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Dave Holland / Norma Winstone / London Vocal Project directed by Pete Churchill: Vital Spark
by Neil Duggan
Dave Holland, Norma Winstone and the London Vocal Project, directed by Pete Churchill, combine to present Vital Spark, an album featuring a collection of Kenny Wheeler compositions for choir and jazz ensemble, written in the last period of his life.Seven of the nine pieces on the album were mailed to Churchill over the course of a few years. He managed to resolve and arrange these part-formed fragments. Winstone added her lyrics, alongside Wheeler's settings of poems by Stevie Smith, Lewis ...
Continue ReadingRoss Lorraine: More From The Heart
by Neil Duggan
A jazz pianist, arranger, theatre music composer and contributor to numerous other projects, Ross Lorraine now seems to have found his true calling as a songwriter. More From The Heart follows on from his songwriting debut on Heart of Mine (self produced, 2022) and follows a similar approach. After penning the lyrics and melody, Lorraine steps aside and a variety of top-class vocalists perform his compositions, together with a cracking band that elevates the songs and brings them to life. ...
Continue ReadingJim Rattigan: When
by Chris May
Composer-arrangers as diverse as Gil Evans and Charles Mingus have employed the French horn, but it remains something of a niche instrument in jazz. Why? The same question applies to the almost complete absence of trombones in West African jazz and Afrobeat, and their ubiquity in Brazilian samba. The first convincing explanation in the Comments box below will win a night out with Sidney Powell or Rudy Giuliani. The second such explanation will win two nights. Anyway, Britain's Jim Rattigan ...
Continue ReadingGeorgia Mancio: Live At ReVoice!
by Bruce Lindsay
The name at the top of the cover of Live At ReVoice! is that of Georgia Mancio, the London-based vocalist who appears on every one of the 12 tracks. A quick glance lower down the cover adds a dozen more names--a list of Mancio's accompanists that reads like a veritable “Who's Who" of the UK jazz scene. A baker's dozen of talented performers, twelve beautifully performed songs, captured with exceptional sound quality. Mancio has organised the ReVoice! festival ...
Continue ReadingNikki Iles: Hush
by AAJ Italy Staff
Arriva dall'Inghilterra arriva questo disco, sognante e delicato, di un trio di altissimo livello, quello capitanato dalla pianista britannica Nikki Iles e completato da due maestri americani quali Rufus Reid e Jeff Williams, che si fanno sedurre dall'idea di un disco alla Bill Evans in cui alla raffinatezza del tocco sul pianoforte si aggiunge l'interazione sottile della sezione ritmica, il dialogo paritario a tre, le linee solistiche del contrabbasso, i colori che la batteria sparge nel percorso, senza pensare al ...
Continue ReadingNikki Iles: Hush
by Bruce Lindsay
The transatlantic band that created Hush--British pianist Nikki Iles, and American bassist Rufus Reid and drummer Jeff Williams--had never played together as a trio before their single rehearsal session on the night prior to recording at Dave Bennett's New Jersey studio in September 2010. That the album sounds like the product of years of collaboration is a testament to the trio's skills, and to these three musicians' mutual understanding, for Hush is a beautiful and affecting record.The overall ...
Continue ReadingNikki Iles: Meditation and Collaboration
by Bruce Lindsay
Pianist and composer Nikki Iles describes herself as one of the “not- so-young-anymore generation" of British jazz musicians--a fair comment, in chronological terms, from a musician born in the mid-'60s. But more importantly, she's a musician of experience, expertise and talent, viewed with great respect by players across the world. Iles' self-description does seem to be typical of her modest and slightly self- deprecating approach, though: she's not one for ego trips or grandiose claims. In fact, she is more ...
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