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JazzLife UK

Bruce Lindsay's up to date report about jazz in the UK.

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ReVoice! 2014: collaboration is a key to success

Read "ReVoice! 2014: collaboration is a key to success" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay


The ReVoice! Festival--a celebration of the human voice--is five years old in 2014. Happy Birthday congratulations are in order for the jny: London based festival--this milestone anniversary is an indication of its success and of the wealth of vocalists in the jazz world and beyond. From small beginnings (just five concerts) in 2010 the festival has grown year on year. The 2014 festival program, running from 9-20 October, includes a total of 26 performances across 12 nights in four different ...

11

The Art Of The Song

Read "The Art Of The Song" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay


Singing is possibly the most universal of the arts, certainly of the musical arts. The human voice is the most portable of instruments, always there, always available. It's also the most expressive of instruments: almost every instrument invented in history has at some time or other been used to mimic the voice; none have truly succeeded.Ask most people to name a few great musical stars of the past 100 years and the chances are that the majority of ...

61

Eat Worms Or Be Loved

Read "Eat Worms Or Be Loved" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay


The first JazzLife UK article of 2012 has been some time coming: my apologies to anyone who noticed. By way of recompense this edition moves beyond the narrow confines of the British Isles to discuss an international Jazz Quandary: if jazz has gone so horribly wrong, how can we fix it?It's a big question and demands a big answer. In fact, it's two big questions. Has jazz gone horribly wrong? If it has, how can it be fixed? ...

148

The JazzLife UK Gilded Butterfly Awards 2011

Read "The JazzLife UK Gilded Butterfly Awards 2011" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay


As Noddy Holder and the mighty Slade remind us every year, “It's CHRISTMAAAAAAS." With the Yuletide festivities comes the annual avalanche of End Of Year lists, Best Of awards and Grammy nominations. This year, JazzLife UK adds its own awards to the list: the inaugural JazzLife UK Gilded Butterfly Awards (or GBs). In line with the Grammys JazzLife UK has streamlined the GBs, down from the originally proposed 642 categories to a core group of seven. But it's the seven ...

204

It's Our Generations

Read "It's Our Generations" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay


It's been a strange summer here in the UK. To be fair, that description can be applied with no trace of irony to almost any British summer--and the summer of 2011 seems to have been a strange one for much of the world. But this is a JazzLife UK article, and parochial concerns are paramount, thus the strange British summer takes precedence. One aspect in particular. Because it's a very positive aspect, a cheering and upbeat and oddly synchronous part ...

263

So Why Can't Jazz Guitarists Play Chords?

Read "So Why Can't Jazz Guitarists Play Chords?" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay


This edition of JazzLife UK starts about as far from Britain as it's possible to get in the USA without toppling head first into the Pacific. It returns to its spiritual and physical homeland of Norfolk, where it can happily hide from the real world until next time, and looks forward to a festival that combines music, literature and beautiful architecture. Then it pops into the Great Wen (thank you, William Cobbett) for a short visit to celebrate some jazz ...

208

Gondwanaland and the Mystical North

Read "Gondwanaland and the Mystical North" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay


Good things continue to happen on the UK jazz scene. My cheery optimism remains in place. JazzLife UK gained a small smidgeon of recognition from the Big City. My new Blog, Jazz, Delicious Hot, Disgusting Cold, debuted to almost universal disinterest. Two new releases, the Kairos 4tet's Statement Of Intent (Edition Records) and Matthew Halsall's On The Go (Gondwana Records), are straight on to my Best Of shortlist for 2011. And there's only one enigma currently keeping me from contentment. ...

316

It's Been A Very Good Year

Read "It's Been A Very Good Year" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay


The New Year is past its infancy, leaving toddlerhood behind and heading into those difficult pre-school years. Olympic Fever jostles with a forthcoming Royal Wedding for the attentions of the Great British Public (at least according to the more populist media). Across the Atlantic, Esperanza Spalding won a first for jazz: the Grammy Award for Best New Artist--a story which interested the UK media, almost exclusively because of the unseemly response of some of Justin Beiber's young enthusiasts. And JazzLife ...

538

Northern Ireland: Jazz is on the Rise

Read "Northern Ireland: Jazz is on the Rise" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay


In geographical terms, the island of Ireland is small: just 300 miles by 175 miles, with a population of around 6.2 million. Northern Ireland is smaller still: 1.8 million people in six counties in the north-east of the island. In the wide world of jazz the country rarely rates a mention. But Northern Ireland's jazz scene is stirring: a small but highly-talented and enthusiastic bunch of musicians is rapidly expanding the scene and beginning to export the music around the ...

457

Autumn Falls

Read "Autumn Falls" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay


It's autumn (Fall, if pushed). British jazz gets sensible again, and moves back indoors. As keen readers will be aware, JazzLife UK is essentially an indoor photography project--outdoors is the space that must be crossed to get from one indoors to another--and the thought of another nine months of gigs without the need to pack sunscreen and a waterproof coat, both essentials for the British summer, gladdens my heart. Other things about the UK scene have gladdened my heart as ...


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