Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton 08-10-2016 The Anglo-American quartet had expanded to a quintet since their last visit here, and if the Jazz @ The Arena audience couldn’t expand further due to having reached capacity for this lovely, intimate venue, then they made… Read More ›
If you are going to try a few gigs in the English Midlands this month, these are the ones I’d choose from first: Saturday 8 The Impossible Gentlemen Jazz @ The Arena, Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton 8pm, £15 The Anglo-American band now numbers five… Read More ›
An exceptionally fine international band which is very much of the moment and has a new album to launch; the world premiere of a specially commissioned new work featuring a composer with strong local links; a healthy mix of prestige… Read More ›
(Basho Records) The announcement that the transatlantic quartet was adding a saxophonist conjured up in the imagination a substantial change in the sound of the band. Would the British co-leaders, guitarist Mike Walker and pianist Gwilym Simcock, be settling in… Read More ›
There must have been countless jazz gigs over the last seven days which have included a tribute to the late, great and painfully-missed John Taylor. Here is a particularly lovely one, complete with a poem from Mike Walker: There is also… Read More ›
Bassist with The Impossible Gentlemen, Steve Rodby, viewed through the open piano by Garry Corbett, who was one of the lucky ones to be there at the Arena Theatre in Wolverhampton on Saturday evening. If you have so far missed… Read More ›
Reviewed by John Watson Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton UK 31-01-2015 There’s a chemistry among the finest groups that is unique to jazz, an extraordinary telepathy between the players combined with a selfless desire to allow the music to grow organically –… Read More ›
Jazz @ The Arena, the programme of jazz gigs at the Arena Theatre in Wolverhampton, has some great gigs coming up in the new year, including a very welcome return by The Impossible Gentlemen – Gwilym Simcock, Mike Walker, Steve… Read More ›
It’s the right time to look back at the year’s live jazz highlights in the West Midlands. Feel free to add your own favourites in the comment section. Here’s my top 10 in countdown mode: 10 Rachael Cohen Quartet, Churchills… Read More ›
It’s the week of the big hitters with three major jazz concerts in the Midlands. First up, tomorrow evening, is the saxophonist David Murray in his Infinity Quartet. Murray is one of those jazz players who started out in the… Read More ›
(Basho Records SRCD 43-2) The coming together of the young British pianist Gwilym Simcock with the slightly older fellow Brit, guitarist Mike Walker and the US drummer Adam Nussbaum, together with the positively ancient – and I mean that in… Read More ›
The new jazz programme at the Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton, recent recipient of a PRS Foundation/Jazz Services Promoter Award, extends into 2014 with a quartet of new dates announced. Friday 14 February: Gary Crosby’s Groundation Sunday 16 March: Tord Gustavsen Ensemble… Read More ›
There’s a new festival this weekend and it’s not very far away. The first Burton Jazz Festival takes place at the National Brewery Centre in the Staffordshire town, and features a wide range of music from the mainstream to vocal… Read More ›
A lot of the jazz world has taken August off, whether to take part in the major European festivals or to just chill out with a book on a beach, but there are still some intrepid folk prepared to stay… Read More ›
Alison Vermee, who turned the little Shropshire town of Much Wenlock into a vital tour stop for international jazz artists, is now doing the same for the city of Wolverhampton. She has just announced a new jazz season at the… Read More ›
CBSO Centre, Birmingham UK 01-12-2012 Well, it wasn’t quite what I expected. With a second album talked about and a European tour coming to an end, I expected to hear a lot of new music from this transatlantic supergroup of… Read More ›
“This feels like the start of something special… Let’s hope it becomes more than a one-tour stand.” That’s what I wrote in May 2010 about a band that didn’t have a proper name at that point, and I’m pleased to… Read More ›
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