Articles by Ian Patterson
Joel Frahm Trio At Scott's Jazz Club
by Ian Patterson
Joel Frahm Trio Scott's Jazz Club jny:Belfast, N. Ireland April 12, 2024 Another sold-out gig. It is not an uncommon occurrence at Scott's Jazz Club. Yet this was no ordinary occasion for Ballyhackamore's award-winning venue. For starters, the Joel Frahm Trio was in the house. Scott's Jazz Club has attracted plenty of outstanding musicians since opening its doors in 2021, but this felt like a cat-got-the-cream event. And there was an extra ...
read moreWalter van de Leur: Jazz & Death, Part 2—Dancing With the Devil
by Ian Patterson
Part 1 | Part 2 Most people would probably take a linear, historical view of jazz in an attempt to understand its complex history. Walter van de Leur, Professor of Jazz and Improvised Music at the University of Amsterdam, starts with death. His book, Jazz And Death: Reception, Rituals And Representations (Routledge, 2023) illustrates multiple ways in which jazz's fascination with death feeds into the narratives and mythologies that surround the music and its practitioners.
read moreAleka Potinga: Romania: Songs Of Love And Longing
by Ian Patterson
You can take singer/cellist Aleka Potinga out of Romania, but you cannot take Romania out of her musical soul. Classically trained in Bucharest, and Dublin-based since 2012, Potinga has slotted into the city's fluid jazz/improvised music scenes, working with Izumi Kimura, Ronan Guilfoyle, Tommy Halferty and Cello Ireland. Her debut album Person I Knew (Self-Produced, 2019) featured imaginative interpretations of modern jazz classics by Wayne Shorter, Thelonious Monk and Bill Evans. Prior to that, her debut EP Aleka (EM, 2016) ...
read moreRemembering Albert 'Tootie' heath
by Ian Patterson
Drumming great Albert 'Tootie' Heath played with a who's who of jazz greats, from John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins to Wes Montgomery and Nina Simone. He recorded all too infrequently as a leader, probably because he was so in demand for other people's projects. This clip from the 2014 Chicago Jazz Festival finds Heath in the company of Ethan Iverson and Ben Street paying tribute to Thelonious Monk. Bye-ya Tootie, and thank you! ...
read moreWalter van de Leur: Jazz & Death, Part 1—A Closer Walk With Thee
by Ian Patterson
Part 1 | Part 2 What is jazz? Beacon of the oppressed; music of jny: New Orleans bordellos; popular dance music; revolutionary music; high-art music with an established cannon; progressive music that absorbs and grows; hermetic traditional music... Jazz has always meant different things to different people. Even the term 'jazz' is political and contentious. Black American Music, or borderless music of the world? The most democratic form of music, or a club that is stubbornly ...
read moreNout: Live Album
by Ian Patterson
Buckle up. Proceed with caution. As debut albums go, French trio Nout's reasonably titled Live Album is a riot of musicianship, foundation-shaking noise and fearless originality. The music purveyed by Delphine Joussein (flute), Blanche Lafuente (drums} and Rafaëlle Rinaudo (electric harp) is invariably referred to in press releases as the missing link between Sun Ra and Nirvana, but perhaps Rahsaan Roland Kirk and The Chemical Brothers would offer better signposts. Suffice it to say, Nout tramples all over established genres ...
read moreBrilliant Corners 2024
by Ian Patterson
Brilliant Corners 2024 Black Box/Accidental Theatre jny:Belfast, N. Ireland March 1-9, 2024 At a time when veteran rock acts on their last legs are asking cash-strapped punters to part with hundreds of pounds to stand in a stadium to hear the same hits as the last tour, and the tour before that, it is worth reflecting on the terrific value for money that jazz gigs usually offer. Take Brilliant Corners, Belfast's one-and-only ...
read moreApel-les Carod: Abismes i Flors
by Ian Patterson
Even if they do not consciously look for them, musicians tend to find role models, someone who inspires and motivates them. Inspiring others was probably not foremost in violinist Apel-les Carod's thinking when, in 2015, he became the first graduate in jazz violin from the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya. But just as Paco de Lucia inspired legions to take up flamenco guitar, Carod could, in a more modest way, impact the smaller world of Spanish jazz, should he ...
read moreLightnin' Hopkins: Glory Be
by Ian Patterson
Texas blues singer/guitarist Sam “Lightnin” Hopkins could lay claim to the authentic blues, having worked in the cotton fields for years. He turned electric in the 1950s, and toggled between acoustic and electric guitar with the blues boom and folk revival of the 1960s, influencing everyone from Jimi Hendrix to Stevie Ray Vaughan. But it is with the acoustic blues, soulful and heartfelt, that he forged his way in the 1940s, recording classic blues singles for a large number of ...
read moreGeorgia White: I'll Keep Sittin' On It
by Ian Patterson
The dirty blues? Georgia White had 'em. “If I can't sell it, I'll keep sittin' on it, before I give it away," the blues singer sang in 1937. The full lyrics paint a picture of a furniture shop, a chair and a would-be buyer, but the innuendo is thinly disguised. They don't write blues tunes like this one anymore. Bawdy mama! ...
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