News - Seven Jazz Autumn Seasons kicks off

Keeping the theme with Seven Jazz, the autumn evening season starts this Saturday with Beats and Pieces a big band from the other side of the Pennines. There is a exciting mix of acts ranging from duet through to The Ronnie Bottomley Jazz Orchestra with the fabulous Lee Gibson. Something for everyone, definitely worth checking out! http://www.sevenjazz.co.uk/component/content/article/38-general-news/945-seven-jazz-autumn-evenings

News - Seven Jazz Choir

I have just had a note through from Seven Jazz: Nicki Allan has just got back from Cuba, inspired by Cuban music - which is sung in three part harmony, so come along and join the fun in our Jazz Voices choir!. Either just come along to Inkwell Arts, 31 Potternewton Lane LS7 3LW or contact Jean Watson jeanwatsonlifeskills@hotmail.com. There are a couple of gigs lined up too. The first class is Monday week, 16th September 7pm-9pm. Cost £5 each, or if you want the complete autumn that’s £25 for all six. Dates for your diary… Mon 16 Sept, Mon 30 Sept, Mon 14 Oct, Mon 28 Oct, Mon 11 Nov, Mon 25 Nov, See you at Inkwell – don’t be late! http://www.sevenjazz.co.uk/component/content/article/38-general-news/938-jazz-voices-choir-is-back

News - Autumn round up of gigs

Autumn is fast approaching…

Which means that the listings for Leeds Jazz clubs are coming in!

I thought I would have a roundup of jazz gigs in and around Leeds, get your diaries out!

Please let me know if I have missed any that are open to the general public.

Jazz at the Grove - http://www.thegroveinn.com/ have the following acts on:

Sept 8th:         Standard Deviation Quartet

Sept 22nd:     Paul Baxter Quartet

Oct 13th:         Laura Jurd Quartet

Oct 27th:         Dee Byrne

Nov 10th:        West Coast Project

Nov 24th:        Matt Anderson/Jiannis Pavlidis  Quartet

Dec 8th:          Stuart McCallum Trio

With the changes to Seven Jazz (3 new and the old venues being used) - http://www.sevenjazz.co.uk/:

Evening international concert series 8-11pm   

28 Sept          “Beats&Pieces” big band                                                    - Seven Arts

10 Oct             Alan Barnes-Bruce Adams Quintet                                     - Seven Arts

19 Oct             “The Impossible Gentlemen”                                                - Seven Arts

2 Nov              Jerry Bergonzi quartet featuring Gareth Williams - Seven Arts

21 Nov            Art Theman + Dave Newton                                                 - Seven Arts

12 Dec           Lee Gibson with Ronnie Bottomley Jazz Orchestra - Leeds Irish Centre

Sunday afternoon concert series 1-4pm:

8 Sept             Steve Hanley Quartet “Orion”                                               - Inkwell Arts

15 Sept          Eirik Svela Trio                                                                      - Inkwell Arts

22 Sept          Kit Downes Trio                                                                    - Seven Arts 

6 Oct               “Taba Time”                                                                           - Seven Arts

13 Oct             Derrick Harris Trio                                                                - Inkwell Arts 

20 Oct             3-5pm Zoe Rahman Quartet                                    - University of Leeds 

27 Oct              “The Weave”                                                             - Seven Arts

10 Nov            Matt Anderson “Standard Deviation Quartet”                    - Inkwell Arts

17 Nov            Nicki Allan Quintet                                                                 - Seven Arts

24 Nov            Richard Iles “Microscopic”                                                   - Seven Arts

1 Dec              Autumn Jazz Café and Jam Session                                  - Inkwell Arts

8 Dec              Simon Beddoe Quintet tribute to Donald Byrd                  -Seven Arts

15 Dec           Festive Jazz                                                                           - Inkwell Arts

22 Dec           Dudley Nesbitt and “Pan Jumby”                                         - Seven Arts

Prices and venues may vary so please check the website, the addresses are:

Inkwell Arts, 31 Potternewton Lane Chapel Allerton

Seven Arts, 31 Harrogate Road Chapel Allerton

Leeds Irish Centre, York Road   

University of  Leeds,  Clothworkers Hall, Cavendish Road LS2 9DL

The Leeds Jazz Club – Armley http://www.leedsjazzclub.com/ 8.30 – 11pm

3rd Sept         Gambit JB (Party Night)

10th Sept       Wabash Jazzmen

17th Sept       Spats Langham & Hot Fingers

24th Sept       New Orleans Heat

1st Oct            Armstrong Oliver Band

8th Oct            White Eagles JB

15th Oct          Harlem Hot Stompers

22^nd Oct          Spirit Of New Orleans

29th Oct          Jazz Gentlemen

5^th Nov            Savannah JB

12th Nov         Dave Mott's Jazz Classics

19thNov          Gavin Lee's New Orleans

26th Nov         Sussex Jazz Kings

3rd Dec          Tame Valley Stompers

10th Dec        Swingamathing (7 piece Swing Band)

17th Dec        Merseysippi JB + Leeds C Stompers 

24th Dec        No Jazz

31st Dec        No Jazz

The Fuse Box - http://www.fuseboxleeds.org.uk/

Special gig at Hyde Park Picture House, Brudenell Road, LS6 1JD

5th Sept,         4pm* Doors Open at 3.30pm.

6th Sept,         7.30pmDoors Open at 7.15pm.

9 Burley Street; Fox and Newt; Leeds LS3 1LD

24^th Sept        FBCOrchestra Open Rehearsal

4th Oct            Silence Blossoms & friends

More to be updated

Sela Bar, 20 New Briggate, Leeds, LS12 1UN. Sun 15 Sep – Stuart McCallum Trio Tue 15 Oct – Compassionate Dictatorship - £7/£5 - 8pm Sun 20 Oct – Jiannis Pavlidis Trio (+ support from The Qul Project) Sun Nov 17 – Joel Purnell Quartet (+ support from Calvin Travers Trio) Tue Nov 26 – Martin Speake Trio with Mike Outram and Jeff Williams - £9/£7 - 8pm Fri Dec 15 – Jamie Taylor's Outside Line (+ support from Peter Johnson Quintet) Unless otherwise stated, all gigs start at 10pm and are free entry. Support bands (where applicable) start at 8:30pm. http://www.selabar.com/index.html

More to be updated

On Thursdays there is always Brendan Duffy’s Something Else at The Victoria Hotel LS1 3BB 

Jazz At Heart – Headingly

http://jazzjeff.wordpress.com/

September 27th - Sam Watts/Mike Fletcher Duo

October 12th - Apollo Collaboration

November 30th - Standard Deviation Quartet

December 14th - Al Morrison's Blues Experience

The Venue Leeds http://www.lcm.ac.uk/whats-on/Highlights-Concert-Season

Ask on their web site to check the first week of September for the autumn-winter programme

Well that’s 83 or more gigs in 4 four months across many styles of jazz, should keep the most enthusiastic music goer busy! I have given the web addresses as the prices vary, so please check before you go.

 It would be great to hear from you which gigs you are looking forward to catching or have been to!

Interview - Jonathon Scully on Alligator Gumbo

A little while ago I met up with Jonathon Scully for a chat about Alligator Gumbo (http://www.alligatorgumbo.co.uk) and the New Orleans jazz scene in Leeds

　

　

　

　
Mark Beirne-Smith– When did Alligator Gumbo form?
Jonathan Scully – It was back in November 2011, James our bass player
started putting Gumbo together, he managed to get in touch with
musicians who were interested and we started working through
arrangements and getting our tunes together. It took a little while
to develop the dynamic arrangements that we perform today - I think
the band’s come a long way!


Mark Beirne-Smith– What influences do you and your band colleagues have?
Jonathan Scully – People like Wiyos and the New Orleans jazz vipers,
but also artists like Ella and Jelly Roll Morton spring to mind. For
me, Wynton Marsalis and of course Louis Armstrong, but each member
brings various influences be-bop through to blue grass, that’s why
we’re a Gumbo!


Mark Beirne-Smith– There is a perception that the ‘trad jazz’ scene
is for bearded gents of a certain age, is this the case?
Jonathan Scully – I don’t think we’re really a trad band. Trad was
a 60’s revival of the early New Orleans jazz and became a distinct
music in its own right. Most trad bands have very strict line ups,
but the jazz from New Orleans would use any instrument which they had
to hand – we have a violin and piano accordion, something you probably
wouldn’t see in a typical trad band.
Having said that, trad clubs are very receptive to our music; they
have audiences full of music lovers who like to listen and appreciate
our music. Also, there are lots of young people in our audiences.


Mark Beirne-Smith– Jazz has had a changing history, moving on to
swing, be-bop, modal jazz etc. why return to the New Orleans style?
Jonathan Scully – It’s just a good, fun, uncomplicated music. We’re
certainly not in this to preserve a relic from the past, this music is
all about getting people stomping their feet and having a good time,
hopefully we hit the spot!


Mark Beirne-Smith- Where are you gigging next?
09/06 Alne Street fair York

14/06 Cask Corner Doncaster

28/6 Matt and Phred’s in Manchester

09/07 Leeds Jazz Club Armley

There are more dates on the website if you cant make these!

Mark Beirne-Smith- Where can the album be bought?
Jonathan Scully – You can get our CD through our website
www.alligator-gumbo.co.uk, on our Facebook page and also at gigs.


Mark Beirne-Smith– Other than your own gigs where else can people
find this type of Jazz
Jonathan Scully – Doncaster Jazz Club does lots of great jazz gigs and
has been really supportive of Gumbo. John Wall puts on Leeds Jazz
Club on Tuesday in Armley and of course there is Seven jazz. We gig at
Smokestack quite a bit and their new jazz(y) night is really getting
going. Also, I’m just starting a night at Cucina in Morley, so make
sure to get down there sometime.


Mark Beirne-Smith – Do you like marmalade
Jonathan Scully – Yes, especially with whiskey in it!

News - Kinda Blue

Next week Seven Jazz starts its Blues Fest with
Al Morrison’s Blues Experience on the 13th
Colin Hodgkinson and "Back Door" on the 14th
and James O'Hara Blues Band on Sunday the 16th

As ever the full details are on the Seven Jazz web site:
http://www.sevenjazz.co.uk/whats-on

Jiannis Pavlidis interview

Guitarist Jiannis Pavlidis first picked up guitar at age 15 in Sweden and quickly began his musical education at the Kulturama Music Institute in Stockholm. After graduating from Berklee College of Music he moved to Greece where he was involved in a number of professional engagements. Throughout his illustrious career he has performed and recorded with, amongst others American saxophonist and flautist David Liebman and drummer Adam Nussbaum. He presently teaches at the Leeds College of Music and Leeds University, as well as performing in the UK and Greece with his trio and continues his work with Liebman and Nussbaum. Over tea in the handsome surroundings of the Turkish “Duran” cafe in Leeds, Jazz Goes to Leeds asked what his main influences were when he first picked up the guitar in Sweden. It seems that when he first picked up the guitar but he didn’t know how to play it or what to play, “A cousin of mine started playing some Pink Floyd, that’s when I started seeing the guitar as a guitar. When I was a kid Elvis died and I was like who was that guy? My dad did me a tape of music that was smart because it had the original stuff, not Elvis, (like Big mama Thorton), that was my first musical interest. Then playing to Beatles records, I was fascinated with 12-bar blues sound, playing with one finger on the two top strings, that pentatonic sort of thing this would be about age 9. I started lessons quite late at 14 when I had a teacher in Sweden, I started doing classical, reading, but I was still fascinated by the blues, he showed me a bluesy riff that I think I played for months”. So, when did he first start getting into jazz? In the early 80’s, he explains,  in Sweden there was a Greek community, and on Saturday and Sundays there were teachers teaching kids guitar, his father took him there, and from there he was introduced to guitar music; John McLaughlin, Paco de Lucia, Al Di Meola, through friends there. One of the friends, who he eventually went to Berklee with, was already playing flamenco and blues and he started to get into jazz and became part of the “clan” getting into players like Joe Pass, but the first major influence was Pat Martino. What was the jazz scene like in Sweden at that time? Sweden had always been informed in jazz, he feels, but there were not a lot of places to play in Sweden. There were clubs that played trad jazz, but when he got into jazz there was only one club where he would see people like the John Abercrombie Trio and the American Jazz Quartet in Stockholm, maybe because of the wealth, money was available from the state to research or record. Sweden was (and still is) very art friendly, there was no major need to get out and earn a living , or it was so back then, he points out. Sweden still has a lot of input in world jazz. I asked him how he got to study in Berklee? “That was the place to be” he explains, some of his teachers in Sweden came from Berklee. Through them they got some information on courses, and then eventually thought they should continue their studies further. In Berklee, Jiannis remembers, you pay a lot of money to study, but because they had some background they could get credit, so because they knew harmony they saved a lot of money, as he did two years of harmony in one semester. He recalls being there with Kurt Rosenwinkel who was, “...as good as he is now, a bit different but just as good, everyone was talking about him”. He fondly remembers classes with Matt Garrison, son of Jimmy Garrison. Seamus Blake was there and Scott Kinsey among others.

So how did this latest trio come about? Adam (Nussbaum), he feels, is someone he would listen to, with John Abercrombie and early Schofield records. Through Liebman he asked for his contact, he sent him an e-mail, Nussbaum replied saying send some music and they ended up doing the first tour together, “He has a certain “feel””. Do you have any plans for this trio in the future? Jiannis would like to do a small tour after Christmas in England, but feels he can’t really set it up by himself, although the college apparently is already interested in a masterclass, so that could be the beginning, “If we get something from them, maybe we could start setting up the tour around that date?”. What does he think of the jazz scene in Leeds at the moment? “It’s great, there is a lot of good music in Leeds”, he believes, “The students are very active... they set up venues and are involved with the scene... like Sela, Heart…..and there is Seven Art….”. Does he think there is a crossover with the DIY music scene and jazz in Leeds, with bands like trio VD and Roller Trio for example? “Leeds is a university city which keeps the city alive...the youth keep the city vibrant”. It is hard for jazz, he feels, as it is something you need to get introduced to. For rock music the path is harder as jazz is part of the academy, like classical, and there is a lot of support, “We give pop music pathways at the college...people are starting researching...so I think it’s just a matter of time. Who is he listening to at the moment? “I always like the older guys, John Abercrombie, Bill Frissell... from the new guys I particularly like Rosenwinkel...I’m making an effort not to listen to a lot of guitar players... yesterday I was listening to Walter Norris”. He feels happier; it appears, when listening to other instruments. “I don’t think anybody cannot be a fan of John Schofield...like Hendrix, it’s impossible NOT to be influenced by him”.

What is jazz scene like in Greece? “A great scene in Athens...players like George, phenomenal organ player... I tried to set up a tour with Nussbaum in England, I was trying to set up a trio with him and Steve Swallow, I think it was 2008-2009...and I couldn’t get anyone interested ...The tour with Nussbaum was easier to set up in Greece, maybe there is more competition here, more groups to book...The second tour we did was 10 gigs in a row, you rarely get that in jazz now..”.... Any students at the college in Leeds now we should keep an eye on? He recommends Adam Taylor, who, he feels, is very much into Holdsworth and Kurt (Rosenwinkel), Jack Gillen who has a great understanding of the idiom, John Brown who is a uniqe player,  and Jamie Holdroyd who also runs a jazz blog. Also Will Howard, a talanted upcoming saxophonist. How do you think the internet and social networking are changing the way we are exposed to music? “It makes things harder sometimes as there is so much...you can become saturated...you can jump around”, he fondly remembers playing vinyl albums and actively “listening”. The conversation meandered into   the intimacy of jazz recordings and how releases now feature false starts, incomplete versions and studio talk, “I got sent “Freedom Jazz Dance” by Miles Davis Quintet (Complete Columbia Studio Recordings 1965-1968)... they almost sound like novices when they start...they almost seem to learn their instruments there... you see how these top guys played out of nothing and get to the final take and blow your mind away”.  We reflected on how players like Coltrane brought a scale or three notes into the studio to build on. “Who has the money now to do that? ...walk into the studio with nothing, spend hours.” He argues, “Yet I don’t like saying it was better then, it’s different times, the attitude, technology, interest, styles...at the end of the day it’s improvisation.” Does he ever feel an improvisation doesn’t get off the ground or really work? “...Yes, but we just keep doing it”. He remembers coming across an interview with Pat Metheny, who played around 250 gigs a year back in the 80’s and 90’s, and claimed that out of all the gigs, he enjoyed about three, and maybe one was really happening, “What you feel doesn’t mean that’s what’s coming across. It’s just a different path. When working with Liebman and Nussbaum, “...they come and play out of nothing and that’s a great state...whatever happens is a resolve and you embrace it better. ” Is there ever such a thing as a finished performance? “There are some nights when you feel better, but you do mess up, but even when that does happens it’s happy times. Talking about the trio with Adam Nussbaum and George Kontrafouris,…. that group is a comfortable group...there is something strange when there is chemistry...the way those guys groove...it swings, you can’t manufacture that”. The conversation then broadened into the power of music, particularly free improvisation, to physically move you in a live setting, and that is one enduring sentiment that one feels when talking to Jiannis, his passion for the music, despite the hurdles in jazz, and the emotions it can suggest. 

Alexis Cairns “This Is New To Me” album review

Citing her early influences when growing up in Newcastle in the 1980’s as the saxophone solos on Huey Lewis and the News and Duran Duran songs, Alexis Cairns began playing clarinet whilst in middle school. She swapped instruments three years later to saxophone and gained a grounding in performance in a number of local concert bands. Studying the early development of jazz, and exposure to the music of Louis Armstrong, Count Basie and Duke Ellington whilst studying for A-levels, led to a love of jazz which has persisted to this day. Moving to Leeds to study at the university and Leeds College of Music created a number of teaching and performance opportunities. Her debut album “This Is New To Me”, featuring Alexis on tenor saxophone, Al MacSween on piano, Emlyn Vaughan on bass and Kris Wright on drums, consists of tracks written by Alexis with arrangements by the three other members of her quartet.  “Third Time Lucky” and “Flux Capacitor” are vibrant and brisk in their approach featuring comfortable soloing and crisp production. Slightly funkier in character, “Just Izz” illustrates the influence saxophonist Michael Brecker has on her sound. Anyone familiar with the “Heavy Metal Be-Bop” album will be familiar with that distinctive resonance. “This Is New To Me” flows elegantly with sumptuous phrasing, whilst “That’s How It’s Gonna Be” swings infectiously.

By this time the listener may realise that whatever the character of the tune, the personality of the playing remains a constant. This is testament to the excellence of the saxophone playing on this release, that an individual voice has become recognisable. The pace mellows for “The Visitor” and “To Have and To Hold” which feature tantalizing bass and piano soloing with seductive saxophone lines which bring to mind Coltrane at his most passionate. In terms of compositional influence, Pat Metheny is referenced as a major authority, and there is an essence of pure Metheny in many of these arrangements; an amalgamation of various international styles which insert additional texture. As Alexis herself recommends on her website, listen to “Song for Bilbao” by Michael Brecker to get an idea of where some of these tunes have gained encouragement.  The Brecker influence can be heard again on “Driving Force” which is propelled along over groove laden phrasings, whilst “Matter of Convenience” is evocative of early, tender Herbie Hancock.

Making comparisons such as these does not mean to say that these arrangements are derivative in any way, as no music is produced in a vacuum, but these are an intelligent blend of influences given their own personality. The album closes with “Zetec” another charming, enigmatic piece and one which further gives credit to the idea that the diverse influences that have gone into the playing here have been used to create an album of original pieces that will unquestionably act as influences to other prospective musicians.