JazzUK - August-September 2013 by Jazz Services

. jazz uk AUG / SEPT 2013

ISSUE 112

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NEWS • GIGS • INTERVIEWS • FEATURES • REVIEWS

EMPIRICAL plus • FOR THE RECORD • HOTHOUSE • GIGS HIGHLIGHTS • OUT & ABOUT

EMPIRICAL © Ben Amure

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1 THE JAZZ SERVICES GUIDE TO THE BRITISH SCENE

JazzUK is published bi-monthly by Jazz Services, a registered charity which provides funding, information, and representation for the British jazz community. JazzUK exists to promote the appreciation of jazz and expand the opportunities available to its performers. JazzUK’s print run of 25,000 copies is distributed by mail to donors to Jazz Services and free of charge to jazz venues, shops, libraries, and is also available to read online via the Jazz Services website. JazzUK is pleased to support the Musicians Union in seeking equitable terms and working conditions for musicians. Members of the UK MU Jazz Section are emailed a link to their own free downloadable copy of each issue of JazzUK. JazzUK, First Floor, 132 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SW UK Tel: +44 (0)207 928 9089 Fax: +44 (0)207 401 6870 www.jazzservices.org.uk Editor: John Lyons john@jazzservices.org.uk Listings Editor: Sabina Czajkowska listings@jazzservices.org.uk Advertising Manager: Fran Hardcastle advertising@jazzservices.org.uk Production Manager / Design: Nick Brown production@jazzservices.org.uk Donations/distribution: subscriptions@jazzservices. org.uk. Founding Editor: Jed Williams, 1952-2003. Contributors as credited. The views expressed in JazzUK do not necessarily reflect the policy of Jazz Services.

Welcome to the August/September issue of JazzUK, with more news and features on the UK’s jazz scene from Jazz Services. The summer months are often a quiet time for bands touring with our funding support, so we’ve taken the opportunity to speak to some of the artists making their first forays into the recording studio with the aid of our Recording Support Scheme, and for this issue Jazz On The Road is replaced by a new section, For The Record. We’ve two album features this month, with both Empirical and The Impossible Gentlemen’s Mike Walker discussing their new records. We head Out & About in the North-West with two organisations doing their bit for their local scene, Ian Mann of The Jazzmann website takes over The Guest Spot, and Phil Meadows’ HotHouse looks at some more bright prospects from the youth scene - all this plus your regular news, previews and more.

NEWS Catch up on the latest news of what’s to come in August and September.

OUT & ABOUT This issue we’re in the North-West with the organisers of Ribble Valley Jazz & Blues and the Lancaster Jazz Festival.

THE IMPOSSIBLE GENTLEMEN Guitarist Mike Walker speaks to us about his super-group quartet’s second album, Internationally Recognised Aliens.

EMPIRICAL Rosie Hanley interviews this issue’s covers stars ahead of the release of their exciting new double-album Tabula Rasa.

THE GUEST SPOT Our contributor this issue is Ian Mann, with a selection of news, views and reviews from his Jazzmann website.

HOT HOUSE Phil Meadow’s regular spotlight on the best of the up-and-coming players taking to the scene.

GIGS HIGHLIGHTS Choice picks from August’s issue of Gigs with Sabina Czajkowska.

FOR THE RECORD We speak to three of the bands recording for the first time with the help of Jazz Services’ Recording Support Scheme.

News Sons Of Kemet

Sons Of Kemet © Matt Crossick

Over the next few pages you can read some of the news that has filtered down into the JazzUK grapevine, plus updates on what to look out for in the next couple of months. Got a story for the News section? Email details and press releases for the next issue’s news section to the editor, with the title ‘JazzUK News’.

Sons of Kemet – Burn Finding the time and energy to lend one’s creativity to so many different projects is necessary skill for many jazz players, and Shabaka Hutchings is a prime example. Unhindered by his vast and varied range of other commitments, the saxophonist and clarinettist’s Sons of Kemet group has garnered a reputation as one of the more exciting bands on the leftfield scene, and their debut album Burn is released on Naim Jazz on the 9th September. Their double-drummer (Seb Rochford and Tom Skinner), sax (Hutchings) and tuba (Oren Marshall) set-up is bolstered on record by the guitar of Dave Okumu (The Invisible), and the recording more than adequately recreates the group’s fearsomely inventive live energy. www.shabakahutchings.com

Herts Jazz Festival Running from the 20th-22nd September in Welwyn Garden City, the Herts Jazz Festival is a cracking addition to the UK’s festival scene. With Clark Tracey on board as Artistic Director, 2013’s festival is

the third incarnation and looks set to build on its previous successes, with, Kenny Wheeler, Iain Ballamy, Reuben James, Don Weller and the Herts Youth Jazz Ensemble all contributing to a great line-up. “When Sylvia and I took on the running of Herts Jazz Club at the beginning of 2010, one of the many plans we had was to stage a summer festival,” says Clark. “The first two venues we used would have been way too small to consider what we now have in place thanks to Campus West. At first, some members of the public were confused with the place name, assuming it to be some kind of college complex. It is in fact a really well organised theatre and venue with every facility a jazz lover could ask for. Herts Jazz Festival will continue to grow, I feel sure, as word of mouth spreads.” Tickets are available from Campus West via the festival’s own website, www.hertsjazzfestival.co.uk

Sketches At Ronnie’s Artist and life-long jazz fan Geoff Cook has been capturing jazz musi-

cians in his sketchbook for many years, and a fine selection of them has been compiled into a limited edition collection. Despite the title, the pencil and charcoal drawings come from performances at a number of venues (mainly in London), with the likes of Art Farmer, Terence Blanchard, Herb Ellis, Charles Lloyd, Martin Taylor, Ronnie Scott and many more all artfully depicted by Cook’s keen eye. Both books and individual high-quality prints are available, with more info available by emailing c.cheadle.cc@gmail.com.

Django Bates at the Proms Even though it’s a classical music event jazz still gets a look-in at the Proms, and while we’d definitely welcome a much larger share of the programme, if there’s only going to be the odd one or two jazz gigs it’s nice to see that they’re good ones – last year saw a fantastic show from NYJO as well as Guy Barker and Martin Taylor’s excellent The Spirit Of Django performance.

This year, it’s the ‘other’ Django’s turn, as the ever-impressive pianist Django Bates performs at this year’s event with his Celebration of Charlie Parker, on the evening of Wednesday 28th August at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Joining his regular trio will be the Grammynominated Norrbotten Big Band from Sweden, as well as vocalist Ashley Slater. As a special bonus, Bates will also premiere a new composition entitled The Study Of Touch prior to the main performance. www.bbc.co.uk/proms

Correction: Geoff Eales Our apologies to Geoff Eales, who was incorrectly labelled as Geoff ‘Neales’ in the last issue when announcing his new release on 33Xtreme. We’d like to blame this jittery-fingered error on excessive levels of caffeine in the Jazz Services typing pool, but that wouldn’t be fair on the coffee. Sorry Geoff, mea culpa.

political rap. I think following an individual’s story as he attempts to negotiate a very real world of temptation, and cultural vices is a more nuanced and challenging way of exploring these themes.” “I’m also anticipating turning a corner as a performer,” he says, obviously keen to use the experience to expand his horizons and ambitions. “The addition of two dancers in the cast, enacting choreography as well playing characters, will certainly push me both artistically and physically. Working with director Jonzi D on this piece has also allowed us to take 8 years of collaborative work to another level, including animation, visuals and a number of devising techniques we’ve started to refine.” The Legend Of Mike Smith is on at the Studio at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre from the 12th – 28th September. http://birmingham-rep.co.uk/

Anita Wardell – The Road

Soweto Kinch – The Legend Of Mike Smith on stage Soweto Kinch already has a number of strings to his bow, and as such it’s no surprise to see him branch out into new territory once again with his latest project. The saxophonist, MC and composer has now turned choreographer as he takes The Legend Of Mike Smith to the stage. “I’m really excited,” he says, speaking to JazzUK. “This is the first time I’ve had the opportunity to take my music and lyrics which often have a strong narrative basis a stage further and tell a more fully realised story. I’ve often attempted to explore socio-political, cultural themes in my music, but it’s often easy for categorise these kinds of works as lefty, anti-establishment and it ends up as ‘conscious’ or

Anita Wardell makes a welcome return to the album scene with her new release The Road, out on 12th August through Specific Jazz. The Australian-born singer has made England her home for many years now and her previous releases, 2006’s Noted and 2008’s Kinda Blue both displayed her versatility across a range of styles, from gentle ballads to spectacular flights of vocalese acrobatics. After focus-

ing more on the live aspect of her music in recent years, it’s good to hear that The Road again captures Wardell’s diverse talents; pianist Robin Aspland, who has been a long-time compatriot of Anita’s, contributes some imaginative arrangements of a number of standards and ensures there’s plenty of room for the music to breathe and for everyone to stretch out. There are some more modern takes in the set too, including Stevie Wonder’s Superwoman, Bobby Hutcherson’s Mirrors and Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays’ Travels. We have lots of great singers in the UK, but despite the diversity it’s still a crowded market, and Anita is undoubtedly one of our finer imports… www.anitawardell.com

Lionel Shriver supports Jazz Services! Our list of high-profile supporters keeps growing, and we’re very proud to have the following quote from the internationally acclaimed author Lionel Shriver (We Need To Talk About Kevin, Big Brother): “I’ve been repeatedly bowled over by the talent, nuance, and skill of British jazz artists. But their financial survival and that of smaller, intimate venues is always on a knife edge, and these folks need all the help they can get! Jazz Services provides that help where it’s needed. To support British jazz, support Jazz Services.” To donate to Jazz Services, just head over to our website and click on the banner link, or use the form at the front of the magazine.

Changes at Seven Jazz There are changes afoot in Leeds as Seven Jazz expands into three new venues this autumn. While the

main gigs will still be held by Seven Arts in Chapel Allerton, Leeds, the club has now agreed new partnerships with the University of Leeds for the Clothworkers Hall and with Leeds Mind for gigs with young bands at Inkwell Arts in Chapel Allerton. The other new venue is the Leeds Irish Centre, the venue for the former Leeds Jazz organisation, but Seven Jazz is not simply stepping into Leeds Jazz’s shoes. “Our roots are still more local and community based, but I guess we are now a club covering Leeds7 rather than just Seven Arts,” says Seven Jazz’s Steve Crocker. “These changes have been borne out of necessity – Seven Arts management want to do less jazz as part of their overall programme so we had a choice of either contracting there or expanding elsewhere. We’ve chosen the latter.” The programme for the autumn season is packed with great shows across all the venues, so see the Seven Jazz website or our own Gigs listings guide for more details of what’s on. www.sevenjazz.co.uk

Followed By Thirteen – Qualia

Just edging its way into this issue is Followed By Thirteen’s Qualia, which officially came out on Jellymould Jazz on the 29th July, but is too appealing not to get a mention. Jellymould Jazz is asserting itself strongly on the UK scene, and this debut album from bassist

and bandleader Henrik Jensen is another fine addition to its roster. Despite it being the group’s first release it’s hugely cohesive, and the players all sound very comfortable in each other’s company; American trumpeter Andre Canniere and Jensen’s fellow Dane Esben Tjalve on piano take the front line duties, while Londoner Pete Ibbetson on drums complements the leader’s bass work with great sympathy and subtlety. Jensen’s tunes are engagingly melodic, spacious and never overstated, and while it’d be nice to pick out tracks like the quirky Landmark and the gentle Schmettling as album highlights, Qualia stands up very well as a whole, and comes highly recommended. www.henrik-jensen.com

JazzUK & Gigs goes digital! Visitors to the JazzUK website may have noticed that both JazzUK magazine and its counterpart Gigs are surfing a new wave of technological progress as of the last issues. Previously available via the site as a PDF download only, you can now read both JazzUK and Gigs as they’d appear in print. Good, eh? Any weblinks in the text are connected to their relevant pages, and you can scroll, zoom, browse, search and share, all directly from the page. For those who’d like to take their time and read offline at their leisure, the downloadable PDFs are still available, but hopefully the new formats will make it even easier to get online and enjoy JazzUK and Gigs as fully interactive publications. www.jazzservices.org.uk

Jazzizit Records releases A trio of new releases are racing out of the Jazzizit stable in September; Got The Real Note from the Geoff Gascoyne/Dave O’Higgins

Quartet, the Clive Fenner Quartet’s Get It! Live and The Rhythm Of Life by Ted & Gladys – aka bassist Geoff Gascoyne and singer and label director Trudy Kerr. This last is interesting as it’s the first time the husband-and-wife duo have released a mutually collaborative project, despite working on numerous albums together over the years. It’s a bright and lively set of originals with a few unexpected standards thrown in, and contains some great playing from the likes of Tom Cawley, Chris Allard and Martin Shaw. Trudy Kerr sounds very much at ease with the material, and Gascoyne’s bass work is sprightly as ever. He features prominently on both the other discs, too; the quartet with saxophonist O’Higgins, drummer Seb de Krom and pianist Graham Harvey is fantastic on Get The Real Note – a great album that is well worth seeking out - and he provides some strong backing to drummer Clive Fenner’s fine live debut. www.jazzizit.co.uk

Burton Jazz festival Last issue’s summer festival guide gave a run-down of jazz festivals in June and July, but there are plenty more to look forward to later in the season. The first ever Burton Jazz Festival runs over the August bank holiday weekend (24th and 25th) at the town’s National Brewery Centre, “celebrating the story of jazz from early rag time and Dixie through the ‘Bops’, Funk and Blues and then bringing the festival right up to date with some fine contemporary and straight ahead jazz music,” in the words of the festival’s own Paul Jefferies. Performances from Clare Teal, Alan Barnes with the Ben Holder Quartet, Tommaso Starace, Eyes Tight Shut, Nicola Farnon and the Rob Terry Trio all contribute to a great two-day lineup. For tickets and more information, see www.burtonjazzfestival.com

Philip Clouts Quartet – The Hour Of Pearl Composer and pianist Philip Clouts releases his new quartet album on 23rd September. The Hour Of Pearl borrows its title from Cannery Row by the classic American author John Steinbeck, who writes of “the grey time after the light has come and before the sun has risen”. The title track has a lilting, rolling feel that lends itself easily to the imagery of early mornings full of possibility as conjured by Steinbeck’s description, and in particular Carlos Lopez-Real’s saxophone is a joy throughout, uplifting and contemplative by turns. Some listeners might feel the music lacks bite, but it’s obvious that the group’s intentions aren’t focused in that direction, and the disc’s strengths lie in its luxurious melodies, woven with subtle influences from Clouts’ interests in sounds from his native South Africa and his forays into

world music. The band is on tour throughout October, with dates and more info available from www.philipcloutsquartet.co.uk

Tim Garland recordings Saxophonist Tim Garland has announced that he’s somehow found the time to finish two new recordings, in between his touring schedule with Chick Corea’s The Vigil project. As well as taking over part of Abbey Road studios to put down a series of tracks in collaboration with the English Session Orchestra and a host of great players, including Jason Rebello, Yuri Goloubev, Freddie Gavita and James Maddren, Tim has revisited an earlier project dear to his heart. Return To The Fire sees him join forces once again with Jason Rebello, Gerard Presencer Mick Hutton and Jeremy Stacey, who performed on 1995’s Enter The Fire.

Details as to an eventual release are sketchy at the moment, but nevertheless it should be well worth catching the Garland and Rebello playing some of the new music in a duo setting at St. James’s Piccadilly during the London Jazz Festival this November. Keep an eye on www.timgarland.com for updates.

British Jazz Awards And finally, a big congratulations to all the winners at this year’s British Jazz Awards, run by Big Bear Music in Birmingham. There were many deserving winners in July’s announcement, including Jim Mullen (Guitar), Jim Hart (Misc.) and recent JSL tour funding recipient Tim Thornton (Rising Star), but we’re particularly proud of Jazz Services’ own Director, Chris Hodgkins, who picked up the Services To Jazz award. Full results for the awards are available at www.bigbearmusic.com

Tim Garland © Toshi Sakurai

Tim Garland

out & about This issue we’re Out & About in the north-west, where Matt Robinson of the Lancaster Jazz Festival and Geoff Jackson of Ribble Valley Jazz & Blues offer some thoughts on running a successful jazz organisation… Lancaster Jazz Festival The Lancaster Jazz Festival was set up in 2010, beginning life as a voluntary organisation that initially grew out of the ashes of the Not-the-Lancaster Jazz Festival. Self-professed “accidental festival director” Matt Robinson’s aim was to “promote cutting edge contemporary jazz in the beautifully small venues that we have locally, to encourage artists to do something new and to give space for that to happen. We love new, exciting and risky things, and we wanted to provide a point of focus on the bustling year-round local music scene where we could make something as a community.” As well as the festival, he is involved with the Morecambe-based community music organisation More Music as a Music Leader and Co-Ordinator, and is a firm believer in involving people as active participants rather than just audiences. “Workshops are super important, as well as being really good fun, and they always feature in our programming. We will always feature community bands and we will always encourage new talent.” Robinson is adamant that building a connected community is crucial to a thriving scene. “If you want

a sustainable music scene, if you want more opportunities to play as a musician, if you want to experience some incredible music, then how can you not support this? It is vital and yet so easily overlooked by promoters and musicians seeking instant audiences.” He reminds us to be realistic about the time and effort involved, noting that the most successful festivals, musicians, events and bands weren’t one-hit-wonders. “My advice to anyone starting out is to build relationships and be patient. Things get easy and exciting then; often gradually, but with patience they will get there.” But of course, there are challenges along the way. “It’s always the same, and it’s always money,” says Matt. “Putting events on or playing music costs money - money that can’t always be gotten from ticket sales, and it’s finding that extra that’s the biggest challenge. It’s incredibly time consuming and difficult but you’ve just got to be hard working, patient and nice to everybody.” Robinson has obviously put more his fair share of long days and late nights to get the Lancaster festival to where it is today, but thankfully it’s not all stress and strain. “It’s easy to forget that everyone is after

the same thing. You can very easily get obsessed with risk and potential audience numbers and marketing but it’s always the music and the musicians that’s the thing. That’s why audiences turn up. Giving space to help make amazing music happen is why we do it and (as the fantastic Steve Mead [Manchester Jazz Festival] told me) “you must always remember to enjoy yourself”. The Lancaster Jazz Festival 2013 runs between the 15th and 22nd September, with the Neil Cowley Trio and Beats and Pieces headlining among many other acts. For more info go to www. lancasterjazz.com.

Ribble Valley Jazz & Blues In just 6 short years Ribble Valley Jazz & Blues has become an important player in the jazz scene for Lancashire and the North West. In May 2007, founder member Geoff Jackson was running a community cinema arts centre with a performance space, and had a personal interest in jazz dating back to Duke Ellington’s visits to Manchester’s Free Trade Hall in the ‘60s. Following a public meeting where over forty local jazzers agreed to form their own club things quickly got off the ground, and since its inception gigs have hosted top UK jazz musicians such as Alan Barnes, Bruce Adams, Don Weller and Terry Seabrook, alongside North West favourites including Leeds College and Chetham’s School of Music big bands. By early 2010 Ribble Valley Jazz & Blues set up as a charitable company to attract new funding, and to provide a legal structure to support promotion of a jazz festival. “The four day festival proved popular and spurred the organising team into making it an annual event,” says Geoff. “The challenge to ensuring the festival’s success

has been based on acknowledging jazz as a minority arts culture. So RVJ&B produced an attractive formula blending popular, mainstream and improvised jazz for our 2013 festival.” The programme included big names such as James Taylor, Liane Carroll, Marius Neset, and Neil Yates, along with a great impressive range of local and northwest musicians. “Feedback forms gave us a 92% satisfaction rate for the festival,” says Geoff proudly. “We hit the right note thanks to fine venues, including The Grand in Clitheroe - James Taylor described it as probably the best arts/music venue outside London - and first class collaboration with local organisations.” This echoes Matt Robinson’s earlier point about a connected community being crucial to the success of a local scene, and RVJ&B’s Chair, Sue Lightbown, has spearheaded collaborations with several key local organisations and venues, including the Clitheroe Chamber of Trade, Ribble Valley Arts Studios and the Ribble Valley Tourism Association. The organisation is also willing to share and learn from others, and is joining NORVOL, the recently formed Northern Voluntary Sector Jazz Network. Geoff hopes that membership will result in even better cooperation, which in turn benefits everyone. When it comes to spreading the word, “gigs help us keep in contact with jazzers, but audience numbers need to increase to make them profitable,” says Geoff. “Social

networking is key to contacting a wider base. We spend time and money on website development, Facebook, Twitter, alongside regular email newsletters.” He feels that effective use of the internet will attract younger audiences – a hugely important part of jazz’s demographic – and, increasingly, the over fifties age group. As a result of the festival’s higher profile, Geoff and co. have seen a bigger interest in jazz in general and increased activities as a result, and in 2012 set up their own big band project. “The Ribble Valley Jazz Collective started rehearsals in June 2012, directed by Paul Rigby, leader of Northern Jazz Orchestra. Thirty local musicians commit to weekly rehearsals followed

by a pint in the local pub.” It’s a winning formula - twelve months on, and the Collective has so far appeared at three events, with another four already planned. And as with the Lancaster Jazz Festival, education also plays an important role in getting people involved and growing the scene. Saxophonist Carlos Lopez-Real led a workshop in April this year, and its success led to workshops being added to the 2013 festival. This in turn has led to monthly improvisation workshops with pianist Trish Ferrarin, again drawing in and actively engaging the locals. Since 2007 the local jazz scene has become “very lively” according to Geoff, thanks no doubt to the organisation’s efforts to nurture a ‘proper’ jazz community. “The area needs this to ensure jazz thrives,” concludes Geoff. “Isn’t jazz all about collaboration, improvisation, and innovation? Let’s see more of it!” For more information on Ribble Valley Jazz & Blues, visit www.rvjazzandblues.co.uk.

Matt Robinson © Barrie Marshall

EVER THE GENTLEMEN The Impossible Gentlemen have made a huge splash on the UK and international scene ever since the release of their debut album two years ago, thrilling live audiences and listeners with a lively and intelligent sound that throws together elements of modern post-bop, electrifying jazz-rock, subtle shades of the blues and much more besides. But to list a collection of sub-genre parts does no real descriptive justice to the eventual polished whole, and The Impossible Gentlemen’s melodies cover a huge amount of musical ground, weaving in and out of tricky time signatures with ease while remaining eminently humable and delightfully tuneful. Theirs is the sound of a band clearly enjoying itself, topped off by a fiercely assured collective individuality that has had the critics marking this group out as something very special and exciting. That they’ve garnered such acclaim in such a relatively short time is perhaps no surprise given the talent on display, with the exceptional Salford-based guitarist Mike Walker the nominal leader of a stellar col-

lection of players. Gwilym Simcock shores up the other half of the UK contingent and contributes to a good deal of the band’s compositions, either solely or in conjunction with Walker, as well as lighting up the keyboard in the manner that those familiar with his previous playing would expect. Perhaps the most interesting facet of the band’s make-up is its combination of players across generational as well as international divides. Mike and Gwilym’s British input is balanced by the pairing of celebrated U.S. veterans Adam Nussbaunm and Steve Swallow on drums and bass guitar, respectively – their individual and combined CVs (which include John Scofield’s trio in the ‘80s amongst other notable additions) are the envy of any established jazz musician. Adding to their many previous accolades and plaudits, the group were recently named Best Ensemble at this year’s All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group awards. As their profile continues to grow, and ahead of the release of their new album Internationally Recog-

IMPOSSIBLE GENTLEMEN © David Forman

nised Aliens and subsequent tour, JazzUK caught up with Mike Walker to ponder the possibilities… It’s been two years since your last album. How long has Internationally Recognised Aliens been in the works? The tunes have been dropping in over the last year or so. Some came into view on the first tour we did with Steve Rodby [multiGrammy winning producer and bassist]. Gwil and I were penning tunes together, which was a new experience but one that seemed very natural. We were playing material on the tour from the old album whilst getting together here and there to work on ideas that eventually made their way to the new album. Some of our co-penned tunes were born in rehearsal and almost wrote themselves - the duet [Love In Unlikely Places] happened that way, we just started improvising and Gwil scribbled away as we played. Heute Loiter was written one afternoon with guitar and melodica in the hotel in Ravensberg, Germany. Also, Swallow has writ-

Speaking of which, how was the recording process? Having members on both sides of the Atlantic must pose a few challenges… Well, the demographics don’t allow for weekly rehearsals, that’s for sure. We angle it so we can record in the middle of a tour so we’ve had a chance to work the music in. It’s great having someone in the control room that can give an objective view. Rodby knows this terrain well. He’s to the point, which is much needed in the studio. We don’t do take after take. Two takes, tops, usually, with the odd tune (Laugh Lines from the first album, for instance) eluding us for a while. I really love the recording process. It’s different from the live situation, which is an immediate energy connection. I like the idea of the listener being drawn back to the music again and again, and I like that to be part of the thought behind the process. The response to the band since its inception has been hugely enthusiastic, and the word ‘supergroup’ gets thrown in a fair bit, too. What do you think it is about this group that makes it such a winning combination for listeners? For me, it’s the inclusiveness. We have fun on stage, we engage with the audience and with each other. The music isn’t shackled to any trend or ‘rules of engagement’, plus it isn’t overly concerned with acceptance from any quarter ‘in the know’. It enjoys just being what it is.

bearing on the music of the second album, but, to be honest, it hasn’t changed that much for me. I knew when I first got these particular guys together how it would sound and because of the individual voices and the way they use those voices to support each other, to encourage risk and so on, the general core sound remains intact. You have Steve Rodby on bass (and production) this time around as well as Steve Swallow. How do their styles differ, and what does that bring to the group? Rodby obviously brings new blood into it but he’s such a great musician and is part of the history of both Gwil and me, not only from a Metheny Group perspective; his work with Paul McCandless both as producer and player has just been fantastic. I think it was important to get an upright player who has a distinctive sound and feel. Swallow’s such a uniquely sounding individual player whilst being one of the best team players around, not to mention his obvious composing and improvising credentials. One of the numbers on the new album features them both, and it works so naturally. I like the idea of maybe touring at some point with them both... You’ve got a tour coming up in October; having your members separated by several thousand miles must make consistent gigging a rarer treat for you than for

some bands. How important is the live aspect to you and to the development of the band? I love playing live with these guys. They’re risk takers. They can make symphonies from ‘mistakes’. Miles are probably a factor in the rehearsing aspect of the band, and specifically the lack of it. We usually get together on the day of the first gig, which is just as well in a band of risk takers. We tour usually a couple of times a year plus maybe a gig here and there - we’re on tour most of October this year and we tour in Europe from February 2014. We also have a date with Rodby and Mark Walker (Oregon’s drummer) during August this year in Brecon. On the subject of development, this is still only the second album; any thoughts on where to next, or is it a bit early to be asking that!? I have ideas already for the next album, but I’m going to have to discuss them with Gwil and the guys before I reveal them here. Surely this is the Gentlemanly thing to do? Internationally Recognised Aliens is out on 2nd September on Basho Records. The Impossible Gentlemen tour the UK throughout October, as well as appearing as part of Jazz Services’ ‘Made In The UK Cardiff’ on 26th October. For more information and dates, see www.impossiblegentlemen.com © Hayley Madden

ten a delicious ballad for this album [Ever After] which he penned just before we went into the studio.

Do you feel the general sound of the group has changed much in the interim period between albums, and if so, how? We know what we’re writing for now and that may have had a

Mike and Gwilym accept their APPJAG award from Gregory Porter

STRING THEORI Rosie Hanley caught up with three members of the forward thinking, dynamic quartet Empirical to chat about their new album for JazzUK… Empirical release their fourth album Tabula Rasa at the end of this month. The effortlessly cool outfit comprises alto saxophonist Nathaniel Facey, drummer Shaney Forbes (absent from this interview on another gig), bassist Tom Farmer and vibraphonist Lewis Wright. Tabula Rasa follows the band’s 2011 release, Elements of Truth and marks yet another new direction for the group with the addition of strings from the Benyounes Quartet. Tabula Rasa translates as ‘blank slate’. “It links in to the theory of empirical and empiricism,” says Farmer. “Basically, in theory it is where we all start; when you are born you have a blank slate – tabula rasa. So it works quite well for our music, because we want people to kind of approach it like a blank slate. We’ve been labelled so many times over the years – mostly wrongly so it would be nice to come to the music without any pre-judgement. We try and be really open with our influences. There is nothing preconceived.” Being labelled incorrectly is something the group are all too used to. “I suppose it’s natural for people to label, because you know it helps with everything. But we’ve been called everything - post-bop,

post-jazz, be-bop, hard-bop,” says Wright; “traditionalists,” adds Facey; “purists,” adds Farmer; and “avant-garde, straight ahead,” Wright concludes. “So many conflicting things,” sighs Farmer. “Not only that, we’ve found over the years that people want to tell us what we sound like. I understand that gives people a way into the music, but usually it’s wrong.” “Then people read it, or hear about it and then they come to the record expecting,” says Wright. So the message for this album is to come at it with open ears? “For sure, this is this part of our journey. It’s not what is going to define us forever but for now, this is what we’re doing.” Empirical have teamed up with the Benyounes Quartet for this album and rather than doing as many bands have, simply augmenting their sound with strings, this record feels more like a combined effort. Farmer explains how the partnership with the string quartet began. “We met the string quartet at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and we did this kind of collab week, which is where they encourage cross-departmental collaboration. And so we met up with them [Bouyenes Quartet] and

we played some ideas, and thought, ‘this is a really interesting tool for our expression’. So we ended up writing a bunch of new pieces specifically for them and us. With the aim of an integrated sound, not, ‘here’s Empirical plus chords.’” The Bouyenes Quartet come from a classical background and classical inflections can be heard at points throughout the album; was it a conscious decision to occasionally blur the lines between classical and jazz? “It’s a whole range,” continues Farmer. “Some of the pieces we’ve gone quite far to that tradition [classical], and some of the pieces we’ve brought them all the way over to our kind of sound-world and then everywhere in between. That’s really been the fun bit about this and what we’ve learnt most from - trying stuff out and finding our own expression.” Tabula Rasa has a cinematic narrative quality, with each piece having a specific story or character that each band member has contributed. As Wright explains, “I wrote a couple of pieces about fictional characters. One is a reflection of a part of my own character, which is Bellsonian and the other one is The Prophet, which is the idea that this person could show you a success-

IES ful way to live your life and could predict how your future is going to be if you live it in a certain way.” One of Facey’s compositions that features at the start of disc two is One for Bones Jones. “That’s about a real person,” says Facey. “John ‘Bones’ Jones is a mixed marshal artist. He’s the UFC heavyweight champion and it’s about his fighting style and ability and mostly just his execution, and the whole kind of working in a small confined space and then having these things thrown at you all the time, that you have to move and adjust to in the moment.”

the balance between the two.” That’s fairly profound, but one could presumably take it at face value and not delve so deep as well? “Yeah, that’s art isn’t it? We are expressing something, but ultimately you can’t tell the listener what to think,” ponders Farmer.

going to be fantastic.” And it clearly takes time to build that level of trust. “You have to play a lot, listen a lot,” explains Facey. “We talk a lot too, and we hang out as well. All of it feeds in. I think the bands that don’t have that are missing all those elements.”

Four albums and five years in, what is it like to look back at that time together? “For me it’s been fascinating over the years in terms of composition,” says Farmer. “It’s about trust and it’s about knowing that these guys are going to make it sound good. You just trust that it’s

So how does that trust or understanding translate in a live situation? “That’s where the trust is for me, it’s listening and being listened to and respecting people’s decisions,” answers Wright. Farmer adds that, “it’s deep, actually, because everything you play,

Ascent and Descent, penned by Farmer, evoke two different moods and it’s explained that they have spiritual connotations. “Each piece we have tried to capture a character or a mood, or tell a little kind of vignette about an idea,” he says, “and that one is about how basically we all have spirit, regardless of your religious conviction, and it can ascend or descend day to day or for a period of your life. So that is expressed in two halves of the same piece. The notes are in the same order, one has a feeling of ascension and serene and calm and the other one is like descent and anger and a darkness. To show you two sides of a spiritual journey.” “It’s beautiful because it ends up tying into other things that got written as well,” adds Facey, “like The Simple Light Shines Brightest is about light and darkness and the simplest things on earth being complex, and the most complex things on earth being simple, and

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you know that there are at least three people in the room who are listening so intently and it puts a lot of responsibility on your ideas. I think we’ve always tried to play very thoughtfully and honestly. It’s a lot of fun as well.” “It’s a lot more intense when we are playing than in any other scenario I have played in,” remarks Facey. “Well there’s no hiding, there’s no coasting,” agrees Farmer. “Also, the moment you know what they’re going to play, that’s when you need to play something else. That’s the way it develops.” “We have an advantage as well, in that we are all equal in the musical direction of the band so anything goes really,” explains Wright. That is something that gives the band their distinctive sound, which incorporates all four members equally. Each musician has contributed compositions to this album, bringing three or four pieces to the record apiece. “We’re open to everything and that’s the strength of it.” Tabula Rasa is a double album featuring 14 tracks, which are split across the discs to create a remarkably cohesive sound. “It’s considered, we tried to make it balanced,” says Farmer. “We thought about it a lot, about the best way the narrative can flow,” adds Facey, and Farmer continues; “It has a sense of journey, but ultimately I always think of it as a kind of anthology rather than a complete through narrative. Each piece stands on its own but there is a flow. And that’s our sound.” “We’ve come back with something that is totally different. But then that is just who we are,” he says. “That is the point for us,” Facey chips in, “to not try and have this one set of sounds that is our go-to set of sounds and that’s all we deal with. I just think that is incredibly boring.” Farmer adds that such an approach wouldn’t be appropriate for today;

“There is so much available today to listen to and be influenced by.”

Would-should-could. You know, it’s absolutely pointless.”

The band have often talked about how they take inspiration from everywhere, not just music, but sport, other art forms, anything really; they aren’t limited to a standard set of influences. “This ties in perfectly with the theory of ‘empirical’ again, which is that there is this side to it where it’s all about experience and observation. But as soon as you’ve had an experience or observed something, you can’t take it away and it is part of who you are,” remarks Farmer.

Empirical have often been praised for their experimental and forwardthinking vision; is that still the spirit of the band? “Yes, absolutely,” they all respond, resolutely. “That’s always been the kind of core ethos of the group,” explains Farmer. “We’ve spent another year learning a bit more about music and ourselves, and then with the next album we’ll learn a bit more, and so on and so on. This whole album is kind of another chapter in our continuing experiments.”

One thing that really comes across from the band is that they enjoy very much living in the moment. “I think that’s one of the best messages for life,” Facey says. “Just be where you are. Live in the now. That’s all you can do really. The times where your life, or whatever you’re doing, or whatever you are about becomes stagnant is when you’re always thinking about what could be. Or what should’ve been.

Tabula Rasa is out on Naim Jazz Records on 26th August. Rosie Hanley is a freelance journalist; she writes for Time Out London and is Jazz and Classical Editor for thegirlsare.com. She’s also currently studying toward a PhD in Audience Development. Follow her on Twitter @RoseanneHanley

THE GUEST SPOT

Long-time jazz lover Ian Mann takes over for this issue’s Guest Spot and introduces us to The Jazzmann website… I’ve loved this music for more than thirty years, coming to it after adolescent flings with heavy metal and prog rock, two genres which placed as much emphasis on the instrumentalists as on the singers. When the punk revolution left me cold the next logical step was to get into jazz. The fusion of Chick Corea was one step on this path but the wilfully English eccentricity of the ‘Canterbury Scene’ was even more important. I still love Hatfield and The North and National Health and all the other offshoots. My early jazz listening was centred on guitar- and keyboard dominated groups, a reflection of my rock background. Pat Metheny was an early favourite and the late Seventies/early Eighties saw me digging deep into the whole ECM aesthetic. Gary Burton, Keith Jarrett, Jan Garbarek, Ralph Towner and Eberard Weber also became favourites, and still are. As a fan it’s taken a lot of dedication but I’ve been lucky enough to see many of the jazz legends over the years, including virtually all the musicians mentioned above plus Jackie McLean (at the Village Vanguard, New York), Jack Dejohnette, Charlie Haden, Joe Lovano, Charles Lloyd, Herbie Hancock and others. Following his tragic death I guess Swedish pianist Esbjorn Svensson should be added to that list. The remarkable EST were one of my favourites of recent years. This music has been a voyage of discovery and I’m still learning

about it. Jazz is an ever-evolving music and I think it’s great that after listening to it for all this time the emergence of exciting young musicians still gives me a thrill. I think we have some fantastically talented players in this country, right across the generations, but sadly many of them are deeply undervalued. If my work on the Jazzmann site helps in any way to gain greater recognition for these musicians I will be more than satisfied. Five years after it started I think it’s fair to say that The Jazzmann has been a great success and I’m really rather proud of it. The site focuses on UK album reviews but has followers all over the globe with nearly 10,000 visits per month, and the reaction to it has been almost overwhelmingly positive. Looking back on my early efforts I think my writing has improved and hopefully will continue to do so. And to answer the question everybody asks, no I don’t actually play anything - I’m just a very dedicated listener!

SIX OF THE BEST THE JAZZMANN ON TOUR With the exception of the annual Titley Jazz festival there’s precious little regular live jazz in Herefordshire, so I find myself travelling out of the county for most live events. Here are some of my favourite regular destinations;

ABERGAVENNY Black Mountain Jazz has had several homes over the years and is currently based at the town’s Swan Hotel. Enthusiastic promoter Mike Skilton presents regular nights featuring nationally known artists and has recently introduced a popular Jazz and Sunday Lunch strand. The weekend of 31st August / 1st September will see BMJ’s first festival, Wall2Wall, which will present a weekend of almost non-stop music. A terrific line-up includes Gilad Atzmon, Sarah Gillespie, Asaf Sirkis, Christian Brewer, Damon Brown, Brass Jaw and more. I’d urge the people of South Wales and beyond to support both the festival and the regular club events. www.blackmountainjazz.co.uk BIRMINGHAM Tony Dudley Evans and Mary Wakelam of Jazzlines run jazz events virtually every night of the week at venues across the city ranging from pubs to the Town and Symphony Halls. The programme incorporates both local musicians and global jazz superstars like Wayne Shorter and Brad Mehldau. The range of jazz styles is equally diverse, from the mainstream to the cutting edge. At this distance I can’t attend as many events as I’d like but the Jazzlines team are always very welcoming and accommodating. www.jazzlines.co.uk CARDIFF Cardiff’s two main jazz venues are Dempsey’s and Café Jazz both of which have their own piano, a considerable attraction as far as I’m concerned. Alistair McMurchie

and Brenda O’Brien at Dempsey’s are true jazz enthusiasts who welcome both local musicians and nationally known performers. Audience numbers are regularly swelled by the presence of students from the nearby Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama who bring a real buzz and enthusiasm with them. As with other similar venues as the dining aspect at Café Jazz sometimes invites extraneous noise, but nevertheless I’ve seen some great performances here too over the years. www.jazzatdempseys.org.uk www.cafejazzcardiff.com MONMOUTH The Queens Head pub hosts live music several nights a week across a variety of styles including jazz, blues, folk and roots. Some of these are local pub bands but the venue also gets to host some first class jazz and is part of the Jazz Services touring circuit. All events are free although a hat is passed round, and the music programme is curated by landlord Neill Bell and Lyndon Owen of Music In Monmouth. Lyndon has introduced a free jazz strand under the name the Plancktone Club and improv fans have travelled from far and wide to see the likes of Alan Wilkinson’s Akode and Tony-Joe Buck Lash, artists more commonly associated with venues such as Cafe Oto or The Vortex. It’s been a real treat to see improvisers of this category at a venue so close to home. www.queensheadmonmouth.co.uk SHREWSBURY Laurie Grey and his team at the Shrewsbury Jazz Network do a fine job of promoting jazz in the county of Shropshire as a whole, but they also present regular monthly jazz events at The Hive Arts Centre in Shrewsbury, a comfortable and friendly performance space that

has hosted many fine gigs. The programme encompasses a variety of jazz styles from the mainstream (Simon Spillett was a recent performer) to the contemporary (well attended visits by Kit Downes and Alex Hutton). Another popular venue is the Shrewsbury Coffeehouse run by Jessicah Kendrick, and local guitarist Chris Quinn programmes the music with the emphasis on gypsy jazz. The venue is small and invariably sells out but the atmosphere is electric. www.shrewsburyjazznetwork.co.uk

Mike Gibbs and Twelve – Play Gil Evans (Whirlwind Recordings)

WOLVERHAMPTON I think it’s fair to say that The Edge Arts Centre in Much Wenlock had become my absolute favourite place to see jazz locally. I’d never have believed that I could see artists of the stature of Tomasz Stanko, Tord Gustavsen and Matthias Eick at a venue only thirty miles from Leominster. And that’s just the international brigade; we enjoyed the best of British too. The success of The Edge was due to the visionary programming of artistic director Alison Vermee, who has now moved on to the Arena Theatre in Wolverhampton where she will begin an autumn/winter jazz programme on October 5th with a visit by pianist Zoe Rahman. The programme will be called Jazz at the Arena, and is supported by a specially-formed charitable group called Jazz@Wolverhampton, chaired by Martin Shreeve. Zoe Rahman is first patron of the jazz programme and Wolverhamptonborn jazz superstar bassist Dave Holland is first patron of the Arena Theatre. I’m very much looking forward to supporting Alison’s new venture - the parking might not be as easy as it was at The Edge but I’m certain that the music will be terrific! www.arenatheatre.info

One of the highlights of the 2013 Cheltenham Jazz Festival was the performance by the Mike Gibbs Ensemble celebrating the centenary of the birth of the great composer and arranger Gil Evans. That same ensemble, now simply dubbed Twelve, graces this recording of Gibbs’ adaptations of Evans’ arrangements of pieces by a variety of composers from W C Handy and Kurt Weill to Ornette Coleman and Carla Bley. There’s also Evans’ own Las Vegas Tango plus three Gibbs originals. The ensemble textures and colours are as rich and distinctive as one would expect on pieces bearing the thumb prints of such accomplished arrangers as Evans and Gibbs. Under Gibbs’ subtle direction the ensemble of UK based musicians is also given the room to contribute a series of memorable solos - featured soloists include Julian Siegel, Finn Peters and Lluis Mather (reeds), Robbie Robson, Percy Pursglove and Joe Auckland (trumpets), Mark Nightingale (trombone), Jim Rattigan (French horn), Hans Koller (piano), Jeff Williams (drums) and Whirlwind founder Michael Janisch (double bass), and Sarah Williams completes the Twelve on

bass trombone and tuba. It’s arguable that there are too many ‘tribute’ albums on the market but this classy and quietly adventurous recording stands out from the pack.

ACV – Busk (Babel)

ACV is a quintet from Tyneside led by bassist and composer Andy

Champion. The band includes a number of the North East’s leading jazz musicians and features saxophonist Graeme Wilson, guitarist Mark Williams, keyboardist Paul Edis and former Back Door man Adrian Tilbrook at the drums. Their 2010 début Fail In Wood was an intriguing synthesis of jazz and progressive rock with an agreeably dark, gothic edge that was generally well received. Champion ensured that his group toured the album outside their North East heartland and an appearance at London’s Vortex brought them to the attention of Oliver Weindling of the Babel label, who signed them up for their second album. Busk builds on its predecessor’s success with Champion still wearing his prog rock heart on his sleeve. A well programmed set features tricky time signatures, dirty prog keyboards, and bravura sax and guitar

soloing. Tilbrook’s solid drums and the leader’s grounding bass anchor it all together, with it all balanced by a couple of gently floating ballads. The sound has been cleaned up and the record benefits from a pinpoint production by fellow Geordie Chris Sharkey, perhaps best known as the guitarist with trioVD. The quality of the music plus national distribution by the great British jazz institution that is Babel Records suggests that ACV may gain the kind of cult following enjoyed by trioVD, Polar Bear, Led Bib, Portico Quartet and others. Read more of Ian’s reviews, features and more online at www.thejazzmann.com

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HOTHOUSE This issue, Phil Meadows talks us through his own recent experiences on tour, as well as his regular insights into the younger side of the scene. Hot Tracks: Dan Nicholls, Ruins When an album both as intricately and interestingly presented as Ruins arrives, you can’t help but wonder what the music has in common with such contemporary artwork. As a core member of London’s Loop Collective Nicholls has studied around the world and performed music in major venues throughout Europe. The line-up consists of a collection of his equals - some of the UK’s most original and creative thinkers including the woodwinds of James Allsopp, Shabaka Hutchings and Tom Challenger alongside Dave Smith on drums and Kit Downes on organ. The music combines a hybrid of avant-garde influences from downtown New York, ambient

electronica and beyond. It is used as a vehicle to present distaste for the invasive techniques used by the media, the horror of rioters in both London and the Arab Spring and the scandal of the recent phone hacking saga amongst a myriad of other controversial documentation. The album has space but it’s full, it grooves but it’s free in time, it feels live, yet is manipulated through production using tapes, sampling and field recordings.

Essentially what I am trying to describe is an album that is both a unique and immersive experience that when listened to from start to finish is a fantastic piece of contemporary art. Nicholls’ use of loop cycles combined with soundscapes and free improvisations is incredibly effective as each musician brings their own wide range of influences to play, using his music as a vehicle in what can only be described as a genre-bending, pallet-testing

experience. This is not an album for the feint hearted, but it is one for art lovers nationwide and a treasure to behold.

Hot Topic: Life on the Road After months of planning, weeks of waiting and with two small hatchbacks at the ready, full to bursting with equipment, the Phil Meadows Group set off on our UK tour to promoting our debut album Engines of Creation, kindly supported by Jazz Services. Throughout the eight-date tour we were asked a number of times what it is like to be a jazz group on the road. I could go on all day talking about how much fun it is, how great it is to play our music or what our favourite gig was – the list is endless but instead I want to boil it down to one word; inspiring. We start with the promoters and venues that are with you months before the tour and long after you finish. They listen to your music, organise a date for you to play, promote your performance in their community, look after you and make sure the event runs smoothly. They even blog about you after you’ve gone. With the majority of UK jazz promoters being volunteers the word inspiring is the only one I can

use to describe the hard work and dedication they have to keep our jazz scene alive. Next we move on to the musicians; writing, rehearsing, recording and obsessing about the music; organising performances and logistics with promoters; promoting the tour and playing, inspiringly, for two weeks solid. The twenty-first century jazz musician is more than meets the eye. They are not only the artist but also the agent, the PR man and the manager all rolled into one, committed to playing great creative music and wanting it to reach as many people as possible along the way. In every jazz ensemble, each member works hard on all of these aspects - inspiring! And to conclude we reach you, the audience. Creating the wonderful atmosphere our jazz clubs have, showing an interest in the cutting edge of the British music scene and supporting the arts. You make the band feel welcome not only on stage, but through conversation and friendship long afterwards, and without you we wouldn’t have the fantastic scene that we have today. Your support is inspiring musicians nationwide. Thank you. Phil Meadows’ Engines of Creation is out now and available at www.philmeadowsmusic.co.uk

HotChops: Tom Green Trombonist, composer and bandleader Tom Green may or may not be a familiar name but over the next few years will be a musician for us all to look out for. As one of the winners of the prestigious Dankworth Prize for Composition, Green is set to take his septet on a seven-date tour in early winter ahead of the recording of his debut album. I took the time to catch up with him to find out what first got him into music. “I think the most defining moment was when a friend played me some Carl Fontana and Bill Watrous records during a long car journey. The trombone is often an underappreciated instrument and I had never heard it played like that before!” Surrounding this memorable journey Green had an upbringing with music at the core, be it through his childhood love of CDs and radio or through his parents’ roots as amateur classical musicians themselves. Having started with violin at an early age Tom began to learn through the Suzuki method (a method that places a lot of emphasis on aural skills) before moving onto piano and trombone to find his love for jazz in his teens. Despite this musical immersion, becoming a musician wasn’t always at the forefront of Toms mind:

Tom Green

“It wasn’t until I was at university studying for a science degree that I really took an interest in playing professionally - after graduating from university I headed to the Royal Academy to study on the postgraduate course there which was a really great experience.”

tour log onto www.tomgreen.org.uk

Today Tom Green’s award winning music has taken his septet to Tunisia, Switzerland and a host of UK venues as he now looks forward to touring and recording his original music that demonstrates a host of influences. “I have been inspired by many different things,” he says. “The lyricism and melody of trombonists Marshall Gilkes and Ryan Keberle, the rhythmic complexity of players like Avishai Cohen, but especially the programmatic and extended compositions of large ensemble writers such as Maria Schneider, John Hollenbeck and Vince Mendoza.” The next twelve months look very exciting for the Tom Green Septet; to find out more about their

This edition’s Hot Tracks have kindly been sent in by the Dulwich College Big Band, whose influences are so varied we hear from the great Frank Sinatra, inspirational Maynard Ferguson and cuttingedge Young Blood Brass Band.

HotTracks: Dulwich College Big Band

4) Miles Davis, Kind of Blue Freddie Freeloader 5) Gordon Goodwin and the Big Phat Band - Samba Del Gringo 6) Count Basie, The Atomic Mr Basie - Flight Of The Foo Birds 7) Michel Camilo, One More Once - Why Not 8) Woody Herman, Live in London Four Brothers 9) Young Blood Brass Band Center:Level:Roar 10) Maynard Ferguson - Birdland

Remember, if you want to see your youth jazz ensemble’s top 10 tracks listed in JazzUK, just get in touch with the editor. 1) Gerald Albright - Georgia On My Mind 2) Tonight Show Big Band (featuring Doc Sevrinson) - Begin The Beguine 3) Frank Sinatra, Live at the Sands Fly Me To The Moon

GIGS

You can download the GIGS PDF to your smart phone or tablet by scanning this QR code!

HIGHLIGHTS

Editor’s Picks Jazz Services’ listings editor Sabina Czajkowska takes us through her picks for August’s listings. Read Gigs, the full month’s listings to the UK’s live jazz scene at www.jazzservices. org.uk Soho Interpretations at the Pizza Express Jazz Club Soho, London This is a new series of events at the Pizza on Monday nights featuring musicians interpreting the music of jazz legends. The first of these regular Monday shows will be The Spirit of Coltrane with Gilad Atzmon and Jaco Pastorius with Gwilym Simcock. Catch Jim Hart’s Cloudmakers Trio at the Manchester Jazz Festival or Highgate Jazz with Soul Festival in London – a truly uplifting experience! There are quite a few occasions to admire Zoe Rahman’s wonderful piano playing this summer and throughout August, including a duo gig with her brother, Idris Rahman at the Machynlleth Festival. Check the listings or www.zoerahman.com for details.

Festivals Brecon Jazz Festival 9th – 11th August breconjazz.com

Stellar line-up and masterclass opportunities with fabulous musicians – see the Workshops section. For the first time this year jazz societies and clubs from across Wales come together with a programme of Welsh & International Jazz at the town’s Guildhall Theatre. Check Gigs for full listings. Canary Wharf Jazz Festival 16th – 18th August www.canarywharf.com/visitus/ Arts--Events1/Events/CanaryWharf-Jazz-Festival This year the London free weekend open-air festival presents Omar Puente Raices Cubanas, Zoe Rahman Quartet, Nathaniel Facey Quartet, Roller Trio, Soweto Kinch and Troyka to name but a few. Check the following pages for full listings. Burton Jazz Festival 24th – 25th August www.burtonjazzfestival.com Four venues within the National Brewery Centre host a varied programme. See the listings for details. Highgate Jazz with Soul Festival 25th – 26th August brandonallen.co.uk/fr_ highgatejazzfestival.cfm Spread over four venues in London’s Highgate area, the festival is a brainchild of Brandon Allen. The highlights include Alan Barnes Quartet with Scott Hamilton, Jim Hart’s Cloudmaker’s Trio, Tina May & Nikki Iles, Bobby Wellins & Kate Williams and the organiser himself with various groups. Visit the above website for full info.

wall2wall Festival 31st August – 1st September www.blackmountainjazz.co.uk A new initiative in Abervagenny – two days of music from Gilad Atzmon Trio, Damon Brown Quartet, Zoe Schwartz Sextet, Asaf Sirkis Trio and many more.

Workshops Wall2wall festival Black Mountain Younger Players Workshop 31st August 12.00pm This workshop is for young players aged 9 to 19 years, who have an interest in jazz and would like to explore playing with others. The workshop leaders will be established musicians from South Wales and who also have experience in music tutoring. Those taking part will need some musical ability but that could be still at an early stage. All instruments are welcome, including voice. Contact Mike on 07958612691 to book a place. Free. Masterclasses at Brecon Jazz Festival The festival weekend is a great opportunity to watch the musicians reveal their creative process and discuss their career paths. Go to the above festival website for details. Saturday 10th August: All things

Jazz Piano with Jason Rebello, Masterclass with Jim Black, All things Bass with Laurence Cottle

info go to: http://www.jazzitalia.net/ VisEvento.asp?ID=42821&idblog=0#. UcYHO_oayc0

Sunday 11th August: All things Saxophone with Julian Siegel & Masterclass with Maria Pia de Vito & Huw Warren

2013 Guitar Tutors Conference at the University of West London 8th September Cost £47 (or £39 for RGT members), bookings can be made via www.RGT.org or 01424 222222. Programme of seminars by top music educators includes: Teaching Guitar in the Internet Age; Teaching Diplomas; Nailcare for Guitarists; Rockabilly, Acoustic and Metal Guitar Playing Techniques; Developing and Promoting your Guitar Teaching Website; Rock Guitar Exams; Beginner Level Acoustic Guitar Exams; English Folk Tunes for Guitar; Breakneck Breakdown; Transferable Skills; Advanced Grades Electric Guitar Exams; Acoustic Fingerstyle; Classical Guitar Styles; Electric Guitar Performance Diplomas.

A summer option abroad: International Workshop & Festival in Sa Pobla, Majorca 6th – 10th August A jazz workshop open to all instruments and voice. Five days of master classes, improvisation classes, combos and a gran finale concert on the main stage of the Mallorca Jazz Sa Pobla Festival. Minimum instrumental study: 3 years. Total cost of enrollment is €120. Teachers: Jimmy Weinstein – drums, Dan Fox - trombone/ bass, Noah Preminger – sax, Toni Miranda – guitar, Lilli Santon – voice, Pere Dàvila – guitar; For more

Look Out for the Young and Talented! Brecon Jazz Festival Jazz Junior Showcase The young musicians attending the Junior Jazz Summer School at The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, finish their week with a performance at Brecon’s Guildhall on 9th August, 7.30pm. RWCMD Presents Students (and new graduates) from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama offer highlights from the past year, playing in small and large ensembles on 10th August, 3.00pm.

Zoe Rahman

FOR THE RECORD With the Jazz Services touring schemes enjoying a quieter period in the late summer months, we instead catch up with three of the artists heading into the studio for the first time with the help of Jazz Services’ Recording Support Scheme.

ANT LAW

some of my favourite musicians, including Adam Rogers, Lage Lund, Ben Monder, Ari Hoenig, Johannes Weidermuller, Tim Miller and Gilad Hekselman. Much of my music is influenced by them and that scene. In London I also began studying sitar and South Indian rhythm, and I think much of what I was learning also filtered through into the music. The line-up is Tom Farmer (bass), James Maddren (drums), John Turville (piano) and Michael Chillingworth (reeds). I hope this group will continue working indefinitely. How did you find the whole process?

Tell us a bit more about the band/project… Entanglement is my first jazz album as a leader, and features nearly all my original compositions. My aim was to record interesting but accessible jazz, and planning started when I moved to London a few years ago. I began playing with many different people and took a few trips to New York City to study with

To my surprise, applying for Jazz Services’ funding was extremely straightforward and if I was confused in the slightest about anything, help was only a phone call away. The Recording Support grant was a game-changer. It took a huge amount of pressure off financially, since the project was otherwise paid for entirely by me.

The rest of the process was quite arduous but ultimately rewarding. For me, writing music takes ages, and then there’s re-drafting pieces throughout rehearsals and trying different things on gigs, etc. The recording part was very enjoyable, but having said that it is hard trying to clear your mind to improvise freely whilst simultaneously keeping the ‘quality control’ mode operating. It was certainly a learning curve for me. On this record the structures on which we improvise are often extremely complicated harmonically AND rhythmically. I may do that I little differently for album number 2. What do you hope to achieve with this release? Primarily I wanted to get the band playing, and to develop musically. Practically speaking I have found that it’s much easier to take care of bookings once you have physical copies to give out, or put in the post. This CD also got us some great reviews from reputable sources, broadsheets, “name” journalists and so on. It’s great to be able to sell CDs at gigs, like a souvenir of the experience for people who enjoyed it. I think it helps to make the music more real, in a sense. Certainly it makes a project/band more real, anyway. Will you be touring the album as well?

We played around 30 UK dates in the early part of this year, which was great fun and a really important musical step for the band. We have some London dates coming up throughout the rest of this year, and will be “playing in” my new compositions for the next album. We’re looking forward to touring that music in 2014, in particular branching out into other territories in Europe and the British Isles.

can receive this help. I highly recommend it! What do you hope to achieve with this release?

Where can people get hold of a copy and find out more? I keep my website (www. antlaw.co.uk) up to date. My book (about perfect fourths tuning) and CDs are available from there as well as online, but the physical copy of the album comes a secret Soundcloud link with 3 extra songs that aren’t available with downloaded versions of the album.

with no distractions from the outside world. In 2011 I found out about Artesuono studio in Northern Italy and the brilliant engineer Stefano Amerio, who has worked a lot for ECM. I knew right away this was the perfect place to record our first album.

MACIEK PYSZ

How did you find the whole process?

Tell us a bit more about the band/project…

I heard about the scheme in 2011 and applied for funding in 2012. After doing a lot of research and then clearly outlining our expenses I submitted the forms and it all added up to a penny. I think it’s very important to provide Jazz Services with a clear plan of what will happen, as this way everyone knows what the money will be spent on. It was a great surprise to receive the good news and we were all very excited - we knew that with this money it would make it possible for us to go and record in Italy. I organised everything; hotels, flights, schedule, photo session, printing of CDs, etc. It was a very good experience! I am delighted to be part of the scheme, it really is an outstanding opportunity that young musicians such as myself

The band is a trio consisting of myself on acoustic and classical guitars, Asaf Sirkis on drums and Yuri Goloubev on double bass. I established the band in 2008 and met Asaf in 2010, and shortly after he joined the band he introduced me to Yuri. After a gig we played together in late 2010 I knew they were the right people to play my music and since then became core of the group. We have been planning on recording for a while, but I had a clear vision of how it should be done and decided to wait until we could do it in a way that would do the compositions justice. I wanted to record the album out of London, in only a few days, really focusing on the music

I think it will help us gain more recognition through reviews and get more gig opportunities. I felt before that not having a serious release like this was holding us back. Now, with the album out, I am sure we will be able to tour more and play more festivals. Together with the record label (33 Jazz Records), we are working hard now on promoting it in the UK and abroad. My plan is to take the band around the world and tour as much as possible. Will you be touring the album as well? We are currently in the process of arranging dates for next year’s CD release tour. This year you can catch us at Ealing Jazz Festival on 28th July, then King’s Place Festival on 14th September and London Jazz Festival on 16th November at Jazz Cafe Posk. Where can people get hold of a copy and find out more? Directly from my website, www. maciekpysz.com, where you can also hear an album taster; it’s also out on iTunes, Amazon, HMV, Ray’s Jazz at Foyles in Soho, etc.

REUBEN FOWLER Tell us a bit more about the band/project… This project originated as a set of octet music that I wrote while studying at the Royal Academy of Music - although I’ve played in big bands from a young age

for Tom Harrell, Stan Sulzmann and Jim Hart (all personal heroes) and have them record on the album. Guy Barker was also a great conductor on the sessions, and a mentor.

Will you be touring the album as well?

How did you find the whole process?

Sound Cellar, Poole (1st August); Grove Inn, Leeds (11th); Spice of Life, London (14th)

It was a huge learning curve. I guess I was quite lucky as Jazz Services and their Recording Support Scheme, and the Musicians Benevolent Fund’s Peter Whittingham Award all showed belief in the project and that really freed me up to make the album how I wanted to. The logistical side of things is always the hardest part but when I got that over and done with and we got into the studio it was a lot of fun. What do you hope to achieve with this release? with the Doncaster Youth Jazz Association and NYJO. Through my studies with Nikki Iles, I scored this music up for big band and played it at my final recital at the academy. I was very lucky to be awarded the Kenny Wheeler Jazz Prize and the wheels were set in motion to make an album later that year to be released on Edition Records. A lesson with the legendary Michael Abene in Austria prompted a rewrite of all the material which is eventually what has ended up on the record. The band consists of some of the finest jazz and session musicians in the UK including Mike Lovatt, Gordon Campbell, Percy Pursglove and Sam Mayne. Schemes like the Jazz Services Recording Support Scheme and the Peter Whittingham Award really helped make this project possible, and with the funding in place it was great to have the creative freedom to write music

We‘ve been on the road already, and have more dates in August and September:

Cori Tap, Bristol (29th); Jazz Nursery, London (5th September) Where can people get hold of a copy and find out more? You can listen to samples of Between Shadows at Edition Records’ Souncloud page and order it on their website. You can also find me at www. reubenfowler.com and follow me on Soundcloud, Twitter and Facebook.

I hope that with this release I can facilitate the production of other albums. It would be great to record my other projects at some point in the future, although this one has been such an undertaking I guess it could be a while!! I also hope that other musicians who have a creative vision might look at this project and feel empowered to go out there and do it. I remember applying for funding and telling friends about my idea to make a big band album at Angel with Tom Harrell, Stan Sulzmann and Jim Hart and there was a lot of speculation as to whether this was realistic, whether it was too ambitious for a first project or whether it would ever happen at all! In the end all I really had was a set of music I really believed in, and I guess I just made sure it happened because it was really important to me.

To find out more about the scheme, visit the Jazz Services website www. jazzservices.org.uk