News, reviews, features and comment from the London jazz scene and beyond

Some of the concerts for the South Bank Centre’s Meltdown Festival, curated by Ornette Coleman, have been announced. There will be more announced later. Tickets go on sale to Southbank Centre Members […]

An essay in pictures. We’re talking Rollins.So it could be this fine player from the Jools Holland Orchestra. But it isn’t Winston Rollins. Or there again it could be this all-round good-guy […]

The picture above is from just before the opening of Ronnie Scott’s club at 39 Gerrard Street in October 1959. It comes from David Taylor’s website which is a treasure trove of […]

No link to be made here. An image search for “Financial Times” and “jazz” produced a very random discovery: a company called Jazz, ……and then to follow, a nice article about Ronnie’s […]

Anyone know anything about this??? (Photo acknowledgement: Pete Cook)

A popular section of this site is called “These make me laugh” . It’s down on the right. Do check it out. Where, newly posted this week is a curious encounter for […]

It’s what you’d call all-round impressive. Not just Mark Lockheart as tenor player/composer/teacher/in-demand- member of many bands…. but the material Edition Records have put together to support the release of his first […]

Undeniable fact: Jazz piano players can literally crop up anywhere…… JAMIE CULLUM Cullum reports on his Twitter page today that he has just landed in Addis Ababa (famous for its blue Lada […]

Ron Carter (above) stands tall. Approaching his seventy-second birthday, he exudes calm, statesmanlike* authority. Last night – his third and final date this year at Ronnie Scott’s – his gentle art brought […]

Photo from the 14th April celebration of Marian McPartland’s 30 years presenting National Public Radio’s Piano Jazz (list of all the piano luminaries who attended is in a previous post) . McPartland […]

New Zealand/ New York bassist Matt Penman from SF Jazz Collective I spoke to trumpeter/ promoter Richard Turner about the three night festival he is running at the Con Cellar Bar this […]

This coming weekend (23-26 April) is the main trade fair/mini- festival/ gathering/showcase for European Jazz. It’s called Jazzahead and it takes place in Bremen – around a Culture Centre called the Schlachthof […]

Q. Where is the National Jazz Archive (NJA) A. It is in Loughton Library (above) , Traps Hill, Town Centre, Loughton, Essex, IG10 1HD. The archivist is David Nathan (david.nathan@essex.gov.uk) and the […]

Jazzelation (above) is a surprise. It is a band which has recently emerged from the Oxford scene. It involves some fine players. The band has just produced a CD , Spring Is […]

Tomorrow, Saturday 18th April, would have been the 65th birthday of one of the unsung VERY greats of British music, arranger/composer/ pianist Steve Gray. “Steve Gray is the finest jazz band arranger […]