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New releases October-November 2025, L-N

Lateef, Yusef: Golden Flower - Live In Sweden - CD They say : ‘Golden Flower – Live In Sweden’ (1967 & 1972) is the first official release of two concerts by legendary saxophonist Yusef Lateef. Recorded and preserved in the archives of Swedish television and radio, this is the second official release in cooperation with the Lateef estate. Featuring two different quartets, the personnel supporting Lateef are Lars Sjösten – piano, Palle Danielsson – bass, Albert “Tootie” Heath – drums (1967; Kenny...

JJ 11/65: Aretha Franklin – Yeah!!!

Sixty years ago, Sinclair Traill acclaimed Franklin's big, strong, gospel-driven voice and sensed the advent of another major jazz singer

JJ 11/65: Roland Kirk – I Talk With The Spirits

Sixty years ago, Steve Voce, recovering from his Ayler baptism, enjoyed hearing Kirk playing, singing, laughing and shouting through some 'most acceptable modern jazz'

JJ 11/65: Bill Le Sage & The Directions In Jazz Unit – The Road To Ellingtonia

Sixty years ago, Mark Gardner thought Bill Le Sage's Directions In Jazz would come to be seen as 'the most invigorating and successful mating of a string section with jazz soloists'

JJ 11/65: Bob James Trio – Explosions

Sixty years ago, Sinclair Traill heard the future smooth-jazz pianist doing the avant thing and offending 'both the ears and the senses'

JJ 11/65: Albert Ayler – Bells

Sixty years ago, Steve Voce, despite concern for the artist's family, gave priority to service to the reader and told him that Bells contained absolute rubbish from first to last

Reviewed: Agnar Aspaas Quintet | Rasmus Kjær | Jørgen Træen & Stein Urheim

Agnar Aspaas Quintet: November Songs (Losen Records LOS316-2) Those outside of Norway may be unfamiliar with bassist Agnar Aspaas (b.1955), and if they’ve heard of...

News in brief...

Whole lotta reshaping going on at London’s Southbank Centre 13-15 March 2026, when the Montreux Jazz Festival Residency returns, asking ‘What is Jazz Today?’, drawing  inspiration from Miles Davies [sic] and entailing performances from such as Theo Croker, Children of Zeus and corto.alto.

‘The creative chaos’ behind Kind Of Blue is the preoccupation of Miles, ‘a fusion of live jazz and theatre’ featuring Jay Phelps and Benjamin Akintuyos that transfers to Southwark Playhouse in London from 4 February – 7 March 2026 after a run at the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe.

ACE-supported Latin music festival La Linea returns to London 20 April – 6 May 2026, with a massive bias towards women performers. Among the 90% female lineup will be Eliane Correa presenting Las Salseras – A Tribute to Celia Cruz.

Need a score of your new song? The new AI-driven transcription tool Songscription says it will turn any audio recording into sheet music, piano rolls or guitar tabs to enable music sharing and learning.

Reviewed: The Reddish Fetish | David Occhipinti

The Reddish Fetish: Llegué (F&F Records) Indelible as it may be, the Louisiana delta doesn’t have a monopoly on a tradition of musical cross-breeding. South...

Reviewed: Julie London | Horace Silver | Charlie Rouse Band

Julie London: Julie Is Her Name Vol. 2 (Number One Essentials 291034) Julie London’s first album in 1955 (Julie Is Her Name) included the torch-song...

New releases October-November 2025, H-K

Hampton, Lionel: Live In Paris 1956-1961 They say : This live album brings together two legendary Parisian concerts, recorded in 1956 and 1961, that capture all the...

Reviewed: Matt Bianco | Rolf Thofte Quintet | McCoy Tyner Quartet

Matt Bianco: Masquerader (Membran 271679) Matt Bianco does not exist. A fictional character inspired by a love of the spy genre, the band behind the...

Guy Barker swings the RAH

Trumpeter Guy Barker, well-known as in the vanguard of the first so-called British jazz revival of the 1980s, when he played bebop and cutting-edge...

Reviewed: Thelonious Monk | Max Roach | Kenny Barron

Thelonious Monk: Alone In San Francisco (Number One Essentials 291035) Monk's third solo album (the first was Thelonious Alone and the second Thelonious Himself) came...

Scorpion Ascendant Belon

I was not familiar with the music of French trumpeter Éric Le Lann before this book arrived but it came with a concurrently released...

Reviewed: Anders Hagberg | Ineza | Greg Murphy

Anders Hagberg: With Hope (Prophone Records PCD 369) Swedish flautist Anders Hagberg's latest album is described as “a poignant and timely response to a world...

Jazz at the Museum, Ostrów Wielkopolski, Poland

Jazz at the Museum is a concert series that's been organised by Jerzy Wojciechowski in Ostrów Wielkopolski for more than 30 years. As in previous...

Reviewed: Till Brönner | Ilario Ferrari Trio | Viktoria Søndergaard

Till Brönner: Italia (earMUSIC) A convergence of many influences may lead to messy mistakes; it can also lead to a wonderful exploration of sonic textures....
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Scorpion Ascendant Belon

I was not familiar with the music of French trumpeter Éric Le Lann before this...
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JJ 11/65: Albert Ayler – Bells

Sixty years ago, Steve Voce, despite concern for the artist's family, gave priority to service to the reader and told him that Bells contained absolute rubbish from first to last

JJ 11/65: Aretha Franklin – Yeah!!!

Sixty years ago, Sinclair Traill acclaimed Franklin's big, strong, gospel-driven voice and sensed the advent of another major jazz singer

JJ 11/65: Roland Kirk – I Talk With The Spirits

Sixty years ago, Steve Voce, recovering from his Ayler baptism, enjoyed hearing Kirk playing, singing, laughing and shouting through some 'most acceptable modern jazz'

JJ 11/65: Bill Le Sage & The Directions In Jazz Unit – The Road To Ellingtonia

Sixty years ago, Mark Gardner thought Bill Le Sage's Directions In Jazz would come to be seen as 'the most invigorating and successful mating of a string section with jazz soloists'

Reviewed: Agnar Aspaas Quintet | Rasmus Kjær | Jørgen Træen & Stein Urheim

Agnar Aspaas Quintet: November Songs (Losen Records LOS316-2) Those outside of Norway may be unfamiliar with bassist Agnar Aspaas (b.1955), and if they’ve heard of him at all it might be in the context of his parallel career as a top forensic psychiatrist (Aspaas co-authored a crucial assessment of Anders Breivik which declared the mass killer sane while committing his murderous acts). Despite having been...

Reviewed: The Reddish Fetish | David Occhipinti

The Reddish Fetish: Llegué (F&F Records) Indelible as it may be, the Louisiana delta doesn’t have a monopoly on a tradition of musical cross-breeding. South Florida spawned Latin music, southern rock and a slew of jazz artists including Fats Navarro, Cannonball Adderley and Archie Shepp, not to mention Jaco Pastorius. Pastorius was befriended by Bill Reddish, an eclectic bassist and composer from the 1960/70s. Reddish...
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New releases October-November 2025, L-N

Lateef, Yusef: Golden Flower - Live In Sweden - CD They say : ‘Golden Flower – Live In Sweden’ (1967 & 1972) is the first official release...

New releases October-November 2025, H-K

Hampton, Lionel: Live In Paris 1956-1961 They say : This live album brings together two legendary Parisian concerts, recorded in 1956 and 1961, that capture all the...

New releases October-November 2025, E-G

Eigenberg, Julie: My Jazz Of A Life They say : If you enjoy the storytelling warmth of Norah Jones, the phrasing of Nancy Wilson, or the elegance...

Guy Barker swings the RAH

Trumpeter Guy Barker, well-known as in the vanguard of the first so-called British jazz revival of the 1980s, when he played bebop and cutting-edge jazz-funk with Chris Hunter and others, has for some years now embraced the mainstream of...

Pete Allen launches his new album at Pizza Express

The Pete Allen Jazz Band launch their new album with two gigs in November: the first is on Sunday 2nd November at The Bowlers Arms, (Presidents Suite), Falkland Cricket Club, Wash Common, Newbury, RG14 6TW, 2:30 to 5pm. Admission £20...
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Unapologetic Expression: The Inside Story Of The UK Jazz Explosion

For a geezer of my vintage the great and most fruitful UK jazz explosion occurred in the late 60s-early 70s, fuelled by South African expats and musicians from the West Country and then, somewhat in contrast, there was the...

German Jazz Prize performances reflect the fraught political scene

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...

Gianluca Pellerito, drum wunderkind

I first encountered drummer Gianluca Pellerito through social media and quickly became one of his 330k followers on Instagram, but it was seeing this uniquely talented player up close,...

The dance is ended (but the memory lingers on)

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

Tracking the mystery woman of jazz: Mama X Plus / 2

Above all else, music and musicians remained constant anchors throughout Gale Madden's life. She had no end to the stories of musicians with whom...

Jack DeJohnette and drumming: ‘That’s what I came here to do’

Jack DeJohnette was born in Chicago in 1942 and studied classical piano from the age of four. He took up drums in high school and thanks his uncle, the DJ Roy I. Wood Snr, for keeping him abreast of...

Count Me In… 10/25

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...
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JJ 11/65: Aretha Franklin – Yeah!!!

Sixty years ago, Sinclair Traill acclaimed Franklin's big, strong, gospel-driven voice and sensed the advent of another major jazz singer

JJ 11/65: Roland Kirk – I Talk With The Spirits

Sixty years ago, Steve Voce, recovering from his Ayler baptism, enjoyed hearing Kirk playing, singing, laughing and shouting through some 'most acceptable modern jazz'

JJ 11/65: Bill Le Sage & The Directions In Jazz Unit – The Road To Ellingtonia

Sixty years ago, Mark Gardner thought Bill Le Sage's Directions In Jazz would come to be seen as 'the most invigorating and successful mating of a string section with jazz soloists'