Results for "Colin Towns"

Colin Towns

Size Matters: (Mostly New) Jazz for Big Bands and Orchestras, Part 3

by Ludovico Granvassu
August 10, 2021

Big bands and orchestras have something smaller ensembles cannot offer, sheer power and energy, and that often equals tons of fun, like you will find in our ongoing deep-dive into the world of forward-looking big bands and orchestras [after Part 1 and Part 2]. This show features mostly new and upcoming albums from some of the ...

England vs. Italy: A Jazz Re-match, Second Half

by Ludovico Granvassu
July 31, 2021

Welcome to the second half of England-Italy, a jazz rematch [for the first half click here]. England and Italy have both championed jazz very early on, and they have been among the first European jazz scenes to develop a recognizable accent in how they speak the jazz language, light-heartedness and sense of humour being integral aspects ...

Julian Siegel Jazz Orchestra: Tales from the Jacquard

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 ...

Di Zappa di più

by Mario Calvitti
February 26, 2021

Sono passati 27 anni da quando Frank Zappa ci ha prematuramente lasciato, ma la sua figura di musicista è ben lontana dall'essere dimenticata, o anche semplicemente messa da parte. Questo sicuramente anche grazie all'attività dei figli Dweezil e Ahmet, il primo con i tour mondiali della sua band Zappa plays Zappa dedicata alla musica del padre, ...

Frank Zappa's Jazz Legacy Refuses to Die, Part 2

by Ludovico Granvassu
December 26, 2018

This week we continue the retrospective dedicated to Frank Zappa's complex relationship with jazz, through a mix of the jazzier compositions performed by Zappa himself and countless tributes to his music paid by jazz musicians. As Frank Zappa loved to say, quoting Edgard Varèse, “the present day composer refuses to die" and the ...

Frank Zappa's Jazz Legacy Refuses to Die

by Ludovico Granvassu
December 13, 2018

Frank Zappa may have said “jazz is not dead, it just smells funny" but looking at his life and music one does not get the impression that he really believed that jazz was decomposing or dying a slow death. On Freak Out, one of the most impressive debut albums of all times, he ...

Naima/Live in Berlin

by Duncan Heining
August 30, 2018

Saxophonist Alan Skidmore has worked in many, many different settings during a career that stretches back to the early sixties with Alexis Korner--one of the three 'Fathers of British Blues" (paternity disputed!). That career has included recordings with John Mayall and Eric Clapton, Georgie Fame, Sonny Boy Williamson, Stan Tracey, Mike Westbrook, Mike Gibbs, the Walker ...

Film Noir, a Jazz Investigation

by Ludovico Granvassu
February 5, 2018

In search of clues about the key components that make it possible to build the mood, the suspense, the intrigue, the build-up of tension, the adrenaline rush and the release in a good film noir with a jazz soundtrack, or in the jazz soundtrack of an imaginary film noir. Plus an interview with German-born, ...

Presenting Problem

by Duncan Heining
January 30, 2018

Jazz often appears to exist within its own cultural and artistic paradigm, isolated from other arts and in its own discreet musical corner. Worse still from the perspective of those who would hope to make a living from it, it often seems that more people want to play the music than listen to it or, more ...