British Jazz

[Bilbo]

There has always been a general consensus that all of the best jazz comes from the US. I think that this has been challanged over the last couple of decades and that, in addition to jazz from Europe and the Far East, there has been a great deal of quality music coming out of the UK for the last 20 years or more. Following on from the talented but exceptional Tubby Hayes/Ronnie Scott/Jazz Couriers group (‘57 – ’59), we have seen major progress in the form of bands like Loose Tubes and the Delightful Precipice Orchestra and players like Courtney Pine, Iain Ballamy, John Taylor and Tommy Smith in the 80s and 90s. More recently, small groups like Neil Cowley’s Trio, Empirical, the FIRE Collective, etc have started to appear.

So the question is, what British led jazz LPs have turned your head now or in the past? Ex-pats are welcome if they are long term residents of the UK. Defectors are excluded – Dave Holland, George Shearing etc – the choices must have been conceived and recorded within these shores.

My favourites? For starters…..

Kenny Wheeler – Flutter By, Butterfly (Canadian but here since 1950s)
Kenny Wheeler – Music for Large and Small Ensembles
Iain Ballamy – Balloon Man
Loose Tubes – Delightful Precipice
Django Bates – Winter Truce (and Homes Blaze)
Bill Bruford’s Earthworks – 1st (1990)
John Taylor Trio – Whirlpool
Andy Sheppard’s Co-Motion – Rhythm Method
Courtney Pine – Journey Ot The Urge WIthin
Steve Berry Trio – 1st

What British Jazz has done it for you.

[oldslapper]

+1 on the Earthworks circa 1990. I saw them in Bristol with Tim Harries on Upright and Electric, great player.

First time I'd really noticed good use of "space" in that type of music, which made the "flurries" even more noticeable/appreciated.

[Moos3h]

Can't say I'm much of a fan (or don't know) a lot on your list, but I think Acoustic Ladyland and Polar Bear are both from the UK and they make music I adore!

[Bilbo]

[quote name='Moos3h' post='835148' date='May 12 2010, 11:03 AM']Can't say I'm much of a fan (or don't know) a lot on your list, but I think Acoustic Ladyland and Polar Bear are both from the UK and they make music I adore![/quote]

A bit funky/groove orientated for my tastes but cool...

[OldGit]

As a tooter of the large bendy saxophone myself, I've always been drawn to John Surman.
[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B000024UM6/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&qid=1273658677&sr=1-1&condition=used"]Proverbs and Songs[/url] is a particular favourite but he always manages to weave very atmospheric soundscapes.

Edited May 12, 2010 by OldGit

[grahamd]

Get the Blessing from Bristol , great live

[chrkelly]

There's so much great stuff going on at the moment. Check out Gwilym Simcock and Kit Downes, both incredible pianists. Chris Montague's Troyka for some very heavy grooves. Saxophonist Trish Clowes has an album coming out later this year with full symphony orchestra on a few tracks, absolutely beautiful writing.

[derrenleepoole]

Gary Boyle - Electric Glide (superb album - I actually know Gary too, a completely ace person
Gareth Williams Power Trio - Shock
John Surman - Road To St. Ives

+1 on The Steve Berry Trio album too, but I haven't heard it in along time as my vinyl player is packed away. I pass by Steve's house nearly everyday and had the pleasure of lessons from him back in 1993 ish. Superb player and top bloke.

[Lenny B]

+1 on The Steve Berry Trio album too, but I haven't heard it in along time as my vinyl player is packed away. I pass by Steve's house nearly everyday and had the pleasure of lessons from him back in 1993 ish. Superb player and top bloke.
[/quote]


I had lessons from Steve in 96/97 - Superb player and top bloke indeed!

[Faithless]

Can't judge others, but..

Courtney Pine played in Lithuania a week, or something, ago..

His programme was dedicated to Sidney Bechet.

I haven't heard a bigger load of crap in my life, literally. Lots of gipsy jazz stuff, just horrible, nothing to add.

BTW, a tutor told me, when Pine presented that programme in London a few years ago, he was totally bashed by critics.

And I now know, why


Sorry for the rant.. but I won't be buying his cd's.

[bassace]

Speaking as an oldie, it's nice to see Tubby Hayes's contribution acknowledged. My very young band did a gig opposite his quartet at Oxford Town Hall in the very early sixties. His image had been that of a bruiser but he was so kind to us on the gig. He was taken from us at such a relatively young age.

Still going back, the back catalogue of Johnny Dankworth is worth a revisit. His big band stuff was world class.

[derrenleepoole]

[quote name='Lenny B' post='835270' date='May 12 2010, 01:40 PM']I had lessons from Steve in 96/97 - Superb player and top bloke indeed![/quote]

Was this at Manchester uni?

[Earbrass]

[quote name='Bilbo' post='835106' date='May 12 2010, 10:29 AM']What British Jazz has done it for you.[/quote]

Carol Grimes - not perhaps so much for her recorded output (though there are some great tracks) but for the many fantastic gigs I've seen at the Vortex and other venues.
Especially when her band has included pianist Janette Mason, who is a great player and composer on her own right. I especially love the work JM did with Robert Wyatt.

[Mykesbass]

Henry Lowther and Jim Mullen - used to do a regular pub gig in Catford together. Two great muso's both with amazing histories, playing a free boozer gig in South London - now that's British Jazz for you!

[TKenrick]

[quote name='chrkelly' post='835256' date='May 12 2010, 01:26 PM']There's so much great stuff going on at the moment. Check out Gwilym Simcock and Kit Downes, both incredible pianists. Chris Montague's Troyka for some very heavy grooves. Saxophonist Trish Clowes has an album coming out later this year with full symphony orchestra on a few tracks, absolutely beautiful writing.[/quote]


+1 for Gwilym Simcock. Caught his birthday gig at the 606 a couple of months back and was totally blown away.


I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Laurence Cottle yet - his live quintet record is one of my favourite 'bass player' albums, and his big band stuff is amazing

[url="http://laurencecottle.com/listen/LC_BigBand-IGotRidovEm.mp3"]http://laurencecottle.com/listen/LC_BigBand-IGotRidovEm.mp3[/url]

[Faithless]

Is it just me, or Laurence's big band stuff sounds too much like Jaco's big band stuff?

Don't get me wrong, it all sounds very nice, but, his playing and compositions smell a bit too much like Jaco..

[Bilbo]

[quote name='Faithless' post='835886' date='May 13 2010, 08:49 AM']Is it just me, or Laurence's big band stuff sounds too much like Jaco's big band stuff?[/quote]

It has always been an issue for me that Laurence sounds like a composite of a couple of other players (Jaco and Jeff Berlin, primarily) rather than having a unique voice of his own. I always think that players like, say, Steve Swallow and Kermit Drsicoll, have none of the chops of people like Cottle but, because they have 'their' thing, they are more interesting to listen to. Cottle's writing is the same. Intelligent, cerebral etc but not really meaningful.

He is one of those guys with a huge basket of skills that still never moves on. I think he just needs to find himself amongst all of the 'stuff' he has learned.

He's still a great player, though.

[derrenleepoole]

+1 on Gwilym Simcock too. The piece he wrote for orchestra and played on BBC Four was amazing: Progressions For Piano & Orchestra. So much so, that I did an audio transfer to my Mac so I could listen to it gain and again. Beautiful stuff.

[lowdown]

Remember back in the 80/90's [and still around] we had appearing on the scene the likes of...
Jamie Talbot, Nigel Hitchcock, Gerard Presencer, Dave Cliffe etc....
More clones of the greats, but never the less all fantastic musicians.
I managed to do gigs with a lot of these guys, and it always was a great experience.


Garry

[urb]

Try these out... British jazz is in rude health - except you won't hear/see ANY of it on TV (thanks to the BBC's obsession with chasing ratings) or read about it in the papers (outside of [url="http://www.jazzwisemagazine.com/"]Jazzwise[/url] and a handful of reviews in the Grauniad and Independent)

Neil Cowley Trio
[url="http://www.myspace.com/neilcowleytrio"]http://www.myspace.com/neilcowleytrio[/url]

TrioVD
[url="http://www.myspace.com/triovd"]http://www.myspace.com/triovd[/url]

Minghe Morte
[url="http://www.myspace.com/minghemorte"]http://www.myspace.com/minghemorte[/url]

Led Bib
[url="http://www.myspace.com/ledbib"]http://www.myspace.com/ledbib[/url]

Troyka
[url="http://www.myspace.com/troykaband"]http://www.myspace.com/troykaband[/url]

Outhouse
[url="http://www.myspace.com/outhouseloop"]http://www.myspace.com/outhouseloop[/url]

The Mighty Jeddo
[url="http://www.myspace.com/themightyjeddo"]http://www.myspace.com/themightyjeddo[/url]

The South Trio
[url="http://www.myspace.com/thesouthtrio"]http://www.myspace.com/thesouthtrio[/url]

Zed-U
[url="http://www.myspace.com/zumusik"]http://www.myspace.com/zumusik[/url]

Acoustic Ladyland
[url="http://www.myspace.com/acousticladylandmusic"]http://www.myspace.com/acousticladylandmusic[/url]

The Final Terror
[url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/introducing/artists/finalterror/"]http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/introducing/artists/finalterror/[/url]

Polar Bear
[url="http://www.myspace.com/sebastianrochford"]http://www.myspace.com/sebastianrochford[/url]

Adam Waldmann
[url="http://www.adamwaldmann.com/fr_home.cfm"]http://www.adamwaldmann.com/fr_home.cfm[/url]

Portico Quartet
[url="http://www.myspace.com/porticoquartet"]http://www.myspace.com/porticoquartet[/url]

Manu Delago
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17ojj7tgrqw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17ojj7tgrqw[/url]

M

[Lenny B]

[quote name='derrenleepoole' post='835288' date='May 12 2010, 01:54 PM']Was this at Manchester uni?[/quote]


Leeds College of Music

[pete.young]

I am not really one for listening to jazz, but I did enjoy some of the things that Barbara Thompson released with Paraphernalia

[MacDaddy]

Were Peter King from the USA he probably have already acheived legendary status and renown.

[Shonks]

check out Palmgrease!:- [url="http://www.myspace.com/palmgrease"]http://www.myspace.com/palmgrease[/url]

[Faithless]

[quote name='Bilbo' post='835907' date='May 13 2010, 11:23 AM']It has always been an issue for me that Laurence sounds like a composite of a couple of other players (Jaco and Jeff Berlin, primarily) rather than having a unique voice of his own. I always think that players like, say, Steve Swallow and Kermit Drsicoll, have none of the chops of people like Cottle but, because they have 'their' thing, they are more interesting to listen to. Cottle's writing is the same. Intelligent, cerebral etc but not really meaningful.

He is one of those guys with a huge basket of skills that still never moves on. I think he just needs to find himself amongst all of the 'stuff' he has learned.

He's still a great player, though.[/quote]


It seems that 'Jaco syndrome' is a major issue for modern jazz bassists, innit?

Hadrien Feraud is probably a best example for this..
A few years ago he sounded like a complete copy of the legend.. I'm glad he now got away with some sort of 'unique' sound after all.

But still, there are dozens, and there probably will be.

Just look at this Berklee cat:



Not to mention, that he's a complete 'victim' of Jaco, I can't get it, how can he get his thing going in Berklee.. Whatever..


It got me thinking..
I've heard it dozen of times - Oh, this cat, sounds like a complete Jaco/Wooten/Garrisson/whatever.. Basically, bassplayer is compared to another bassplayer..

But, have you ever heard - Oh, this man [bassist] sounds like M.Davis/Korea/K.Garrett/Coltrane, whatever..?