Bedford Photos

Looking forward to some gigs coming up in this year’s EFG London Jazz Festival: Friday 16th and Saturday 17th November: launching Introducing REBOP at Toulouse Lautrec, Kennington. REBOP is an international quintet featuring the great Jorge Rossy on vibraphone. We recorded our first CD near Barcelona earlier this year. It is released this month on…

I had an amazing time playing with Michael Kanan over the last few weeks. It was brilliant to play with someone of that calibre night after night, and it was special for me to play my first gigs as a bandleader outside of the UK. Thanks to Matt Pannell for the pic, taken in Cambridge!…

Bud Powell’s solo on Celia, the pianist’s own composition named for his daughter, is one of the great bebop performances. A real one-chorus-wonder, it appears on the album Jazz Giant, which comprises two trio sessions: one recorded in 1949 with Ray Brown and Max Roach, and one from 1950 with Roach and Curley Russell.

The May issue of Jazz Journal features an interview I did last summer with David West. It’s mostly about my duo album with Michael Kanan, which was released shortly after David and I had this conversation. Hoping to have some more concerts scheduled with Michael soon!

I recently read two great books about jazz that paint vivid pictures of important and fascinating times and places in the history of the music. A.B. Spellman’s Four Lives in the Bebop Business is divided into four sections, each one portraying a key figure in the 1960s jazz avant garde: Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, Herbie…

I’m pleased to say that my new album is out now on all platforms. Thanks a lot to those who’ve already bought a copy or had a listen. It’s on BandCamp here (CD or musician-friendly digital/streaming). Or all of the usual streaming services here. Or send me a message if you’d like me to send you a CD…