The picture which first conveyed the news of Gwilym Simcock joining Pat Metheny’ s quartet for 2016

Jazz is a music of communion, of interaction. This site is nothing without its readers, and we’d like to feed back to you an account of what has most sparked your interest this past year. It is definitely part of the story. LondonJazz News receives about 130,000 page-views a month, with a weekly spike as the newsletter goes out each Wednesday morning. So here, with sincerest thanks…in reverse order…and in two parts – of which this is the first – is the story of 2015 from the perspective of the pieces from the past year which were most-visited by readers:

10. Our live review of Nocturne at Blenheim Palace was in tenth slot. (Sebastian writes) The concert in June featured a double bill of Gregory Porter and Sir Van Morrison. The team behind the Love Supreme Festival were trying out a new location, and it went well. A hat-tip to my travelling companion Stephen Graham for his knowledge of all things Van, and for being patient as we got lost in my car in rural Oxfordshire. (REVIEW)

9. In ninth place was a set of photos. (Sebastian writes): I reviewed the Eberhard Weber Jubilee Concert for the Telegraph, featuring Jan Garbarek, Pat Metheny and Gary Burton, but felt that a part of the story would only ever be conveyed by the images. I have the incredible privilege to work regularly with one of the top jazz writers/ photographers in Europe, Munich-based Ralf Dombrowski. His photos constitute a unique record of this once-in-a-lifetime event. (PHOTO-ESSAY)

8 The alto saxophonist Ray Warleigh (1938-20150 passed away in September. Geoff Castle wrote a personal and very moving tribute for us. Ray’s and his individual greatness and great individuality are beautifullly portrayed elsewhere – in the Guardian obituary from Richard Williams, (RIP Ray Warleigh)

7. In June Dan Bergsagel wrote an eloquent and thoughtful review of Kamasi Washington‘s much talked-about triple CD The Epic. Dan’s review was in seventh place. (CD REVIEW)

6. In sixth place was a news story that we broke in November. A sharp-eyed reader had spotted on the website of the Seoul Jazz Festival that Gwilym Simcock will be part of a new Pat Metheny Quartet. Such fantastic news: if there are levels in the computer game “Sideman” which go higher than this we want to know what they are. (NEWS STORY)

We will publish the top ten most-read pieces (1-5) tomorrow December 29th