Results for "Zoe Rahman"

Zoe Rahman

Described in The Observer as "a remarkable pianist by any standard”, Zoe Rahman has firmly established herself as one of the brightest stars on the contemporary jazz scene. A vibrant and highly individual pianist/composer, her style is deeply rooted in jazz yet it reflects her classical background, British/Bengali heritage and her very broad musical taste. Known for her powerful technique, wide-ranging imagination and exuberant performance, she has become a highly sought-after musician. Born in Chichester, UK, to a Bengali father and English mother, Zoe studied classical piano at the Royal Academy of Music, took a music degree at Oxford University and then won a scholarship to study jazz performance at Berklee College of Music, Boston, where she studied with the inspirational pianist JoAnne Brackeen. Her second album, "Melting Pot", was nominated in 2006 for one of the UK’s most prestigious music awards, the Nationwide Mercury Prize and it also won ‘Jazz Album of the Year’ at the UK’s first Parliamentary Jazz Awards. Since then, she has recorded two more critically acclaimed albums

Giant Steps: Diverse Journeys in British Jazz

by Chris May
May 10, 2021

Giant Steps: Diverse Journeys in British Jazz David Burke 240 Pages ISBN: 9781908755483 Desert Hearts 2021 David Burke's survey of British jazz musicians of colour does not begin promisingly. The first sentence of his Foreword reads: “Jazz is, of course, African-American in provenance, just as the greatest ...

Serendip Quartet: Queen Of Fire

by Chris May
April 23, 2021

This is the second album from Belgian tenor saxophonist Arnaud Guichard's Serendip Quartet. The first, The Tale (Impeka, 2018), received a deserved four-star review on All About Jazz, and Queen Of Fire is just as good, if not better. The first album's singular intersection of Ben Webster and mild hallucinogenics is still there to be savoured, ...

Soothsayers: We Are Many

by Chris May
March 10, 2021

Straddling jazz, Afrobeat, conscious reggae and dub, South London's Soothsayers is among the top ten must-see attractions on Britain's club circuit (on hold for the duration). Soothsayers can make the lame not merely walk, but dance. We Are Many is the band's ninth studio album and it is a superbly well-realized production, up there with an ...

Saxophone Colossi: An Alternative Top Ten Banging Albums

by Chris May
February 18, 2021

Miles Davis once said you could tell the history of jazz in four words: Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker. You might want to add John Coltrane, you might even want to add Davis. But however you cut it, saxophones and trumpets have been the flag bearers of the music. Trumpets got things rolling and saxophones came into ...

River City Jazz Masters Preview, Newk, Tadd & More

by Marc Cohn
September 22, 2019

Happy 89th birthday to Mr. Sonny Rollins! After some 21st century music from Hudson, Joshua Redman (his latest), UK pianist Zoe Rahman [whew!], Chicagoland's Geof Bradfield & Kamasi Washington, we preview the Baton Rouge River City Jazz Masters 2019-2020 season at the Manship Theatre (Eddie Palmieri, Eric Alexander, Nicholas Payton AND Jazzmeia Horn)! It's ...

Ill Considered: 6

by Karl Ackermann
August 8, 2019

The London-based quartet, Ill Considered, has churned out nine full-length albums in less than two years, each high quality and each a unique jazz creation. Founded in 2017, saxophonist Idris Rahman, drummer Emre Ramazanoglu and bassist Leon Brichard replaced their additional percussionist with Satin Singh on their second release, Live at the Crypt (Self Produced, 2017). ...

We Out Here: The Fast-Forward Evolution of British Jazz

by Chris May
July 25, 2019

After a lifetime in the shadow of its American parent, British jazz is finally coming of age. A community of young, London-based musicians is forging a style which, while anchored in the American tradition, reflects the modern Caribbean and African cultural heritages of the majority of its vanguard players. The music also addresses the race, class ...

Courtney Pine: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

by David Burke
October 16, 2017

Courtney Pine didn't pick up his beloved tenor saxophone for more than a decade, until an album exploring the black British experience demanded it. The multi-instrumentalist eschewed the horn on the likes of Europa, House of Legends and Song (The Ballad Book), his two-hander with pianist Zoe Rahman. “I spoke to Sonny Rollins about ...

Live From Old York: Courtney Pine, Zoe Rahman, Ben Bedford & Colum Sands

by Martin Longley
May 28, 2015

Courtney Pine & Zoe Rahman Pocklington Arts Centre May 5, 2015 Courtney Pine's recent explorations have contrasted massively with the bulk of his career. Most of the time, he's fronted a fairly large, pretty driving and somewhat dense ensemble, its details changing but its powered, festival-orientated stance remaining quite ...