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RADIO June 10, 2020

Five Blokes at the Vortex

This episode of One Man's Jazz features an entire full set of music recorded in March at the Vortex Club in London. Originally the gig was set for Louis Moholo's Four Blokes , but when the veteran drummer fell ill at home in South Africa, the band asked the fine English drummer Mark Sanders to fill in. Thus Five Blokes was born. Pianist Alexander Hawkins kindly contributed some thoughts about that night. The subsequent recording is part of a series ...

ALBUM REVIEW April 14, 2019

Alexander Hawkins: Iron Into Wind

By John Sharpe

On his second solo album pianist Alexander Hawkins creates an adventurous and deeply personal synthesis which draws from both jazz and classical wellsprings. One of the foremost representatives of an exciting younger generation of British musicians, his talents are on display not only on his own projects, like Uproot (Intakt, 2018), but with growing circle of collaborators that reads like a who's who of contemporary jazz: Evan Parker, Taylor Ho Bynum, Harris Eisenstadt, Rob Mazurek, Joe McPhee, Wadada Leo Smith, ...

RADIO November 20, 2018

Ben Allison, Anais Drago, Reinier Baas and Other Great New Releases

By Ludovico Granvassu

The new albums bonanza goes on! And we happily oblige, revelling in some gorgeous new releases, some of which will definitely end up on the “Best of 2018" lists of many critics. Surprises, confirmations, re-releases, unexpected collaborations and much more make up this week's playlist full of aural pleasures... Happy listening! Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Phillip Johnston & The Coolerators “Frankly" from Diggin' Bones on (Asynchronus) ...

LIVE REVIEW May 5, 2018

Alexander Hawkins/Elaine Mitchener Quartet at Sonorities Festival Belfast 2018

By Ian Patterson

Alexander Hawkins/Elaine Mitchener Quartet Sonic Lab Sonorities Festival Belfast jny:Belfast, N. Ireland April 21, 2018 Sonorities Festival Belfast is one of Ireland's longest-running contemporary music festivals. This year saw the biannual SFB hit the thirty-year mark and to celebrate the milestone festival directors Miguel Ortiz and Simon Waters assembled an eclectic programme of contemporary musicians, composers and sound artists that straddled the worlds of multi-media performance, classical, contemporary string and choral, electronica, audio-visual ...

ALBUM REVIEW May 4, 2018

Alexander Hawkins / Elaine Mitchener Quartet: UpRoot

By John Sharpe

Adventurous pianist Alexander Hawkins seems intent on exploring as many different avenues of expression as is humanly possible, having already released solo set Song Singular, (Babel, 2013), duo set Leaps In Leicester, (Clean Feed, 2016), trio set Alexander Hawkins Trio, (AHM, 2015), and ensemble set Unit[e], (AHM, 2017), as well as documents of rewarding encounters with outfits as diverse as Rob Mazurek's Chicago Underground and Turkey's Konstrukt. Uproot represents a new venture for him as he teams up with vocalist ...

ALBUM REVIEW December 29, 2017

Alexander Hawkins / Elaine Mitchener Quartet: UpRoot

By David Rocheleau-Houle

Taking risk is--among other things--the essence of free jazz and experimental music. It is by taking risk that musicians can develop their own identity and push further the too many musical borders. With the possibility to take risk, a sense of freedom emerges--whether this sense of freedom refers to something real is not important here--and a range of new possibilities are now being unleashed. A sure sense of freedom emanates from UpRoot, and The Alexander Hawkins / Elaine Mitchener Quartet ...

ALBUM REVIEW December 2, 2017

Alexander Hawkins / Elaine Mitchener Quartet: UpRoot

By Glenn Astarita

Since the mid-2000s, British pianist, composer, Alexander Hawkins (Evan Parker, Chicago/London Underground) has become a force to be reckoned with, largely within Europe's exploratory progressive jazz and improvising circles. As a collaborator and solo artist, the pianist transmits a distinctive line of attack, where melody and free-form extrapolations enjoy a happy coexistence. On this studio set, he teams with notable performance artist, abstract vocalist and fellow Brit, Elaine Mitchener (Phil Minton, George Lewis) for a semi-structured set highlighted by the ...