Oct 04
On Radio 3’s Jazz on 3 from last Monday, you can hear two acclaimed British jazz pianists, John Law, and Robert Mitchell. I tuned in to hear the Robert Mitchell set, a unique set recorded for the programme featuring Mitchell focusing solely on the left-hand, but before getting there, I was enthralled by a couple …
May 22
Readers of this blog will have seen that I’m a great fan of the lyrical saxophonist, Martin Speake; I”m delighted to see that a recent appearance at London’s King’s Place is now on iPlayer this week, having been aired on Radio 3 last weekend. The gig sees Martin Speake in intimate mode in duet with …
Jan 18
As the conductor Ian Swatman has remarked today on that bastion of digital communication, Facebook, there’s now four weeks to go until the annual roof-raising concert with the Concert and Big Bands in the Gulbenkian Theatre. This term’s concert promises to be something remarkable, with a dizzying blend of showtunes, classic big band swing, and …
Nov 24
I’m delighted to see that a live gig by the excitingly talented Trish Clowes‘ Tanget is available on BBC iPlayer for the next few weeks. The gig is a live recording from the group’s appearance at this year’s London Jazz Festival, and features an agile version of On/Off, which is considerably quicker than a live …
Nov 23
We’re delighted to announce that, after several hours of auditions of a high standard and some serious thinking by the conductor of the Big Band and the Deputy Director of Music, the singer with the University Big Band this year will be Ruby Mutlow. To those who followed the Big Band or indeed Jazz @ …
Oct 17
In a broadcast recorded live back on 8 October at London’s Barbican, the legendary saxophonist Wayne Shorter – ex-Miles Davis sideman, founder member of fusion giants Weather Report, and colossus of the saxophone – is in concert. Bassist John Patitucci, formerly a band-member with pianist Chick Corea, is in the group, alongside drummer Brian Blade …
Feb 17
…to go until Have A Blast causes a stir at The Gulbenkian Theatre! Don’t miss what promises to be a rip-roaring gig, featuring the vocal talents of Ruby Mutlow and Jo Turner alongside the Concert and Big Bands. Good luck to everyone involved: see you in the bar afterwards…
Feb 01
Heads up, jazz fans: the ever-reliable Jazz Line-Up this coming Sunday on Radio 3 features British saxophonist Martin Speake‘s quartet, recorded at last year’s London Jazz Festival. I last heard Speake in a recorded session for Jazz on 3 back in 2009, when he played in a quartet featuring pianist Bobo Stenson, playing his then …
Jan 10
The new concert brochure has today been published on-line, and features the Concert Band and Big Band in their usual barn-storming annual extravaganza at the Gulbenkian Theatre in February, this year explosively titled ‘Have a Blast!’ In a new addition to the concert calendar, the Big Band will also be teaming up with St. Edmund’s School for a …
Nov 30
BBC4 are broadcasting one of their occasional ‘Jazz 625’ programmes tonight, a restored programme from 1964 featuring the Dave Brubeck Quartet, with the lyrical tones of saxophonist Paul Desmond in a programme to include Brubeck’s legendary Take Five. The ‘Jazz 625’ series has yielded some classic shows in previous episodes; Dizzy Gillespie, the Oscar Peterson …
