Articles by Rob Witts

Sun Ra Arkestra + DKT/MC5 in London

by Rob Witts
March 3, 2005

Royal Festival Hall London UK25 February 2005The Sun Ra Arkestra take the stage in glittering costumes and outlandish headgear, looking like the house band at a particularly wild Star Trek convention and sounding like nothing else on earth - or indeed on Saturn. Since Sun Ra's death in 1993, the patented mixture of swampy big-band and riotous free jazz has been presided over by saxophonist Marhall Allen, who launches tonight's proceedings with a squealing solo. Taken as a ...

Brad Mehldau at the London Jazz Festival

by Rob Witts
January 17, 2005

Brad Mehldau/Brad Mehldau Trio Wigmore Hall London, UK November 17-18, 2004

Wigmore Hall, London's home from home to the classical chamber music elite, became a curious uptown outpost of the Jazz Festival this week, as Brad Mehldau packed it out on two successive evenings: a solo recital and a gig with his regular trio, featuring Larry Grenadier on bass and Jorge Rossy on drums. Booking the classically-inclined pianist was a shrewd move, both for ...