Jazz Articles about Ian Shaw

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Ian Shaw: Stephensong

by Neil Duggan
November 20, 2025

With numerous plaudits and awards garnered over a long career, vocalist Ian Shaw presents Stephensong. A deep dive into the work of one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, composer Stephen Sondheim. Sondheim was also no stranger to awards, having picked up eight Grammy Awards, an Academy Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Throughout his multifaceted career, Shaw has occasionally focused on interpreting the work of iconic figures including Joni Mitchell, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, ...

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Ian Shaw at FolkClub

by Antonio Baiano
April 14, 2025

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Ian Shaw & Tony Kofi: An Adventurous Dream (At PizzaExpress Live In London)

by Chris May
March 31, 2024

The trouble with live albums recorded in venues that are, essentially, eateries, is that the musicians may have to go large to grab the audience's attention, sometimes too large for the material which they are performing. This is abundantly the case with An Adventurous Dream (At PizzaExpress Live In London): The Music Of Billy Strayhorn And Duke Ellington, co-headlined by vocalist Ian Shaw and alto saxophonist Tony Kofi, accompanied by pianist Barry Green and bassist Dave Green. The ...

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Sarah L King: Fire Horse

by Neil Duggan
January 27, 2024

Starting her musical path with coaching from Mike King, one of the UK's leading contemporary vocal coaches, Sarah L King (no relation), surfaced as a solo jazz vocalist, releasing an EP of standards and several singles. Her passage was helped by a family heritage consisting of an accomplished jazz trumpeter father and an orchestral conductor grandmother. An early career as a writer and director of short films provided the right impetus to be a compelling musical narrator. King's ...

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The Jazz Education of Ian Shaw

by Mathew Bahl
August 22, 2023

A few notable exceptions aside, great jazz musicians are not born; they are created. Most young musicians start by absorbing the work of important influences and then, through practice and live performance, decide what to keep, what to modify and what to discard. Ultimately, originality is less a byproduct of inspiration and more the end result of a process of self-editing. That has certainly been the case with the Welsh jazz vocalist Ian Shaw. Now in his late ...

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Ian Shaw, Iain Ballamy, Jamie Safir: What's New

by Chris May
March 22, 2020

What's new? Not the dozen songs on this enchanting trio album. Most of them have been around for well over fifty years and people will likely still be enjoying them in another fifty. The composers include Duke Ellington, Richard Rodgers, Burt Bacharach, Jimmy Van Heusen, Michel Legrand and Leonard Bernstein. Musically sophisticated and lyrically literate, the allure of their songs seems to grow, not fade, with age. What's New was recorded by vocalist Ian Shaw and tenor ...

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The New York All-Stars: Live Encounter

by Chris May
March 11, 2020

Some things live forever and take-no-quarter hard bop is one of them... If you time travelled back to New York City circa 1958 and wandered into the Half Note or Five Spot, Live Encounter contains the sort of music you might have heard. Tough, emotionally-rich jazz with no-fuss head arrangements, extrovert horn solos and a propulsive rhythm section. The album, recorded at London's Pizza Express Jazz Club in 2018, will appeal to anyone who keeps their Hank Mobley and Tina ...