James Tartaglia teaches at Keele University which is where I met him to talk about how a jazz saxophonist became a senior lecturer in philosophy – and how he has finally brought his two passions together in a band called… Read More ›
gareth fowler
Tom Dunnett Sextet
Jazz At The George IV George IV, Lichfield UK 15-06-2016 It was supposed to be a night off – the chance to enjoy a gentle stroll into town, a pint and a half in pleasant company, some live music, with… Read More ›
Mitch Perrins Quintet
Review and pictures by Garry Corbett The Red Lion, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham UK 26-02-2016 “Atlantic Quartet succeeds with originality, clarity and eclecticism.” So said no less an august body than the New York Times. At the Red Lion on Friday… Read More ›
JQJAZZ15 Legends Festival – Day Three
Various venues, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham UK 19-07-2015 The day began bright and early again with the second Jazz Breakfast session at the Bloc Hotel. Clearly jazz fans start later on a Sunday but the sparse audience did nothing to affect… Read More ›
Give Gareth a Manhattan boost on Monday
Birmingham-based guitarist Gareth Fowler is holding a fundraiser to help him get to Manhattan School of Music where he has been accepted on their graduate jazz course. It’s at York’s Bakery in Newhall Street next Monday. All the details are… Read More ›
Gareth Fowler – May 2015
Jazz guitarist Gareth Fowler finds a few brief moments in his busy life for a jazz breakfast at Yorks Bakery in Birmingham. Jazz has the ability to be a world music, adapting to every region of the world and feeding in those… Read More ›
Billy Weir adds some wood to the folk-jazz fire
Drummer Billy Weir has recorded his band Fired Oak and is launching the group’s debut release at The Red Lion in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter tomorrow evening. The actual silver discs won’t have arrived by then, so the physical album will have to… Read More ›
Mike Williams’ Sama
CBSO Centre, Birmingham UK 09-01-2015 Jazzlines, Birmingham’s premier jazz producers, opened their 2015 season with real aplomb and a project long overdue: a commission for new music from the saxophonist, composer and, perhaps most importantly, teacher, Mike Williams. Williams has been… Read More ›
Phelps, Fowler, Glasson and Hill – this week’s Midland highlights
One of the most exciting players of the young jazz set that has matured over the last decade – it includes the members of Empirical, pianist Kit Downes and saxophonist/rapper Soweto Kinch – is surely trumpeter Jay Phelps. We don’t… Read More ›
Guitarist steps forward with a new band and new material
His playing – richly supportive, harmonically sophisticated, soaring on the solos – will be familiar from a great many stints in other people’s bands, but on Thursday guitarist Gareth Fowler steps out front with a new band and some new compositions to explore…. Read More ›
Just a few of the choice Midland gigs this week
A reminder that pianist Andrew Woodhead brings his band into The Yardbird this evening. It’s a sextet with Nick Dewhurst on trumpet, Richard Foote on trombone, Elliot Drew on reeds, James Banner on bass and Jim Bashford on drums. The… Read More ›
Wish Mr Bain happy birthday in person at Yorks Bakery tonight
It’s drummer Andrew Bain’s birthday today and he’s playing this evening at the weekly session he and trumpeter/bassist Percy Pursglove host at Yorks Bakery Cafe. With Andrew and Percy will be Gareth Fowler on guitar and Mark Hodgson on bass,… Read More ›
Saxophone co-leaders at The Yardbird on Thursday
Alto saxophonist Chris Maddock and tenor man Nadim Teimoori will be side by side at The Yardbird on Thursday with their Quintet. Both are 2012 music school graduates – Maddock from Birmingham Conservatoire, Teimoori from the Royal Academy – and… Read More ›
Two words which bring warm smiles
You just have to say two words to those who have been listening to British jazz for a while to elicit (I’ll stick my neck out here and say) without exception a warm smile and enthusiastic appreciation. Those words are… Read More ›
Pursglove and Bain to reside at Yorks every Monday
A recent delight has been my discovery of Yorks Bakery Cafe in Newhall Street, Birmingham (just near the corner with Colmore Row). It has a lovely atmosphere and the kind of understated style that one associates with cafes in places… Read More ›
Ben Markland – bass man with a new band
Ben Markland has been a familiar face behind a double bass (and sometimes above an electric one, too) for as long as I have been listening to jazz in Birmingham. He is terrifically versatile, whether playing jazz, classical, contemporary music… Read More ›
Bowden and gang in Will’s neck of the woods
Stratford Jazz opens its autumn season on Wednesday with some of the Midlands’ most familiar and best-loved players. Leading the quartet from the alto saxophone is Chris Bowden, with Ben Markland on bass and Neil Bullock on drums. The band’s… Read More ›
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