Beaming out of a soggy Camden the newly reactivated Lighthouse trio, now re-invigorated as a co-operative trio that has shed a little of its ‘chamber’ trappings, performed songs from new album Lighthouse at the Forge in London last night. While Gwilym Simcock did most of the talking between songs referencing among other links to tunes the Italian wine Barolo, a favourite apparently of Malcom Creese’s, his erstwhile colleague in Acoustic Triangle, and inspiration of album tune ‘King Barolo’, it was the bass clarinet of Tim Garland that set the predominant feel of the first set. Forget the “gloom tube” image of this beast of a horn capable of producing some of the lowest notes in an orchestral or small band setting as Garland, last heard on a big London stage guesting with Chick Corea at the Barbican when he was produced by the great man like a prized rabbit out of a crystal hat to join him on ‘La Fiesta’, added light, shade and syncopated attitude to the trio sound completing run after run of warm but complex ideas emoting on tenor sax and reserving the detailed textural work for soprano sax.

Asaf Sirkis took a solo spot on hang, playing it the orthodox way with hands not mallets as Portico Quartet do but came off best on the ghatam clay plot and on the episodes with his swishing crisp attacking strokes. ‘The Wind on the Water’ was the pick of the first set in terms of narrative and compositional depth but the performance was stocked full of good material with Simcock coming into his own on the ‘groovy’ (his choice of word prompting titters) ‘Barber Blues’, which was pretty jaunty and showed how the pianist can improvise independent contrapuntal lines without choking the spirit of what he wants to do with the tune. Lighthouse might have been together for some eight years but this excellent showing made it all seem brand new. No one’s going to crash on any rocks with these three around.

– Stephen Graham

Lighthouse (above). Photo: ACT

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Tickets have just been released for the Americas stage of BT River of Music to take place at the Tower of London on Saturday 21-Sunday 22 July, mere days before the London Olympics begin. Brazilian candomble superstar Carlinhos Brown was the last big addition to the already high powered line-up now confirmed for the Sunday show joining Ondatrópica and star of the garifuna diaspora, Aurelio Martinez.

Saturday’s show includes appearances by Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra featuring Wynton Marsalis, Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca – recently on tour to acclaim in the UK – and Soul Caribbean led by Jazz Jamaica trumpeter Kevin Robinson, along with popular  NYC R&B/beat box close harmony vocal group Naturally 7, and pop stars Scissor Sisters. The action begins each day at midday and continues until dusk. – Stephen Graham

Wynton Marsalis (pictured) Sign up for free tickets at www.btriverofmusic.com

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With Copenhagen Street just around the corner from Kings Place, the venue seemed just the spot, if street name coincidence is your thing that is, for the London debut of Danish five-piece Girls In Airports on Saturday night. Hall two of the plush venue filled rapidly for the band, which has now released a pair of albums, the first of which gave the band its name, and the second Migration – with its melody-laden elegiac hooks, Ethio-jazz, and you’d swear there was the sound of a cowbell there somewhere – its growing reputation. Big saxman Martin Stender dressed in white dismissing by his sartorial code at least the ongoing and ineffably ‘curious’ fascination over here with Nordic noir by dressing doggedly against type as if he were some sort of out-of-place New Romantic, was pleased even his aunt had made it to Kings Cross to be in the audience, and professed himself so much a fan of British comedy he refrained from telling jokes.

Arriving with the arch imprimatur of Britain’s own purveyor of sonic wisecracks Django Bates, formerly a professor at the Rhythmic Conservatory in Copenhagen, the Danes returned his thumbs up with this knowingly short set that ably demonstrated the wisdom that technique does not override in the least bit strong ideas, improvising intent, and good tunes as here. Mathias Holm on Rhodes and Roland Juno 60 keys was the main driving force behind the band, smilingly silent but deadly at the back crouched at his instrument as if knitting, with the band in a sewing circle around him, an orchestra himself with his effects and sonic twists, bass one minute, conjuring authentic guitar sounds the next against the chilly clank of Rhodes now de rigueur in any self respecting hipster’s arsenal. Girls in Airports are a bit like Polar Bear with a two-sax attack; for Mark Lockheart read the other saxophonist, Lars Greve, who also played suitably sheepish clarinet and floated in and out on tenor, or sometimes alto sax to finish Stender’s phrases, or chime in unison with him riffing against Holm. The band had a breathlessness and natural instinct that makes a refreshing change from the earnest approach of some bands setting out, populated with young blokes not yet able to shave properly who wouldn’t recognise a girl in an airport unless she had a name badge on her coat with the word ‘girl’ written on it in felt tip, sadly.

The tunes are GIA’s strength and ‘Pirates and Tankers’ was the standout, deep in Mulatu Astatke territory, dance friendly and good for the jazz boffins as well who could slum it by enjoying the band's great timing, although second song in ‘Myanmar’ showed how the band has built and developed a song that on record is quite skeletal and a little bit wet. Girls In Airports keep it simple although deceptively so, and with percussionist Victor Dybbroe the rakishly moustachioed equivalent of the Happy Mondays' Bez albeit with only a bit of swaying about adding great touches on tiny bells and what sounded like a sawn-off balofon, and the Tom Skinner-like drumming of Mads Forsby a definite plus. Let's hope they come back to play the jazz club circuit soon.  

– Stephen Graham

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Adding to the previously announced line-up for the Glasgow Jazz Festival the organisers have added Pharoah Sanders (left) and JTQ to the main line-up unveiled in April.

The spiritual jazz saxophonist and acid jazz stalwarts join the Robert Glasper Experiment, Ginger Baker’s Jazz Confusion, George Benson, Ryan Quigley Big Band Beatles, Neil Cowley Trio, Soweto Kinch Trio, Joe Stilgoe, Das Kapital plays Hanns Eisler and Craig Charles at what is Scotland’s leading jazz festival.

Running from 27 June-2 July the Glasgow Jazz Festival is based around the city’s City Halls/Old Fruitmarket venues with late-night jam sessions at the Glasgow Thistle, as well as the Clyde Auditorium and other venues including indie shrine King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut and award winning west end venue Òran Mór.

Other notable additions include Robert Cray Band, Yolanda Brown, the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra and Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra double bill on 1 July, Nova Scotia Jazz Band with special guest Brian Kellock, Simon Thacker’s Svara-Kanti, and singer Niki King at Òran Mór.

– Stephen Graham

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As it approaches its first anniversary the Boisdale Canary Wharf restaurant and music venue is hosting a dedicated series of jazz guitar concerts which began with the TG Collective yesterday.

Running until 26 May the series features the Fapy Lafertin/Lollo Meier Quartet, the Howard Alden Quintet (tonight), the Nigel Price Trio, Lee Jones, and the Jim Mullen Trio among the highlights, building on the Cabot Place venue’s burgeoning reputation as a busy metropolitan jazz venue, the only significant club-type venue providing jazz in the heart of the capital’s financial district.

BCW’s music room is housed within a very large upscale Scottish restaurant on one of its floors, featuring a long bar stocked with a huge number of expensive bottles of rare whisky on the right hand side, and plenty of space for diners. Boisdale, founded by entrepreneur Ranald Macdonald, also operates smaller long-standing jazz-friendly restaurants in Belgravia and Bishopsgate. – Stephen Graham

For tickets go to www.boisdale.co.uk/canary-wharf

Howard Alden (pictured, above)

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The Olympics, the Poetry Olympics that is, are centre-stage next month at the Southbank Centre with poet Michael Horovitz convening his stellar performing troupe of artists for the Poetry Olympics Enlightenment Marathon on 14 June at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. Damon Albarn, John Hegley, Ayanna Witter-Johnson, Brian Patten, Annie Whitehead, Stan Tracey, Michael Horovitz, and Eleanor Bron among others are performing on the night.

It’s a celebration of the multicultural, multimedia melting pot that is contemporary UK-based internationalist culture, as well as the close relationships between poetry, music and song, ahead of the London Olympics. Private Eye’s own poet-in-residence EJ Thribb is also putting in an appearance. So. Farewell then/Olympic blues. – Stephen Graham

Michael Horovitz (pictured, top) and Ayanna

For tickets go to www.southbankcentre.co.uk

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Times were a changing this year at Cheltenham as the festival moved to a self-contained locale in the leafy Montpellier Gardens, a circus-style Big Top replacing the fusty familiarity of the Town Hall, the Jazz Arena providing a super-sized intermediary venue to the Pillar Room/Everyman Theatre and the Parabola Arts Theatre an intimate crucible for the more intense music on offer. The festival’s core jazz audience duly turned out in force for the likes of John Taylor’s darkly humorous commission (based on Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Harrison Bergeron) with his stellar Brit-jazz octet, as well as engaging late night sets by Seb Rochford and Kit Downes and the vibrant Coax/Loop Collective group Tweedle Dee. Yet the agenda this year seemed to be to put even more bums on seats and the vast 2,200-capacity Big Top demanded performances that edged more into showbiz territory or drove directly into funk (Juan Zelada and Miss 600), rock ’n’ roll (Imelda May) or jazz pop (Melody Gardot). So it was down to Gregory Porter to bring some soul-jazz class to bear on these stadium-esque conditions and he positively shone in the process. The ecstatic welcome gave way to a commanding performance, his voice resonating right to the back of the rafters. 

Festival guest director Jamie Cullum made a valiant cameo with this gospel-schooled colossus but even with his gruff voice sounding rich and note perfect, ‘Work Song’ was always going to belong to Porter, the taller man even punctuating the final chord with an aerial kick Cullum himself would have been proud of. Rejuvenated bass boss Marcus Miller was in similarly raucous form, with a hot young band straining at the leash and a bag of fresh new music from his latest album Renaissance the bassist seemed unstoppable. With altoist Alex Han and trumpeter Maurice Brown blowing up a storm the set’s highlights were a demented, dubbed-out ‘Tutu’ and encore ‘Blast’, Miller’s blazing slap bass solo closing the set with a sonic slam-dunk. By contrast Fieldwork’s head-scratching metronomic explorations made for a stifling listening and it was left it to the astonishing drumming of Tyshawn Sorey to inject some spiky, streetwise broken beats and soul into proceedings. Bill Frisell’s quirky alt.country rock slightly misfired in the Big Top setting but pianist Roberto Fonseca delivered an explosive contemporary Cuban jazz set in the smaller Jazz Arena, perhaps they should have swapped places. 

Tenorist of the moment Chris Potter recreated his beautifully nuanced chamber-jazz suite A Song For Everyone, backed with astonishing assurance by students from the Birmingham Conservatoire. Potter later joined the late night jam at the Hotel Du Vin alongside young bassist Dan Casimir, the Marcus Miller horns and students from the Trondheim Jazz Exchange for an outrageously unbuttoned bebop blow out. It was a great example of how jazz’s all encompassing ethic and attitude can work on both intimate and arena levels, as long as that spark of spontaneity remains intact.

– Mike Flynn

Marcus Miller (top), John Taylor octet (above, right), Gregory Porter and Chris Potter

Photos: Tim Dickeson

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Cardiff-based events company Orchard has been selected by Arts Council Wales and Powys County Council to run the Brecon Jazz Festival, after the previous promoter, the Hay Festival, pulled out despite a creative turnaround and transformation of Wales’ leading jazz fest.

Orchard will receive a commitment for funding this year’s festival and are to submit further plans for 2013 in the autumn, Arts Council Wales says. Pablo Janczur, and Tim Powell, who has worked on marketing for the Brecon Jazz Festival in the past, are directors of Orchard, a  company formed from the Push4 Group and Greenfield Media.

Powell says: “We’re very keen to recapture the spirit and values of the festival that we feel have diminished over the years. I was at the very first in 1984, and have been a fan ever since. We were personal friends with the festival’s great creative director Jed Williams, a big name in jazz music, and worked with him on projects over the years. This year will be an interim year, given the timescales, but we hope to be all guns blazing in 2013. 2012 will be the traditional second weekend in August, which clashes with the Olympics, and we will look to use the traditional venues of Theatr Brycheiniog, Market Hall, Guildhall, Brecon Cathedral, etc.”

Clearly the organisers have their work cut out to mount the festival this year. No line-up has been revealed so far, but an announcement is expected in the next few weeks.

– Stephen Graham

Pablo Janczur (pictured, top) and Tim Powell

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A new night showcasing singers launched yesterday at Hideaway, the south London jazz club in Streatham. Called Voice the format is based around the house band of pianist and musical director Janette Mason, bassist Simon Little, and drummer Frank Tontoh who back singers with newcomers invited to come along to try their luck in optimum conditions at Hideaway.

To kick things off last night six singers performed two songs each backed by the trio, opening with the soulful Sumudu whose take on Billy Taylor’s ‘I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free’ was finely judged. Peter Borthwick, who has been working on his debut album with Mason, was more in the cosier Peter Skellern or Richard Stilgoe mould, but Rachel Munro was jazzier if a little tentative on Rodgers and Hart’s ‘My Romance’ yet knew how to do a northern soul take on Ed Cobb’s ‘Tainted Love’ bearing Gloria Jones’ version in mind, but at a slow tempo that worked surprisingly well, with tasteful support by the trio. Frankie Lewis was the big surprise of the night, a little nervous perhaps and a bit rough and ready (she said she hadn’t had much sleep the night before), she nonetheless excelled on Billie Holiday’s ‘Fine and Mellow’, and her debut coming out later this year is something to look forward to for fans of Lady Day and others. Lily Gonzalez who has been touring on the big venue 1980s retro New Romantic circuit recently brought a bit of life to the night belting out a few songs, later returning gamely on percussion, and the night came to an excellent finish with Polly Gibbons who tackled a Stevie Wonder song. Frank Tontoh, who is featured in the June issue of Jazzwise published later this month, was a treat to hear and was the ideal drummer for the night. Gadd-like he can do it all, while Mason managed to bring an approachable freshness to the pop songs as well as the jazz material. Bassist Little switched between acoustic and electric bass during the evening and came into his own when Frankie Lewis got into her stride. Fine and mellow, indeed.

– Stephen Graham

The next Voice is on 24 May. More details on how to take part from www.hideawaylive.co.uk

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Wayne Shorter is to leave Verve records for Blue Note records, the label he originally signed to back in 1964. Wayne’s last record for Verve, Beyond the Sound Barrier, with his current stellar quartet of Danilo Pérez, John Patitucci and Brian Blade, came out in 2005. With Blue Note in the 1960s Shorter was signed following the reputation he gained as a composer and tenor saxophone star with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and he then went on to record such landmark releases with Blue Note as JuJu, Speak No Evil, The All Seeing Eye, Adam’s Apple and Schizophrenia, staying with the label until Odyssey of Iska was recorded in 1970. Wayne then signed to Columbia and saw out the remaining decade and the 1980s with the label recording sporadically before switching to Verve and taping High Life. Don Was, chief creative officer at Blue Note signed up Shorter but the producer goes way back with the saxophonist working with him on The Rolling Stones album Bridges to Babylon, which was produced in the mid-1990s. Was told The New York Times: “He’s a guy who made music in the 60s. But if he plays those songs now, he plays them quite differently. And we’re about capturing that.” – Stephen Graham

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