I asked blogger and avid gig-goer Patrick Hadfield what he had down as unmissable in the LJF. Here’s his answer. Thank you, Patrick!
LJF gathers together a variety of gigs, with a high concentration of international stars. These are “must see” gigs, I think, if only because I feel the need to see these stars play. But, in fact, it is only with hindsight that one finds out which gigs really were unmissable!
I tend not to go to see London-based British jazz players during the festival, since I hope to have the opportunity to see them during the rest of the year; I will be making an effort to see non-London based UK players like Brass Jaw. (photo above)
Gigs I’m looking forward to are…
–John Surman, because it is a while since I have seen him, and I love Jack deJohnette!
–Carla Bley & Lost Chords – I have always enjoyed seeing Carla play, and I love her trio with Steve Swallow and Andy Sheppard. It’ll be interesting to see what adding a drummer to the mix does
–Branford Marsalis, just because he can be such fun
-I’m also going to see Tomasz Stanko.
-I failed to get tickets to see Sonny Rollins, who was so well reviewed last year – but I’ll admit one reason for wanting to see him is the fear that I might not have another chance!,
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I second Brass Jaw – they're fantastic!
The Brass Jaw photo is a bit out-of-date: they're currently a three saxes plus trumpet band rather than a saxophone quartet. Definitely worth hearing.