Chris Barber, often regarded as the godfather of modern British popular music thanks to his introduction of US blues artists into the UK, died 2 March, after suffering from dementia. He had announced his retirement...
Chris Barber, often regarded as the godfather of modern British popular music thanks to his introduction of US blues artists into the UK, died 2 March, after suffering from dementia. He had announced his retirement...
Although the title of this CD implies this is a release by the long-established Jazz Bigband Graz, a quick glance at the personnel shows this is a truncated version of that aggregation joined for two numbers by French-Vietnamese guitarist Nguyên Lê and the rightly celebrated Austrian saxophonist Wolfgang Puschnig, for many years a stalwart of The Vienna Art Orchestra.
The Jazz Bigband Graz prides itself on drawing on many strands of music and this carries over into this smaller group with shades of electric Miles and occasionally Weather Report, although these are not constant factors. For instance, when the Spanish-tinged...
He played the bottom line on the wildly popular Take Five but segregated US universities baulked at the idea of the Brubeck quartet appearing with a black bassist
Chris Barber, often regarded as the godfather of modern British popular music thanks to his introduction of US blues artists into the UK, died 2 March, after suffering from dementia. He had announced his retirement in 2019, having led a band almost continuously for 70 years.
He brought blues artists such as Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee and Muddy Waters to the UK, feeding the burgeoning British blues boom of the early 1960s.
His musical journey had begun in 1949 when, inspired by the King Oliver Creole Jazz Band, he formed his New Orleans Jazz Band at the...
Woody Herman formed so many fine bands that it is difficult to give an accurate assessment of his place in orchestral jazz simply because not all of his fine Herds were recorded. This new release fills in a gap because it comprises material completely new to commercial issue.
The music is the first half of a programme played at a dance date in Omaha just a month before the band made the Woody Herman '58 album for Verve (put out in the UK as Jazz The Utmost). Although playing principally for dancers Woody made few concessions and simply played the...
Fano is a small town in the region of Le Marche, in central Italy on the Adriatic coast. It's had a jazz festival since 1993, held across some of the town's very atmospheric venues. The main events this year were held at the ancient...
