Tag: London

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Performances Reviews

Henry Grimes, Paul Dunmall & Andrew Cyrille: The Profound Sound Trio at the Vortex, London

A review from All About Jazz:

A buzz of anticipation gripped a full house at the Vortex for the London debut of the Profound Sound Trio—a collective of British reedman Paul Dunmall and a heavyweight rhythm section of Andrew Cyrille on drums and Henry Grimes on bass. Their genesis as a trio came in 2006 when Grimes traveled to England and linked up with Dunmall on the recommendation of sometime AAJ writer, Marc Medwin. Upon recognising kindred spirits, they extended their collaboration, adding Cyrille for an appearance at New York City’s prestigious Vision Festival in 2008. Such was the success of that occasion that it spawned the release of the concert recording as Opus de Life (Porter Records, 2008) and a subsequent appearance later that year at the Cheltenham Festival. In recognition that further exploration of the fertile possibilities inherent in the collective was merited, Birmingham Jazz organized a UK tour of which this was the third night of seven.

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Interviews Releases Reviews

October Point of Departure

Bill Shoemaker’s Point of Departure has a new issue out.

Page One: a column by Bill Shoemaker
What’s New?: The PoD Roundtable
A Fickle Sonance: a column by Art Lange
The Book Cooks: The Philosophy of Improvisation by Gary Peters (The University of Chicago Press; Chicago, London)
Digging: The Afro-American Soul of American Classical Music, by Amiri Baraka (University of California Press)
Far Cry: a column by Brian Morton
Moment’s Notice: Reviews of Recent Recordings
Ezz-thetics: a column by Stuart Broomer
Travellin’ Light: Jamie Saft
Future Shock: a column by Kevin Patton

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General

Led Bib And How The British Got Something Right

From NPR’s A Blog Supreme:

The group is called Led Bib, and the song they played live, “Yes, Again,” is even more frenetic. (You can watch the performance itself on the BBC Web site — the video is for whatever reason not embeddable.) It was part of the ceremony for the Mercury Prize, an award given every year for the best album from the British Isles. Led Bib didn’t win; the award went to Speech Debelle, a South London rapper with a proclivity for jazz-influenced production. (Dig the backing roles for reedmen Shabaka Hutchings [clarinet] and Soweto Kinch [alto sax] at the live performance.) Even so, the fact that a jazz act, and especially one so outre, made it to the national spotlight at all should cause a double take.

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Interviews

Mats Gustafsson Of The Thing Interviewed

From The Quietus:

His most stable project has been his long-standing trio The Thing, with bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love — a swinging harsh-jazz ensemble renowned for meaty deconstructions of Bowie, the White Stripes, Peter Brötzmann, Lightning Bolt and countless other unlikely targets. This weekend, The Thing will perform at both Field Day in London and the Edinburgh Jazz Festival, in support of their latest collection of free-range visceral joy, Bag It! (Smalltown Superjazz).

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Performances Reviews

The Paul Dunmall Trio at the Vortex, London

All About Jazz reviews this recent show.

British reedman Paul Dunmall breaks bread with a wide range of collaborators. While the ensuing documentation is less prolific than say Anthony Braxton’s or Steve Lacy’s in either’s heyday, there is rarely overlap in personnel on consecutive discs. Saxophone, bass and drums have proved a particularly fertile configuration for Dunmall, borne out by his Deep Joy trio (Duns Limited Edition, 2004) with Paul Rogers and Tony Levin (long time associates in improvising ensemble Mujician) and most recently by what has come to be known as the Profound Sound Trio with Henry Grimes and Andrew Cyrille. Such has been the success of the latter, first at the 2008 Vision Festival and then at the 2009 Cheltenham Jazz Festival in England, that a November UK tour is mooted.

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Reviews

Acoustic Ladyland: Living With a Tiger

The latest from Acoustic Ladyland garners a review.

A claim to be London’s preeminent jazz/punk band may be met with derision in some quarters – until, that is, you hear the work of Acoustic Ladyland. Their brand of taught, energetic jazz has taken the city by storm – recognised by such luminaries as Ornette Coleman who asked them to play at the recent Meltdown Festival on the South Bank.

Now on their fourth album – following debut Camouflage in 2004 and subsequent Last Chance Disco and Skinny Grin – the group appears poised on the verge of wider exposure – bringing to the mainstream a secret the insular jazz world has long cherished.

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Performances Reviews

Unnamed Music Festival Review

Bagatellen reviews London’s recent Unnamed Music Festival.

Friday night opened with a long, appropriately meandering set from Jamie Coleman (trumpet, objects), Paul Abbott (electronics, homebrew), Ute Kanngiesser (cello) and Grundik Kasyansky (electronics, homebrew). This was another group I was particularly interested in hearing, in large part for my general unfamiliarity with the musicians save for Coleman. Their set opened with some chamber-like interplay, quickly moving into harsh territory due to the welcome restlessness of the electronicians. Kasyansky — calmly in his chair — brought in frenetic electronic outbursts, immediately subduing his gear with silence by way of switches and a mixer.

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Performances

Unnamed Music Festival in the UK, 11-13 June, 2009

From Bagatellen:

Just announced at the site for his Another Timbre label, Simon Reynell will be curating a new festival (his first?) this year in London and Leeds. Running at two performance spaces — Oto and Seven Artspace — the predominantly UK lineup is certainly inspiring, with some excellent combinations of talent.

Of particular note: a group on the first evening situating Benedict Drew with Tom Chant, John Edwards and violinist Angharad Davies. Jez Riley French with Patrick Farmer. Also a not-to-miss trio of Keith Rowe with Martin Küchen and Seymour Wright (two performances on separate evenings). Some manifest potential there for three great nights of music.

Details as published at AT:

thursday 11th june
cafe oto, ashwin street, london E8 3DL

* set 1: Sebastian Lexer / Aleks Kolkowski
* set 2: Angharad Davies / Tom Chant / Benedict Drew / John Edwards: improv set
* set 3: Rhodri Davies / Louisa Martin / Lee Patterson Lucio Capece
* set 4: Angharad Davies / Tom Chant / Benedict Drew / John Edwards: performance of John Cage’s ‘Four 6?

friday 12th june
cafe oto, ashwin street, london E8 3DL

* keith rowe / martin küchen / seymour wright
* bechir saade / clive bell / matt milton
* jamie coleman / paul abbott / ute kanngiesser / grundik kasyansky

saturday 13th june
seven artspace, harrogate road, leeds, LS7 3PD

* keith rowe / martin küchen / seymour wright
* jez riley french / patrick farmer

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Performances Reviews

Taylor Ho Bynum and Harris Eisenstadt in London

All About Jazz reviews this recent show.

Convergence Quartet
The Vortex
London, U.K.
April 27, 2009

Last sighted on these shores in the autumn of 2006, the success of the Convergence Quartet ‘s inaugural meeting has now borne the fruit of a further tour for cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum, drummer Harris Eisenstadt, and the up-and-coming English pairing of pianist Alexander Hawkins and bassist Dominic Lash.

“All four band members, though, found ample space within the quartet’s shared aesthetic, which was built upon attentive listening and quick witted response.”

Since the band’s first concert, Bynum has moved ever further from the Braxton penumbra to become an active and prolific leader stateside, while Eisenstadt balances bounteous collaborations with leadership dates like the dazzling Guewel (Clean Feed, 2008). Hawkins and Lash have become increasingly sought after, appearing in Evan Parker’s quartet and multifarious improvising collectives. In addition, Hawkins has toured with his own adventurous sextet, and Lash has made his debut on the New York scene. The quartet’s Live in Oxford (FMR, 2007), a memento of the last tour, now looks like it will be joined by a studio album (a recording date is scheduled for the end of this nine date tour).

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Reviews

Satoko Fujii Ma-do Quartet at the Vortex in London, England

All About Jazz provides a review of this show.

Satoko Fujii Ma-do Quartet
Vortex Jazz Bar
London, England
February 6, 2009

Japanese pianist and composer Satoko Fujii may have small hands but more than compensates with a big conception, realizing its expression through a bewildering range of vehicles. A full house at London’s Vortex Jazz Bar hosted her latest project, the Ma-do Quartet, partway through their first European tour.

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