Gareth Thomas, Author at Jazz Journal

Leszek Możdżer at London Piano Festival 2023

Gareth Thomas — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 12:55:19 +0000

The pianist half mumbled through the curtain of blonde hair that fell over his face but his piano recital was sophistication exemplified

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The Supreme Court: The Supreme Vibe

Gareth Thomas — Sun, 13 Nov 2022 13:41:46 +0000

Danish project possibly features good jazz soloists but is dominated by high-quality soul, hip-hop, rap and R&B vocals

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Charu Suri: The Book Of Ragas Volume II

Gareth Thomas — Sun, 23 Oct 2022 13:42:58 +0000

Jazz plus raga has a long history but pianist Suri, along with vibraphone and Sufi vocals, fashions something distinct from the old hybrid

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Three Seas: Afterlife

Gareth Thomas — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 10:20:18 +0000

Beyond mere Indo-jazz fusion, the Three Seas bring the jazz plus raga idea into the digital age, filtering tradition through electronics

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Soweto Kinch and the London Symphony Orchestra: White Juju

Gareth Thomas — Fri, 26 Nov 2021 10:01:15 +0000

As the 2021 London Jazz Festival drew to a close, saxophonist, rapper and established mainstay of the British jazz scene Soweto Kinch presented the world première of White Juju, an ambitious project co-commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra and Serious. It was the spiritual successor to Kinch’s 2019 album The Black Peril as well as […]

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Arnaud Guichard’s Serendip Quartet: Queen Of Fire

Gareth Thomas — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 15:42:28 +0000

While Arnaud Guichard’s first album under the Serendip name was recorded in London alongside several musicians from the city, the Serendip Quartet’s second album sees the Belgian saxophonist return to his home country. Despite this, Queen Of Fire is an album with ties to African spiritual music as well as contemporary jazz. Dedicated to the […]

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Strangelet Trio & Leo Abrahams: Moments Of Presence

Gareth Thomas — Sun, 08 Aug 2021 14:33:16 +0000

The avant-garde Tomsk-based Strangelet Trio are here joined by accomplished English guitarist Leo Abrahams (whose career has seen him work on a number of projects, including David Byrne and Brian Eno’s Everything That Happens Will Happen Today as well as a number of film soundtracks). Moments of Presence, recorded live during Abrahams’ tour of Russia […]

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STR4TA: Aspects

Gareth Thomas — Sat, 31 Jul 2021 13:49:49 +0000

Although it didn’t get a great deal of media attention at the time, the Brit-funk movement that helped to ignite club culture in the 70s and 80s was a significantly influential scene. STR4TA is the brainchild of DJ, producer and Brownswood Recordings owner Gilles Peterson, alongside guitarist Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick. In their debut album, Aspects, […]

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Kohsuke Mine: First

Gareth Thomas — Thu, 15 Jul 2021 15:10:50 +0000

The late 60s and early 70s were an important time in the development of jazz in Japan. A shift was taking place, from the “funky boom” movement characterised by the hard-bop and bossa-nova styles of American musicians such as Art Blakey and Horace Silver, to a freer, more experimental approach to jazz. Recorded in 1970, […]

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Vijay Iyer, Linda May Han Oh, Tyshawn Sorey: Uneasy

Gareth Thomas — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 22:21:48 +0000

The origins of Uneasy can be traced back to 2011, in a collaborative project of the same name (styled ‘UnEasy’), between Indian American pianist Vijay Iyer and Karole Armitage’s dance company: Armitage Gone! The title of piece, says Iyer, referred to “instabilities that we then sensed beneath the surface of things . . . an […]

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