Jazz Articles

Alan Barnes & David Newton: 'Tis Autumn

by Neil Duggan
September 9, 2024

You may have heard of the 10,000-hour rule, perhaps from Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers, where he describes how it takes around 10,000 hours of intensive practice to master complex skills like playing the saxophone or the piano. That amounts to around 20 hours a week for a decade. Imagine, then, the calibre of performance that saxophonist Alan Barnes and pianist David Newton have attained. Having met as teens studying at Leeds College of Music in the 1970s, they have been ...

TransAtlantic Collective: Traveling Song

by Bruce Lindsay
July 19, 2009

In recent years jazz groups have begun to give themselves names that give nothing away about their composition or style. The TransAtlantic Collective bucks the trend with a name that offers a more helpful description of itself: a group of musicians from the USA, Britain and mainland Europe. American saxophonist Patrick Cornelius, British trumpeter Quentin Collins, Estonian pianist Kristjan Randalu, UK-based American bassist Michael Janisch and drummer Paul Wiltgen from Luxembourg were college friends whose occasional get-togethers have blossomed into ...

Jim Hart Quartet: Words And Music

by Bruce Lindsay
May 17, 2009

This is the first recording from vibraphonist Jim Hart's Quartet. Subtitled A Tribute to the Art of Song, the album is Hart's attempt to reinterpret some songs by classic songwriters as well as to debut two of his own, and it's a successful attempt. Despite the title, there are no vocals on any of the nine tracks. Instead, Hart's vibes take on most of the responsibility for the vocal lines, with playing that is extremely melodic and ...

Simon Spillett: Introducing Simon Spillett

by Roger Farbey
January 29, 2007

Simon Spillett's debut album clearly marks his preferred territory. Taking his cue from the late Tubby Hayes, he delivers the ten tracks as bold statements of intent and not merely space fillers. Spillett knows his music and has made an intelligent choice balancing barnstormers like the opener “Make Someone Happy with exquisitely sublime ballads “Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most and “But Beautiful.

Although a long-standing disciple of Hayes, Spillett is no copyist. He's too self-aware to slide ...

Simon Phillips_Jeff Babko: Vantage Point

by Glenn Astarita
November 1, 2000

Drummer Simon Phillips is widely known and revered for his work with rock guitar legend Jeff Beck, the Pop group “Toto”, appearances with numerous progressive bands, stints on some fairly recent Buddy Rich “Tribute” recordings and over the last several years, a string of fine fusion-based solo outings. And while Phillips is considered one of the most powerful drummers on the planet, many folks don’t associate his laudable and quite enviable talents with the world of jazz. However, with the ...