John Watson writes: The bass artistry of Stanley Clarke inspired me to take these photographs at his band’s Cheltenham Jazz Festival 2023 concert. I have tried to capture the joy and amazing […]
Michael Janisch Band (Eastside Jazz Club, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. 14 March 2023. Review and photos by John Watson) Concerts by touring American bands have been rather thin on the ground in recent […]
Pančevo Jazz Festival (Kulturnog centra Pančeva, Serbia. 4-6 November 2022. Review and photos by John Watson) There is certainly a great deal of fine music on the international jazz scene – but […]
Belgrade Jazz Festival (Dom Omladine Beograda, Belgrade, Serbia. 26-30 October 2022. Review and photos by John Watson) So many European festivals have lost funding this year, as political crisis piles on economic […]
Eddie Henderson Quartet Plus Xhosa Cole, Richard Foote and Chris Young (Pizza Express, Brindley Place, Birmingham, 14 November. Review and photos by John Watson) The two greatest challenges facing any jazz trumpeter […]
Martin Speake Quartet with Ethan Iverson (Eastside Jazz Club, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, 13 February 2020. Review and photos by John Watson) The sound is plaintive and cool in musical temperature – subtle vibrato, […]
Jim Rattigan’s Pavillon (Eastside Jazz Club, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, 7 November 2019. Review and photos by John Watson) What a wonderful glow there is in the sound of the French horn. But it takes real […]
Pancevo Jazz Festival, Serbia (Culture Centre, Pancevo, 31 Oct – 2 Nov. Review and photos by John Watson) The warmth of Paolo Fresu’s flugelhorn sound, and the passion it conveys, has me spellbound… […]
Belgrade Jazz Festival (Various venues, 22-28 October 2019. Review and photos by John Watson) How much, I wondered, is Stanley Clarke’s right thumb insured for? As he hammered it down with awesome power […]
Örjan Hultén’s Orion (NAC, Wolverhampton, 22 September 2019. Review and photos by John Watson) What glorious variety there is in the long history of Swedish jazz – from the early days of musicians […]
