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Mark Nightingale

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Articles

Strictly Smokin' Big Band: Strictly Smokin' & Friends

Read "Strictly Smokin' & Friends" reviewed by Neil Duggan

by Neil Duggan
May 22, 2024

They can be stuffy and old-fashioned. That is the view that many, especially the younger demographic, have about big bands. Making serious headway into changing those perceptions is Michael Lamb. He is the main composer, arranger and trumpeter for the Strictly Smokin' Big Band. He set up the band in 2003 and they have steadily developed to be the top big band in the North East of England and one of the most exciting in the UK. What ...

Album Review

Julian Siegel Jazz Orchestra: Tales from the Jacquard

Read "Tales from the Jacquard" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
July 6, 2021

L'eredità orchestrale britannica, rappresentata dagli eclettici lavori di Mike Gibbs, Mike Westbrook, Django Bates e Colin Towns, si rinnova in questo brillante debutto da bandleader di Julian Siegel. Nato a Nottingham 55 anni fa, Siegel è uno dei massimi sassofonisti del Regno Unito, leader di un quartetto e sideman in molte formazioni orchestrali: da quelle dei citati Bates, Gibbs e Towns ad altre dirette da John Taylor, Kenny Wheeler, John Dankworth e Stan Sulzmann. La ...

Album Review

Julian Siegel Jazz Orchestra: Tales from the Jacquard

Read "Tales from the Jacquard" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
June 13, 2021

Reed player Julian Siegel has been an important part of the London jazz scene since the late 1990s, when he cofounded Partisans, a high-energy quartet completed by guitarist Phil Robson, bassist Thad Kelly and drummer Gene Calderazzo. The band is pretty much beyond category, although it is usually billed as jazz-rock. Unlike normative jazz-rock outfits, however, Partisans is anchored firmly in the acoustic tradition, Robson's plugged-in guitar aside. Also contrary to the jazz-rock norm, Partisans, as its name suggests, has ...