Jazz Articles
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Xhosa Cole: On A Modern Genius (Vol.1)
by Jack Kenny
Xhosa Cole has moved forward constantly, since winning the 2018 BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year award. He has released two studio albums: K(no)w Them, K(no)w Us (Stoney Lane Records, 2021) featuring saxophonist, Soweto Kinch and pianist, Reuben James and Ibeji (Stoney Lane Records, 2022), featuring seven percussionists with African roots. This 2025 release has Cole with his quartet during their 38-date spring tour of the UK in 2023 playing the music of Thelonious Monk. Cole is ...
Continue ReadingTrish Clowes & Ross Stanley: Journey to Where
by Ian Patterson
After four albums together in saxophonist Trish Clowes' quartet My Iris, Clowes and pianist Ross Stanley peel away from the quartet for this intimate duo outing, recorded in Wigmore Hall, London in July 2021. A studio album by design, there is, nevertheless, an unguarded, searching quality to these exchanges which is more in keeping with the energy of a live performance. Blurring the lines between improvisation and composition, this intuitive duo artfully muddies the waters of jazz and classical, traditional ...
Continue ReadingXhosa Cole: K(no)w Them, K(no)w Us
by Chris May
When tenor saxophonist Xhosa Cole won the BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year prize in 2018, Britain was introduced to a young player with formidable technique and a solid grasp of the post-John Coltrane African American tradition. Cole was then little known outside Birmingham, his hometown in England's Midlands, and he had developed independently of London's alternative jazz scene. His classic as opposed to radical aesthetic brought a refreshing vibe. So too did that of saxophonist Alex Clarke, a ...
Continue ReadingYoung Pilgrims: We're Young Pilgrims
by Gareth Thompson
Based in Birmingham, England, the record company Stoney Lane is named after a street where soccer team West Bromwich Albion once played. Thus, each of the label's releases is numbered with a glory year from the club's past, whether a promotion or a cup win. However, so often have West Brom yo-yoed between England's top leagues that its fans sing a famous 'boing boing' chant which involves much jumping, bouncing and arm-flailing. Should those fans invest this energy in a ...
Continue ReadingStillefelt: Stillefelt
by Mark Sullivan
British bassist/electronics player Chris Mapp initially formed the Stillefelt trio as a “quiet band" in response to his group Gonimoblast, which can often be quite the opposite, as heard on Gonimoblast Live (Stoney Lane Records, 2017). The band name means “quiet field" in Norwegian. Mapp is joined by Percy Pursglove (trumpet and flugelhorn) and Thomas Seminar Ford (guitar and electronics) on this debut recording, recorded live at Royal Birmingham Conservatioire. Featuring a trumpet in a “quiet band" runs ...
Continue ReadingChris Mapp: Gonimoblast Live
by Mark Sullivan
Bassist/composer Chris Mapp leads the British electronic and jazz-inspired improvising collective Gonimoblast. This double-disc release taken from 2015 live recordings in Birmingham feature two guest musicians from the Norwegian improvisation scene that influenced their approach: Maja S.K. Ratkje (voice & electronics) on Disc One; Arve Henriksen (trumpet, electronics, & voice) on Disc Two. In addition to being one of the most recognizable names in Norwegian improvisation, Henriksen's group Supersilent was a major inspiration for the formation of this band.
Continue ReadingMike Fletcher Trio: Vuelta
by Bruce Lindsay
Vuelta is the debut release from the Mike Fletcher Trio, a band with a strong emphasis on improvisations based on Fletcher's melodies. The result is an accessible collection of tunes that draw on the creativity and technical skills of all three players.The trio is based in Birmingham, the major city of the English midlands. Fletcher, a 2014 ECHO Rising Star, plays the rather rare combination of flute and C-melody saxophone. Olie Brice and Jeff Williams stick with the ...
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