Deb Grant

London

Columnist at The Big Issue

Presenter at Jazz-FM

Presenter at BBC Radio 6 Music

Co-Host at What Goes Around?

DJ. Dubliner. Radio host @bbc6music. Columnist @bigissue. Co-host @whatgoespod.

Featured in: Favicon

bigissue.com Favicon

jazzfm.com Favicon

bbc.co.uk

sagepub.com Favicon

flipboard.com Favicon

journals.sagepub.com

Articles

Alabaster DePlume: 'I want to make music that the world invents an insult for'

3 weeks ago | bigissue.com | Deb Grant

Skip to header Skip to main content Get 8 issues for only £9.99 - delivered to your door Music DePlume’s music shares an improvisational spirit with both jazz and folk, but defies categorisation “It’s kind of you to spend your time listening,” is the first thing Alabaster DePlume says on receipt of my questions for this piece.
Celebrating Brian Auger, the nexus of Swinging London

1 month ago | bigissue.com | Deb Grant

Music The Hammond organ pioneer is to be given his dues in a new documentary After 60 years in the business, Brian Auger, keyboardist, composer, ferocious Hammond organ player and commander of the Oblivion Express, seems to finally be getting his flowers. This is in part due to the gradual reissuing of his vast back catalogue by his friend, manager and Soul Bank label boss Greg Boraman over the past few years.
Celebrating Brian Auger, the nexus of Swinging London

1 month ago | shorturl.at | Deb Grant

Music The Hammond organ pioneer is to be given his dues in a new documentary After 60 years in the business, Brian Auger, keyboardist, composer, ferocious Hammond organ player and commander of the Oblivion Express, seems to finally be getting his flowers. This is in part due to the gradual reissuing of his vast back catalogue by his friend, manager and Soul Bank label boss Greg Boraman over the past few years.
Funk band Cymande on new album and getting recognition after years-long slog

Jan 14, 2025 | bigissue.com | Deb Grant

Music Recent years have seen British soul-funk greats Cymnade achieve the recognition they richly deserve. Their new album should continue their winning streak Last year was a busy one for British funk band Cymande. Getting it Back, Tim MacKenzie-Smith’s documentary charting their decades-long journey to worldwide recognition, was released in February, followed by screenings and Q&As around the UK and US, live gigs and, finally, a slot on Later… with Jools Holland.
BBC 6 Music's Deb Grant: This is the music that brought me joy in 2024

Nov 27, 2024 | bigissue.com | Deb Grant

Music Deb Grant on the culture that lit up her year Winter is here and with it a long-established tradition – the chronicling of the music, books and concerts I’ve loved most since January. A post-Covid affliction I can’t seem to shake, one that seems to be shared by many people I know, is that my sense of chronology has been upended.
This festival born in the wake of the pandemic captures the heart of the Big Easy

Oct 30, 2024 | bigissue.com | Deb Grant

Music Deb Grant explores New Orleans via its much-loved annual festival I first visited New Orleans in my 20s, on a trip I had envisioned as a revelatory rite of passage. I travelled through Nashville, Memphis and Clarksdale trying to find something tangible that would bring me closer to the music that had enriched my life.
Wah Wah 45s record label turns 25

Sep 11, 2024 | bigissue.com | Deb Grant

Music Independent soulful London record label Wah Wah 45s celebrates 25 years of releases, live shows, club nights and events this September Wah Wah 45s, the UK independent record label synonymous with homegrown danceable soul, jazz, funk, dub, disco and afrobeat, turns 25 this month. It seems fitting that it began life on the dancefloor.
Vulfpeck at Montreux Jazz Festival: 'It's the most beautiful place I've ever seen'

Aug 12, 2024 | bigissue.com | Deb Grant

Music The prestigious music festival lived up to expectations for the Michigan-based funk collective Vulfpeck, the Michigan-based funk group famed for their virtuosity and slick, polished production, originally formed with a shared desire to emulate super-tight West Coast session bands of the 1960s and 70s, such as The Funk Brothers and The Wrecking Crew.
Glastonbury 2024: There's a place for everyone on Worthy Farm

Jul 15, 2024 | bigissue.com | Deb Grant

Music Electronica and jazz fans were well catered for at this year's Glastonbury festival If sartorial bias is anything to go by, Shania Twain’s easy country anthems, Charli XCX’s pacey hyperpop and The Last Dinner Party’s intellectual indie rock divided and conquered at this year’s Glastonbury Festival.
How the UK's jazz explosion led to a rebirth of cool

Jun 5, 2024 | bigissue.com | Deb Grant

Music New book Unapologetic Expression is a record of a pivotal moment in UK music history Last year, when Ezra Collective won the Mercury Prize for their album Where I’m Meant to Be, it felt like the first time since the award’s inception that a win for the ‘token jazz’ nominee was not just likely but inevitable. The forward momentum of British jazz music had finally reached the point where its bearing on mainstream culture could no longer be ignored.