Articles by Bruce Lindsay
Petra Haller and Meg Morley: Shoulders I Stand On
by Bruce Lindsay
Shoulders I Stand On is a duo album, but not a typical one. It is a recording which combines piano with tap dance, the interplay creating a soundscape that is both original and fascinating. Meg Morley, an Australian musician based in London, is an experienced and skilled accompanist who has played for silent movies and for dance ensembles including Ballet Rambert. Morley has also released a couple of trio albums, 2017's Can't Get Started and 2022's Journey Through ...
read moreLumor: Flock of Birds
by Bruce Lindsay
Lumor's vocalist, Mirjam Hassig, describes the trio as a “Swiss jazz and ambient band," which goes some way, but not all the way, to summing up the group and the music to be heard on its debut album, Flock of Birds. Yes, it is a jazz trio, the line-up completed by leader and composer Manuel Sidler on guitar and Flo Hufschmid on drums. Yes, much of the music can be described as ambient, in the sense of being calm, restful ...
read moreIvor Cutler: A Life Outside The Sitting Room
by Bruce Lindsay
The following is an excerpt from Chapter 6 (A Life of Whimsical Fantasies) and 9 (A Life on the Page), from Ivor Cutler: A Life Outside The Sitting Room (Equinox Publishing, 2022). Chapter 6: A Life of Whimsical Fantasies Ivor's love of jazz, formed during his teens and early-20s, remained strong and he visited jazz clubs around London. The Phoenix, a Cavendish Square pub with a Wednesday night jazz club, was one of his regular haunts and he ...
read moreOnder Focan: Aubergine / Patlican
by Bruce Lindsay
Six tunes about food or, more precisely, six tunes in tribute to the eggplant (aka the aubergine or the patlican); that is the tracklist for Aubergine / Patlican, a delightfully fresh and joyous album from Turkish guitarist Önder Focan. An established jazz musician with over a dozen albums to his name, Focan is based in Istanbul where he is artistic director of the Nardis Jazz Club. His playing has been compared to jazz masters including Larry Coryell, Kenny Burrell and ...
read moreRoss Lorraine: Heart of Mine: songs of Ross Lorraine
by Bruce Lindsay
Heart of Mine is well named, as composer and keyboardist Ross Lorraine's compositions are at the heart of this album. But Lorraine takes something of a back seat when it comes to performing, leaving instrumental duties to some of the British jazz scene's leading players, and vocal duties to six of the scene's most talented singers; Claire Martin sings lead on three tracks, is part of the trio of backing vocalists, plays percussion and co-produced the album alongside Lorraine and ...
read moreMatt Anderson Quartet: The Town and the City
by Bruce Lindsay
Saxophonist Matt Anderson grew up on the North Yorkshire Moors, in the north of England, and is now based in London where he teaches junior jazz ensembles at the Royal Academy of Music. The Town and the City is his third album—the title a nod to his years in the small towns and villages of the Moors, and his later move to the capital— and the second to feature his quartet of pianist Alberto Palau, bassist Will Harris and drummer ...
read moreDeadeye: Deadeye
by Bruce Lindsay
Many years ago, jazz combos simply called themselves after one of their number: the Dudley Moore Trio, the Miles Davis Quintet, and so on. The tradition still lingers, but even a well-established format such as the Hammond organ trio must sometimes follow the modern trend of adopting a name that is at once original and also opaque. Hence Deadeye, a trio consisting of Kit Downes on organ, Reinier Baas on guitar and Jonas Burgwinkel on drums. Why Deadeye? Who knows? ...
read moreEmma Smith: Meshuga Baby
by Bruce Lindsay
In early 2012, Emma Smith, already an established member of Britain's National Youth Jazz Orchestra but still only 21 years old, released her debut album. The record mixed standards with Smith's own compositions and established the London-based artist as a talented singer and songwriter. Another album would usually have been expected within a year or two, but it would be another decade before the second album, Meshuga Baby, saw the light of day. It's been worth the wait: Smith's early ...
read moreValentín Caamaño: All The Gods
by Bruce Lindsay
All the Gods is the fourth album from Spanish guitarist and composer Valentín Caamaño, a recording which he describes as his most personal to date. On previous albums, Caamano revisited the works of boppers (be-and hard-) such as Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker and Grant Green. On All the Gods—accompanied by saxophonist Xose Miguelez, bassist Alfonso Calvo and drummer Miguel Cabana— he updates those influences with a set of mostly original compositions that clearly trace their lineage back to those stars ...
read moreEster Wiesnerova: Blue Journal
by Bruce Lindsay
Sometimes, catching the eye can be as important as catching the ear, at least in the beginning. Slovakian singer and composer Ester Wiesnerova definitely catches the eye with her debut release, Blue Journal. Inside a plain brown cardboard box is something of a tactile, as well as visual, treat:--a book covered in rich blue felt, full of photographs and song lyrics, held closed by a loop of black elastic and decorated solely by the title and artist's name written on ...
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