Jazz Articles

Paul Harrison Trio: Nemesis

by AAJ Staff
August 1, 2001

From the North Atlantic side of the Jazz world comes the Paul Harrison trio, a piano trio that ought to make itself known outside its native Scotland with this fine first release.

Coming on the heels of being named Scotland's Young Jazz Musician of the Year, pianist Harrison won the rights to a recording contract with England's Caber records, and here shows he does not take it at all for granted- delivering a fresh program of fine, nine originals that ...

Eddie Severn: Moments in Time

by Ben Ohmart
August 1, 2001

‘The music on this cd represents a mixture of standards and original material with a diverse cross section of style and instrumentation.’ But Eddie caters for the most part to a smoother blend of jazz without a Latin-style race in the bunch. Easy going. Paced, sensitive. 8 minutes of ‘The Lost World’ is as tropical as the release gets, with Severn on his flugelhorn composition: a genuine soft-ice pleasure that’s one of the best of the 11 tracks here.

Bill ...

Tam White & Brian Kellock: The Crossing

by Dave Nathan
July 1, 2001

Scottish-based Caber Music assumes that the listener will somehow divine who is singing and who is the pianist on this two-performer session. Nowhere in the liner notes is this rather basic information revealed. Fortunately their web site tells us it's Tam White who's singing and Brian Kellock on piano.

Jazz blues singer White has been part of the Scottish music scene for more than three decades having worked with many practitioners of the blues art, including Al Green, Robert Cray ...

Something's Got to Give - Portraits of Fred Astaire: Brian Kellock Trio

by Dave Nathan
July 1, 2001

A graduate of Scotland's Edinburgh University, Brain Kellock has worked and/or recorded with several jazz notables including Herb Geller, Art Farmer and Sheila Jordan. Now he has released his own album which gives a major nod to Fred Astaire. This album honors Fred Astaire not for his work as a dancer, but as a singer. Astaire probably introduced to the public more entries in the Great American Popular Songbook than any other performer. He was especially favored by Cole Porter. ...

The Tom Bancroft Orchestra: Pieology

by Jack Bowers
October 1, 1999

Tom Bancroft’s six–year–old orchestra from Scotland has been described as “the most adventurous contemporary big band in the UK,” a statement that will go unchallenged here. I have no degree in Pieology, but after appraising Bancroft’s debut recording (covering those six years) on the new Caber Music label, I’d guess that it must have something to do with slicing big–band Jazz into as many pieces as one can, tossing them into a blender and awaiting the outcome — which, in ...