Red Hot Chili Peppers come back lean and clean, plus this week’s best albums
At the centre of the band is vocalist James Potter, who romps through every song with Shakespearean flair, effectively channeling the vocal vibrato of Bowie, while also…
Sparkling word-jazz from Dylan Moran, but a little too chaotic for comfort
Dylan Moran likes to compare his freewheeling comedy to jazz. A theme is introduced, then disappears under a flood of abstract riffs, re-emerging when you least expect…
Rosalia is the future of pop, plus this week’s best albums
Charli XCX, Crash, ★★★★☆ Is Charli XCX a pop star? I can’t really tell anymore. Multi-talented singer-songwriter-producer Charlotte Aitcheson certainly looks and sounds the part, comporting herself…
Rosalia is the future of pop, plus this week’s best albums
Charli XCX, Crash, ★★★★☆ Is Charli XCX a pop star? I can’t really tell anymore. Multi-talented singer-songwriter-producer Charlotte Aitcheson certainly looks and sounds the part, comporting herself…
This Life proves that Curtis Stigers is still the smoothest, smokiest jazzman around
The singer, songwriter and saxophonist Curtis Stigers is one of those artists who claim the mantle of jazz, are loved by the wider musical public, but whom…
Farewell to Betty Davis, the thrilling, sexy and criminally overlooked first lady of funk
Betty Davis has died, aged 77, and the world just got a little less funky. By rights, she should be a legend. Davis was a funk powerhouse…
Ballaké Sissoko and Vincent Ségal, review: defying genres and breaking boundaries
Ballaké Sissoko and Vincent Ségal prove that breaking boundaries can be a mellifluous business. Sissoko is a Malian kora virtuoso descended from a long line of griots,…
Fred Hersch, Breath by Breath, review: a masterclass in mindfulness
At 66, the self-taught Jazz pianist Fred Hersch is still full of ideas. This latest album, inspired by meditation and breathing, is a refreshingly broad concept album…
Alicia Keys: KEYS, review: world-class range, ambition and accomplishment
She burst onto the world stage aged just 19. Her breakout single (Fallin’) was a huge global smash, a heartbreakingly romantic piano ballad with a preternatural, octave-busting…
A Great Day in London, review: a dizzying array of talent proves the UK jazz scene is alive and well
Jazz development organisation Tomorrow’s Warriors have a leading role in the story of the UK’s Jazz renaissance, having mentored some of today’s young global jazz stars. Shabaka…
Sunset Swing by Ray Celestin, review: a fitting finale to this hard-boiled, jazzy crime series
Here ends one of the finest achievements of recent crime fiction, Ray Celestin’s City Blues Quartet. The first book, The Axeman’s Jazz, introduced us to black Pinkerton…