Reviews of Habibi Funk 031, Kayatibu, and The Good Ones
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A sound imbued with musical meaning
Sets from Anthony Braxton, Omar Puente Cuban Sextet and Jean-Marc Foussat in London
SIMON DUFF relishes the cross contamination of Damien Hirst’s greatest hits by street artists from France and the US
In view of the grooming gangs inquiry, SIMON PARSONS feels the relevance of this powerful examination of trauma suffered at Medomsley Youth Detention Centre
JOHN GREEN doubts the motivations of a US war photographer who never questions why, or for whom, she is producing images of imperialist conflict
MARIA DUARTE reviews Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, Hedda, The Mastermind, and Regretting You
TONY CONWAY welcomes a thrilling and concise history of Hope not Hate, that is also a manual full of tactical advice
PAUL DONOVAN welcomes an inspiring account of living with deafness that has important lessons for the treatment of deaf people in today’s UK
A TRUE free-jazz legend, 75-year old Chicagoan alto saxophonist Anthony Braxton played three nights of standards in the Cafe Oto, with familiar melodies balancing on the sheer cusp of reinvention.
With Californian Steve Davis's empathetic drums, the echoing bass of Neil Charles and the hard-struck, often rampaging piano of Alexander Hawkins, Braxton had his listeners guessing the titles of the tunes he played, so close yet so far were his interpretations.
Suddenly, the quartet went into a galloping, stop-time version of Thelnious Monk's Well, You Needn't, followed by a stomping, blues-struck rendition of John Coltrane's Straight Street and you realised how much a part of jazz tradition this music is and, though full of innovation, love and astonishing discovery, how warmly familiar these tunes are.
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