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Cassie Kinoshi: Letting The Sunshine In
by Chris May
Cassie Kinoshi, the acclaimed British composer and alto saxophonist, made her name as a founder member of the Afrobeat-inspired band Kokoroko and with her own ten-piece Seed Ensemble. Her work pushes social change, interrogating inequality and injustice, mainly through instrumental music, occasionally with lyrics, and always with invention and singularity. Seed's sophomore album, gratitude (International Anthem, ...
Balimaya Project: When The Dust Settles
by Chris May
Formed in 2019 by London-based drummer and percussionist Yahael Camara Onono, the sixteen-piece Balimaya Project blends traditional West African Mandé music with modal jazz and other sounds out of modern Black London. The ensemble's closest comparator, albeit at some remove, is the veteran Senegalese band Orchestra Baobab who, in the 1980s, were hugely popular at home ...
Kokoroko: Could We Be More
by Chris May
One of the features of the 2022 alternative London jazz scene is the incorporation of musical styles originating in Africa and the Caribbean, from whence a high proportion of prominent musicians on that scene trace their heritage. Not every band shares this African and/or Caribbean dimension but the majority do and it is one of the ...
Beyond Afrobeat: Kokoroko's World of Black Music
by Peter Jones
London-based octet Kokoroko has been led by trumpeter-vocalist Sheila Maurice-Grey since she formed it in 2014 with percussionist Onome Edgeworth. The band's original idea was to update Afrobeat for a 21st century audience, inspired by the likes of Ebo Taylor, Tony Allen, and Fela Kuti. It was the extraordinary public reaction to their first release--a single ...
Nubya Garcia: Source
by Chris May
Tenor saxophonist and composer Nubya Garcia's first full-length album has been a long time coming—but the wait has been worth it. Source is a cracker and more than fulfills the weighty expectations that built up in anticipation of its arrival. It was back in 2017 that Garcia debuted with the EP Nubya's 5ive (Jazz ...
New Jazz From London: Top 20 Paradigm Shifting Albums
by Chris May
After a lifetime trying to get on an equal footing with its American parent, British jazz has finally come of age. Since around 2015, a community of young, London-based musicians has forged a style which, while anchored in the American tradition, reflects the Caribbean and African cultural heritages of many of its vanguard players. The scene ...
Afrobeat: An Alternative Top Ten
by Chris May
It would be hard if not impossible to compile an Afrobeat Top Ten which was not wholly made up of Fela Anikulapo Kuti albums. Such was Kuti's centrality in the creation and development of Afrobeat, such was the productivity of his recording career--his catalogue totals more than fifty albums, not counting reissues and compilations--and such was ...
Most Read Album Reviews: 2019
by Michael Ricci
All About Jazz tracks how often an album review is read, and the reviews listed below represent our most popular in 2019. The number to the right of the date published represents the article's read count as of December 30th. In The Key Of The Universe Joey DeFrancesco by ...
Levitation Orchestra: Inexpressible Infinity
by Chris May
A lot of bull is talked about collective music-making, so it is good to come across a band who not only talk the talk but also walk the walk. Good, too, to come across a debut album that is as outstanding as the thirteen-piece Levitation Orchestra's Inexpressible Infinity. Vibrant, joyous and cosmopolitan, it joins Theon Cross's ...
Steve Williamson & Guildhall Jazz Orchestra: Celebrating Coltrane at Milton Court
by Chris May
Steve Williamson / Guildhall Jazz Orchestra / Scott Stroman Milton Court Concert Hall Celebrating Coltrane London July 10, 2019 The word “legendary" is bandied around so indiscriminately these days that it has all but lost its meaning. London saxophonist Steve Williamson is among a tiny number ...
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