Georgia Mancio and Robin Aspland MAGY’S FARM, CO. DOWN 3 May
A singer has to have a great pianist. Step forward Robin Aspland. This takes me back to a place packed with pensioners delighted to be alive and enjoying being somewhere that mercifully wasn’t predictably a perishing Wetherspoon’s. It was a sort of an Horatian ode of an occasion, experiencing the tang and clamour of the Pete Long quintet at the Spice of Life in Soho who were playing lots of lovely pieces of Silver – that unforgettable lilt of the Cape Verdean blues a dimmer switch of fast reducing light that melts into the imagination like the smell of sweet perfume coming drifting through.
Led by alto saxophonist Pete Long whose gutsy characterful style drove the band along there were crisp trumpet solos from Mark Armstrong during the set and solid piano accompaniment on the upright from Robin Aspland whose style reminded me a little of John Critchinson (1934-2017) who used to play with Ronnie Scott.
Makaya McCraven NATIONAL CONCERT HALL, DUBLIN 7 May
Claire Martin and Ian Shaw CROWMARSH VILLAGE HALL, GIFFORD 9 May
John Moriarty and Randy Ingram Quartet TRISKEL, CORK CITY 9 May (lunchtime)
Mark Nightingale + Hannah Horton Quartet HAVERHILL ARTS CENTRE, HAVERHILL 10 May
Paul Clarvis and Liam Noble 1000 TRADES, BIRMINGHAM 10 May
The always worth it Pigfoot 2 shuffle Brumwards.
John Moriarty quartet feat. Randy Ingram MAGY’S FARM, NEAR DROMARA 10 May
The gig also includes a reading by Maggie Doyle from her new prose-poem diary, Magy’s Farm: Where Music Grows.
Jo Harrop STOKE BY NAYLAND RESORT, LEAVENHEATH 13 May
The drummer in the band of fine singer Jo Harrop is Darren Beckett, known for his work with Brandon Flowers of The Killers.
Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox ANVIL, BASINGSTOKE 13 May
Jon Regen trio UNITED CLUB, ST HELIER 14 May
American pianist and singer-songwriter Jon Regen’s 1996 hitherto unreleased piano trio album From Left to Right with bassist Earl May (1927-2008) and drummer Sunny Jain precedes this gig in Jersey with an April release. Read a 2016 review of Regen playing live in Soho spot Crazy Coqs.
Theon Cross NORWICH ARTS CENTRE, NORWICH 16 May
Gwilym Simcock THE CRUCIBLE THEATRE, SHEFFIELD 16 May
The Impossible Gentleman reliably pots the reds in, screws back for the yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black every time.
Tony Kofi and Denys Baptiste GUILDFORD PAVILION, GUILDFORD 21 May
Cannonball Adderley and John Coltrane themed. Tenorist Denys Baptiste’s Identity By Subtraction – the last album issued by Gary Crosby (who was also on the record) and Janine Irons’ Dune label that was active and influential in the late-1990s and into the 2000s – is highly collectable on CD if rifling in the secondhand record store racks. Quite the find, dear reader, if on the hunt you chance upon it.
GoGo Penguin EPIC STUDIOS, NORWICH 23 May
Cécile McLorin Salvant, Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, Oxford 28-29 May
Matt Benson CRESCENT ARTS CENTRE, BELFAST 30 May
Jeff Goldblum and the & the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra BORD GÁIS ENERGY THEATRE, DUBLIN 30 May
Derek Nash Band THE BOHEMIA, FINCHLEY 31 May
Judith Owen WALES MILLENNIUM CENTRE, CARDIFF 4 June
Jean Toussaint Quartet THE VERDICT, BRIGHTON 6 June
The Art Blakey legend saxophonist and educator Jean Toussaint hits Brighton with pianist John Turville – a player very much influenced by John Taylor – bassist Ewan Hastie and drummer Ben Brown. Read a 2021 review of Toussaint with another top collection of players run on marlbank.
Mario Biondi ST LUKE’S, GLASGOW 10 June
Shuteen Erdenebaatar Quartet Lime Tree Theatre, Limerick City 19 June
Quite a revelation in 2023 – Rising Sun from pianist Shuteen Erdenebaatar, a musician hailing from Mongolia where she studied in Ulaanbaatar later championed by the Goethe Institute and excelling academically in Munich, Erdenebaatar was joined by soprano saxophonist Anton Mangold who also plays flute on the record and by bassist Nils Kugelmann and by drummer Valentin Renner. Tunes are strong, often quite bittersweet and poignant in nature, with hints of folklore from her homeland as on the flute line on ‘An Answer From The Distant Hill’. Gentle and thoughtful it’s all highly distinctive and speaks to the heart. Further Irish touring dates in June – the band along with Shuteen are Simon Comté on sax, Kugelmann and drummer Amir Bresler – include Triskel, Cork city (20th); Siamsa Tíre, Tralee (21st); Sugar Club, Dublin (24th); Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray (25th); and Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny (26th).
Tomorrow’s New Quartet BREWERY ARTS, KENDAL 11 June
Dave Milligan’s Chroma MERCHANTS HOUSE, GLASGOW 14 June
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis NATIONAL CONCERT HALL, DUBLIN 13 August and 15 Aug
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis UNIVERSITY CONCERT HALL, LIMERICK 14 August
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