Results for "London"

Take Five with Kate Thomas

by AAJ Staff
February 7, 2020

Meet Kate Thomas Kate Thomas is a London based singer and singer-songwriter with influences from jazz, Latin and world music. So where did all these influences come from? Well, the soundtrack to Kate's childhood was mostly jazz, with the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra featuring prominently. Kate's grandad 'farvie' was a well-known ...

Fini Bearman

Fini Bearman is a London based singer, multi-instrumentalist & composer, who has a ‘rare sense of melody running through her eclectic compositions, full of catchy twists and turns’. Her music melds diverse influences from jazz, folk and contemporary music into an 'arresting and uniquely personal' sound. Sometimes dealing with settings of poetry and other times original lyrics, ‘her voice, effortlessly moves between a light precision and warm soulfulness is unmistakably her own’.  Fini released her latest album 'Burn the Boat' in October 2016 and it has already received much glowing reviews from peers and critics including ****'s from Jazzwise, allaboutjazz, the Guardian and the arts desk. '.

The Toots Project

When accordionist Toots Thielemans turned his attention to the chromatic harmonica, in occupied Belgium in the 1940s, he picked a chameleon of an instrument which was to lead to a musical career without boundaries. Was it something about this unique and rarely-heard instrument which took him into the worlds of bebop bands, electric funk, brazilian jazz and film & TV scores? Or was it the highly-personal voice of this soft-spoken North European gentleman which endeared him to the vanguard of American musicians and composers, from Charlie Parker to Quincy Jones, Benny Goodman to Jaco Pastorius? In a concert programme endorsed by Thielemans himself shortly before his death in 2016, harmonica maestro Phil Hopkins joins some of the UK’s most inventive jazz musicians to explore the eclectic repertoire of Toots

Dele Sosimi Afrobeat Orchestra at the Jazz Cafe

by Chris May
January 28, 2020

Dele Sosimi Afrobeat Orchestra / Yung Afriqa Pioneers The Jazz Cafe London January 24, 2020 Time was when if Londoners wanted to hear authentic live Afrobeat they needed to take a flight to West Africa, preferably Nigeria. Not anymore. All they need do in 2020 is take the ...

Pete Brown: White Rooms & Imaginary Westerns, Part 1

by Duncan Heining
January 25, 2020

Part 1 | Part 2 Poet, lyricist, rock musician, producer and scriptwriter—Pete Brown has covered a lot of bases in his six decades in music and literature. His career embodies that era that began with the Beatles' “Love Me Do" in October 1962 and ended in January 1969 with the band playing live on ...

Pete Brown

Born: November 9, 1906

Pete Brown was born in Surrey on Christmas Day, 1940 to a Jewish family who had fled London to escape the Blitz. With a keen interest in the war, what was happening and its aftermath, Pete moved back to London in 1951. Here he attended a Jewish Grammar School but was expelled when enforced religion took its toll. Pete began writing poetry in 1955, initially inspired by Dylan Thomas, Gerard Manley Hopkins and later the US Beats. For many years he moved between menial jobs until he got his first break and his work began to get published, primarily in America. Pete met poet, Mike Horovitz at the Beaulieu Jazz Festival in 1960 and joined his travelling arts group, New Departures

Issie Barratt: Every Solo Is A New Invitation

by Duncan Heining
January 21, 2020

Issie Barratt is one of the most significant jazz educators in Britain today. From 1999-2004, Barratt was head of Jazz at Trinity College of Music but her role as Artistic Director of the National Youth Jazz Collective has been of even greater importance in developing young jazz talent. Now in its, thirteenth year, NYJC goes from ...

Nat Steele

Born: July 17, 1985

Nathaniel Steele is a jazz vibraphone player and drummer based in London. Since his arrival on the scene, he has quickly gained a reputation as a talented musician to watch out for, described by Clark Tracey as "one of the best vibes players this country has ever produced." Following in the style of Milt Jackson, Nat takes a two mallet approach to improvisation, focusing on melodic interpretation and a great swing feel. He released his debut album "Portrait of the MJQ" on Trio Records (Proper) in 2017 with a launch at Ronnie Scott's, receiving critical acclaim in the national and jazz press

Champian Fulton at The Jazz Corner

by Martin McFie
December 23, 2019

Champian Fulton The Jazz Corner Hilton Head Island December 20-21, 2019 By the time Christmas comes around, those old seasonal songs are worn out. They are exhausted by overexposure in elevators, shopping malls, and streamed everywhere for a whole month of every year.  In complete contrast, a breath of sharp, ...

Stefanos Tsourelis

Born: January 1, 1979

Using the oud and guitar as his vehicle, Stefanos imprints his experiences from Greece and London on his music, taking the audience on an authentic journey that uniquely fuses Mediterranean music with jazz. The collaboration with bass player Dave Jones and drummer Eric Ford allowed the project to creatively evolve to its final form. Currently, the trio presents its debut album “Native Speaker” as well as new material while performing in the UK and abroad, at venues and festivals including the EFG London Jazz Festival, Ealing Jazz Festival, Teignmouth Jazz Festival, the Bulls Head, Jazz Cafe POSK, the Vortex and the Green Note