James Taylor Quartet – Don’t Mess With Mr. T
James Taylor’s vintage Hammond-led outfit has consistently delighted lovers of jazz, funk and R&B in equal measure over the last twenty years. The group is most famous for its signature tune, the “Theme From Starsky and Hutch,” but this album shows greater variety than the standard jam workout. Don’t Mess With Mr. T: James Taylor...
Robert Mitchell – Equinox
British pianist Robert Mitchell, yet another distinguished alumnus of bassist Gary Crosby’s Tomorrow’s Warriors development programme for young British jazz musicians, throws up many questions on his ambitious solo release Equinox. Performing alone is not unusual to Mitchell: as recently as 2004 he played opening recitals for saxophone luminaries Wayne Shorter and Branford Marsalis. The...
Elan Mehler Quartet – Scheme For Thought
Scheme For Thought was released on Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings in September 2007, accompanied by a series of gigs around London by pianist Elan Mehler and his quartet. This group has completely abandoned standard notions of jazz: the absence of a drummer and repeated use of arco playing on the double bass give an almost...
Empirical
Empirical burst onto the international music scene at the 2007 North Sea Jazz Festival, beating four other bands to win the inaugural European Jazz Competition. Two days later, with perfect timing, their self-titled debut album hit the shops. British saxophonist Courtney Pine had been keeping a keen eye on the quintet’s progress and produced the...
Trio Innovation
Avishai CohenRonnie Scott’s, LondonFriday August 24, 2007 This was the first time I’d visited London’s legendary jazz venue since its recent swanky refurbishment; still dimly lit, but with a classier kind of ambience, Ronnie’s barely allows punters to appreciate the photos of great jazz musicians adorning every wall. One man well on the way to...
Bristol: What else is going on?
Frederick Bernas embarks on a voyage of discovery to investigate the less talked-about aspects of Bristol’s vibrant music scene. While most students will probably know the names of the three Bristol venues I visited during this musical adventure, how many can say they have a good awareness of what kind of shows are going on?...
Eduardo Niebla – St George’s, 25/11/06
St George’s Hall off Park Street, which boasts of being one of the finest acoustic venues in the country, was host to a creative exploration of musical possibilities from a trio comprising two guitars and an Indian tabla player. Eduardo Niebla, whose show title brings to mind a completely contrasting guitar legend – Hendrix –...
Youngblood Brass Band – Nuclear Summer
This is a video I produced with two friends in New York, May 2006.
