Results for "Femi Koleoso"

Femi Koleoso

Building Back Jazz Brick by Brick in East London

by Peter Jones
May 2, 2024

Brick Lane Jazz Festival London April 26-28, 2024 The most innovative and thrilling jazz currently emerging from the UK is centred on a few grimy, narrow streets on the east side of London. The pioneering work that goes on in this elaborately-graffitied neighbourhood has, in recent years, contributed much to the ...

Lift Every Voice And Sing: Twenty #BlackLives Albums That Matter

by Chris May
July 23, 2020

Jazz has been inextricably linked with social and political protest since at least the late 1930s, when Billie Holiday made famous the leftist songwriter and poet Abel Meeropol's “Strange Fruit." The song, which has a power to move that is undiminished by familiarity, likens the bodies of lynched African Americans to fruit hanging in trees.

Kansas Smitty's: Things Happened Here

by Chris May
June 25, 2020

Kansas Smitty's is the house band at a London jazz bar of the same name. Band and bar are fronted by the American-Italian alto saxophonist, clarinetist and bass clarinetist Giacomo Smith, who with guitarist David Archer wrote most of the material on this album. The band's style embraces swing era Kansas City through to more recent ...

New Jazz From London: Top 20 Paradigm Shifting Albums

by Chris May
June 1, 2020

After a lifetime trying to get on an equal footing with its American parent, British jazz has finally come of age. Since around 2015, a community of young, London-based musicians has forged a style which, while anchored in the American tradition, reflects the Caribbean and African cultural heritages of many of its vanguard players. The scene ...

Camilla George: Warrior Charge

by Chris May
February 13, 2020

In 2017, alto saxophonist and composer Camilla George's band was the support act for a Dee Dee Bridgewater gig at the London Jazz Festival. After George had finished her set, Bridgewater, who had been listening in the wings, came onstage, took the mike, and announced: “The world is safe because we have Camilla." Others in Cadogan ...

We Out Here: The Fast-Forward Evolution of British Jazz

by Chris May
July 25, 2019

After a lifetime in the shadow of its American parent, British jazz is finally coming of age. A community of young, London-based musicians is forging a style which, while anchored in the American tradition, reflects the modern Caribbean and African cultural heritages of the majority of its vanguard players. The music also addresses the race, class ...

Ezra Collective: You Can't Steal My Joy

by Kevin Press
April 30, 2019

This sparkling debut from London's Ezra Collective pulls together jazz, hip hop, Latin and reggae influences in a surprisingly cohesive package. A pair of guest vocal performances--powerfully delivered by singer Jorja Smith and rapper Loyle Carner--virtually guarantee this disc serious lounge airplay this summer. Right out of the gate, Dylan Jones' trumpet delivers a ...

Sarah Tandy: Infection In The Sentence

by Chris May
February 18, 2019

Sarah Tandy made a mark on the alternative London jazz scene three years ago as the pianist on alto saxophonist Camilla George's luminous debut, Isang (Ubuntu). More recently, she has played piano and keyboards on two other headline albums: George's The People Could Fly (Ubuntu, 2018), and alto saxophonist Cassie Kinoshi's SEED Ensemble's debut, Driftglass (Jazz ...