1) A voice and guitar duo at Octave. But not just any voice and guitar duo. Phil Robson from Derby and Christine Tobin from Dublin are partners in life. The music-making is at an extraordinary level. And they’re out as a duo at the Octave Restaurant in Endell Street on April 17th. Ask for a table on the left next to the bandstand.

John Fordham did a superb major feature on Robson for Jazz UK last year. It’s the last three pages of the pdf, print it for the weekend.

2) At the 606 I’ve already mentioned Gilad Atzmon’s Palestine benefit on the 30th. But I also expect to get down there and hear Pete Churchill’s quartet on Sunday 19th. Pete is a singer/pianist (also educator/composer/conductor etcetc) one of the most revered figures on the scene, but completely down to earth. His quartet features Bobby Wellins and it’s a great band. I’m also tempted to check out Clark Tracey‘s new Quartet on the 11th. Paul Jordanous , who’s a regular LondonJazz reader tells me the group has really started to gel.

3) At Ronnie’s I can’t deny a curiosity to check out Dee Dee Bridgwater‘s daughter China Moses on Easter Monday and Tuesday, opposite Italian alto sax player Rosario Giuliani. But for those in search of the legends Ron Carter is there from April 20th to 22nd with Stephen Scott. The Jazz Meetup people tell me you can name-check Carter on no fewer than two and a half thousand different records!

4) At the Vortex two highlights again involve guitarist Phil Robson. He’s there with Six Strings and the Beat on Saturday 18th. And on the 29th there’s a double bill of James Allsop‘s Band Golden Age of Steam , and Robson’s trio with US veteran genius Dave Liebman.

5) Regular readers will know I support my local neighbourhood gig, the one I can walk to, which is Jazz Cafe Posk in Ravenscourt Park. And on Saturday 18th I will be forgoing the pleasure of hearing Bobby Wellins’ magic on tenor at the 606, for Zena James with pianist John Turville’s quartet. I must try to find out why Zena’s nickname from her days in PR was “Zonk.” There just has to be a good story there…

One thing which will be hard to get to: I got an email yesterday to tell me that the well-publicized debut of Brad Mehldau as “curator” of a programme at the Wigmore Hall on the Thursday before Easter is sold out. There are still a smattering of seats for his duo with Joshua Redman there on October 15th