Previews: Pete Hurt (11th) and Jason Rebello (18th) at LJF

Jason Rebello

In the maelstrom of the 280-gig London Jazz Festival, a couple of  good events at the Guildhall, putting the focus on interesting musicians, which could easily be overlooked. I spoke to Scott Stroman about them.  


Friday 11th at 7.30pm

The 12-piece Guildhall Jazz Ensemble directed by Martin Hathaway presents music by Pete Hurt.  
Composer/ saxophonist Pete Hurt has worked extensively with Carla Bley, Billy Cobham and George Russell.  Scott Stroman has worked with him in the London Jazz Orchestra for over 20 years.Scott says:  “perhaps because Pete's manner is so unassuming, he is not as well known as he should be. He has a tremendous original sound and an approach to writing. He continues to produce amazing writing and to develop - unique and mature.”

Friday 18th November at 7 30 pm

The Guildhall Big Band directed by Scott Stroman features Jason Rebello 


Stroman remembers Rebello: “Jason was student at Guildhall. He was an outstanding prodigy, a terrific classical pianaist . Not just an amazing technique under the hood but a real imagination as a musician, solid in every way. He could turned talent to anything, and has had a very successful career in pop music, working - among  others -  with Jeff Beck and Sting. It is a new endeavour for him to write for big band. We're also doing charts by John Taylor and Kenny Wheeler.”

For tickets, follow the links. Full price for each of the concerts is £15. £10 concessions. Free to GSMD staff and students

CD Review: Time Zone - Crossing the Line

Loz Speyer and Time Zone

Time Zone - Crossing the Line
(Spherical Records SPR003. CD Review by Chris Parker)

As the band name and album title suggest, trumpeter/composer Loz Speyer's latest project is the result of much travelling, most frequently to Santiago de Cuba (where Speyer studied percussion and collaborated with local musicians).

Indeed this lively, vigorous album begins with an infectiously robust but subtle tune ('Conjunto') culminating in a vocal refrain extolling the necessity to travel, and concludes with a wry look at the vicissitudes of intercontinental telecommunications, complete with Cuban dialling tones and detailed descriptions of satellite transmission etc.

In between, a band Speyer himself refers to as 'bilingual' (by which he means they are as familiar with jazz of all sorts as they are with eastern European time signatures and Cuban rhythms) breeze enjoyably through five more Speyer compositions that showcase all their improvisational and interactive skills.

Martin Hathaway is featured on alto saxophone and bass clarinet, the ubiquitous Davide Mantovani is characteristically flawless on double bass, Mauricio Ravalico and Simon Pearson play congas and drums respectively. Perhaps the most striking contributions, however (apart from the leader's own graceful, richly textured trumpet), come from guitarist Stefano Kalonaris, who somehow contrives to be pleasantly spiky one minute, mellifluous the next.

Overall, a warm, celebratory album from a band that clearly relishes the material with which a skilful composer has provided them.

Crossing the Line will be released on 10th October, and launched on 18th October at RICH MIX in Bethnal Green Road E1.