JazzUK - June-July 2014

. jazz uk JUNE / JULY 2014

ISSUE 117

NEWS • GIGS • INTERVIEWS • FEATURES • REVIEWS

Jumoké Fashola

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• PHIL ROBSON • PARLIAMENTARY JAZZ AWARDS • HOTHOUSE • RECORDING SUPPORT • JAZZ ON THE ROAD • GIGS HIGHLIGHTS DOWNLOAD OUR FREE GIG GUIDE!

PUBLISHED BY

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 Norbury-Lyons john@jazzservices.org.uk Listings Editor: Sabina Czajkowska listings@jazzservices.org.uk Design / Production: Nick Brown production@jazzservices.org.uk Donations / Distribution: subscriptions@jazzservices. org.uk.

Advertising: Nick Brown advertising@jazzservices.org.uk 07824 663488 Founding Editor: Jed Williams, 1952-2003.

Contributors as credited.

The views expressed in JazzUK policy of Jazz Services.

Welcome to the June/July edition of JazzUK – your bi-monthly guide to the UK’s jazz scene brought to you by Jazz Services. In this issue we speak to two artists who have recently come through the Jazz Services Recording Support S c heme, J umoké Fashola and Tommy Andrews.

Guitarist Phil Robson also sits down to discuss his new organ trio and Jazz Services tour. The Guest Spot offers an insight into the Cambridge scene from broadcaster Pete Butchers, and promoters Blow The Fuse tell us about their 25 years in the business in Out & About. Plus Phil Meadows’ regular youth jazz feature Hot House and your regular news, preview, highlights from April’s Gigs, Jazz Services touring band Q&As and more. All brought to you for free by Jazz Services!

This issue of JazzUK is dedicated to Chris Hodgkins, who retired as Director of the organisation in May after 29 years at the helm.

Jazz Services – Supporting Jazz In The UK!

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NEWS – Catch up with the latest new of what’s to come in June and July.

OUT & ABOUT – Alison Rayner and Deirdre Cartwright talk 25 years of jazz with Blow the Fuse.

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PARLIAMENTARY JAZZ AWARDS – A round-up of this year’s awards and winners.

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RECORDING SUPPORT - Jumoké Fashola and Tommy Andrews talk about making their recent debut albums on the JSL Recording Support Scheme.

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PHIL ROBSON – The acclaimed guitarist discusses his new organ trio group, touring with Jazz Services support in June.

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THE GUEST SPOT – This issue’s guest is Pete Butchers from Cambridge105’s Jazz Today show.

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HOT HOUSE– Phil Meadows’ regular spotlight on the best of the upand-coming players on the scene.

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GIGS HIGHLIGHTS – Sabina Czajkowska’s choice picks from the June issue of Gigs, the Jazz Services listings guide.

JAZZ ON THE ROAD– We speak to more bands touring the UK with the help of Jazz Services’ National Touring Support Scheme.

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News Over the next few pages you can read some of the news that has filtered down through the JazzUK grapevine, plus updates on what to look out for in the next couple of months.

Got a story for News? Email details and press releases for the next issue’s news section to the editor, with the title ‘JazzUK News’.

SongSuite Festival

With a particular focus on female vocalists and a good international spread, the SongSuite Festival has become an admirably diverse fixture in the capital’s summer scene in recent years. It’s organised by Anita Wardell, who performs on the opening night. “The seed for the festival was planted in a conversation after a gig at Cafe Posk with myself, Tristan Mailliot and Posk promoter Tomasz Furmanek,” says Wardell. “Together the three of us got SongSuite up and running and the festival was held at Café Posk for two years running in 2012 and 2013. The idea behind the festival is to present both established artists and talented newcomers, with a mixture of home-grown and international talent.”

Past performers have included the likes of Norma Winstone, Jacqui Dankworth and Charlie Wood, Juliet Kelly, Trudy Kerr, Anjali Perin and Alice Zawadzki, and for this year’s event, which moves to The Pheasantry on London’s Kings Road for the first time, audiences will be treated to performances from Sandy Cressman’s Brazilian Project, Katie Ellen and Mark Jennett’s duo project, South African singer Nicky Schrire accompanied by Huw Warren and a special vocal powerhouse trio of Wardell, Tina May and Cleveland Watkiss.

As with previous years, there’s

Anita Wardell Songsuite Festival also a series of workshops where aspiring vocalists can learn directly from the artists themselves. The workshops are run in collaboration with the Anglo-French organisation LoireMusic, and the whole festival runs from the 27th – 29th June. Tickets and info from www. pizzaexpresslive.com, or call 0845 602 7017.

Lake District Jazz Summer School

The summer holiday season offers many opportunities to brush up on your jazz learning, and the first Lake District Jazz Summer School is just one example of the many courses available to eager jazz students of any age. Over a week in late July, the scenic seaside setting of the village of St Bees hosts big band and small group improv workshops run by a wealth of highly experienced and qualified tutors from such

august institutions as Trinity Laban, Lisbon University and the Leeds College of Music, including former APPJAG Jazz Educator of the Year Kathy Dyson. The course runs from 19th – 26th July and there’s more information on the content and how to book at www.lakedistrictjazz. co.uk. There’s also a section on workshops in each edition of Gigs, the free listings guide from Jazz Services which is available to read and download for free on our website.

Eddie Harvey Award for Jazz Arrangement

The late Eddie Harvey was a hugely respected figure in jazz education, and therefore it’s extremely gratifying to see that his legacy lives on with this newly instated award for jazz arrangers. The award exists “to perpetuate the memory of Eddie Harvey and to honour his expressed

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wish to try to ensure that arrangers of jazz compositions receive due acknowledgement of the importance of their contributions to jazz.”

A worthy cause if ever there was one, and there’s currently an open call for submissions with a £2,000 prize up for grabs for the best jazz arrangement entered. Submissions should be made by a Sibelius programme by 31st July, and for a full list of the simple rules and regulations check the award’s official website at http://eddieharveyaward. com.

Alice Zawadzki

Alice Zawadzki – China Lane (Whirlwind Recordings)

Violinist and vocalist Alice Zawadzki is set to release her first album on 16th June – anticipation of a studio release from this promising Polish-born performer has been building for some time, with appearances alongside the likes of guitarist Moss Freed, pianist Dan Whieldon and saxophonist Joe Wright as well as excellent reviews for her own live shows earning her a good deal of acclaim. Zawadzki’s abilities stretch far and wide – as an instrumentalist she is impressive, fluent in her soloing and able to rein it in as a supporting player, and her voice ranges from spritely, light and folky on China Lane’s opening track Ring Of Fire, (which also features a gorgeously woozy Hammond organ solo from Kit Downes), dusky and brooding as on Dicho Me Habian Dicho and emotive and plaintive on the album’s self-titled closing track.

There’s no doubting Zawadzki’s talents, and as a bandleader she steers the proceedings through a number of different tricky territories; if there’s an issue here, it’s that by changing tack as frequently as it does the album lacks some overall cohesion and the tunes feel somewhat disconnected. As a showcase of what she can do China Lane is superb and Zawadzki clearly has a great deal to offer, but a touch more focus would be welcome. Info and upcoming live dates from www. alicezmusic.com

Swansea Jazz Festival

It’s great to see new festivals cropping up on the scene and proving that audiences for jazz are growing year on year, and from 20th - 22nd June Swansea hosts its first ever city-wide event across eight venues. There are plenty of top names on the bill, with Claire Martin, Bruce Adams & Alan Barnes, Eddie Parker, Jim Mullen, Simon Spillett, Huw Warren and the excellent young guitarist Remi Harris all putting in an appearance.

But also look out for the workshops on offer, with Laurence Cottle, Alan Barnes and Bruce Allen all leading free seminars. With more than thirty free fringe events scheduled as well, let’s hope it bodes well for successive years and Swansea gets firmly on the jazz festival map.

More info and tickets from www. sijf.co.uk.

Jazz @ City of London Festival

The City of London Festival offers an eclectic line-up of performances across the music board throughout June and July. Jazz fans are catered for with some enticing concerts from Clare Teal, Kit Downes and Roberto Pla (for some jazz with a view, Downes is playing at the top of the iconic Gherkin building on the 29th June), but of particular interest will be Julian Joseph playing the music of Duke Ellington solo at the Masonic Temple in Liverpool Street (11th July); an appropriate venue given Ellington’s membership of the order, and not one often opened up to the public. Tommy Smith and Brian Kellock also perform some of Duke’s tunes in the same venue, as recently heard on their excellent disc Whispering Of The Stars. Both concerts offer an intriguing retro-

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spective on Ellington’s music in a spectacular setting. www.colf.org

Young Scottish Jazz Musician of The Year

The five players who made it to the finals of 2014’s award for young Scottish jazzers were announced back in mid-April as drummers Jonathan Silk and John Lowrie, saxophonist Helena Kay, trumpeter Sean Gibbs and pianist Fergus McCreadie, and on the 25th June visitors to the Glasgow Jazz Festival (which is well worth a visit anyway), can watch them go head-to-head for the top prize. Now in their eighth year, the awards are organised annually by the Scottish Jazz Federation and this year’s final play-off should be a real treat.

The eventual winner will receive £1,000 cash as well as a further £1,000 towards a new musical project, a six date tour of Scotland and a slot at both the 2015 Glasgow and London jazz festivals. For those who can’t make the live final, the concert will be recorded and broadcast by BBC Radio Scotland’s Jazz House show so there’ll be an opportunity for everyone to hear these stars of tomorrow in full flow.

Tickets for the concert are available through the Glasgow Jazz Festival’s website, www.jazzfest.co.uk

Sax Appeal – Funkerdeen (Jazzizit Records)

Now entering its third decade, Derek Nash’s saxophone ensemble releases its sixth album of horn-led hits on Jazzizit Records. The band’s mixture of jazz, funk, occasional Latin swing and soul could be taken as either finely polished or rather smooth depending on your preferences, but there’s no doubting the professional qualities of the assembled players, with the likes of Nash, Simon Allen, Scott Garland and guest Alan Barnes all contributing some lively solos; Jools Holland enthusiastically boogie-woogies his way through one of the tracks as well. The energy of the music ought to translate well to a live show, so

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two London gigs at the Bull’s Head (24th June) and Pizza Express Soho (album launch, 6th July) should both be worth catching. www. dereknash.com

Pete Long’s Benny Goodman Carnegie Hall concert, Taunton

On the 6th June, saxophonist Pete Long will be bringing his excellent recreation of Benny Goodman’s famous Carnegie Hall concert from

Matt Halsall’s label has already released one of our favourite records of the year so far, Gogo Penguin’s excellent V2.0, but we’re pleased to report that the trumpeter hasn’t let his signings distract him from making some great music of his own. When The World Was One is a wonderful mixture of spiritual jazz and Eastern influences filtered through a modern melodic template, placing this record neatly alongside groups like

YSJM finalist Fergus McCreadie 1938 to the Queen’s College in Taunton, Somerset. The recording of the original concert, which was released in 1950, was groundbreaking for several reasons – it was the first ever double-album to be produced, and one of the first albums to shift over a million copies but the concert itself remains a truly pivotal event in the history of jazz for being one of the first mainstream jazz concerts to feature a racially integrated band.

Accompanied by his ‘Goodmen’ ensemble, Long transports his audience back to that iconic date with style and panache, and while it’s not one of his more frequent projects (a recent performance at the Cadogan Hall in London went down a storm) it’s well worth catching if you can. Tickets from www. johnpacker.co.uk / 01823 282 386.

Jaga Jazzist, Heritage Orchestra and the Cinematic Orchestra, with whom Halsall shares drummer Luke Flowers. Halsall, saxophonist Nat Birchall and pianist Taz Modi all contribute some lovely solos, but the overall palette is enhanced as much by Rachael Gladwin’s harp and Keito Kitamura’s koto as it is by more ‘traditional’ jazz sounds, and the resulting combination is wholly enchanting – the closing track A Tribute to Alice Coltrane showcases the ensemble at their beguiling best. The album is released on 2nd June, and you can catch the band live at Manchester’s Band On The Wall on the 15th June, the House of St Barnabas in London on the 16th (part of their new Summer Jazz series) and at Love Supreme on Festival (see above) on 5th July. www.gondwanarecords.com

Matt Halsall & The Gondwana Orchestra – When The World Was One (Gondwana Records)

A Love Supreme at Meltdown Festival The Meltdown Festival, held at London’s Southbank Centre throughout

June, is by no means specific to jazz but often throws a few nice surprises into its multi-media mix.

This year we’re being treated to a re-envisioning of A Love Supreme, and while John Coltrane’s seminal masterpiece is now half a century old it’s lost none of its original power to excite and inspire. New arrangements have been provided by flute maestro Rowland Sutherland, and vibes player Orphy Robinson leads a fantastic 14-piece group for the performance that includes Nikki Yeoh, Steve Williamson and Shabaka Hutchings. This promises to be a thrilling performance of an equally thrilling piece of music; all seats for the evening performance have already sold out but a 3pm matinée has been added following the demand, so get in early if you can. The concerts close the festival on Sunday 22nd June, and tickets – if they’re still available – can be booked via the Southbank Centre’s website, www.southbankcentre. co.uk

Love Supreme Festival

This summer’s ‘other’ Love Supreme seeks to emulate the inaugural success of last year’s event; Jamie Cullum and Gregory Porter have been named as the headline acts for 2014, and the Essex countryside setting of Glynde Place also welcomes a good mixture of UK and international names including Dave Holland’s Prism, Christian McBride, John Scofield’s Überjam, Curtis Stigers, Courtney Pine, José James, Phronesis, Melt Yourself Down, Natalie Williams, Reuben James, Laura Jurd, Ollie Howell and many more. As with 2013 there are some more mainstream acts on the bill too (such as NY hip-hop trio and Blue Note samplers par excellence De La Soul), with the presumed aim of placing jazz in a wider context and opening up the music to a new audience, as well seizing the opportunity to sell a few more tickets.

Single day or weekend passes are available from www.lovesupremefestival.com

Neil Cowley Trio – Touch & Flee (Naim Jazz)

The fifth studio release from Neil Cowley’s long-established trio is a rather different beast than its predecessors. After reassessing where the band was going following the release of 2012’s The Face Of Mount Molehill, Cowley and co. apparently scrapped an entire album’s worth of material and went back to the drawing board. Despite clocking in at a shade over 35 minutes Touch And Flee still manages to showcase the breadth of Cowley’s imagination as a composer, but it’s the emotional content of the album that really takes hold – rebuffing the group’s trademark pounding piano riffs in favour of more spacious melodic statements with extended and spritely excursions on a theme, it’s their most patient album to date. As a result it might not be as immediately engaging for fans of the earlier and more episodic works, but if you viewed some of its predecessors as collections of short stories then this could be seen as Cowley’s debut novel, and it’s a revealing and often quite lovely statement from a band that clearly still have a lot to say.

Touch And Flee is released on 9th June. www.neilcowleytrio.com

Tommy Andrews – The Crux (Jellymould Jazz)

With the release of his quintet’s debut album The Crux, saxophonist and clarinettist Tommy Andrews sets out his stall with great confidence. The quality of so many debut albums these days is not only a testament to our various educational establishments (Andrews obtained a first in Jazz Performance at the Guildhall School of Music in 2010), but also to the huge personal effort on behalf of the UK’s young artists, and Andrews’ hard work, both in and out of the classroom, has clearly paid off. The Crux offers solid melodies and group interplay throughout with Andrews’ writing bearing the fruit of influences from both sides of the Atlantic, and the band, which includes such UK

young guns as drummer Dave Hamblett and pianist Rick Simpson (whose fleet fingered runs provide some consistent highlights), neatly conjures images of both New York and London along the way.

The album was recorded with support from Jazz Services - Andrews talks more about his experiences later in this issue – and is a great example of an emerging talent stretching his wings and of the creativity at work in the nation’s youth jazz scene. The band tours throughout June and July, with an album launch at The Forge in Camden on the 17th June. www. tommy-andrews.co.uk

Monika Lidke – If I Was to Describe You (33 Records)

Polish-born singer Monika Lidke’s second album opens with the gentle combination of her vocals and bass guitar courtesy of Janek Gwizdala, just one of many well-judged guests Lidke has gathered to contribute to the proceedings. This subtlety sets the tone for the rest of the album, which conjures up a ‘60s pop samba feel on Tum Tum Song and evokes French folk on Ensemble.

Lidke sings in English, French and Polish with a clear, balanced tone that is light but lovely, and it’s a very fine album with which to welcome in the summer. If I Was to Describe You is released on 2nd July, with a Pizza Express Soho launch gig on the same day. www.monikalidke. com

And finally…

A fond farewell to Jazz Services’ erstwhile director Chris Hodgkins, who retired in May after 29 years of jazz services of the highest order.

Tributes have been coming in thick and fast from all over the jazz scene, and we’ll add our voices to them here – thanks for all your hard work and dedication Chris, and from all at Jazz Services we wish you a very happy and well-earned retirement!

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out & about For this issue of Out and About we meet the two musicians behind Blow the Fuse, the London based jazz club which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year - guitarist Deirdre Cartwright and bassist Alison Rayner. Their current season, entitled Tomorrow the World, features six double bills set in two iconic venues in London N16, plus the launch of the latest BTF Records album by the quintet ARQ.

Deirdre & Alison in the ‘90s

“Formed in 1989 by renegade female jazz musicians to create gigs, manage tours, release records, host jazz nights and avoid day jobs; wanted by the jazz police for funk and volume crimes.”

So begins the ‘about’ section of the Blow the Fuse Facebook page.

Though undoubtedly there is much truth in the humour, it turns out that Cartwright and Rayner never intended to become jazz promoters. “Deirdre and I first met in the 1970s in the band Jam Today, and we then toured for many years with jazz-Latin group The Guest Stars,” recalls Rayner. “However, when the Guest Stars decided to disband in 1988, we realised that we had very few contacts in the wider jazz world and even fewer gigs! I had just returned from New York where I had seen Mike Stern playing at the 55 bar - one of Deirdre’s favourite players at that time...”

“And I said why don’t we start a gig like that?” chimes in Cartwright. “A weekly club night where we can play and invite some guests.” So began the first Blow the Fuse jazz club night, held at the Duke of Wellington back room theatre space in 1989.

© Pam Isherwood

“We used to get about half a dozen people along to those first gigs,” recalls Cartwright. “It was really tough. We also had to set up the stage, the PA and lights - and play! It was the most fantastic experience for us, however,” she continues. “Although as members of the Guest Stars we had headlined at Ronnie Scott’s and played at the Blue Note in New York, I really wanted to continue to develop as a musician and there is no better education than standing on stage, playing with and watching guest artists.” She reels off an impressive list of players - Jean Toussaint, Jim Mullen, Carol Grimes, Ed Jones,

John Etheridge, Errollyn Wallen, Peter King, Annie Whitehead, Tina May, the Westbrooks, Nikki Iles, Mark Lockheart, Byron Wallen, Ian Shaw, Sarah Jane Morris, Liane Carroll, Zoë Rahman, Christine Tobin, Harry Beckett… “And of course the Dagenham Girl Pipers and a fly past of the Red Arrows – as Ronnie would have noted,” she laughs. “Actually we were compared to Ronnie Scott and Pete King in as much as we were professional jazz musicians who also hosted a jazz club to promote artists they loved.”

From the Duke of Wellington they then moved to the Samuel Pepys

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in Hackney, then the Kings Head Theatre in Islington and finally to the much loved old Vortex on Stoke Newington Church Street. “This was about 1993,” says Rayner, “and where Blow the Fuse really began to take off as a weekly jazz night.”

But even relatively successful jazz

decided after ten years we wanted to focus primarily back onto jazz promotions again.”

Other people who have been involved with Blow the Fuse have included musicians Terry Hunt and Ann Day, photographer Pam

“Looking back at all these activities, I’m struck by how much we did on relatively little outside funding. It does mean we only have to tick our own boxes, but we have had some much needed support from Jazz Services for many UK tours, and Arts Council support for some larger

Lauren Kinsella & Thought-Fox

nights struggle to pay artists purely on door money so in 1995 they organised a benefit night at Stoke Newington Town Hall. It featured the Emma Peel Fan Club, a 12 piece all female ‘60s band with Ian Shaw and Carol Grimes as guest vocalists.

“It was such a success that we eventually outgrew the Town Hall,” Rayner continues. “Our last gig was at the Forum in Kentish Town where we had an audience of nearly 2,000. We learned a lot about promotion by putting on these bigger events and it really helped to fund Blow the Fuse. We were a small organisation though, and it took up so much of our time that we

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Isherwood, designer Julia Lloyd and several volunteers helping out with door duty. The core of the organisation though, is definitely Cartwright and Rayner.

“We also started a record label,” says Cartwright. “Initially the idea of the record label was to release live recordings of guest artists from the Vortex. We set up a pair of stereo mics direct to DAT machine and had some great concerts with a really good sound. Then I began my own group, and realised that we might as well release my albums on our own label.”

ones that incorporated festivals and multi-media platforms. We also programmed the jazz stage at the Stoke Newington festival for a number of years and club nights at Waterman’s Arts Centre in Brentford and the Drill Hall Arts Centre in the West End.” On the subject of funding Rayner notes that, “It was Chris [Hodgkins] at Jazz Services who alerted us to the PRSF funding that was available to small promoters. We wanted to expand our programming at the new Vortex, in the sense of introducing younger musicians to our audience. Directly as a result of the support we have had from the

PRSF, our last two seasons have included groups led by composers Laura Jurd, Yazz Ahmed, Vicky Tilson, Laura Cole, Diane McLoughlin, Dee Byrne, Nora Bite, Lauren Kinsella, Roz Harding, Nikki Iles, Shama Rahman, Daphna Sadeh and Flo Moore.”

“Our two seasons of Tomorrow the Moon [subtitled ‘one small step for women’] have been met with a very positive response and have enabled us to increase our audience,” continues Rayner, “not only in numbers but additionally drawing in a crowd with an encouragingly wide age range. It’s been really interesting working with younger musicians who have mostly studied at colleges whereas our generation were mostly self-taught.”

“For our current season, we wanted to try something a little different so it’s called Tomorrow the World, and features more world music influences”, continues Cartwright.

“Our March gig in this current season was a project that featured the meeting of jazz and Indian influences. I had worked last year with sitar player Sanjay Guha and was fascinated by the different approach to learning, though both jazz and Indian music share a core

of improvisation.”

Blow the Fuse’s 25th anniversary concert in May featured guests from the very first night back in 1989, including sax player Louise Elliott and drummer Cheryl Alleyne, and the last gig in this current series is to launch ARQ’s debut album – funded in part through the Recording Support Scheme from Jazz Services - with support from the Flo Moore quartet.

“I think most people reading this article will be struck by the number of women instrumentalists we feature in our programming,” says Rayner.

“I would love to think that what we are doing now, and have been doing for 25 years, will become more commonplace in jazz in the future. In a way, perhaps we have tried to artificially level the playing field a little but the UK jazz scene really needs to include more women as players, writers – and audience participants of course. Our audience is probably 60% women and over the years, we have featured a fairly even split of male and female musicians; we have been trying to create more equality in gigs.

funded festivals and clubs don’t give a second thought about programming 95% male musicians – and this draws no comment whatsoever. In recent years here have been some very welcome initiatives by Dune Music and also Courtney Pine, supporting young women musicians, so this gives hope for the future of the jazz scene.”

“Although over the past 25 years we have developed and grown as musicians and promoters, still everything we do in Blow the Fuse comes from the heart,” says Cartwright, “from the artists we book, the music we play, the people who form our audiences and the venues we play in.

This is who we are.”

For more details on forthcoming events from Blow the Fuse, visit www.blowthefuse.com and www. facebook.com/BlowtheFuse.events.

Blow the Fuse will also be programming an open stage afternoon at the South Bank Centre at this year’s London Jazz Festival in November.

“Of the musicians on the UK jazz scene currently about 15% are women. However, many publicly

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2014 Parliamentary Jazz Awards The Parliamentary Jazz Awards are an annual highlight of the jazz calendar, offering well deserved recognition to some of the top contributors to the UK’s jazz scene; we say contributors, because although instrumentalists, vocalists and newcomers are all given their individual categories it’s not just artists who are commended – the awards cover education, the live scene, promoters, festivals, venues, media and more.

The Awards are organised by the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group, in association with PPL and Jazz Services. The APPJAG members make the final decisions in each of the nine categories from a shortlist created by an independent panel, which itself takes its choices from thousands of public nominations. Voting for the 2014 was again hugely popular, with thousands of nominations coming in from the public and resulting in a fantastic selection of hugely deserving winners.

The Awards took place on 13th May this year, again at the House of Commons’ Terrace Pavilion, and were attended by the various great and good of the UK’s bustling jazz scene. Along with APPJAG co-Chairs Michael Connarty MP and Lord Colwyn, Jazzwise editor Jon Newey was on hand to compère the evening and

guests were treated to a performance from pianist James Pearson and the Ronnie Scott’s All Stars.

The full list of winners of the 2014 Parliamentary Jazz Awards is as follows: • Jazz Album of the Year: Troykestra, Live At Cheltenham 13 Jazz Festival • Jazz Vocalist of the Year: Christine Tobin • Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year: Arun Ghosh • Jazz Ensemble of the Year: Beats & Pieces Big Band • Jazz Venue of the Year (inc. clubs, venues, festivals and promoters): EFG London Jazz Festival • Jazz Media Award (inc. broadcasters, journalists, magazines, blogs, listings and books): Jamie Cullum • Jazz Education Award: Issie Barratt, National Youth Jazz Collective • Jazz Newcomer Award: Phil Meadows • Services to Jazz Award: David Redfern • Special APPJAG Award: Chris Barber Congratulations to all the winners on behalf of Jazz Services, PPL and APPJAG!

Pic: Hayley Madden.

Top row, l-r: APPJAG Co-Chairman Michael Connarty MP, Arun Ghosh, Phil Meadows, Ben Cotrell (Beats & Pieces), Chris Montague (Troykestra), David Redfern, Jon Newey, John Cumming (Serious).

Bottom row, l-r: Fran Nevrkla OBE (Chairman, PPL), Karen Pearson (Folded Wing, producers of Jamie Cullum’s BBC Radio2 show), Christine Tobin, Chris Barber, Amy Pearce (Serious), Issie Barratt.

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Recording Support

Helping artists is at the very heart of everything Jazz Services does, but of the various funding programmes offered the Recording Support Scheme is perhaps the most satisfying. The scheme helps those who’ve not previously made any recordings get their career going, and it’s hugely encouraging to watch artists develop and be able to give them that first leg up the ladder. Over the years, the Recording Support Scheme has gone from strength to strength and has seen an array of wonderful artists release some truly inspiring recordings, including The Greater Good by Robert Mitchell’s 3io, Between Shadows by the Reuben Fowler Big Band, Insight by the Maciek Pysz Trio and Entanglement by Ant Law. The 2013 incarnation of the scheme saw a dozen successful artists accepted. Each artist is given two years within which to make their recording, but last year’s period is already bearing fruit - vocalist Jumoké Fashola released The Condition Of Being A Woman (Sass & Rhythm Records) in February this year, and saxophonist Tommy Andrews follows with his quintet’s release The Crux (Jellymould Jazz) in June.

Andrews is a relative newcomer to the jazz scene, graduating from the Guildhall in 2010. “Since then I’ve made it a priority to pursue a career direction that would allow me to stay in touch with being fully creative through my own projects,” he says.

The band – comprised of Andrews, Dave Hamblett on drums, Dave Manington on double bass, Rick Simpson

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on piano and Nick Costley-White on guitar – has been together since 2011, and a recording was always on Andrews’ mind. “It became clear that we had a distinctive sound as an ensemble,” he says. “We were really beginning to enjoy playing together and every gig saw us reach a new level, so it was time to use the momentum for something bigger.”

Fashola on the other hand has been on the music scene for some time.

“I’ve been running a multi-portfolio arts career for quite a few years,” she says. “I started in the theatre and then got into broadcasting both on TV and radio. Throughout all that time, I’ve also been singing a variety of styles from classical to Afro-beat, but with a particular emphasis on jazz.” Her album’s been in the works for a couple of years, “but it feels like all my life!”

Both Andrews and Fashola are adamant that recording one’s first album should be a patient process. “We put the material down in the studio at the beginning of July 2013,” says Andrews. “A lot of people have been surprised at the year-long process, but there’s no point in rushing things.

It’s only within the last couple of years that I’ve felt ready to record in terms of my own instrumental ability and quality of my compositions. I didn’t want to record unless I really had started to find my own voice. I had to feel that I was giving something honest and distinctive to the unique and world-class environment that is London’s jazz scene.”

Fashola agrees. “I think I’ve been trying to find my own authentic musical voice as a singer/songwriter and as a performer,” she says, and both artists mention the inevitable financial concerns associated with making a recording. “We live in an age where it’s increasing difficult to get ‘signed’,” says Fashola, “so independent artists have to find different ways to leave their musical mark.” “It’s a question of finding enough money to make sure that it wasn’t done half-heartedly,” agrees Andrews. “In a world where so many are trying to cut corners, I was very conscious to pay my band mates fairly as a token for their incredible efforts gigging at door money venues on top of recognising their wonderful artistry.”

This is where the Recording Support Scheme and programmes like it can come in. “There’s absolutely no way that this recording would be here in its current form if not for support from Jazz Services,” says Andrews.

“It would either have taken me a lot longer to piece together the funds or it would be of substandard quality in terms of production.” The scheme asks that applicants match Jazz Services’ support with money raised themselves, in order to encourage artists to seek out the various other funding opportunities out there. “I had managed to raise a certain amount of money via crowd funding,” says Fashola, “but despite that and putting my own money into the project, there was still quite a shortfall. Getting funding from Jazz Services meant that we could make the album. I couldn’t have done it without that support.”

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Jumoké Fashola & Tommy Andrews

As first time recordings artists, both Andrews and Fashola found the process to be educational and eye-opening. “I learnt so much, says Fashola.

“I loved recording once I got over the nerves. The production process after you’ve laid down the tracks can be maddening. As an independent artist, you have to oversee everything. Your ears have to work overtime. You have to learn who to trust with your ‘baby’ and take hard decisions about the mixing & the mastering. Even though I have worked in the media for years, it was a real eye-opener to be on the other side.”

Andrews’ experience was much the same. “It was incredibly exciting! I’m so glad that absolutely every stage of the process was in my control, that I’m not dealing with big labels and having to answer to people at the top of a money-minded food chain.

Working with Dom at Jellymould has been a joy, and the only thing that I find difficult is the constant time spent in front of the laptop trying to piece together a tour!”

Both artists have learned valuable lessons from going into the studio for the first time, and have plenty of advice for others doing the same.

“Talk to as many people as you can about the process, as the playing is the easy bit!” says Andrews, and Fashola agrees that advice from those who have been through the process already is invaluable, as is a healthy dose of self-confidence. “Talk to people you know who are in the business,” she recommends, “and take what you need from their advice,

but remain your own person. It will be scary, and that’s okay. You will question every decision you make, and that’s okay. You may not get it all right, and that’s okay! Remember why you wanted to record in the first place, and infuse your recording with all the passion that you have.”

Andrews echoes the sentiment. “Be sure to make it honest and record what you want to record,” he says.

“However much pressure you feel to be labelled as ‘the next (insert jazz superstar here)’ or make something that shows off your chops, there’s no one that can be better than you at being you, so record something that reflects your true personality.”

He also admits that it’s by no means hassle-free. “There will probably be things that one has overlooked (I certainly did!) and it’s worth making a clear plan of action. Make sure that it’s not a hasty or botched process, as I can’t imagine anything worse than spending huge amounts of time and effort on something that then ends up being something you regret. Gig the music for a while beforehand to let it morph organically into its optimum form rather than force it with last minute rehearsals.”

So with a product primed and ready, what hopes do Fashola and Andrews have for the future? “Apart from the obvious - touring/trying to sell records! - I’d love to entice new listeners to the music, says Andrews. “It’s going to take a lot of work, but I really hope to push this album towards open-minded music lovers. Sadly, it’s often the genre label that comes with

a record that governs whether people will listen to it. So many ‘jazz’ records are an explosive unity of unbelievably vast influences but people are put off just because they have heard one side of jazz that they didn’t enjoy.”

“I already have a concept for the next album,” says Fashola. “It’s interesting that I’ve just released my debut album and I already want to do it all again! I gained a lot of experience from recording it, and I am wiser now about the whole process.” And as for Andrews? “There’s nothing set in stone,” he says cautiously, “but I have been writing new material for the tours, including a new suite, which will hopefully give us a foundation on which to build towards a new recording. The process will certainly be smoother now I have some experience.”

Jumoké Fashola’s The Condition Of Being A Woman is out now, and the Tommy Andrews Quintet’s The Crux is launched at The Forge in London on the 17th June. Further details of upcoming live dates from both artists can be found at their respective websites: www.jumokefashola.com / www.tommy-andrews.co.uk.

For more information on the Recording Support Scheme run by Jazz Services, see our website www.jazzservices.org.uk.

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Organ Grinder As Phil Robson’s new Organ Trio continues its Jazz Services funded tour throughout June, the guitarist speaks to JazzUK editor John Norbury-Lyons.

Over the course of his extensive career Phil Robson has fronted a wide range of different groups, each showcasing a different side to his music; for example, his playing as co-leader of the long-established Partisans often sees him let rip rather more than in his jazz-meetsclassical string quartet project 6 Strings & The Beat. The common factor throughout is Robson’s seemingly limitless imagination and ability to turn his hand to any setting, and so it’s perhaps a little surprising that we’ve not yet heard him in that format that gives such prominence to jazz guitar – the organ trio…

“I’ve always loved the organ trio tradition,” explains Robson, “and so many of my favourite great guitar players have come out of it or been through it; Wes, Benson, Martino, Bernstein, McLaughlin, to name just a few. I have so much respect for this legacy that I didn’t want to try to try to recreate any of it, in any way. But at the same time, I want to feel part of it and celebrate those aspects that make it so great, such as its groove and warmth. I had to feel I’d come to a stage in my own playing and compositional development where I felt I could do that.

Hopefully that’s now.”

Robson asserts that he hasn’t planned the project so much as, “keeping an eye and an ear on it, although having said that I’ve thought of it many times over the last few years.” It’s certainly an

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inspiring choice of format for any guitarist to make, as it gives a great deal of freedom. “The first thing that springs to mind is the great sonic blend between electric guitar and Hammond organ,” says Robson, commenting on the line-up’s individual appeal. “They’re both instruments that were created in a similar era. The same applies to Fender Rhodes, which I really like too, but the difference between the two is that there is more harmonic freedom with organ because of the nature of the bass lines being played mostly in the left hand (even when using pedals), leaving smaller voicings in the right which are very close to guitar voicings.”

Robson’s choice of cohorts for this group couldn’t have been better, with his Partisans partner Gene Calderazzo on drums and Ross Stanley taking on the organ duties.

“Gene has obviously been very important in my history,” he says.

“In many ways I formulated of lot of my time-feel concept playing with him from my mid-twenties onwards, so it’s very natural for us to make music together.” Is their playing relationship very different in this format from others in which they’ve worked together? “It’s not that much different in some ways because in the bands that we have been part of together - Partisans, 6 Strings & The Beat, etc. - there was always a large element of trio playing anyway. But the music this band is doing is very different from those other bands, so in itself that is challenging and fresh. Gene is one of the most naturally exciting drummers on the planet, and I say that having been lucky enough to have worked with many truly great ones.”

In contrast to Calderazzo, Ross Stanley is a relative newcomer to Phil’s music but the guitarist is

full of praise. “He really makes us both play differently, which is great. I think Ross is one of the most important younger musicians on the scene who will do many fab things. I’ve admired him for many years, both as a pianist and keyboard player, but I’d had very little opportunity to work with him outside of occasional gigs with my friend Paul Booth. I’d been waiting for an opportunity to do so, and as it wasn’t forthcoming I decided to make it happen myself! Ross has an old head on young shoulders in the sense that he is not caught up in stylistic confinements and has a very wide knowledge of music.

It’s rare to gel with any musician instantly and the guitar/keyboard relationship is notoriously tricky, but with him I found it immediately easy.

He has great ears and is not afraid of going in any direction, like Gene, so that’s thrilling.”

The rapport between the three players is clearly a big part of what endears this project to Robson.

“Both Gene & Ross really make me laugh a lot,” he says, “and I believe humour is very important in musical relationships as it breaks down inhibition. Quite a few of my fellow musicians and friends have done a great job with organ trios over the last few years, so in that respect, it’s probably not the greatest timing commercially! I never work with that stuff in mind though, so I’m really hoping that this combination of musicians will make people curious in itself.”

The trio originally took off after a couple of ‘try-out’ gigs, which were so much fun for the band and the audience that Phil was convinced it had to become a regular touring band. They started by performing some of Robson’s own existing material, but he quickly began

writing specifically for this group.

“I picked existing original tunes which I thought would work but I’m gradually replacing them all with new ones. Even the existing tunes sound totally different because of the sound and feel of this band, so they seem like new ones anyhow.

I really enjoy getting to play the melodies for a change!” he adds enthusiastically.

group, he says. “I write alone but only because I have never really done it another way - other than occasionally collaborating with my partner, Christine Tobin, but her own writing and ideas are so strong that this has been fairly minimal in comparison. I do however keep encouraging Ross to write some material for the band and I’m sure he will!”

which will be released in September on Whirlwind Recordings, followed by a UK launch tour in the autumn and winter.” The band is also doing an extensive North American tour in June 2014 centred on an appearance at the Rochester International Jazz Festival as part of the Made In The UK series, organised by promoters ESIP in conjunction with Jazz Services.

It’s always fascinating to see an established player like Robson stretch out into new territory, and with seven UK dates in June and more in September this is hopefully a project that will keep him busy for some time. “Nothing is permanent,” he concedes, “but I think the group potentially has real longevity. I aim to record the trio at the end of the year and then tour more extensively in 2015 with the album.” Given his other commitments we might have to wait just a little longer before we can appreciate the group’s full potential on record as well as live, but this is a group that’s been in the making for some time and Robson is nothing if not patient. “People expect you to instantly record and then tour but it doesn’t really work musically, especially with a new line up. I want to really find out where it can go before I do that. All previous projects inform the next, and so does playing other people’s material. I believe that it all goes into the melting pot somewhere!”

While no less exciting and dynamic, the new material is more minimal than in some of Robson’s previous projects. “With 6 Strings And The Beat, there had to be more actual written material by the nature of having a string quartet within the

Of course, part of the reason that we’ll have to wait to hear this band on record is due to Robson’s other commitments. “Partisans have recently reformed after a two year break,” he explains. “We have recorded a new album called Swamp

The Phil Robson Organ Trio tours in June with support from the Jazz Services National Touring Support Scheme; they play Newcastle (5th), Bristol (8th), London (9th), Norwich (10th), Swansea (11th), Northwich (12th) and Leavenheath (13th).

More info from www.philrobson.net.

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Continuing our forays into the UK’s jazz radio scene, this issue’s Guest Spot belongs to Pete Butchers, presenter of Jazz Today on Cambridge105.

Some say jazz is dead, but it’s just wishful thinking on their part.

There is so much good stuff out there, much of it released on small independent labels or self-released.

Sadly, the opportunity to hear this music is limited, so the chance to assist in spreading the word by hosting a radio show and playing today’s jazz was too good to resist.

That chance arose upon my retirement from a career in science in 2005. A fledgling community radio station in Cambridge was looking for volunteers, and a jazz-based show fell within their remit for specialist music.

I had never set foot in a radio studio before, and although I was experienced in public speaking, getting to grips with the studio hardware was daunting. However, all the necessary training and support was provided, although the challenge of presenting my first live show was exacerbated by the fire alarm going off halfway through!

Over the past nine years the station has changed both name and management, and has been in its present guise as Cambridge105 since 2010. It’s a volunteer-based community-owned radio station broadcasting on 105FM in Cambridge and online at www. cambridge105.fm. It broadcasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with a clear focus on local news and issues. Being non-profit making, it is dependent on grants, sponsorship and advertising for its survival (local businesses please note).

I once tried to master the saxo-

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phone, with little success. It did however enlighten me as to the skill involved, something we so easily take for granted. Unable to contribute in a musical sense, I have been lucky enough to be able to spread the word through the medium of radio. Many thanks to the management of Cambridge105 (and its predecessor 209 Radio) for giving me that opportunity.

Community radio is becoming an important outlet for specialist music. Why not have listen, or even get involved yourself?

The Show Jazz Today is a two hour show broadcast fortnightly on alternate Sundays at 4pm (and repeated at midnight on alternate Tuesdays).

As its name suggests, the spotlight is on contemporary sounds, mainly new and forthcoming releases, covering everything from modern mainstream to free. Selecting music to play on the show is time consuming, but fun, and in a genre with blurred boundaries, what constitutes jazz is always an issue.

Being a community radio station, my selection is not driven by any commercial imperative. In fact I make every effort to include music from the lesser-known independent labels, and feature jazz from around the world (at least those parts of the world where jazz is legal!). Every three months I produce an online podcast featuring some of the best

tracks to appear on the show. Links to the current edition (and all previous podcasts) are available from the website www.jazztoday.co.uk.

Jazz Today is advertised on social networking sites, and the playlists, together with links to the relevant websites, are published online.

Halfway through each show I run through the jazz events coming up in Cambridge over the following months, supported by some appropriate sounds. I’ve also recently instigated a ‘gig worth travelling for’ slot.

Every December (along with many others) I produce a pick of year list, never an easy task especially considering the number of releases that come my way.

The Scene Jazz can be heard in a range of venues around Cambridge, from the grandeur of the Corn Exchange, to University clubs, pubs, restaurants and coffee shops. We even have some buskers who improvise.

However, central to the Cambridge jazz scene is the Cambridge Modern Jazz Club (www.cambridgejazz. org). The CMJC is the longeststanding jazz club in the East of England and over the years the club has inhabited no fewer than ten venues around the city, including Kettle’s Yard, one of the country’s leading art galleries. It’s currently based at The Hidden Rooms in Jesus Lane, a subterranean venue ideally suited

the Co-op holds weekly sessions with a different tutor each week.

Cambridge is also home to the Cambridge University Jazz Orchestra (www.cujo.soc.ucam. org), which brings together the top jazz musicians at the University.

And Anglia Ruskin University has its Jazz Ensemble under the tutelage of Kevin Flanagan.

Pete’s Picks Pete chooses some recent recordings that have hit the spot…

Pete Butchers at the office for purpose.

It was established in 1972 by Joan Morrell, who ran it successfully until her death in 2011. Joan played a major role in developing the early careers of many musicians who have gone on to become internationally renowned artists. The club is currently run by a strong committee which continues the tradition of hosting top quality national and international acts, as well as local bands. 2014 has already seen over a dozen gigs including the Kit Downes Quintet, Jean Toussaint’s JT4, Partisans and Brass Jaw. The Hidden Rooms (www.hiddenroomsonline.com) also hold Jazz

Lounge sessions every Thursday night, featuring jazz on record plus local bands led by the likes of vocalist/pianist Robin Phillips (pictured) and pianist Chris Ingham. Another venue worthy of mention is the Hot Numbers Cafe (www.hotnumberscoffee.co.uk) in Gwydir Street, which holds weekly jazz sessions hosted by Nick Hill. Recent guests have included The Dog Days and Gilad Atzmon.

Budding musicians in the city can take advantage of some great jazz tuition by attending the Cambridge Jazz Co-op (www.cambridgejazzcoop.org.uk). Currently based at the Blue Moon pub in Norfolk Street,

1. Didier Levallet Quintet: Voix Croisees (Evidence). France has no shortage of world class bass players - Henri Texier, Sebastien Boisseau, Renaud Garcia-Fons, and Helene Labarriere come to mind.

But another master of the instrument is Didier Levallet. I remember seeing Didier performing with the late Harry Beckett in Mulhouse 20 years ago, and his playing on this new album show that his skills have not waned. All the compositions are written by Didier and the female front line of trumpet (Airelle Besson), flute (Sylvaine Helary) and saxophone (Celine Bonacina) create some interesting voicings.

2. Mark Lockheart: Ellington in Anticipation (Subtone). A septet that graced The Hidden Rooms in Cambridge a year ago, and despite an horrendous journey from Belfast in the snow, gave a highly entertaining performance, including a welldeserved encore. Mark’s creative arrangements of the Ellington (and original) compositions still allow space for the band to explore. And what a band it is, with Mark, Finn

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in Europe, master of everything from classical stealth to rousing gutbucket. Alto saxophonist Hayden Chisholm comes on like a 21st century Paul Desmond, and Matt Penman and Jochen Rueckert provide subtle yet creative support. The string trio add a different dimension to Root 70’s sound. The writing is creative, without ever slipping into sentimentality.

Robin Phillips Peters and James Allsop on reeds, Emma Smith on violin, Liam Noble on piano, Tom Herbert on bass and Seb Rochford on drums. I think the man himself would have been impressed.

3. Ben Goldberg: Subatomic Particle Homesick Blues (BAG Productions).

Ben manages to mine that exciting seam of jazz that falls between the traditional and the free. And he brings in some heavyweight support to help him, namely Joshua Redman, tenor saxophone, Ron

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Miles, trumpet, Devin Hoff, bass, Ches Smith and Scott Amendola drums. Ben has come a long way since his early recordings with the New Klezmer Trio two decades ago.

Sadly this particular line-up was (as Ben puts it) a band for a day. But as you can tell from the music, they were made for each other!

4. Nils Wogram’s Root 70 with Strings: Riomar (NWOG). This band was one of the highlights of this year’s JazzAhead! festival. Nils is one of the premier trombonists

5. Hayden Powell: Roots and Stems (Periskop). Trumpeter Hayden Powell was born in the UK, but moved to Norway as a child. Since then he’s become an integral part of the thriving Norwegian jazz scene, performing with the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, Magic Pocket and more recently the Dag Magnus Narvesen Octet. Here, nine of his intriguing compositions are interpreted by the trio of Hayden, pianist Eyolf Dale and bassist Jo Skaansar, and beautifully recorded at the Rainbow Studios in Oslo.

Jazz Today is broadcast on alternate Sundays between 4pm and 6pm on Cambridge105 – 105FM in Cambridge and online at www.cambridge105.fm. Playlists and quarterly podcasts can be found at www. jazztoday.co.uk. You can contact Pete Butchers via email at jazztoday@cambridge105.fm and follow him on Twitter @jazztoday105.

Saxophonist, bandleader and educator Phil Meadows [and Newcomer of the Year in the Parliamentary Jazz Awards! – Ed.] gives us his regular insight into what’s hot on the UK’s youth jazz scene.

HotTopic: MJF Original – Anton Hunter’s Article 11 Having commissioned its first original work in 2000, the Manchester Jazz Festival has now been pioneering new jazz music for fourteen years. Since Richard Iles’ New Futures premiered at the turn of the century, the festival’s MJF Originals strand has created a platform for many of the region’s top musicians to launch new, largescale projects that may not have been possible otherwise. This year sees Beats And Pieces guitarist Anton Hunter premiering new work and a new ensemble. We caught up with him to see what he has in store for the people of Manchester this July...

“It’s called Article 11. It’s for an 11-piece ensemble and I’m trying to incorporate a lot freedom along the way. The initial stages involved me writing small bits of material, one for each player, and then asking them to record themselves playing the music and then immediately improvising, the idea being that I want to get a feel for how they each respond to what I’ve written, and to allow them to contribute to the

creative process in a way that isn’t that common in large ensembles.”

Hunter’s approach to creativity and freedom can be seen through his guitar work, his composition and his support for the ever-blossoming Manchester scene. Performing with groups such as HAQ, Skamel, Beats And Pieces and his selftitled trio, Hunter demonstrates his versatility as each ensemble continues to bring a variety of fresh approaches in jazz music to the UK and across Europe. His musicianship is only enhanced by his work as co-founder of Efpi Records and promoter for Freedom Principle, where fourteen records (so far) have been released and dozens of performances hosted. Hunter’s relentless and irrepressible energy has gained him respect as one of the most creative, hardest working and most dedicated musicians in the UK, and after applying for the MJF Originals last year the good news this time around came as a slight shock: “Steve Mead from MJF called me just before Christmas (I think). I had applied last year and I assumed it was another ‘thanks but no thanks’ phone call, so I was very pleasantly surprised. I think I swore a bit and ran round the house...”

Article 11 brings together some of Hunter’s closest friends and combines them with musicians met through the travels of Efpi co-founder Sam Andreae, plus improvisers associated with Manchester’s regular night The Noise Upstairs – another event curated by Hunter. Trumpeters Graham South and Nick Walters (from Beats And Pieces) join saxman Andreae and brothercome-drummer Johnny Hunter.

Helsinki based Mette Rasmussen (from Trio Riot) plays alto saxophone with HAQ bassman Eero Tikkanen rejoining Hunter for this fresh collaboration. The exciting line-up is completed with the addition of Simon Price on tenor sax/flute, Cath Roberts playing baritone saxophone and both Seth Bennett and Richard Foote on trombones.

“The music, like a lot of my own stuff, sits at the border between the composed and the improvised and hopefully blurs it to a point where the players feel free within the written material. I’ve been inspired a lot by Graham Collier’s large ensemble work, as well as Ken Vandermark and Per Zanussi.

Not so much the sound world they inhabit, but more the way they allow the personalities of the musicians to come into the music. Bringing the project together is going to be great fun, and having the opportunity to rehearse properly thanks to the festival is fantastic!”

The premiere of this year’s MJF Original is set to be one of Anton Hunter’s biggest performances to date and promises to offer the audience something unique. Article

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Anton Hunter

© Andy Newcombe

11 takes place at 6pm on July 24th at the iconic Central Library in the heart of Manchester and tickets are now on sale. For those south of the Watford gap, fear not, as it can also be seen three days later at London’s Vortex Jazz Club.

For more information visit www. manchesterjazz.com or follow Hunter’s progress on the festival blog (http://manjazzfest.wordpress. com).

Hot Tracks: Sydenham High School Sydenham High School for Girls has spent the past two years focused on developing jazz within their music department. The birth of the

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Sydenham High Jazz Collective and the SH Gospel Choir demonstrates their thirst for creativity, providing an opportunity for thirty girls to learn and develop jazz skills at a time where the small number of women in jazz is under scrutiny. As well as running these successful groups they partnered with the brand new Engines Orchestra to host to the Engines Easter Jazz Course, bringing together 27 young musicians from across London for three days of music making!

1. Impressions – John Coltrane 2. Now’s the Time – Charlie Parker 3. Cissy Strut – The Meters 4. Blue Bossa – Kenny Dorham 5. Butterfly – Herbie Hancock 6. Hey Burner – Sammy Nestico 7. Caravan – Duke Ellington 8. Watermelon Man – Herbie Hancock 9. Strasbourg St Denis – Roy

Hargrove 10. Hound Dog – Elvis Presley

HotTracks: Beyond These Voices – Nick Malcolm Quartet (Green Eyes Records) Beyond These Voices marks a very welcome return for the Nick Malcolm Quartet after their acclaimed 2012 release Glimmers.

Featuring Malcolm on trumpet alongside Alexander Hawkins (piano), Olie Brice (double bass) and Mark Whitlam (drums) this record toys intelligently with the musical paradox of sound and silence. Its use of heavily structured bursts of melody acts as a basis for intricate

improvisation where the lines are blurred between notation and creativity. Listeners’ ears are taken on a journey that breaks away from solid structure, twisting and turning through the material with a brilliant sense of group dynamic.

It’s this dynamic that emphasizes just how much Malcolm’s quartet has grown since their debut release. The group’s identity is similar yet more secure and the levels of interaction between the musicians makes this record something to behold as they seamlessly build tension from unexpected places, allowing the music to take new directions.

Malcolm and Hawkins, (who uses the piano to its full extent in this record) make a great team allowing Brice and Whitlam the platform to instigate new ideas, be it acting as the engine room through grooving passages or breaking free in the contrasting sections.

It is clear that this album is well considered, well rehearsed and

brilliantly executed, and the playfulness of sound and silence is at the fore throughout. Two contrasting duets pair Malcolm with bassist Brice and Hawkins with drummer Whitlam, while the addition of vibraphonist Corey Mwamba not only contributes through his own beautiful musicianship but through Malcolm’s use of the sounds which they all create. In this highly entertaining record, the moment

of total poignancy comes in the track Grimes where the use of silence is used to bridge total chaos, with the calm of sporadic piano purely to enhance the beauty of space. If you haven’t checked out Nick Malcolm’s music before Beyond These Voices is a great place to start.

With each musicians personality integral to the sound of this group it promises to be a great live listen too.

Nick Malcolm tours in early June with Jazz Services support – read his Q&A at the back of this magazine.

25,000 PRINT COPIES PLUS UNLIMITED DIGITAL CIRCULATION IN TWO PUBLICATIONS!

Advertise with JazzUK

Contact: Nick Brown at advertising@jazzservices.org.uk or call 07824 663488.

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Read GIGS on your smart phone or tablet by scanning this QR code!

HIGHLIGHTS

Biswas, Shabaka Hutchings, Orphy Robinson (also musical director), Pat Thomas, Juwon Ogungbe, Neil Charles and Mark Mondesir will perform flautist Sutherland’s inspired piece.

Festivals This month we have a few summery picks from our listings.

Scarborough Jazz 30th Anniversary Celebrations Scarborough Jazz celebrates its 30th anniversary with two gigs: 4th June at The Cask: Alan Barnes with Jack Emblow and 14th June at The Spa Vitadome: Zoe Gilby Quartet (expect a superior finger buffet).

The story is very simple: Dennis Hitch, Bob Walker and Mike Gordon, the original trio, were just looking for somewhere to play and that’s how Scarborough Jazz started. Congratulations to the whole team! Join in the celebrations and check out a film that Dennis Lowe has made about Scarborough Jazz which also has some shots of the jazz festival (next edition is coming up in September), available on the website: www.scarboroughjazz. co.uk Matthew Halsall & the Gondwana Orchestra If you haven’t heard this band yet, make up for that quickly. Unique and mesmerising sound and an incredible ensemble of musicians (and instruments!). Trumpeter Matthew Halsall and his ensemble appear in Manchester, at the Band on the Wall on 15th June.

World Premiere of the ‘Yorkshire Jazz Suite’ @ Seven Artspace, Leeds on 29th June Doncaster Youth Jazz Orchestra conducted by James Hamilton will perform alongside Matt Bourne solo piano, Kim Macari Sextet featuring Leah Gough Cooper & Al Woods.

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Jazz Repertory Company specialises in recreations of significant artists, concerts and jazz history.

On 15th June they will premiere their spectacular new concert: ‘100 years of Big Band Jazz in 99 minutes’ at the Cadogan Hall in London The 17 piece Big Band includes Georgina Jackson as lead trumpeter and singer, vocalist Iain Mackenzie (Ronnie Scott’s Big Band). Big Band leader Peter Long (Jools Holland’s Rhythm & Blues Orchestra) presents the show in his inimitably humorous way.

John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme re-envisioned Rowland Sutherland’s score ‘Enlightenment (In the Spirit of A Love Supreme by John Coltrane)’ was commissioned by Paul Bradshaw of Chaser Productions and funded by PRS for Music Foundation in 2012. It will be performed during the James Lavelle’s Meltdown Festival at the Southbank Centre in London on 22nd June.

A Love Supreme has been placed 47th on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 best albums. It has influenced countless musicians and artists from Frank Zappa to Jimi Hendrix and to this day, 50 years since it was recorded, is still considered essential listening, inviting the listener, in John Coltrane’s words, to experience ‘Elation, Elegance, Exaltation’.

A stellar, 14 piece ensemble of some of the UK’s finest musicians including Steve Williamson, Ade Egun Crispin Robinson, Nikki Yeoh, Ansuman

Swansea International Jazz Festival 20th – 22nd June In June Swansea hosts the inaugural International Jazz Festival. There will be over 50 performances, both free and ticketed as well as free jazz workshops and lectures. Highlights include American funk keyboard player Jeff Lorber with his fusion band and all-star line includeing Jimmy Haslip, bass, Eric Marienthal, sax and Sonny Emory on drums.

The festival, promoted by Swansea Jazzland includes a host of top UK jazz bands including Shakatak, Mornington Lockett Sextet, Claire Martin, Jim Mullen, Alan Barnes, Midland Youth Jazz Orchestra, Pete Allen Jazz Band, Nigel Hitchcock, Dick Pearce, Remi Harris, Protect the Beat, Trio Valore, Simon Spillett and many more. www.sijf.co.uk Glasgow Jazz Festival 25th – 29th June This year’s edition will include Neil Cowley Trio, Courtney Pine’s House of Legends, Zara McFarlane, Sons of Kemet, Dennis Rollins’ Velocity Trio, Jacqui Dankworth & Tod Gordon, and many more. Plus film screenings, Classic Album Listening Parties and Jam sessions every night. One of the highlights of the festival will be the Scottish Young Musician of the Year final. More on www.jazzfest.co.uk Burton Agnes Jazz & Blues Festival 27th – 29th June Three days of jazz in the beautiful setting of Burton Agnes Hall – check our listings for full line-up. www.burtonagnes.com

Upton International Jazz Festival 27th – 29th June With best of New Orleans, Gypsy Jazz and more – check the line-up on www.uptonjazz.co.uk SongSuite Vocal Festival 27th – 29th June The exciting vocal festival returns after two successful editions, this time to the London’s Pheasantry. Check our listings for full programme.

Events Mondrian & his Studions – exhibition at Tate Liverpool 6th June – 5th October See how music – including jazz – influenced the famous abstract painter Piet Mondrian.

Workshops Nottingham Jazz Workshops Continue every month at The Lion Inn, 44 Mosley St, New Basford, Nottingham NG7 7FQ, 0115 970 3506, contact Barb on 0115 875 8491 or nottinghamjazzworkshops@gmail. com. The next dates are: 4th June, 2nd July & 6th August (Singers) and 11th June, 9th July & 13th August (Instrumental), 7.00pm – 9.00pm, cost: £5.

Jazz Rhythm Section Course 28th – 30th July Abingdon Music Centre, Abbey Close, Abingdon OX14 3JD, 01235 535689, dorothy.giacomin@gmail. com Guest tutors: John Etheridge and Liam Noble with: Dorothy Shaw (piano), Tim Dawes (double bass) and Jez Cook (guitar) All musicians and singers wishing to work with a rhythm section are welcome.

Non-residential: £225 or £75 per day.

Free Swansea International Jazz Festival workshops 21st – 22nd June: Trumpet workshop with Bruce

Adams, Saxophone workshop with Alan Barnes, Bass workshop with Laurence Cottle At the Dylan Thomas Centre or the National Waterfront Museum (mornings), free – more info on the festival website www.sijf.co.uk Vintage Dance Workshop with the Shirt Tail Stompers 14th June Alton Assembly Rooms, High Street, Alton, Hants GU34 1BA 6.15pm - 11.15pm, cost £14.00, free dance lesson at 6.15pm, free refreshments.

For more info call 07572 506336 / 01256 329630 or email danceontheline@gmail.com www.danceontheline.co.uk

Bands touring with Jazz Services this month include: Phil Robson’s Organ Trio, Michelson Morley, Gabrielle Ducomble Band, Maciek Pysz Trio, Kate Williams Band, Kristian Borring Quartet, Rob Terry Trio, Becki Biggins and Her Dream Team, Julian Siegel Quartet, Nick Malcolm Quartet, Roger Beaujolais Quartet, Dave Mannington’s Riff Raff and Charlotte Glasson Band.

On the Gigs cover: Gabrielle Ducomble Gabrielle Ducomble and her band featuring Nicolas Meier - guitar, Dan Teper – accordion Nick Kacal – double bass and Saleen Raman on drums continue their tour in June. Gabrielle and the crew showcase her latest album Notes From Paris, a fittingly entitled disc that comprising Ducomble’s sumptuous arrangements of some well-known classic French songs, including tracks made famous by Edith Piaf (Je Ne Regrette Rien, La Vie En Rose) and Serge Gainsburg

(Ces Petits Riens). It’s a charming showcase of both vocal and instrumental talent that is at once respectful of the source material but also allows Ducomble to impart her own identity on the songs. Ducomble’s band is well suited to her choice of repertoire and conveys a classy European air, with Dan Teper’s accordion and the excellent Nicolas Meier on guitar summoning up visions of Parisian cafés and nightclubs. This is no clichéd affair, however; the quality that exudes from the album and live shows is both genuine and indisputable, and Ducomble is a great asset to the UK’s jazz scene.

Look Out for the Young & Talented!

Durham University Big Band has just won the Great North Big Band Jazz Festival for the third time, the only band to do so in the Festival’s history. Aside from playing at balls and other University events, the band has enjoyed gigging across the UK as well as having residencies on cruises to Norway and the Baltic states. This summer you can catch the excellent student ensemble at the London’s Pizza Express Jazz Club (15th June) and on the first night of the Manchester Jazz Festival at Matt & Phred’s Jazz Club on July 18th.

Jazz Inspirations: Wynton Marsalis in conversation with Young Jazz East Big Band Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra perform alongside the next generation of jazz musicians from East London and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama – 1st July, the Barbican, London, as part of Wynton Marsalis & Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra residency.

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JAZZ ON THE ROAD JazzUK speaks to more bands hitting the road in June and July with the help of our National Touring Support Scheme. For information on the scheme and the bands involved, see the Jazz Services website.

Nick Malcolm Quartet - How long has this group been together?

Three and a half years, although we’ve all been playing with each other for longer than that in various original music and free improvisation ensembles. I think the history between us adds a lot of depth to the way we interpret the compositions in this group; there’s a great deal of shared musical understanding and experience between the four of us.

- What are your hopes for this tour and the future?

Apart from the obvious ones of hoping that as many people hear, enjoy (and buy!) our music as possible, I’m really looking forward to how condensed the dates are. It gives the music such added fire playing consecutive nights together. I’m really looking forward to playing Manchester Jazz Festival with the quartet this July, and hopefully getting some more festival opportunities in both the UK and Europe in the future.

- What can audiences expect from one of your gigs?

I’m lucky to play with some of the most individual, open minded and deep musicians in the country in this band. Audiences will get complete passion and commitment to the music in the moment - improvisation has to be that way for me! I also think there’s a lot of variety in the compositions, so hopefully audiences will dig that too.

- What’s the best thing about touring with this band?

The long conversations about music and life, the banter and having a drink together after the gig! www.nickmalcolm.co.uk

- What’s the latest project?

We’re touring to support the release of our second album Beyond These Voices, which follows our first, Glimmers, from 2012. Both my composing and the ensemble have got deeper since the first album, but there’s continuity of theme running through both records: the paradox of sound and silence. Creative musicians need to deal with a lot of noisy activity; performing, practising, e-mailing, networking.

But surely the point of what we’re doing is to remind our listeners and ourselves to the beauty or peace or silence beyond that? It’s like we need to master all the sound to get to the silence. Balancing the two is a lifetime’s work.

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Michelson Morley - How long has this group been together?

About two and a half years, though it’s been quite a slow-burner, mostly due to other commitments (Get The Blessing, for example). I’ve been mulling over the idea of forming my own band for years, but it wasn’t until I started playing with Mark and Will that I knew that This Was It! It quickly became clear that they were as excited about the way our music developed as I was, particularly with the use of electronics.

Mark has an amazing ability to take the drumkit, effects and digitally generated sounds and integrate them into a coherent, ethereal whole. It’s been a revelation.

- What’s the latest project?

Our first! Our debut album Aether Drift has just come out on the F-IRE Presents label. The name of the band is an homage to two nineteenth century scientists who attempted to prove the existence of the ‘luminiferous aether’. Much to their bemusement they couldn’t find it, but this forced everyone (including Albert Einstein) to stop, scratch their heads, and eventually revolutionise science and our understanding of the universe. I

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don’t suppose for one minute that we are going to revolutionise jazz, but we’re enjoying scratching our heads...

- What are your hopes for this tour and the future?

In the short-term we’re simply enjoying a great run of gigs in some fantastic venues. I hope people are enjoying the music and buying the record! But I’m also hoping this will alert the wider world to our presence and that we will have more opportunities to play around the UK and elsewhere. I’m writing some more music and we’re planning to record later in the year as a quartet with Dan Messore who is performing with us on the tour.

Dan’s already something of a rising star, a great guitarist, but he has special powers that enable him to create sonic textures that can lift a piece of music into a unique and different place.

We’ve also been working with an excellent experimental film-maker Dr Jo Mayes who uses a classic Bolex 16mm film camera and then processes it in her kitchen using Caffenol to create beautiful short films. We’re doing an Arts Council funded project with her in St Ives called Loop the Loop, working with electronics, samples from audio

books, and the local crime fiction reading group (!) on June 11th, right after our gig at St Ives Jazz club.

We’re planning to do more work with her in the future too and I’d love to collaborate with other artists in other genres too.

- What can audiences expect from one of your gigs?

Our music ranges from quiet, spare, reflective mood-pieces to powerful and exciting walls-of-noise. But I like to think we’re always tuneful, interesting and atmospheric, and we don’t take it too seriously.

We’re not overly analytical in our approach to music and although science is an inspiration, atmosphere and emotion are always more important than complexity and technique. I hope people will be moved and intrigued!

- What’s the best thing about touring with this band?

Apart from a full-English breakfast?

The great reaction we’ve had wherever we’ve played and the constant surprises as the tunes unfold. Touring can be gruelling at times, but it’s about spreading joy so it’s always worth it. http://michelsonmorley.com