THE JAZZ RAG ISSUE 140 SPRING 2016 EARL HINES UK £3.25 CONTENTS EARL HINES A HIGHLY IMPRESSIVE NEW COLLECTION OF THE MUSIC OF THE GREAT JAZZ PIANIST - 7 CDS AND A DVD - ON STORYVILLE RECORDS IS REVIEWED ON PAGE 30. 4 NEWS 7 UPCOMING EVENTS 8 JAZZ RAG CHARTS NEW! CDS AND BOOKS SALES CHARTS 10 BIRMINGHAM-SOLIHULL JAZZ FESTIVALS LINK UP 11 BRINGING JAZZ TO THE MILLIONS JAZZ PHOTOGRAPHS AT BIRMINGHAM'S SUPER-STATION 12 26 AND COUNTING SUBSCRIBE TO THE JAZZ RAG A NEW RECORDING OF AN ESTABLISHED SHOW THE NEXT SIX EDITIONS MAILED 14 NEW BRANCH OF THE JAZZ ARCHIVE DIRECT TO YOUR DOOR FOR ONLY NJA SOUTHEND OPENS £17.50* 16 THE 50 TOP JAZZ SINGERS? Simply send us your name. address and postcode along with your payment and we’ll commence the service from the next issue. SCOTT YANOW COURTS CONTROVERSY OTHER SUBSCRIPTION RATES: EU £20.50 USA, CANADA, AUSTRALIA £24.50 18 JAZZ FESTIVALS Cheques / Postal orders payable to BIG BEAR MUSIC 21 REVIEW SECTION Please send to: LIVE AT SOUTHPORT, CDS AND FILM JAZZ RAG SUBSCRIPTIONS PO BOX 944 | Birmingham | England 32 BEGINNING TO CD LIGHT * to any UK address THE JAZZ RAG PO BOX 944, Birmingham, B16 8UT, England UPFRONT Tel: 0121454 7020 FESTIVALS IN PERIL Fax: 0121 454 9996 Email: [email protected] In his latest Newsletter Chris Hodgkins, former head of Jazz Services, heads one item, ‘Ealing Jazz Festival under Threat’. He explains that the festival previously ran for eight Web: www.jazzrag.com days with 34 main stage concerts, then goes on: ‘Since outsourcing the management of the festival to a private contractor the Publisher / editor: Jim Simpson sponsorships have ended, admission charges have been introduced and now it is News / features: Ron Simpson proposed to cut the Festival to just two days. This is despite participation by top jazz Reviews editor: Nick Hart artists and attendance levels remaining high. The outsourced company is still involved. International editor: Yue Yang To add insult to injury the Council intends to dispense with the services of Dick Commercial Director: Tim Jennings Esmond, the co-founder and the Artistic Director.’ Subscriptions & accounts: Nick Hart Research: Michael Fort This seems a familiar story on two counts. While Jazz Rag has no wish to pillory local Designed by Nerys James councils and indeed is full of respect for the way many councils support jazz festivals, Printed by Warwick Printing there are two common blindspots in the Ealing story. Chris mentions the ‘hundreds www.warwickprinting.co.uk and thousands of people’ who have been attracted to Ealing by the festival. Councils often fail to realise the financial benefit to local shops, restaurants and hotels of a © 2016 THE JAZZ RAG. All original material including advertising artwork remains the sole copyright of the Publisher and may not be reproduced without permission Continued on page 4 THE JAZZ RAG 3 NEWS NEWS Tom Cawley Jeff Barnhart historic buildings, though not all Sulzmann and Nikki Iles (April Marlene VerPlanck of them sacred. Arve will be 24) and Rossano Sportiello (May joined by Jan Bang (samples) and 15). Eivind Aarset (guitar), with visuals Tel.: 01908 280800 from Anastasia Isachsen, in www.stables.org concerts at the Holywell Music Room, Oxford (May 11), St. KING PLEASURE AT George’s Bristol (12) and LSO St. HOME Luke’s, London (13). Between the Stadsschouwburg, www.operanorth.co.uk Bruges on March 6 and the Riverboat Jazz Festival in JAZZ DIVAS AT ST. Denmark on June 24-25, King JAMES Pleasure and the Biscuit Boys are A fine series of four concerts at on home territory, with dates JAZZ AT SHEFFIELD STAFFORD JAZZ Band. The regular programme who is also curating a series of St. James Theatre, London, including Bristol International Sheffield Jazz operates, mainly on The long-established Stafford Jazz features such bands as the Frog concerts by hotly-tipped young highlights top British jazz singers Jazz and Blues Festival (March Fridays, at three different venues, Society, now some 35 years old, Island Jazz Band (February 28), musicians. Already booked are under the banner of Jazz Divas 18), Jam House, Birmingham the most frequent being the meets every Sunday lunch-time at Matt Palmer with both his Jacob Collier and Andreya Triana. 2016. First off Joanna Eden is (April 7), Cornbow Hall, Millennium Hall at the Polish the White Eagle Club. Special Millennium Eagle Jazz Band www.greenwichmusictime.co.uk joined by Alan Barnes and the Catholic Centre: Jason Rebello events in the upcoming months (March 6) and his Rhythmic Chris Ingham Trio on February (March 4), Jeff Williams Quintet include an evening session with Reeds with Christine Tyrrell ARVE HENRIKSEN 25. Clare Teal is accompanied by (April 10), and the evergreen (18), Tom Cawley’s Curios (April Pete Allen’s Reeds & Rhythm TOUR pianist Jason Rebello on March 22), Vein Trio plus Greg Osby (with Sean Moyses and Dave Merseysippi Jazz Band (May 22). 31 and Norma Winstone by Tel.: 01785 226950 Norwegian jazz trumpeter Arve (May 6) and the Allison Neale Browning - April 3), an extended Gwilym Simcock on April 28 www.staffordjazz.org Quintet (20). The Kofi/Barnes lunch-time session of Ragtime, Henriksen is to undertake a before Claire Martin, Aggregation (March 11) and Swing, Blues & Beyond with Jeff & short tour with a difference accompanied by the Gareth Malija (April 1) play the Crucible Anne Barnhart, Spats Langham JAMIE AT GREENWICH organised by Opera North. The Williams Trio, brings the series to Studio and the Tim Garland and Graham Smith (May 29) and The Greenwich Music Time multi-media concerts are inspired an end on May 26. Electric Quartet appears at the two big band concerts in the Festival (July 5-10) takes place at by his acclaimed 2013 album, www.stjamestheatre.co.uk Foundry at Sheffield University Stafford Music Festival. Swingin’ the Old Royal Naval College with Places of Worship, which was Students Union on April 14. Jim’s Dance Band (May 8) is a variety of headline acts derived by sacred sites and ruins. FRIENDS OF UPTON followed a week later by the Appropriately enough, the www.sheffieldjazz.org.uk including Jo Bonamassa. Starring The monthly sessions of the Stafford Grammar School Big on the final night is Jamie Cullum concerts will take place in Friends of the Upton Jazz Continued from page 2 Festival, held at Hanley Castle High School, continue with the successful festival. Similarly the importance of an unsung and often underpaid director who brings knowledge and experience to the task and Basin Street Brawlers (March 11) is dedicated to quality rather than profit is often under-estimated. and the JJ Vinten Band (April 15). American guitarist Howard Alden All the above applies even to one of the most famous and longest established jazz festivals in the UK. Brecon survived the death of its features with a quartet on May inspirational founder, Jed Williams, in 2003 for a few years before plunging into a downward cycle during six or years of constant change and 13 and Dutch violinist Tim uncertainty. A missed year, the abortive take-over by Hay-on-Wye Festival, then it seemed that the Orchard Media and Entertainment Group Kliphuis brings his trio on June 3. had brought stability. After four years running the festival, the company has realised there is not enough money in it and has walked away, with Sadly the July 29 concert with the Brecon Jazz Festival website expressing gratitude for what Orchard achieved. There seems to be no initiative forthcoming from the county Ken Peplowski has been council despite the festival’s boost to the economy of the town and and the Arts Council of Wales appears at first sight to be rather muddled cancelled owing to his in its thinking. Last year ACW found £100,000 to support the festival - a mind-boggling sum to most organisers of jazz festivals - only to commitments in the United suggest in December that it would be a good idea for Brecon to take a year off now. However, ACW's response to our request for States. information suggests that it is well disposed to jazz and no more confused than the whole Brecon situation. ACW has committed no funding Tel.: 01684 593794 to Brecon as there is no body of the stature of Orchard to take on the administration of the festival, but is up to date with attempts by Brecon Jazz, the Cathedral and Theatr Brycheiniog to draw up some kind of a programme and would be sympathetic to applications for minor JAZZ AT THE STABLES funding. A comparable response came from Brecon Town Council. The Town Clerk told Jazz Rag: The Stables at Wavendon has an ‘Talks are ongoing with the stakeholder group about what is happening this year, though a festival is most certainly being planned. The Fringe outstanding jazz and jazz-related Festival is also certain to be going ahead.’ programme for the next three months. Evening concerts Pleasing as it is to receive an immediate and optimistic reply from the Town Council, reading between the lines suggests that the Fringe is include, among others, the Andy more certain than the main festival. So no doubt there will be jazz in Brecon on August 12-14, but will there be a Brecon Jazz Festival as we Panayi Trio with Tenor Madness know it? (March 8), the Puppini Sisters (15), the Jive Aces (25), Sax Similar stories of funding cuts and organisers struggling to maintain standards abound - to some extent, inevitably, with the pressure on local Appeal (April 3), Back to Basie councils to make cutbacks, but equally, unimaginatively, given that jazz festivals pay for their own grants by the money they bring into the (10), Bohem Ragtime Jazz Band community.