This week's prize draw: Hermeto Pascoal

Miles Davis called the Brazilian multi-instrumentalist Hermeto Pascoal: "the most impressive musician in the world". Now in his 75th year, Pascoal will, to use the late Richard Cook's phrase "appear like a lightning bolt to organize and rehearse British players in his music."

The concert is at the Barbican on the last evening of the London Jazz Festival, Sunday 20th November. Newsletter readers please email me to put a name in the hat.

Rory Simmons: "I'm giving this album away for free"

Rory Simmons, best known for Fringe Magnetic and as a member of Jamie Cullum's band, has been quietly working away on a new project, Glass Dancers. He describes it as string/electronica. Like many other jazzers he is happily exploring outside the genre and testing his other skills as a composer and producer. He also trying a developing new trend to introduce this music to listeners. He's giving it away, for free.

Rory told LondonJazz:

I'm giving this album away for free as a different way of developing interest in my music. I am certainly not trying to devalue recorded music, simply using an existing portal like muvolution.com to open up listeners to a new musical avenue of mine. I'm not going to make every album of mine from now on free!


Glass Dancers was inspired by my interest in the more cinematic apporach to electronic music and production along with a passion for 20th century string writing. I wanted to experiment with fusing these sounds, in a similar way to how Max De Wardener, Ben Frost and Nicolas Bernier have. But using the sonic approach of someone like Humcrush or David Torn.


I was writing some string music while away on tour and at the same time, listening a lot to the David Torn album Prezens and the Tim Berne album The Sevens. But also my interest in more cinematic sounds like Max Richter and Jon Hopkins got me thinking about a totally different sound-world. Plus I liked the idea of producing something where I don't actually really play any instrument. Its been a really exciting project to complete - with the post production element being so integral. I'm hoping to transfer much of this sonic approach to the next album I make. We hope to do this record live soon, but how we will do it I don't know! Watch this space.....

Download the album here.

CD Review: The Nigel Price Organ Trio + Guests - Heads & Tales

The Nigel Price Organ Trio Plus Alex Garnett and Snowboy - Heads & Tales
(Woodville RecordsWVCD135. CD Review by Tony Heiberg)

Hard swinging, bluesy, melodic, inventive and virtuostic are just some of the ways in which Nigel Price's world class guitar playing comes across. He also plays chords and harmonies exquisitely and, on the Heads section of his two-in-one CD release, and has written some catchy beboppish 'heads' or - melodies - to the casual listener, over the chord progressions of the standard tunes he plays on double tracked guitars on Tales, the second CD in this package.

This approach to composition is something of a jazz tradition. Heads opens with the wittily retitled It's Not Alright With Me in which Price's equally accomplished colleagues are all featured in turn. The recording is very well mixed. Organist Pete Whittaker's perfect bass lines lock in with drummer Matt Home's swinging and sensitive drumming throughout the recording, while Alex Garnett constructs melodically intriguing solos on both tenor and baritone saxes - as does Whittaker on the organ.

Along with Price's originals, the band play their own arrangements of Wes Montgomery's Four On Six and Lee Konitz's challenging Subconcious-Lee with aplomb. Another highlight is Price's Stealing Time, a Latin number based on the changes of Speak Low, which features a memorable head and an interesting section where Snowboy, on congas, swaps subtle eight bar phrases with Home's drums. Heads closes with the swinging All In which features another strong head over the chords of Body And Soul and great improvisations by messrs Price, Whittaker, Home and Garnett.

I found the Tales CD every bit as enjoyable as solo and double-tracked guitar offerings by John Mclaughlin, Joe Pass, Pat Metheny and Martin Taylor. The opening track, If I Were A Bell, has a chorus featuring a strong harmony line from the two guitars. Price's second guitar alternates a two-feel with chords and walking bass lines throughout the nine tracks. Indeed, the swing and Latin tunes are highly rhythmic toe-tappers and the ballads are coloured with harmonics and ad libitum sections with revoicings and passing chords. Then too, the virtuostic solos tell a melodious story which both swings and engages the mind.

With Heads & Tales the listener is the winner whichever way the coin lands. Heads & Tales is available from HMV, Amazon and Nigel Price's website

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

The Special Issue Spotter

We trawl the world's journals so you don't have to:

The Social Psychology of Religion: Current Research Themes (Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology) - open access until end of Nov'11.

The Psychology of Bipolar Disorders (Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy).

Developmental perspectives on cognition and emotion (Cognition and Emotion).

Moving forward in pediatric neuropsychology (The Clinical Neuropsychologist).

Developmental social neuroscience (Social Neuroscience).

Transition to Adulthood (Child: Care, Health and Development) - open access until end of Dec'11.

--
Post compiled by Christian Jarrett for the BPS Research Digest.

New audition process at NYJO

There are  more signs of change all the time, a move to greater transparency and openness at NYJO. It is  catching up fast with the times, listening to, and responding to the recommendations of a wide range of jazz educators.  Latest to change is the audition process. Rather than having to demonstrate their abilities in open rehearsals, NYJO is moving to a proper selection process.

A FULL EXPLANATION OF TH E BACKGROUND IS ON NYJO'S WEBSITE. 
 The first part of the process for applicants is to send in a video.  The final auditions in Leeds on 3rd December and in London on 7th January.


Mark Armstrong: “Change is necessary. Previously NYJO was often seen as a great finishing school for session musicians and a lot of our material focussed on sight-reading. Now the professional climate has changed, and much of this work has gone. While all the vital skills of reading, being a team player, composing and arranging, guiding less experienced players, etc. still need to addressed, many of our musicians now want a more jazz-oriented experience. A deeper engagement with groove and creative improvisation in the widest range of musical styles will help build tomorrow’s community of active jazz musicians. To achieve this we need a performing squad of the best 30-35 young jazz players, regardless of where they are and whatever their background.

NYJO, NYJO 2 and NYJO London will still be offering open rehearsals every week and it remains the case that anyone who wants can find a place in the NYJO learning structure: one of the aims is to make the great readers more creative and musically sensitive, and help the creative, sensitive players get better reading chops! But the performing band will be selected, and it’s likely the very best UK jazz players will have considerable ability on both sides of the coin.”

Nigel Tully: “It has taken two years of hard graft to get all of this established. It will probably take a year or two more to make a difference. Youth jazz educators will get up to speed and make it happen for their musicians. Groups that feel they have been under-represented now have a transparent process on which to focus. And if musicians want to be the best of the best, then we have provided a big band route.”

For anyone interested in auditioning, Sean Corby, ex Tomorrow’s Warriors and Roundhouse, is the man to talk to : Here's his email address .

Alfama - The Wonderland of Portugal

I love places like this.

Winding, mysterious, historical, high risk of getting lost, but then you'll find your way out eventually, narrow streets, quaint cafes, etc.




As quoated in wikitravel: "This neighborhood still bears signs of the Moorish presence in the city, with the buildings very close to each other, and very irregular streets. It's very atmospheric and a great spot in which to wander around."




Alfama - one of the places you must visit in Lisbon.

You can spend up to half a day wandering through the neighbourhood. It's really quite fun to explore, with lots of photography opportunities, if you're into artsy fartsy sort of pictures, that is.




I love how the narrow houses are so close to each other, and a walk to the grocery is just your next door neighbour.




How cars can manage to squeeze themselves along the slope on this already tiny place.

or how we found a uber rad fine dining restaurant amidst all these was the ultimate icing.





Looking for a restaurant in my trusty lonely planet.



left or right?









love the super old school western sign board.






Found the restaurant!









can never get tired of salmon fettucini






mmm.... my poached pear in red wine.
right. never gonna order this again.


Here are the rest of my artsy-ish photos in Alfama.








love this best


























That's it for Lisbon.

As I was leaving Lisbon, I thought to myself, if I ever do return to this place, I'm going to find myself a nice guesthouse in Alfama and fully experience the olden days Moorish culture. :)