One-year anniversary edition! Wow, it’s been a whole year of being snarky about jazz. It’s been a ride and I’ve come to look forward to Lisa sending through memes to review. These usually arrive at an inappropriate moment such as being at someone else’s gig which is no place to laugh until you’re nearly sick […]
As festival season proceeds regardless of the changeable weather, leading us damply but surely towards the autumn touring and album release schedule, when new releases drop as swiftly as autumn leaves, the protean artform known as jazz continues to attract media attention, holding out the possibility that some of the online verbiage will translate into […]
New Toy! Ever a slave to the thought that a small piece of equipment was going to improve my fortunes, somebody who runs one of my regular gigs suggested that I invest in a vintage- style mic – you know the one: it’s based on a 1930’s car grill, and the sight of which, when […]
To scat or not to scat? The time has come, folks, to consider scat singing! What does it mean to scat, who should do it, and why? I tend to improvise around the melody a bit, usually sticking to the words, but increasingly I want to express myself more and join in with the […]
Are there any self-declared fans of jazz-and-related-musics out there who don’t like Blue Note records? This year marks the 80th birthday of the label, and there’s presents for everyone in the form of a slew of re-releases, lost sessions from the vaults and the release of not one, but two high-end documentaries telling the well-known […]
Last month Rottingdean celebrated Peter’s arrival as a local resident with an exhibition of his paintings at the Grange Gallery and an evening of jazz music at the Plough Inn. It was good to hear that the arrival of such an outstanding jazz musician in our local community was being recognised. If you look into […]
The nominations for the JazzFM Awards are in, and it’s especially gratifying to see how many of the nominees have been active within our area of the Jazz-o-sphere over the past twelve months. On the gig front, the Verdict has once again proved its worth as a viable performance space for touring jazz artists, having […]
The first step is knowing what you want. The second is giving yourself permission. The third is to ask the universe. It helps when you’re trying to manifest something that is within grasp, not something like winning the lottery or *hollow laugh* world peace. I didn’t light candles, and I didn’t sit in the lotus […]
Blotto in Barcelona This month, I was fortunate enough to visit Barcelona for a short break, hosted by a friend. Our first night was spent on a rooftop bar, and intoxicated by a near-perfect view of the colossal unfinished Art Nouveux masterpiece La Sagrada Familia, with Mars clearly visible in the sky next to its […]
Autumn brings many harvests in its wake; not least the publication of numerous surveys and reports, the pages of which drift across the digital realm like the falling leaves. With the Brexit deadline drawing ever nearer and inconsistency remaining the only consistent factor in approach from both government and opposition, the uncertainties that the whole […]