Jazz Journal

Jazz Journal is a renowned British jazz magazine that was founded in 1946 by Sinclair Traill (1904–1981). Initially, it was released in London under the name Pick Up, which Traill created to provide a platform for serious jazz critique in the UK. In May 1948, Traill invested his own funds to relaunch the publication as Jazz Journal. He continued to oversee its editorial direction for the remainder of his life. Today, Jazz Journal holds the distinction of being the longest-running jazz magazine in Britain.

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#1588855

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#805024

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#11952

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Shai Maestro drummer Ofri Nehemya makes leader debut

2 days ago | jazzjournal.co.uk | Mark Gilbert

Ofri Nehemya might be a name familiar to those who’ve followed the work of such luminaries as Avishai Cohen (bass), Omer Avital, Shai Maestro, Ben Wendel, Eli Degibri, Aaron Goldberg, Gilad Hekselman, Yotam Silberstein and Avishai Cohen (trumpet). Israeli drummer and composer Nehemya played with them all. Born in 1994 to a musical family, Nehemya went to Thelma-Yellin High School for the Arts before moving to New York, aged 22.
Stomp Off, Let's Go – The Early Years Of Louis Armstrong - Jazz Journal

4 days ago | jazzjournal.co.uk | Andy Hamilton

Ricky Riccardi, Director of Research Collections for the Louis Armstrong House Museum in New York, began his trilogy of biographies with the intention of reappraising Armstrong’s later work. Hence his first volume was What A Wonderful World: The Magic Of Louis Armstrong’s Later Years. The second volume, Heart Full Of Rhythm: The Big Band Years Of Louis Armstrong, covers 1929-46. Finally, Riccardi has turned to Armstrong’s early career, up to 1929.
Reviewed: Enji - Sonor | Jobim & Bonfá - Black Orpheus

1 week ago | jazzjournal.co.uk | Wif Stenger

On her fourth album, Mongolian-born, German-based vocalist Enkhjargal “Enji” Erkhembayar plays it safer compared to her more experimental earlier albums and a live show I caught last summer when she stretched her warm voice toward soaring vocalise, drawing on the Mongolian long-song tradition. Here, the sound is pleasant but more conventional easy-listening vocal jazz, somewhere between Norah Jones and Arooj Aftab.
Reviewed: Russ Lossing | Miles Davis Quintet | Duke Ellington | Chris Cody

1 week ago | jazzjournal.co.uk | Andy Hamilton

American pianist-composer Russ Lossing has led his own bands in New York since 1986, and worked with such masters as Paul Motian and Tim Berne. In 2023 his band King Vulture released Alternate Side Parking Music, featuring frenetic rhythms and acidulous Wurlitzer and Rhodes electric pianos. His beautiful latest album Inventions reflects a change of scene and mood.
Reviewed: The Empress | Kevin Fort | The Furgos | A New Awakening - Adventures In British Jazz 1966-1971

1 week ago | jazzjournal.co.uk | Brian Payne

The Empress is a female saxophone quartet based in New York supported by the solid rhythm section of Steve Ash on piano, Joey Ranieri bass and Pete Van Nostrand drums. The band leader, South Korean Pureum Jin, plays soprano and alto sax, Japanese Erena Terakubo is on alto, Chelsea Baratz tenor sax and Grammy Award-winning Lauren Sevian on baritone sax.
Reviewed: Rose Room | Kaisa’s Machine | Takuya Kuroda | Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra | Vince Guaraldi

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

Do you know that feeling where you pick up an album and immediately know that you’re going to like it? Well, that is the feeling I got here. Glasgow gypsy-jazzers Rose Room are well established and the chances are that if you like this brand of jazz, with its intricate guitar and saucy fiddle, you’ll already know them. This music is all about joy.
Reviewed: Kjetil Husebø | Kali Trio | Egil Kalman & Hans Hulbækmo | Adam O’Farrill | Alex Zethson & Johan Jutterström

2 weeks ago | jazzjournal.co.uk | Fred Grand

My reviews of Kjetil Husebø’s recent ambient jazz projects have spoken of the Norwegian pianist-composer’s solid grounding in classical techniques, something which his Piano Transformed project brings into even sharper focus. This double-album is the third volume in the series, following Piano Transformed (2017) and Live At Nasjonal Jazzscene (2020).
Reviewed: Jenna Cave | Ron Ledoux | Gregory Privat

2 weeks ago | jazzjournal.co.uk | Nigel Jarrett

Australian jazz composer Jenna Cave identifies the concept of “grief literacy”, which might be defined as the means of giving voice to heartbreak and distress resulting from the death of someone close. In 2022, aged 38, she became a single parent to her three-year-old daughter after her husband committed suicide. In this commissioned suite of six songs, she articulates and processes the traumas of bereavement.
Swanage jazz festival: 'the largest and purest' on England's south coast

2 weeks ago | jazzjournal.co.uk | Mark Gilbert

Just as Nigel Jarrett laments the dilution – even hijacking – of the word “jazz” by festivals featuring pop and increasingly resting on “inclusion” as a justification, Swanage in Dorset lays claim to hosting “‘the largest and purest jazz festival on the south coast of England”. Whatever jazz is or may be, the festival’s 2025 programme tends to bear out the proposition.
Reviewed: Jeremy Pelt | David Preston

3 weeks ago | jazzjournal.co.uk | John L. Adcock

“I’m not interested in the new for the sake of newness” writes Jeremy Pelt in the liner notes for Woven. It is an interesting observation to make, because although Pelt puts his own stamp on his music and sounds very contemporary, there are throwbacks to be heard to other masters of the trumpet. Woven is a very self-assured album that combines ballads with more electronic compositions.