WHEN JAZZ GOES MARCHING IN

First, though, Jazz at the Merchants House in Glasgow continues its current successful season with a visit from saxophonist Martin Kershaw's octet on Sunday 12th. As well as being a Scottish National Jazz Orchestra stalwart and a founder of Edinburgh's Playtime sessions, Martin (left) is a hugely accomplished composer who often takes great inspiration from literature. Drawing on poets from Virgil to Sylvia Plath and more, Martin's latest work reflects life in all its experiences and he has a superb band to bring his reflections off the page including Scottish National Jazz Orchestra colleagues, Sean Gibbs (trumpet) and Liam Shortall (trombone), Playtime playmate Graeme Stephen (guitar), and Paul Harrison (piano)

THE JAZZ MOB

It’s a quirk of history that around the same time the music was first taking shape, organized crime in America was also in its incubation stage. In New Orleans, where jazz began (though today some jazz historians take issue with this fact), the Sicilian mafia emerged in the early years of the 20th century. The Matranga crime family, an offshoot of the Stuppaggieri, a faction of the mafia based in Monreale, Palermo, were among the first club owners to hire young Louis Armstrong. In his memoir, Armstrong describes working at a club called Matranga’s, located in Black Storyville, the city’s renowned vice district.

CHANSON: a photographic tribute

Somehow the inclusion of black and white photographs lends a drama, a tension even, to the story they depict.

LOOKING BACK AT BURT BACHARACH

Music can also follow sidetracks and detours and can integrate communities in any part of town: in the concert halls, the folk clubs, the country side, along the blues alleyways. Burt Bacharach songs can be heard in all of them, and many of them have enjoyed interpretations by musicians playing in the jazz joints of the UK.

joy for JAZZ GRAMMY WINNERS 2023

The Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra, co-led by pianist/composer Steven Feifke and trumpeter par excellence Bijon Watson, is a seventeen-member ensemble comprising seasoned players paired with young lions who are poised to capture pride of place

A WESTERN SPAGHETTI of film nominations

As we head backwards one or more steps for every step taken forward, we’ve got some of the same issues we’ve always got with the Oscars. For every excellent nomination, every interesting piece of recognition, there’s the predictable nonsense that conned its way in.

CENTURIES OF CLASSICAL MUSIC

With a growing reputation for the courage, vitality and intensity of its performances the Marmen Quartet (left) is fast establishing itself as one of the most impressive and engaging new talents in the chamber music arena.

CHEWING THE FAT WITH BUB

this is a book about listening closely to stories and songs, about leaving home in order to find home,

WYNTON AND WILLIE at The Lincoln 2007 & JAZZ in Reading 2022

fifteen years after the event I learned of a concert that had taken place in 2007. I caught Wynton and Willie, jazz and Americana sharing music, nad it has taken the shades from my eyes-

CONCIERTO RENACENTISTA

A capital city in name, Arrecife would be a town in the UK, being about the same surface area and population as Rochdale where I sued to live. And yet this felt like a world class performance by skilled players to a knowledgeable and appreciative audience. Credit to all concerned.