.
Almost 30 years and 15 albums into his career, there’s no doubting Courtney Pine’s stature as one of the greatest saxophonists this country has ever produced: his awe-inspiring technique and stage presence more than matched by his knack of creating music that immediately resonates with his audiences.
