Jazz Journal - Jazz Journal

Count Me In… 10/25

Count me in... Nigel Jarrett -

Unlike rock and pop music - I think those two labels cover the gamut - jazz is not everywhere. It is so not-everywhere that you often have to seek it out or hope that, in a sense, it will seek you out. As I mentioned briefly in a print issue of JJ a few years back, it said “Boo!” to me in St Ives, Cornwall – to be precise, at the Leach Pottery up the hill from the town's long-lived...

In South Wales? Take the Coaltrains

Live Reviews Jazz Journal -

It's not St Pancras International. It doesn’t have the dramatic Victorian architecture of Liverpool Lime Street, the hustle and bustle of Birmingham New Street,...

Review: Scarborough Jazz Festival 2025

Live Reviews Brian Payne -

The 22nd Scarborough Jazz Festival took place from 26 to 28 September. It was compèred as usual by the ever humorous Alan Barnes. Jamil Sheriff’s...

Reviewed: David Bixler | Anne Efternøler and Lige Børn | Isabelle Olivier

Reviews Matty Bannond -

David Bixler: Incognito Ergo Sum (davidbixler.com) The second release from saxophonist David Bixler’s trio aims to celebrate anonymity and strip away stylistic borders - if...

The dance is ended (but the memory lingers on)

Features Randy L. Smith -

Seeing the Count Basie Orchestra live was one of the great thrills early in my lifelong obsession with jazz. I did not realise it...

News in brief...

Köln 75 is a new film dramatising the creation of Keith Jarrett’s famed Köln Concert (ECM). A YouTube trailer gives some insight into its style and content.

Among the attractions at Ronnie Scott’s club in London in October are 70s-inspired Boston jazz-funk band Lettuce, Espen Eriksen Trio w. Andy Sheppard, the Vincent Herring Soul Jazz Septet, and Bob James.

The 2025 EFG London Jazz Festival runs 14-23 November 2025 and includes Kurt Elling & The Yellowjackets Celebrate Weather Report, Bill Frisell Trio, and Nigel Kennedy.

A refurbished Upstairs at Ronnie Scott’s will open in February 2026 and offer “the finest jazz and jazz-adjacent acts”. There no news yet of whether its Cuban nights, an involvement stretching back to the club’s founder, will be reinstated.

Wall2Wall festival 2025, Wales

Live Reviews Nigel Jarrett -

An American couple in the audience at this year's Wall2Wall festival at Black Mountain Jazz reminded me of the famous Miles Kington quip about...

European Jazz Conference, Bari, Italy

Live Reviews Pascal Dorban -

On the Adriatic coast, facing the not-too-distant shores of Montenegro, the city of Bari in Apulia has long been a meeting point of cultures....

Reviewed: Tom Lyne | Ali Boulo Santo Cissoko & Volker Goetze | Adrian Cox Trio

Reviews Brian Payne -

Tom Lyne: Well Mixed Blue (LisaLeo Records 001) Canadian double bassist Tom Lyne has lived in Scotland for the last 27 years. He’s been the...

Down For The Count at Cadogan Hall, London

Live Reviews Leon Nock -

Cognisant that I was about to attend yet another gig by Down For The Count, just about the best big band currently working, I...

The Easy Rollers at PizzaExpress Live, Holborn

Live Reviews Leon Nock -

When I stepped from High Holborn into the Pizza Express, I was only slightly bemused to be confronted by a life-size replica of the...

UK Sinatra society closes with a flourish

Live Reviews Leon Nock -

In a little over a decade of writing for JJ, I've never have I done something like this, which is perhaps best described as...

Reviewed: Danny Widdicombe & Trichotomy | Song Yi Jeon Nonet

Reviews Barry Witherden -

Danny Widdicombe & Trichotomy: Iridescence (Earshift Music) Over the years the Australian piano trio Trichotomy has collaborated with a number of other acts, and these...

Reviewed: Morten Haxholm | Benedicte Maurseth | Gard Nilssen Acoustic Unity

Reviews Fred Grand -

If you were to listen to these three contrasting albums back-to-back you’d soon realise that the commonly voiced stereotypes about Scandinavian jazz are deeply...

Cecilie Strange Quartet in Southampton

Live Reviews Michael Tucker -

During my undergraduate years at Southampton in the late 1960s, the university's Student Union Hall...

Reviewed: Chrome Hill | Kasper Rietkerk | Wake up, Mal!

Reviews François van de Linde -

Chrome Hill: En Route (Clean Feed 683) Not all Belgians drink beer at breakfast, not all...

JJ archive for September : a selection

JJ 09/95: Norma Winstone – Well Kept Secret

From the JJ archive Jazz Journal -

Thirty years ago Bruce Crowther said that every encounter with singer Norma Winstone seemed like a first time, such was her capacity for reinvention

JJ 09/75: Neil Ardley, Ian Carr, Mike Gibbs, Stan Tracey – Will Power

From the JJ archive Jazz Journal -

Fifty years ago Barry McRae applauded some music featuring Norma Winstone and John Taylor - maybe not all-out jazz - written to mark Shakespeare's tercentenary

JJ 09/85: Miles – time after time

From the JJ archive Jazz Journal -

Forty years ago Mark Gilbert considered Miles Davis, musician and leader, and offered a perspective on his latest work, from Man With The Horn (1981) to You're Under Arrest (1985)

JJ 09/95: Estoril-Cascais jazz festival, reviewed

From the JJ archive Jazz Journal -

Thirty years ago Mark Gilbert reported on the 14th Estoril-Cascais jazz festival in Portugal, which included Nat Adderley, George Shearing and Ray Brown

Reviews

All reviews

In South Wales? Take the Coaltrains

Live Reviews Jazz Journal -

It's not St Pancras International. It doesn’t have the dramatic Victorian architecture of Liverpool Lime Street, the hustle and bustle of Birmingham New Street, the grandeur of Glasgow Central. It does not have the historical importance of Crewe. This is Barry. Barry Town, not Barry Docks, just one small station on the stopping train from Cardiff to Barry Island or, if you’re feeling ambitious,...

Review: Scarborough Jazz Festival 2025

Live Reviews Brian Payne -

The 22nd Scarborough Jazz Festival took place from 26 to 28 September. It was compèred as usual by the ever humorous Alan Barnes. Jamil Sheriff’s 4 in 1 Jamil Sheriff’s 4 in 1 launched proceedings at noon on Friday. Sheriff was on piano, Will Howard tenor sax, Sam Quintana double bass and Steve Hanley on drums. With witty and informative introductions from Sheriff, the quartet performed...

Reviewed: David Bixler | Anne Efternøler and Lige Børn | Isabelle Olivier

Reviews Matty Bannond -

Wall2Wall festival 2025, Wales

Live Reviews Nigel Jarrett -

European Jazz Conference, Bari, Italy

Live Reviews Pascal Dorban -

Reviewed: Tom Lyne | Ali Boulo Santo Cissoko & Volker Goetze | Adrian Cox Trio

Reviews Brian Payne -

Down For The Count at Cadogan Hall, London

Live Reviews Leon Nock -

The Easy Rollers at PizzaExpress Live, Holborn

Live Reviews Leon Nock -

UK Sinatra society closes with a flourish

Live Reviews Leon Nock -

Reviewed: Danny Widdicombe & Trichotomy | Song Yi Jeon Nonet

Reviews Barry Witherden -

Reviewed: Morten Haxholm | Benedicte Maurseth | Gard Nilssen Acoustic Unity

Reviews Fred Grand -

Cecilie Strange Quartet in Southampton

Live Reviews Michael Tucker -

Reviewed: Chrome Hill | Kasper Rietkerk | Wake up, Mal!

Reviews François van de Linde -

Reviewed: TC.Kylie x The Hourglass | Freedom Art Quartet | Patsiotis Kostas | Tommy Guerrero

Reviews Darren Arthurs -

New releases

All new releases

New releases August-September 2025, S-Z

Records offered for review to Jazz Journal in July-August 2025, including Pharoah Sanders, Horace Silver, John Taylor, Mark Turner and McCoy Tyner // Editor's pick: Horace Silver

New releases August-September 2025, N-R

Records offered for review to Jazz Journal in July-August 2025, including Oscar Peterson, Pat Petrillo, John Pizzarelli, Max Roach and Ruby Rushton // Editor's pick: Pat Petrillo

New releases August-September 2025, L-M

Records offered for review to Jazz Journal in July-August 2025, including Wadada Leo Smith & Sylvie Courvoisier, Julie London, John McLaughlin, Charles Mingus and Wolfgang Muthspiel // Editor's pick: Sean Mason

New releases August-September 2025, F-K

New releases August-September 2025, C-E

New releases August-September 2025, A-B

New releases June-July 2025, U-Z

New releases June-July 2025, S-T

New releases June-July 2025, P-R

New releases June-July 2025, L-O

New releases June-July 2025, H-K

New releases June-July 2025, F-G

News

News archive

Julia Yagunova: from Shanghai’s JZ Club to London

News Jazz Journal -

Russian-born pianist Julia Yagunova has built an international career that reflects the global spirit of today’s jazz. From her studies in the United States to her years as a resident performer in China, and later her teaching in New...

Scarborough Jazz Festival approaches

News Mark Gilbert -

The 22nd Scarborough Jazz Festival takes place 26-28 September, bringing artists including James Taylor, Alan Barnes, Emma Rawicz, Simon Spillett and Joe Stilgoe to the North Yorkshire coastal town. Now in its second year with Mark Gordon as director (following...

Curate me a riff, baby

News Mark Gilbert -

Nigel Price’s 46-date tour secured, thanks to Coldplay and friends

News Mark Gilbert -

Siena Jazz International Academy opens admissions for 2025-2026

News Jazz Journal -

Edward Burra, leading painter and JJ enthusiast

News Simon Adams -

Jim Mullen, Allison Neale, Gabrielle Stravelli and more for Battersea jazz festival

News Mark Gilbert -

German Jazz Prize performances reflect the fraught political scene

News Matty Bannond -

Village People play Sicilia Jazz Festival

News Mark Gilbert -

Shai Maestro drummer Ofri Nehemya makes leader debut

News Mark Gilbert -

Swanage jazz festival: ‘the largest and purest’ on England’s south coast

News Mark Gilbert -

Jools Holland, YolanDa Brown and Elaine Delmar bring jazz to Battersea Park

News Mark Gilbert -

Miles Davis painting adorns Sir Niels’ new Copenhagen jazz diner

News Mark Gilbert -

Diana Ross headlines North Sea Jazz Festival

News Mark Gilbert -

Politics

More politics

German Jazz Prize performances reflect the fraught political scene

News Matty Bannond -

Musicians from across Germany and around the globe flocked to Cologne for the German Jazz Prize on 13 June - and that’s no surprise. All 76 nominees got €4,000, while winners in 22 categories departed E-Werk’s brick-and-steel interior with...

James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues”

Book Reviews Brian Payne -

James Baldwin (1924-1987) is considered by many to be one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Born into poverty in Harlem, New York, he became an activist and broke new ground with his exploration of racial...

Brassroots Democracy: Maroon Ecologies And The Jazz Commons

Book Reviews Andy Hamilton -

Media ‘masking’ female under-representation in Grammys as research finds ‘pressing need’ for more women in jazz

News Mark Gilbert -

UK tries to reconcile copyright demands with AI growth agenda

News Mark Gilbert -

Queer jazz takes up residency in Dalston

News Mark Gilbert -

Jazzahead says outstanding music is increasingly to be found beyond jazz

News Mark Gilbert -

Martin Speake resigns over race politics and sues Trinity Laban

News Mark Gilbert -

Playing The Changes: Jazz At An African University And On The Road

Book Reviews Andy Hamilton -

Peers and MPs venture beyond Taylor and the Gallaghers

News Mark Gilbert -

Meshell Ndegeocello: No More Water – The Gospel of James Baldwin

Audio Reviews Simon Adams -

JJ 09/74: Jazz – emergence as an international art form

From the JJ archive Jazz Journal -

American Drummers 1959-88

Book Reviews Matthew Wright -

Talking The Groove – Jazz Words From The Morning Star

Book Reviews Nigel Jarrett -

Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter Five – In The Garden

Audio Reviews Nic Jones -

Cassie Kinoshi: ‘Jazz is black American music’

Features Trevor Hodgett -

Crossing Bar Lines – The Politics And Practices Of Black Musical Space

Book Reviews Derek Ansell -

Terri Lyne Carrington & Social Science: Waiting Game

Audio Reviews Simon Adams -

Features

All features

The dance is ended (but the memory lingers on)

Randy L. Smith -

Seeing the Count Basie Orchestra live was one of the great thrills early in my lifelong obsession with jazz. I did not realise it at the time, but the...