-
3 weeks ago | 
jazzjournal.co.uk | Leon Nock
The author says he was born in Toronto in 1941 and is the retired president of an entertainment agency who spent 27 years hosting the radio show Some Experiences In Jazz, where he interviewed over 700 jazz people, including Oscar Peterson, Dave Brubeck, Count Basie, Stan Getz, Peter Appleyard and Moe Koffman.
-
1 month ago | 
jazzjournal.co.uk | Leon Nock
At 9:15 on Monday evening Deborah Silver walked on to the stand at Crazy Coqs, grabbed the audience by the scruff of the neck and didn’t let go til they sighed “uncle” some 75 minutes later. Apparently, she hails from the Deep South – Jackson, Mississippi – and had reservations about how well she might do here in the UK. I can best assuage those doubts by saying that from now on we’ll need reservations if we want to catch her again.
-
2 months ago | 
jazzjournal.co.uk | Leon Nock
The relationship, partnership and friendship of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn has been well documented. Meeting in 1938 they formed an instant bond that endured until Strayhorn’s death in 1967 (Ellington died in 1974) – nearly 30 years that produced some of the most enduring works in the world of jazz and popular song.
-
Dec 28, 2024 | 
jazzjournal.co.uk | Leon Nock
My parents were addicted to cinema. They did their courting in the one-and-nines, and even after I came along they continued apace. From the age of three I accompanied them, albeit meaninglessly at first, but by age five I was able to retain data – to recognise performers, distinguish the different studios and their rosters.
-
Dec 7, 2024 | 
jazzjournal.co.uk | Leon Nock
It’s a toss-up whether I should subtitle this piece “I Really Should Get Out More”, or “Let’s Hear It For Serendipity”. Every month or so the editor sends out a list of new releases and invites us to nominate any we care to review, and increasingly there are more names that are new to me, and I select based on the album title and/or a one-sentence description, and that is how I stumbled on this album by a performer I’d never heard of.
-
Nov 26, 2024 | 
jazzjournal.co.uk | Leon Nock
They were frisking punters at Crazy Coqs on Saturday, on the off-chance they were secreting about their persons a crowbar, or at the very least a shoehorn, that would enable them to squeeze one more person into an SRO venue. Ms. Delmar, for hers was indeed the name on the tin, was battling considerable odds. Consider: it was a Saturday afternoon. Wet. One month before Christmas. Outside the Christmas lights of Regent Street whispered of Black Friday bargains crying out to be stolen.
-
Nov 23, 2024 | 
jazzjournal.co.uk | Leon Nock
Despite reviewing all three albums which singer Lauren Bush has released so far, I knew next to nothing about her, and so in early November, ahead of her London Jazz Festival appearance, I set about learning about her life and career. “One of the few things I know about you”, I said, as we sat down, “is that you’re Canadian. East, West, or middle?” She replied “I was born in Calgary. Perhaps you’ve heard of it.
-
Nov 20, 2024 | 
jazzjournal.co.uk | Leon Nock
Back in the day, when you and I were young, Maggie, and your local Essoldo offered not one, but two feature films, a newsreel, magazine – Pathe Pictorial, Look At Life – and a cartoon, they were wont to throw in, as an occasional bonus, short black and white films featuring the bands of the day.
-
Nov 19, 2024 | 
jazzjournal.co.uk | Leon Nock
For me this album represents an atoll of tranquillity in a sea of chaos. For though it was recorded barely one year ago as I write – 9 September 2023 at the Village Vanguard, New York – both the content and style of performing afford a comfort blanket to this reviewer, for too long under aural attack by labels like “fusion” and “next generation”. I was fortunate enough to see Charlap performing live in a long-ago London Jazz Festival and I retain fond memories of the evening.
-
Oct 30, 2024 | 
jazzjournal.co.uk | Leon Nock
There’s a rumour going around that the life of a music reviewer is only a tad less rewarding than that of Tom Cruise, Andrew Lloyd Webber or your privileged celebrity of choice – all those free tickets – “Cor, you don’t know you’re born, mate.” And yes, when the outfit on the other end of those free tickets is Down For The Count, the envy is not misplaced, for the band is, as I find myself repeating time and time again, one that I would cheerfully shell out good money to watch and listen to.
