Thanks to the recent London Jazz Festival, my customary diet of classical concerts has been pleasingly enriched by a few other gigs, one of which – by the Tyshawn Sorey Trio at King’s Place last Friday – was quite simply superb, and probably my best non-classical concert of the year so far. Sorey is probably … Continue reading Mesmerisingly fine music: the Tyshawn Sorey Trio
It being 50 years since Manfred Eicher first set up his ECM label, it was perhaps unsurprising that this year’s London Jazz Festival should mount an ‘ECM day’, with three concerts featuring artists associated with the label. I missed the first, by the Julia Hülsmann Quartet, but managed to catch the second and third, and … Continue reading How Garbarek Got His Groove Back (plus a Gig by Joe Lovano)
Since I first came to live in London 40 years ago, there’s been a handful of American jazz favourites I’ve made a point of seeing on each and every occasion they’ve crossed the Atlantic to play a gig. It was certainly that way with both Ornette Coleman and Charlie Haden, and it’s still the case … Continue reading Not in Their Names: Carla Bley and Liberation Music Orchestra in London
While I may have reservations about the sheer size of the London Jazz Festival, I long ago stopped asking myself whether this or that act can really be described as ‘jazz’. What matters for the individual in the audience, after all, is whether he or she enjoys the music, and the organisers’ highly inclusive approach … Continue reading Norwegian good: the Nils Økland Band in London
notes and observations by Geoff Andrew 