Pick from the UK in 26
It’s “GB” really, mainly English here; where, precisely, are the top Welsh and Scottish sounds? The Neath Beat doesn’t fly under our radar. But it isn’t in the list much as Joe Webb is making giant strides all the time & is the pick of the Welsh. There’s also something new north of the English border. But the latest from Colin Steele is decent. He’s a classy cat who melds the modal with the lilt of local trad Scots sounds.
And yet at the moment anyway there is lots of quality in the list, mainly emanating from England and of course English jazz lands under the GB and UK umbrella.
As the biggest of the four nations that is probably not a surprise. But fully UK? Nope. Beyond “GB” nothing from Northern Ireland so far as I haven’t come across a single album release and among the Scottish releases it’s relatively slim pickings.
Rules of engagement: it takes at least one leader from GB/UK as it is here to qualify for this list shrunk down from the bigger collection of nations. For a properly representative UK list we’ll have to wait.
And as I walk on through troubled times
My spirit gets so downhearted sometimes
So where are the strong, and who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony, sweet harmony?
-Nick Lowe
Don’t get me wrong I’d love it to be properly representative and I am a big believer in positive discrimination if the quality of what’s presented justifies it. There’s an EP from Zak Irvine coming up but it’s not a full album. Maybe there is enough from the session to make it one later. He’s certainly worth knowing about. Two tracks told me that. Sometimes you just kind of know from the first note.
By god the scene needs green shoots at a time when we are all reeling from racist scumbags rioting on the streets of Belfast, burning people out and all. What’s so funny ’bout peace love and understanding?
We certainly need a bit of humanity and recordings feed in just to prove jazz exists but also boost everyone in the face of far right populism, the rise of Faragist neo-falangism and the rebarbitive menace of Restore and the dangerous Tommy Robinson.
We all know music is the healing force of the universe. Don’t we. Time for some Albert Ayler of course and Nick Lowe above. So I am stopping off the blog to listen to the man they called the Holy Ghost.
In the list the nearest to the Ayler sound is provided by Paul Dunmall.
More topically and politically for a moment let’s hope the good people of Makerfield – clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right – give Andy Burnham a steal of the wheel and ringing endorsement he needs to start his journey, sock it to the Fascists, and be a proper Prime Minister for “us all” as he is less snafu prone than Angela Rayner or Wes Streeting, and fix what’s unfortunately gone so wrong under “themmuns” since the welcome Landslide a couple of years ago.
The last good Irish release that I heard was from Matt Benson crossing over into singsongerwritery last summer – I played that to death last year and it’s made a resurrection on what I often play in 2026 – Sit Back Down Again. Still trying to hear him live but he hasn’t played anywhere near where I wander. Must keep searching or get a new night together locally again. It’s been too long.
If jazz is to grow in the UK it has to grow where there is little going on at present and where the potential is huge given that anyone coming along can more or less build from scratch. And even in England there is an appetite there that can be fostered primarily by a new generation of entrepreneurs willing to invest into the sector and open new venues that give jazz a good amount of space and profile. It’s not easy. But surely it’s worth it if people have patience and aren’t in the game just to dine and dash.
So then: the Blighty jazz 10 that resonates most so far in 20216
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