You could almost hear a pin drop in Hall Two of Kings Place, and the Kit Downes Trio took full advantage of the fine acoustics of the hall at the Kings Place Festival on Saturday, the culmination of a hectic week which saw the pianist receive unprecedented wider attention.
Robert Glasper, Brad Mehldau, Empirical, Phronesis, and John McLaughlin are the nominated jazz acts for this year’s MOBOs, the awards ceremony which recognises music of black origin will be held in Liverpool next month.
Nikki Yanofsky, just 16, the youngest-ever jazz signing to a major record label, according to her label Decca, has just completed a two-night run at Pizza Express Jazz Club, a stint that saw her also fit in a special Jazz For Kids matinee for school children yesterday afternoon, a first at the club.
A broadcast to be aired for the first time in nearly 20 years of a concert by Ella Fitzgerald will act as a potent reminder of the singer whose influence on singers as varied as Dianne Reeves, Jane Monheit and the teenage newcomer Nikki Yanofsky remains profound.
Reedsman Shabaka Hutchings has been confirmed as the latest jazz BBC New Generation Artist following hard on the heels of Tom Arthurs who while based in Berlin managed to use his stint to increase his artistic ambitions helped by the high profile endorsement from BBC Radio 3.
Now in its third year the Kings Place Festival returns on Thursday for a four-day music extravaganza that includes 100 performances across the venue’s multiple performance areas.
It was hardly a Waterloo sunset to gaze on, but Jay Phelps at the plush Waterloo Brasserie near the Old Vic on Saturday night was on relaxed form as the trumpeter begins the build-up to the autumn release of his debut album Jay Walkin’, one of the key releases of the season that is dominated by the London Jazz Festival.
A major new ten-part documentary series Jazz Junctions, presented by renowned UK trumpeter Guy Barker, will be aired this autumn on BBC Radio Two.
The hard bop group Killer Shrimp, led by trumpeter Damon Brown and saxophonist Ed Jones, return next month with their new release Whatever Sincerely: Tales From The Baltic Wharf released on 18 October.
A song cycle featuring jazz standards along with Robert Wyatt originals and other songs associated with him, is to appear on the new Domino Records album, For The Ghosts Within, released next month on vinyl, CD and download on 11 October.