Paramount Quartet ft. Joe Lovano, Julian Lage, Asante Santi Debriano and Will Calhoun

Cadogan Hall
7:30 pm, Thursday 23rd January 2025.
Stalls - A14+A15.

Joe Lovano, saxophones
Julian Lage, guitar
Asante Santi Debriano, bass
Will Calhoun, drums

I arrived early and noticed the inscription above the stage door which indicates the original use of the building.

I 'like' the venue and was glad to have secured mid row seats soon after they went on sale in September 2024.

It was a wonderful set in two parts. The musicians were clearly enjoying themselves and all of them had opportunities to demonstrate their particular capabilities in solo moments.

Asante Santi Debriano and Will Calhoun certainly laid down a solid rhythm section and as Joe Lovano said "So I don't have to just play over a rhythm section. We're all one"

Julian Lage's fluid notes were an interesting counterpoint to Joe Lovano's particular saxophone sound and they occasionally traded riffs to great effect.

I'll be looking out for 'professional' reviews of the event and look forwards to the recording that will be made with ECM in due course.

(There is an article in the FT behind a paywall today, 24th January.)

The tour continues into Europe with an almost daily itinerary...

Paris 24th January
Utrecht 25th January
Dortmund 26th January
Madrid 27th January
Oslo 29th January
Hamburg 30th January
Helsinki 31st January
Tampere 1st February
København V 2nd February
Luxembourg 3rd February

And to quote Joe Lovano, "I have two weeks at the Vanguard, one with Trio Tapestry and one with Jakob (Bro) and the band. It'll be incredible to come off this tour and step into that."

Friends in Europe should take note, this might be close to Jørgen's "Heavy Metal Jazz"!

On Sunday 26th January I found a video link from Paris but it has been 'removed' due to copyright issues

Maria Schneider and Oslo Jazz Ensemble: Present Data Lords

Barbican Hall
7:30 pm, Sunday 2nd March 2025.
Circle, Level G Door 6, Row D Seat 40

I did eventually get the full listing of the performers...

Maria Schneider, Musical Director
Børge-Are Halvorsen, Alto Saxophone, Flutes
Joakim Bergsrønning, Alto Saxophone, Flutes and Clarinet
Atle Nymo and Martin Myhre Olsen, Tenor Saxophone
Frank Brodahl, Marius Haltli, Richard Köster and Anders Eriksson, Trumpet and Flugelhorn
Even Skatrud, Nils Andreas Granseth and Magnus Murphy Joelson, Trombone
Ingrid Utne, Bass Trombone
Jørn Oien, Piano
Kalle Moberg, Accordion
Jens Thoresen, Guitar
Trygve Waldemar Fiske, Bass
Håkon Mjåset Johansen, Drums
Thor-Ivar Lund, Sound engineer

It did feel like a familiar seat and sightline.

The performance felt assured and the collective sound was quite sumptuous. I realised that the multi-instrumental effect really adds colour and depth.

I was slightly puzzled by the set order as, being familiar with the recorded version of Data Lords I rather missed the overall sequence with the central climax and the following more 'optimistic' cadence!

Treating the pieces in isolation and with spoken introductions just felt a bit strange.

Maria Schneider's direction or conducting was highly animated and seemed most effective to an untrained ear and eye!

The tour in Europe runs through to 11th March and then continues in the USA.

Stockholm, Sweden
Brno, Czech Republic
Vienna, Austria
Budapest, Hungary
Hamburg, Germany

Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra - Reich/Richter

Brighton Dome
7:30 pm, Sunday 23 March 2025.
Stalls N39.

Steve Reich:
Music for Pieces of Wood

Lou Harrison / John Cage:
Double Music

Terry Riley:
Half-Wolf Dances Mad in Moonlight (Salome Dances for Peace)

Yoko Ono:
Pieces for Orchestra

Steve Reich:
Runner

Interval

Steve Reich:
Reich/Richter

Colin Currie conductor/claves
Joanna MacGregor piano

From the south.

The performance started promptly at 7:30pm.

Music for Pieces of Wood was performed by Colin Currie and four of the Brighton Symphony percussion players. This may be the third time that I have seen the piece performed and every time the concentrated sound has been magically resonant, not least, at the moment of completion!

The percussionists moved to a prepared area on the right of the stage kneeling around a group of instruments including Bells, (water buffalo bells), Brake drums, Sistra, Gongs (muted Chinese gongs, tam-tams), a Thunder sheet, Cowbells and sleigh bells. I have subsequently found a site on-line where the 'composition' by Lou Harrison / John Cage can be found:-
Double Music
A strangely familiar soundscape that has entered into the 'musical' vocabulary!

Centre stage, favourite place!

The quartet for the Terry Riley piece, Half-Wolf Dances Mad in Moonlight (Salome Dances for Peace) were very lively and were, I think, conducted by Joanna MacGregor in a most demonstrative manner. I am familiar with this piece and the rendition felt completely authentic.

The Yoko Ono 'Pieces for Orchestra' also featured Joanna MacGregor and Xiaowen Shang on piano and the percussionists who proceeded to use various objects in addition to drums and gongs including the stage floor as their sources of 'hammered' sound.

'Runner' by Steve Reich was very clearly articulated and some of the 'counter playing' from the two sides of the stage were almost scary in the 'edge of the seat' sense!

It really was a glorious first half of the performance.

Under the Dome!

The second half was Reich/Richter with the accompanying film. I really do enjoy the music involved but at the second time of seeing I find the visual element a little overbearing and in the context of the painters 'abstract imagery' from horizontal lines to paint dragged across canvas seems simply too demanding of attention. Paradoxically, I find the ‘colour’ to be lacking in depth, reliant on oversaturated values with transitions that are un-focused. The Rorschach (test) kaleidoscope effect does seem a bit tired in the context of Reichs glorious musical transitions...

It certainly was a wonderful evenings entertainment, well worth the effort of travelling from London and staying in Brighton.

Steven Wilson

Royal Palladium
7:30pm Monday 19th May 2025
Stalls S29

Steven Wilson - Guitar, Synths & Vocals
Randy McStine - Guitar & Vocals
Nick Beggs - Bass & Vocals
Adam Holzman - Keyboards
Craig Blundell - Drums

This was a late addition to the agenda inspired by a review in the Guardian of the Bristol gig and a curiosity about such an unknown successful musician.

After 4 nights at The Royal Palladium the list of venues is extensive.

A Comedy warm-up act by Stewart Lee explored the characteristics of the audience quite cleverly. (The comment about the ethnic make-up of the audience was challenging!)

The main sets were cliched to the extent of extreme self parody with an evolving backdrop of supermarket trolleys in Spirograph planet scapes, dystopian scenes, tube train fly throughs and coy storylines; extremely good sound was spoiled eventually by thrashing crescendo’s! Being seated a few rows in front of the sound desk always helps.

Going to a concert by someone whose music one had never heard before and 'sometimes'/'quite often' being able to anticipate the next note or change of key was a novel experience but that is probably the secret of his success.

A signature 'theme' where there 'is no way out' is to suddenly stop the major progression leaving a little ditty playing that maybe harks back to the origins of the that progression or maybe something completely different.

Needless to say the whole presentation was extremely professional and quite entertaining! It suited my interest on the one hand in how an Artist could be so popular without being widely known and the other, my search for kite video music and how to make it.

Robert Cray Band

Royal Festival Hall
7:30pm Friday 6th June 2025
Upper Stalls BB24

Robert Cray - Guitar & Vocals
Richard Cousins - Bass
Dover Weinberg - Keyboards
Les Falconer - Drums

This was another occasion where I had booked a ticket thinking that it would be worth exploring a previous interest. Back in 1988 I had bought 'Don't be Afraid of the Dark' and while very much enjoying the distinctive blues/soul/funk genre never really followed it up.

There was a small problem with my seat in terms of sight lines but I was at least in the good place relative to the sound desk!

I spotted UK tour shirts from 2017 and 2022 suggesting that the band is a hard working outfit.

Today Robert Cray was in fine voice and his signature vocal and guitar 'conversation' was very strongly backed by the other members of the band. There was a considerably dynamic range in the presentation and it remained crisp and clear throughout. I was impressed by the persistent but completely sympathetic bass lines from Richard Cousins and the organ solos from Dover Weinberg that were effectively dynamically equivalent alongside the guitar solos. The drummer Les Falconer kept a well balanced and occasionally moody accompaniment really hitting a groove in the final piece before the encores.

Along the way there was some happy banter between Rober Cray and the other musicians.

Philip Glass performed by Ensemble Erik
Hackney Church
Tuesday 23rd September 2025, 6:00pm (doors at 5:00pm)

Piano/Keyboard/MD
Flute/Saxophone
Flute/Saxophone
Clarinet/Saxophone
Saxophone
Saxophone
Saxophone/Bass Clarinet
French Horn
French Horn
Viola
Cello

John Beswick
James Mainwaring
Samantha Read
Neil Crossley
Rhys Taylor
Katie Samways
Paul Saunders
Ruth O'Reilly
Francesca Moore-Bridger
Becky Hopkin
Rhian Porter

I arrived at Hackney Church at 4:57pm fearful that there may be a queue and a rush to get seats. In the event I was first into the venue and had every seat to choose from!

Publicity shot of the Ensemble.

The venue did fill up but it was far from a full house. The balcony seating remained empty.

First up was The Windcatcher, a sextet for saxophone. This was a great start and the combined sound of the various instruments was quite marvellous!

The other musician then arrived on stage and the keyboard player started the first section of Glassworks.

I was somewhat surprised to find that I recognised much of the performance from the 1982 recording that I had purchased a few days previously and played through once only.

The performance today was somewhat more gentle than the original recording which I replayed after the concert.

On checking back at the Hackney Church site I found another event in November which I have booked, Jasmine Myra with Strings performing material from 'Rising', her recent album.

Colin Currie and The King's Singers
King's Place
Sunday 9 November 2025, 3:00pm
G12

I had it in mind that the vocal elements in Steve Reichs Jacobs Ladder were 'instrumental' so decided to see what Colin Currie on Marimbas would do alongside six male singers.

Patrick Dunne - Countertenor
Edward Button - Countertenor
Julian Gregory - Tenor
Christopher Bruerton - Baritone
Nick Ashby - Baritone
Jonathan Howard - Bass

The opening piece was very dramatic and set a tone for the proceedings.

Poor Roger (Steve Martland) - 5'

Lala Mntwana (from Lalela Zulu) (Stanley Glasser) - 3'

Green Gravel (from Street Songs) (Steve Martland) - 5'30''

Death hath deprived me of my dearest friend (Thomas Weelkes) - 3'

Death be not proud (Roderick Williams) - 6'

Rivers Alive (Francesca Amewudah) - 5'

A Bunch o' Craws (James MacMillan) - 5'

Tromp Miniature (Bryce Dessner) - 7' (marimba solo)

Jenny Jones (from Street Songs) (Steve Martland) - 8'

The Year of our Burning (2025 Version) (Missy Mazzoli) - 13'

Oranges and Lemons (from Street Songs) (Steve Martland) - 5'

At this scale the voices were extraordinarily clearly articulated so that words were clear to the ear if one was quick enough to keep up!

Oranges and Lemons was an arrangement of the nursery rhyme writ large. There was an encore but I have not got the details. It had an ending which had the audience laughing!

This was definitely a musical experience outside my normal comfort zone and I guess that the human contact element works really well at this scale. The amplification was discrete and as far as I could tell the words spoken by the performers between the pieces were not amplified at all.

Having grabbed the details of the performance from ChatGTP I subsequently found that it cannot access all web sites as I had anticipated. Between 30% and 50% cannot be scanned by its specialised browsing process even if BOT exclusion processes are not installed.

This came to light as the result of my own interrogation of ChatGTP regarding this site!

Jasmine Myra with Strings 'Rising'
Hackney Church
Tuesday 18 November 2025, 7:00pm
Balcony seating/Ground Floor Standing

Jasmine Myra, alto sax
Jasper Green, piano
Ben Haskins, guitar
Alice Roberts, harp
Sam Quintana, double bass
George Hall, drums
Joel Stedman, flute
Arran Kent, bass clarinet / flute
...plus the strings:-
Isabella Baker, violin
Lisa Meech, violin
Sophia Dignam, viola
Awen Blandford, cello
(all to be confirmed)

The venue, Hackney Church has a well practiced security process.

I had not looked further and assumed that doors would open ahead of 7:00pm. I was in-line soon after 6:00pm only to find that it was doors at 7:00pm and stage 7:30pm.

Being first through the door equipped with my balcony designation wrist band I did have a choice of pews. They are of the flat and hard variety for future reference unlike the chairs that might have been used downstairs. It was fully booked for the balcony and eventually did fill up for the main act. Downstairs looked quite full as well. I think that the venue total is 1,800; quite a few people.

The audience downstairs during the interval.

The support band were Ancient Infinity Orchestra and seemed to be in the same musical area but did not have quite the level of certainty exhibited by Jasmine Myra and her band.

(I note that the producer of 'Rising', Matthew Halsall is given a special mention on the EFG site.)

The main set photo from Gondwana Records.

The main set by Jasmine Myra and her band was very much self assured as tracks from the album were interspersed with new material. As ever, hearing familiar 'tunes' in a live performance has a dramatic emotional effect especially when so well presented.

I think that all six pieces from 'Rising' were performed and as most are c7 minutes long the set was well populated. The new material obviously did not have quite the same resonance but I could tell from the phrasing and dynamics that there was more very good music in the making for the new release as and when it arrives.

A beautiful performance of some wonderful music. Sometimes one feel privileged to have stumbled on such a 'good' project!

Japanese Jazz

Barbican
Sunday 23 Nov 2025, 19:30
Circle: A43

Akiko Yano—singer, songwriter, and pianist

A Quintet:-
Kosuke Mine, tenor sax
Fumio Itabashi, pianist
Takeo Moriyama, drummer
Takashi Sugawa, bass
Miyuki Moriya, alto sax

I arrived early, bought a glass of red wine and found a chair just as the foyer band started their set. I did not get to see the performers as the pillar was in the way but it seemed to be jazz with an Irish lilt. It may be that Laura Jurd was leading the group.

The seat at the front of the circle was great and that was part of the reason for the visit.

I didn't really 'get' the opening performance, the piano playing was impressive but the singing didn't mean very much though it seemed better in Japanese than English, somehow more attuned to the piano.

The Quintet opened with a storming piece and the pace hardly let up throughout the performance. Their jazz was traditional really and I could not tell what might have been a Japanese influence apart from the shear vigour that all the players exhibited. The pianist Fumio Itabashi seemed to be being ejected from his seat. The drummer Takeo Moriyama, who was the leader, ended up completely exhausted by the playing and at the age of 80 it was an extraordinary performance.

The sound quality at the Barbican is quite remarkable so the performances were glitteringly clear but never overpowering in volume.

I shall follow up on Miyuki Moriya, I think the youngest of the performers who recently released her fourth album featuring Kosuke Mine.

Colosseum and Soft Machine

Cadogan Hall
Thursday 27th November 2025, 7:10pm
Stalls B21

Soft Machine
John Etheridge - guitar
Theo Travis - saxophones, flutes, keyboards, piano
Fred Thelonious Baker - bass
Asaf Sirkis - drums

Colosseum
Chris Farlowe (vocals), Clem Clempson (guitar and vocals), Mark Clarke (bass and vocals), joined by Kim Nishikawara (sax), Malcolm Mortimore (drums) and Nick Steed (keyboards).

I arrived just before the doors opened at 5:40pm so had every reason to find a seat and enjoy a glass of red ahead of the performances. The start time had been brought forwards at the request of the bands who professed to have little time for chat, a tight schedule with a strict finish time of 10:00pm.

The first set was Soft Machine and I had some expectations having heard some of the bands music back at their beginning courtesy of John Peel sessions.

There was not anything particularly striking about their set but I was slightly concerned that the mix tended to swamp whatever Theo Travis was doing on sax or flute. John Etheridge's guitar tended to dominate without seeming to be in any way remarkable though he is undoubtedly a very talented guitar player.

I suspect that what was missing, for me, was that Robert Wyatt presence in the compositions!

The second set by Colossuem proceeded after a short interval and it was a storming performance, an exercise in presenting all six performers together and individually.

Chris Farlowe did not in any way dominate the set with his undoubted vocal talent; Mark Clarke and Clem Clempson made significant vocal contributions along the way as well as their instrumental efforts. There was quite a high balance of instrumental pieces including Valentyne Suite (with an additional Sax player, Damian Hand and featuring Mark Clarke on scat vocals) which I have learned was originally from 1969! Nick Steed on keyboards and Kim Nishikawara on saxaphones both had great solo contributions and Malcolm Mortimore provided an often extraordinary barrage of percussion.

A highlight of the session, for me, was a cover of a Jack Bruce song 'Morning Story'. I am very glad to have speculatively got a seat booked at this event!

The full set list for Soft Machine:-

Facelift
Burden of Proof (Soft Machine Legacy cover)
The Tale of Taliesin
(Unknown) (New piece from the forthcoming album)
Open Road
Joy of a Toy
Middleburn / Hidden Details / Hazard Profile Part One

The full set list for Colisseum:-

Not Getting Through
First in Line
Need Somebody
The English Garden Sweet
Ain't Gonna Moan No More (Van Morrison cover)
Morning Story (Jack Bruce cover)
Stormy Monday Blues
Valentyne Suite (with Damian Hand additional tenor saxophone; Mark Clarke on scat vocals)
Lost Angeles