It was once so simple… The Greek lyre player would pluck away, and the listeners in the olive grove – I nearly wrote “ancient olive grove” there but back in the fourth century BC it was probably just a youthful olive grove… Read More ›
cheltenham jazz festival
Cheltenham Jazz Festival – Sunday
Cheltenham Town Hall, Parabola Arts Centre & Jazz Arena 01-05-2016 I was really looking forward to the Sunday lunchtime performance by the Frankfurt Radio Big Band and guests playing Julian Argüelles‘ arrangements of South African jazz. The album Let It Be… Read More ›
Cheltenham Jazz Festival – Saturday
Parabola Arts Centre & Jazz Arena 30-04-2016 My two-day sortie to Cheltjazz this year began as it has done in the past, with the Trondheim Jazz Exchange in the Parabola Arts Centre. And what an encouraging, positive and enlivening start… Read More ›
Cheltenham Jazz Festival – my pick of the club – and circus – gigs
A jazz festival has to be broad in appeal, especially if it wants to take some artistic risks while still remaining on good terms with its bank and its backers. It’s always been the case – just think back to Newport… Read More ›
Cheltenham Jazz Festival adds a few more jazz names
More names have been added to the roster of the 2016 Cheltenham Jazz Festival which runs from 27 April to 2 May in its 20th Anniversary year. We’ll skip past the headliners which feature in the intro pars of the… Read More ›
First names for 2016 Cheltenham Jazz Festival announced
An email has just landed from Cheltenham Festivals with the first names for their Jazz Festival which runs from 27 April to 2 May in 2016. Here is the meat of it: Making his Cheltenham debut is the Grammy-nominated US… Read More ›
A tribute to John Taylor
Tony Dudley-Evans remembers the great jazz pianist who died suddenly on Friday night. I was shocked and immensely saddened to hear of the sudden death of John Taylor (see here). John was part of a generation of British jazz… Read More ›
Jazz FM Awards – all the winners for ’14/’15
There was an awards bash in London last night – The 2014/15 Jazz FM Awards, in association with Serious. Three awards were put out to public vote: Album of the year; Live Experience of the year; and UK Jazz Act of… Read More ›
John Scofield & Pablo Held Trio and Julian Argüelles Septet
Jazz Arena and Parabola Arts Centre, Cheltenham Jazz Festival, Cheltenham UK 03-05-2015 Like Lee Konitz and others before him, the U.S. jazz master John Scofield has found fertile common musical ground with a young European trio, this one from Cologne… Read More ›
Natalie Williams & In Bed With
Jazz Arena and Parabola Arts Centre, Cheltenham Jazz Festival, Cheltenham UK 03-05-2015 My day at Cheltenham wasn’t meant to begin this way. I had intended to see the French big band, Surnatural Orchestra, but was unable to get a ticket… Read More ›
Jasper Høiby – just before the dark
John Watson caught double bassist Jasper Høiby in his lens just before the lights went out for Phronesis’s sound without sight performance, Pitch Black, in the Parabola Theatre at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival last night. The festival continues today until… Read More ›
When the Sun can’t shine, there’s Shepp
When a festival is putting on over 50 events involving artists from all around the world it’s inevitable that all might not go to plan. So it is with the Sun Ra Arkestra at Cheltenham Jazz Festival this coming weekend…. Read More ›
Cheltenham Jazz Festival picks from the man who knows
The modern jazz festival has many more gigs in it than you can afford to go to. So how to decide what’s worth your hard-earned? There may be bands you know you will like. But what about the bands you… Read More ›
Dig down and the jazz is there at Cheltenham
The 2015 Cheltenham Jazz Festival (29 April to 4 May) programme has gone up online today. An initial glance at their website and I thought there had been some mistake: Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, Rumer, Wilko Johnson, Caro Emerald… My computer… Read More ›
My 10 favourite gigs of the year
2014 has been a good year and I have heard lots of wonderful music, in Birmingham, in Cheltenham and abroad at one of the many excellent festivals in Europe I have been privileged to attend. I have selected entirely from… Read More ›
Trondheim Jazz Exchange
Parabola Arts Centre, Cheltenham Jazz Festival 04-05-2014 There is a lot of listening pleasure to be gained from witnessing some of the finest and most experienced jazz musicians from around the world performing, but there is equal pleasure to be… Read More ›
Dan Nicholls’ Strobes
Parabola Arts Centre, Cheltenham Jazz Festival 04-05-2014 What I like most about keyboardist Dan Nicholls is the way he has developed a very distinctive, personal style of music that is so adaptable to different contexts and to new influences, many… Read More ›
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