My review of last night’s barn-storming gig by the Julian Joseph Trio (and surprise guest) has gone onto the Sounds New Festival’s blog this morning: you can read it here.
A fiery, inventive and terrific gig; and who was the special guest ? Well, you’ll just have to read it to find out…
Photo credit: Peter Cook.
Colossus of the British jazz world, fearlessly inventive pianist, presenter on Radio 3, and stalwart of the British jazz scene, Julian Joseph brings his trio to the Gulbenkian Theatre this Sunday.
I’ve written more on Julian Joseph here, where he answers ‘Three Questions’ about coming to the Gulbenkian as part of the Sounds New Festival that’s ringing around Canterbury at the moment.
Here’s Julian Joseph playing ‘Autumn Leaves.’ Be sure not to miss this, a chance to hear one of the major figures of British jazz in intimate trio mode. Umissable: see you there…
The Laurie Kay Trio comes to the Gulbenkian Theatre foyer stage tomorrow, for an hour of classic jazz and swing at 5pm.
The event launches the trio’s once-a-month appearance on Fridays at the Gulbenkian, with an eclectic mix of swing, be-bop and boogie-woogie. A fixture in Canterbury throughout the 1990s, playing modern jazz, Laurie was also formerly principal clarinettist with the University Symphony Orchestra and a physicist at Kent.
The trio also appeared in Darwin College last year, which I featured on ‘On the Beat’ here.
Details about tomorrow’s appearance online here; a great way to start the weekend…
A new feature, profiling this year’s new crop of University Music Scholars: this week, saxophonist Tim Pickering.
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My name is Tim Pickering and I come from Littlehampton in West Sussex, and I am studying for a BSc in Forensic Chemistry. I studied at the Littlehampton Community School, and then took A-Levels at the 6th Form there (although for some reason, not in music!) I have been playing the alto saxophone eleven years, and have recently picked up the tenor saxophone as my primary instrument. I hold ABRSM Grade 7 on Alto Sax, and I am currently working towards Grade 8 on the Tenor.
I have played with many different groups and set ups – from quintets, pop bands and the local ‘Littlehampton Concert Band’ through to a seventeen-piece big band I assembled with the help of a few friends.
My school never really had a great music department; in fact when I joined, the ‘orchestra’ consisted of myself on alto sax, a flute and two violins! It did improve gradually, and one of the music teachers Steve Winter (a veteran himself of the UKC Big Band and Concert Band) got a small jazz group off the ground, which was great as it got some musicians in the music department some much-needed gigs! Although when the new head of music arrived in my second year, classical music lost the emphasis and steel pans became all the rage (much to the other musicians’ disgust!). Our school wasn’t involved in the county music side of things either, so this meant if I wanted playing opportunities in larger groups, I had to create them myself!
I am currently working on putting together and rehearsing a quintet here at Canterbury, with the aim of tackling styles from straight ahead jazz to rhythm and blues, and maybe even some classic rock ‘n’ roll. I’m looking forward to hopefully performing at some of the Jazz @5 sessions , and generally what music here brings for me! I am also playing first Tenor Sax in the Concert Band and Big Band. However, I still would like to play more, so if anyone is looking for a sax player for their band…
I feel I have been very privileged in being picked as a music scholar here at Canterbury, and the musical side of life is fantastic – in fact it was the music department that really swayed my decision to apply here! To go from playing in small jazz quintets and the very occasional Big-Band get together, to rehearsing solidly once a week with decent gigs booked is an exciting change for me! I really want to use my time at university to push myself to be the best sax player I can possibly be, and I hope with the scholarship and the help of my teacher Peter Cook, I hope I can continue to progress.
Just to draw your attention to a couple of highlights on Radio 3’s iPlayer this week.
First up, the colossus of the saxophone world Wayne Shorter leads his quartet in a live session recorded at the Barbican earlier this month. Former Miles Davis sideman, one of the original members of fusion giants Weather Report, and a player who showed there could be life after Coltrane, this is Shorter’s first UK appearance for a number of years.
Also on iPlayer is a rarity, a piece from composer Alec Roth: his Departure of the Queen of Sheba, (1999) received its first broadcast in a concert with the Orchestra of the Swan in Loughborough last night. Roth has written some fantastic pieces: his Chinese Gardens for tenor and guitar is a miniature gem of immaculate refinement, whilst his choral work Shared Ground displays a rich harmonic language with sumptuous colour, with the occasional hint of Vaughan Williams.
Roth’s companion piece to Handel’s lively depiction of her arrival depicts the famous Queen and King Solomon meeting in the Garden of Earthly delights; Roth includes Handel’s theme in an altered fashion, and the work is scored for the same forces as Handel’s but includes a cor anglais. The emotional atmosphere of Roth’s work is far removed from the buccolic jollity of the Queen’s arrival, and instead is profoundly lachrymaic, with the oboe and cor anglais weaving heart-rending melodic lines in a tender dialogue over an almost minimalist accompanying texture.
The piece beings forty minutes in to the programme, and is preceded by a short interview with the composer.
Don’t miss either.
Anyone who might be apprehensive at the future of jazz in Britain need only listen to last night’s broadcast of the ‘BBC Presents’ stage at this year’s Cheltenham Jazz Festival on Radio 3 to be reassured that the future looks bright.
The show presents two hours of live sets from earlier this year, and features the emerging talents Trish Clowes, Rachel Musson’s Skein, Saltwater Samurai, and Edinburgh-based The Discordian Trio.
Music ranges from the dextrous sax-playing of Trish Clowes, with her wonderfully agile group (including a cellist) – special mention to drummer James Maddren for his vibrant yet subtle drumming – to the deft, bright-sounding improvisations of Rachel Musson, the elctro-dance-infused Saltwater Samurai from South London, and the free-ranging explorations of The Discordian Trio.
The programme also includes interviews with some of the young players of today, who may well be the stars of tomorrow, if the quality of their music-making is anything to go by. Trish Clowes talks in particular about the benefits of studying at the Royal Academy, including working with luminary of the British saxophone world, Iain Ballamy, and about the challenge of being a working jazz artist. All the groups demonstrate an assurety and confidence in their playing that bodes well.
Check them out on iPlayer, and see photos from the event on the Jazz on 3 Flickr site here: the future of British jazz, in the hands of these young musicians, is very bright indeed.
As reported in Jazzwise and elsewhere today, the great British jazz pianist George Shearing has died at the age of 91.
Blind from birth, London-born Shearing moved to American and lived in New York; he worked with a notable array of jazz luminaries including singers Nat King Cole and Sarah Vaughan, guitarist Joe Pass and vibraphone legend Gary Burton . Shearing had a deft pianistic style, that moved easily from rich clusters of chords to delicate single-finger melodic playing.
Lullaby of Birdland was perhaps his most famous tune, named after the famous jazz club in New York.
Sir George Shearing: 1919-2011.
Hold onto your hats, as the traditional annual roof-raising concert by the University Concert and Big Bands storms back to the Gulbenkian Theatre.
An action-packed programme includes an invitation to spend A Night On Broadway with a medley of popular showtunes including The Lion King and Wicked, and music by John Williams, Jo Zawinul as well as a tribute to Artie Shaw. Featuring staff and student musicians from the University, and led from the front by magic-fingered reeedsman Ian Swatman, this popular event will also feature two of the University’s Music Scholars, Jo Turner and Ruby Mutlow, as guest singers with the Big Band.
There’ll also be some live musical entertainment from student musicians in the Gulbenkian Foyer before the show to get you in the mood. Prepare to be carried away on a night of swing, funk, cinema soundtracks and big band favourites.
You can follow the adventures of the Concert and Big Bands on their blog, ‘On The Beat;’ further details about the concert on the deparment website here.
