The Gil Evans Season in Birmingham is the first opportunity to get a handle on how contemporary bandleaders and composers are dealing with the legacy of Gil Evans , the composer and arranger forever known for his collaborations with Miles Davis, in this the centenary year of Evans' birth. The centenary, which falls in May, is an important chance to reassess the great Canadian’s music and life. With the benefit of the calm distance of historical perspective his work besides Miles encompasses landmark albums such as Svengali as well as his insightful interpretations of the music of Jimi Hendrix that ...

The Brit-Jazz scene was in constant flux this year with established bands such as Troyka, Neil Cowley Trio, Get the Blessing, and trioVD preparing for new studio albums, so the field lay wide open for more attention to be given to new bands often playing individual jazz clubs or festivals and making a buzz. Partikel and Kairos 4tet , which won the jazz act MOBO, were some of the bands to step into the breech, while other breakthrough bands like Acoustic Ladyland actually disbanded. Other instrumentalists like Gwilym Simcock ( below, right ), who was nominated for the Mercury prize, reached out to ...

The Brit-Jazz scene was in constant flux this year with established bands such as Troyka, Neil Cowley Trio, Get the Blessing, and trioVD preparing for new studio albums, so the field lay wide open for more attention to be given to new bands often playing individual jazz clubs or festivals and making a buzz. Partikel and Kairos 4tet , which won the jazz act MOBO, were some of the bands to step into the breech, while other breakthrough bands like Acoustic Ladyland actually disbanded. Other instrumentalists like Gwilym Simcock ( below, right ), who was nominated for the Mercury prize, reached out to ...

This evening sees the first show of A Serious Christmas , three days of Christmas-themed concerts taking place at central London arts and culture venue Kings Place. The first concert tonight in Hall One of the York Way venue, near Kings Cross and St Pancras stations and close to the newly relocated Central St Martin’s art college, is a double bill featuring the influential saxophonist and composer Andy Sheppard ( pictured ) headlining, with lively Scottish reeds and brass quartet Brass Jaw in support. Serious Christmas, promoted by London Jazz Festival organisers Serious, continues tomorrow again in Hall One with the Godfather ...

Reflecting its increasingly eclectic, often genre-hopping, programme Dalston’s Vortex hosts a hugely diverse five night mini-festival beginning tomorrow running until this Sunday, 9 October, curated by multi-talented drummer Seb Rochford . One of the jazz scene’s most recognisable and influential figures Rochford’s creative oeuvre encompasses everything from wild electronica with the likes of laptopist Leafcutter John and theremin virtuoso Pamelia Kurstin to post-bop with Polar Bear and pianist Bojan Z to punk thrash with Acoustic Ladyland. True to form things kick off with one of India’s most incisive tabla players, Sukhvinder Singh Namdhari , and a solo drum ...

This year’s Ronnie Scott’s Brit Jazz Fest which has been running since 31 July and ends at the weekend tonight hosts the Mercury-nominated Gwilym Simcock . Nominated for solo piano record Good Days At Schloss Elmau last month, the 30-year-old appears with Moscow-born bassist Yuri Goloubev and Jeff Ballard-influenced drummer James Maddren. The latter also featured on a 2010 Mercury-nominated album Golden as a member of the Kit Downes Trio. Simcock’s appearance tonight forms part of a double bill with Stephano d’Silva who is to play the music of his father Amancio d’Silva who was known ...

Just as life itself would be substantially enhanced were we all living in an endless ATP, Sunday lunchtime too is irrevocably enriched by a Godspeed You! Black Emperor show, especially one that today crams a lifetime's worth of emotivity into just shy of two utterly exhausting hours. Just as your average grease-dosed chip shop fayre encompasses ruddy saveloys and indiscriminate gristle battered and bruised, GY!BE utilise every hallmark of the post-rock genre to its enervating, yet equally thrilling full, emotion-shocked potential as trumpets blare, grief-stricken strings ring out over a sense of growing panic, and dual bass guitars ...

Another Slowfoot release, Ouch Evil Slow Hop is a collaborative effort between two musicians who are committed to approaching music through innumerable projects and bands. British drummer Sebastian Rochford has been easing his ecstatically jazzy paradiddles into the collective consciousness through Polar Bear & Acoustic Ladyland, whilst American Theremin manipulator Pamelia Kurstin is busy receiving [...] Sebastian Rochford & Pamelia Kurstin – Ouch Evil Slow Hop (Slowfoot) is a post from: Cyclic Defrost Magazine .

TWO HOUR MP3 MIXTAPE CURATED BY PORTISHEAD 00.00 “…They Don’t Sleep Anymore on the Beach…” / Monheim - Godspeed You! Black Emperor  13.19 We Carry On - Portishead  19.44 A Cold Freezin’ Night - The Books  23.04 Gazzillion Ear - Doom  27.15 You Fucking People Make Me Sick - Swans  32.20 Yang Yang - Anika  35.11 Real Love - Factory Floor  42.32 Infinity Skull Cube - DD/MM/YYYY  45.51 Untilted - Money">Helen Money  51.42 “Four Spirits In A Room” Excerpt - Alan Moore & Stephen O’Malley  56.50 Plaster Casts Of Everything - Liars  60.43 8 Steps To ...

Portishead : ATP I’ll Be Your Mirror London - Mixtape 00.00 “…They Don’t Sleep Anymore on the Beach…” / Monheim - Godspeed You! Black Emperor  13.19 We Carry On - Portishead  19.44 A Cold Freezin’ Night - The Books  23.04 Gazzillion Ear - Doom  27.15 You Fucking People Make Me Sick - Swans 32.20 Yang Yang - Anika 35.11 Real Love - Factory Floor 42.32 Infinity Skull Cube - DD/MM/YYYY 45.51 Untilted - Money">Helen Money  51.42 “Four Spirits In A Room” Excerpt - Alan Moore & Stephen O’Malley  56.50 Plaster Casts Of Everything - Liars  60.43 8 ...

Portishead have completed a two hour mixtape ahead of their role as curators of I'll Be Your Mirror. Portishead have always been heavy record collectors. The Bristol group were assemble a dextrous array of samples on those initial two records, splicing together soul, funk and Library records to craft a new trip hop template. Returning with their celebrated album 'Third' the band have lost none of their ambition. Continuing to break new ground, Portishead have accepted the offer from ATP to curate the first British instalment of I'll Be Your Mirror. Taking place in the Alexandra Palace on ...

Portishead have put together a killer mixtape in celebration of the forthcoming I'll Be Your Mirror event, taking place on 23rd & 24th July 2011 at Alexandra Palace, London. Portishead are headlining both nights (their only scheduled UK dates of 2011) as well as co-curating the line-up, with a different supporting line-up joining them each day. Tickets are priced at £59 per day and are available via www.atpfestival.com . Money">Helen Money and The London Snorkeling Team have also been added to the bill. Tracklisting 00.00 "...They Don't Sleep Anymore on the Beach..." / Monheim - Godspeed You! Black ...

Sebastian Rochford and Pamelia Kurstin have teamed up to record new album 'Ouch Evil Slow Slow Hop'. Sebastian Rochford is one of Britain's foremost improvisatory musicians. An acclaimed jazz drummer, the percussionist is the lynchpin of both Mercury nominated collective Polar Bear and Acoustic Ladyland. Always eager to explore new forms of music, Brighton's LOOP Festival put Sebastian Rochford in a room with Pamelia Kurstin . A theremin player, Kurstin strips the instrument of its novelty reputation to work on out there electronics. Deciding to continue the partnership, the pair headed into the studio where they recorded a series ...

The ever inventive F-IRE Collective has announced details of its latest mini-festival which takes place later this month at Kings Place in London from 26-28 May. The festival, which F-IRE calls Rhythmic Frontiers , is billed as a festival of music “from the edge” perfect for the collective which over the past decade and a half has consistently championed forward-thinking jazz and improvised music. Headlining at Rhythmic Frontiers are Django Bates with his Belovèd Bird trio fresh from recent success at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, plus F-IRE favourites Jonny Phillips’ Oriole , Stéphane Payen’s group Thôt with Julian Siegel and Keyvan ...

2010’s been a busy year for Seb Rochford. On top of Polar Bear’s fourth album Peepers gaining attention above and beyond anything he’s yet been involved with, he’s just finished a final tour with thrash jazzers Acoustic Ladyland, remixed Peepers alongside London MC Jyager, performed with... Read the full story on DrownedinSound.com