Darren Arthurs

1 day ago | jazzjournal.co.uk | Darren Arthurs

Andy Hague is a well-respected trumpet player from Bristol and within the 10 tracks here you get a snippet of what to expect if you catch his big band in action. The recording seems a little bit “bootleg” (by that I mean it’s not too fancy or precious) and I think this is an advantage; what you hear is what was played and at times it really soars. Often live albums lack the energy you get from physically being in the room but somehow this manages to keep the urgency and energy. Brilliant stuff.

1 month ago | jazzjournal.co.uk | Darren Arthurs

Back in 2012 a video kept appearing on my social media. It featured a man in a hat playing double bass with a black labrador sleeping happily to the right of the screen. At the time I was taking the leap from electric bass to double bass so I was lapping up any footage of double-bass playing I could find, and this video made me sit up and question if I should just stick to electric bass because what I heard was something totally different to anything I heard people do before.

2 months ago | jazzjournal.co.uk | Darren Arthurs

There is an old saying here in the UK: “One’s man muck is another man’s brass”, and, in the arena of jazz – especially in improvisational jazz – one’s man noise is another man’s music. Where you stand when it comes to Bloodcog will depend on if you can pick out music from the noise.

Dec 4, 2024 | jazzjournal.co.uk | Darren Arthurs

Without realising it, this month has been a treat for someone who appreciates the sound of the bass. I have the new releases from Avishai Cohen, Kristin Korb and Giuseppe Venezia in my pile for November and I can’t wait to jump into the deep lows that the instrument offers. I start with…Ferrari, Giorgio Armani, Lamborghini and Gucci have two things in common; all of them are Italian and all of them are as cool as a cucumber fresh from the fridge.

Nov 9, 2024 | jazzjournal.co.uk | Darren Arthurs

I have never considered the month of October to be associated with jazz trios but for some unknown reason the bands I’ve chosen to listen to and write about are all three-pieces. We start with:Minneapolis-based Happy Apple, who have been going for 25 years, have been completely under my radar but their new release New York CD has changed that. This is the explorative, improvised jazz that your mother warned you about.