Daily jazz blog, Marlbank

Euro jazz club action, 11-18 May

Joe Farnsworth feat Sarah Hanahan Jamboree, Barcelona Saturday 11 May. The Swinging Wyntonian, drummer Joe Farnsworth, is in Barcelona with altoist Sarah Hanahan, the great pianist Aaron Goldberg of the Yes! trio and highly rated bassist Alex …

Published: 10 May 2024. Updated: 37 days.

The Swinging Wyntonian, drummer Joe Farnsworth, is in Barcelona with altoist Sarah Hanahan, the great pianist Aaron Goldberg of the Yes! trio and highly rated bassist Alex Claffy.

  • Palatino - Paolo Fresu, Glenn Ferris, Michel Benita, Aldo Romano Sunside, Paris Sat 11 May

GIG OF THE WEEK: A rare chance to hear the newly reformed 1990s Label Bleu band Palatino.

Sold out.

  • Bill Evans & The Vans Band All Stars ft. John Medeski, Keith Carlock, Felix Pastorius Blue Note, Milan Tues 14 May, Wednesday 15 May

June sees the release of the latest Blue Note album entitled Unomkhubulwane from the formidable South African pianist-composer, a three movement work featuring Makhathini in a trio setting. What we have heard from it so far Makhathini is sounding more like the towering figure of Abdullah Ibrahim than ever with his own cosmic twists thrown in for good measure. Makhathini appears in Paris with bassist Zwelakhe-Duma Bell Le Pere and drummer Lukmil Perez.

Such a natural, Manchester singer Mica Millar - think a sister sound close to the sheer natural swagger of the great Lisa Stansfield circa Real Love stripped of any 1990s trappings. Millar's 'Heaven Knows' is a must.

Also streaming.

We appreciated a good deal 2022's Parallel Motion - so Bob's your uncle in Amsterdam if you bowl up for this gig. You need to have already snagged a ticket as it's sold out. A high water mark in their illustrious discography. Jazz-rock fusion has changed over the years and one of the agents of change is certainly Yellowjackets. If you subscribe as we do to the view that the genre was made coherent most by Weather Report and then developed in myriad ways to eventually change into something far more funky in the hands of the greatest exponents of the form these days Snarky Puppy, the evolution of jazz-rock was later ushered in by bands like Yellowjackets who still act as a bridge back to the original heyday of the genre and face forward through the rugged strength of the ensemble sound and their quality compositions. Parallel Motion was not blood and guts fusion or overly smooth tat. Yellowjackets were and are about neither.

Distinguished Detroit singer Carla Cook plays the Danish capital's top jazz club.

  • Joel Frahm, Staffan William-Olsson, Pat Bianchi, Joris Dudli Birdland, Hamburg Sat 18 May

Tribute to Pat Martino. Check Hammond organist Pat Bianchi's superb album Three released recently.

Nduduzo Makhathini, photo: Blue Note

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Logo and Spontaneous Infinity strapline unveiled for One Jazz

As reported last week a new 24-hour radio platform One Jazz that Chris Philips and Jez Nelson are ''putting on at the end of May,'' is to start up soon. Chris, like Jez, a Jazz FM DJ for many years, adds: ''It will be online and smart speakers, …

Published: 10 May 2024. Updated: 31 days.

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onejazz

As reported last week a new 24-hour radio platform One Jazz that Chris Philips and Jez Nelson are ''putting on at the end of May,'' is to start up soon.

Chris, like Jez, a Jazz FM DJ for many years, adds: ''It will be online and smart speakers, hopefully mobile app too at launch or shortly thereafter. We decided to put together a team of volunteers to populate and curate with us, on this self funded venture. The intention is to lead on new music and challenge the listener with music normally marginalised to late nights.''

Since then the site has commenced a continuous test broadcast interspersed by a brief station ident - before for instance the title track of Wayne Shorter classic Speak No Evil (Blue Note, 1966) came on a female voice with an Estuary English accent and carefully modulated inflection announcing: ''This is One Jazz'' was heard. The logo on the onejazz.net site is above - the platform strapline is ''Spontaneous Infinity.''

We don't know in the slightest what the reason for the choice of strapline is although we have reached out to Chris and Jez via their publicist for more information on this, the snappiness and aptness - given that jazz is often a very spontaneous kind of music on a certain instinctive level and the Internet provides an infinite world of content and creativity - piquing our strong interest. And we are enjoying listening to the test selections. But, hey, riffing around ponder on this dear readers in the beloved anorakerie out there if you have time before tinkering in your shed later… the Sun Ra loving Jez will very probably know the Sun Ra piece - and near namesake in all serendipity only, m'lud - 'Spontaneous Simplicity' - from the 1971 Alan Bates produced Black Lion/Freedom/Polydor release Pictures of Infinity. Certainly regardless of any chin stroking or grizzled barstool punditry as to etymology down the Dog and Duck in this regard, there is a very organic feel to the very well curated test transmission no-presenter mix beyond the generated Ident voice so far and it will be great to hear more of what's in store on the platform. One Jazz, logo and strapline, above. Check it out, give it all a long form spin, via this link to One Jazz

Updated on 17 May adding these replies from Jez Nelson: Asked if 'Soulful' by Ulysses Owens Jr. and Generation Y was the first track played [referring to the test broadcasts] and if so, why this particular track Jez says: “Truth is – we haven’t chosen the first track yet.” On the thinking behind the tag line 'Spontaneous Infinity' on the site he adds: “We’re going to leave that up to people's imaginations!”