Features

Polar Bear - Kicking The Senses

Polar Bear has been in the vanguard of the new wave of UK jazz groups to emerge over the past five years. Led by drummer Seb Rochford, the band appeals to both jazz and rock audiences but became known to a still wider audience when its second album Held On The Tips Of Fingers was Mercury nominated. Switching labels, from Babel Records to V2, for its latest album, as yet untitled, Andy Robson catches up with the band members on the eve of the album’s launch.

Dave Stapleton - Place Your Bets

Pianist Dave Stapleton is a driving force on the new Welsh scene, encouraging local activities not only by his own efforts as a pianist and band leader but also by acting as a record label boss, putting out his own music and recordings by musicians of the order of Keith Tippett. On the eve of the release of his latest quintet The House Always Wins Dave talks to Stuart Nicholson.

Liane Carroll - In Praise Of Slow

Recorded in just four hours, Liane Carroll’s new album, ironically titled Slow Down, underlines just what the singer/pianist has achieved over a career that saw her begin singing as a teenager. Something of a “best kept secret” for much of her career it’s only in the last few years, as Peter Quinn explains, that Liane has got the recognition that she deserves.

Gwilym Simcock - Keys to the city

The name Gwilym Simcock has been on everyone’s lips on the UK jazz scene over the last few years. The pianist emerged fully formed after a dazzling spell at music college with a firm classical and jazz grounding and then quickly found his feet winning prizes, playing with legendary jazz figures like Kenny Wheeler and Dave Holland and quickly making a reputation for himself as an extraordinary new talent, making him the most talked about pianist in the UK since the early days of Django Bates....

John Etheridge - Changing man

One of the most respected musicians of his generation John Etheridge has never been one to restrict himself to one musical context. His career has seen him in a multitude of musical situations from playing with Soft Machine to French violin legend Stéphane Grappelli to his Zappa project the Zappatistas and with classical guitarist John Williams. As the latest release by the Soft Machine Legacy band is released, Duncan Heining looks back with John on some career highs and one or two lows.

Bobby Hutcherson - The right vibe

Bobby Hutcherson stands tall in the pantheon of the vibraphone in jazz, his name is up there will all the greats stretching back to Lionel Hampton and Milt Jackson and inspiring later generations of players such as Orphy Robinson and Stefon Harris. In a rare interview, Hutcherson talks to Keith Shadwick about his heyday with the Blue Note label, the great friendships he built up with Andrew Hill and Eric Dolphy and the way his music has developed over a long career in jazz

Julian Joseph - The Language of Truth

Pianist and composer Julian Joseph embarks this month on the premiere of his most ambitious project to date, a jazz opera called Bridegetower, commissioned by the City of London Festival and English Touring Opera, inspired in part by the 200th anniversary of the abolition of transatlantic slavery, with a libretto by writer Mike Phillips.

Rashied Ali - Interstellar Overdrive

As John Coltrane moved to the last phase of his career embracing the adventurous spirit of the New York avant garde, drummer Rashied Ali was there at the heart of his new thinking with his “multi-directional” drumming and non standard approach that altered the course of Coltrane’s music as it reached its great peak on the album Interstellar Space. Since Coltrane’s death Rashied Ali’s career has, like the course of the avant garde itself, seen its peaks and troughs alternating with periods of...

Iain Ballamy - Mainstream Interruptus

Iain Ballamy emerged from the seminal 1980s big band Loose Tubes as one of the stars of his generation of UK jazz musicians. A dazzling soloist with a recognisable sound and a soft “English” sense of playing, equally capable of responding to the humour and eccentricity of his homeland as much as possessing the ability to deliver a Coltrane-inspired solo line just as a leading American player could do. As his solo career developed he made his name with the inspired records Balloon Man and All...

Claire Martin - Slowly but surely

There’s a certain style, swagger and above all sassiness about Claire Martin that has endeared her to jazz fans for many years now. Her ability to interpret lyrics while swinging hard has secured her position at the top of the tree among jazz singers in the UK. For her latest album, He Never Mentioned Love, she pays tribute to one of her singing idols, Shirley Horn, for a sincere tribute that features Martin at her very best. Jane Cornwell talks to Claire as she prepares to fly to New York for a...

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