Articles by Fiona Ord-Shrimpton
The Nimble Nuovication Of Nimbus Sextet
by Fiona Ord-Shrimpton
Scottish jazz, like the country's favoured spirit, whisky, is distinctive, carefully crafted, slowly matured and justifiably rare, and it delivers a sense of respect, modernity and personality concurrent with, yet unique from, jazz's ancestral home. Nimbus Sextet represent many regions of Scotland, not simply the two main cities, jny: Edinburgh and jny: Glasgow. All About Jazz interviewed the band's leader, keyboardist and composer, Joe Nichols. All About Jazz: What does the term jazz mean to Nimbus Sextet?
read moreYotam Silberstein: Universos
by Fiona Ord-Shrimpton
Universos is a trio album featuring Yotam Silberstein on guitar, accordionist and pianist Vitor Goncalves, with drummer Daniel Dor, plus special guests. It is a balance of Silberstein co-ordinating joyful Latin wellbeing and moderated contentment, an acknowledgment of the wonderful and exalted beings and moments that make him, and us, grateful to be alive. Never boring, Universos is accessible, erudite and easy-going and a great album to support good vibes during festivities of all kinds. As mood makers go, Universos ...
read moreJohannes Berauer: Vienna Chamber Diaries plus Strings
by Fiona Ord-Shrimpton
Johannes Berauer's album, Vienna Chamber Diaries plus Strings on Basho Records, is a jewel of emotional weathering to illuminate hearts after an unexpected and extended era of sadness. Berauer is a modern thinking, cross-over, chamber jazz Jedi. Perfecting the placement of elegant, exciting, heart easing, and harmonising in nine arrangements of exacting and uplifting joy, The Vienna Chamber Diaries plus Strings are a rollercoaster of gentle impulses and elation. The assembly of soloists is prescient, assured and propulsive. ...
read moreOmer Avital/Qantar: New York Paradox
by Fiona Ord-Shrimpton
The world in its collective viral neurosis is in a cold sweat. What to do? Store shelves are empty, hands have never been cleaner, and if all goes wrong, salaries may soon rise for those who will work. In these trying times, some days you simply must Avital"Omer Avital understands this. Thanks to his latest album, New York Paradox , you can, that is you can eavesdrop on the newly broken horizons made through the rhythmic and harmonic vocabularies underpinning ...
read morePete Malinverni: Heaven
by Fiona Ord-Shrimpton
Perhaps church would be fashionable again amongst lapsed Christians if every church had musicians at the spec of Pete Malinverni. We have, in part, much to admire of the LA based Newman family for their reach in music and its training, in which composer, Anthony Newman was an insightful mentor to Malinverni's dedication. It would seem that to get to Heaven you must start at the Bach. As a summons Malinverni's call to prayer is witness to some ...
read moreSam Friend: Twin
by Fiona Ord-Shrimpton
It's probably not best practice to liken anyone to anyone, yet we do it all the time, take comfort in the left hand column on CD Baby, or the recommends on iTunes or Amazon. Forgive this Captain Obvious then, when Sam Friend's album Twin gets likened to James Taylor and his son, Ben Taylor here, so a bookmark can be left. A few more souls around like the family Taylor is no bad thing. And what the hell, You've got ...
read moreTrish Clowes: My Iris
by Fiona Ord-Shrimpton
Firstly, each individual in the Trish Clowes Quartet, Trish Clowes on various saxophones, Ross Stanley on piano and Hammond, Chris Montague on guitar and James Maddren on drums, fits their corner perfectly, providing the extra dimension that makes their cohesive playing effortless. There are no shirkers or hang back components in this line up. My Iris is mistressful and masterful musical wizardry and it sounds fascinating. One Hour" starts with an uncommon horn-like guitar sustain, acting both other-earthly ...
read moreKaren Street/ Streetworks: Streetworks/ Unfurled
by Fiona Ord-Shrimpton
Women in British jazz, the stand-out sonically wonderful ones, you just don't hear them all too often, and finding them is like chasing unicorns. Outside of stoic jazz hoovers there are still too few mainstream listeners who suck it up these days, and that never helps. In the popular world of musical vacuum, perhaps the only answer budding jazz musicians ever hear is, Die son." (The popular vacuum -looks good, it's clumsy, over-priced, breaks easy and does half a job). ...
read morePatrick Naylor: Patrick Naylor/ Days Of Blue
by Fiona Ord-Shrimpton
Days of Blue from Patrick Naylor spends time in all the pantone blue hues, the first five tracks bringing the brighter half of the spectrum, the second half diving the deeper tones. Beginning with Baba," a bewitching Arabian influenced scale with mystery inspiring cascades, the album depicts a dance of sax and guitar from the start. Next up Naggar," a delicate accordion intro from Dan Teper, peppered with sweet guitar and brushes, it's vocally unpretentious, with a stage school rather ...
read moreThe World of Duke Ellington 2015
by Fiona Ord-Shrimpton
The World of Duke Ellington 2015 Jazz at Lincoln Center New York, NY April 29, 2015 Duke would have been 116 this year, and what a party he didn't have! JALC raised $3.9M on their gala night and the exceptional quality of all of the performances reflected the generosity of JALC supporters. There aren't many things that change as dependably as the unique inflections of jazz musicians, and with the legacy of Duke's ...
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