STEVE ANDREW enjoys an account of the many communities that flourished independently of and in resistance to the empires of old
Latest editorial
Herald of a full-on future
Trumpet player and composer LAURA JURD talks to Chris Searle about the exciting prospects embedded in her innovative approach to music-making
TOM STONE urges you to catch the last dates of a New York singer/songwriter, never afraid to challenge her audiences musically or politically
JAN WOOLF examines work that aims to give viewers a material experience of the environments in the polar north and Britain equally affected by the climate crisis
The bard recalls advice received 50 years ago from his TRB muse, and sorts out appropriate legislation for football club ownership
MICHAL BONCZA and MARIA DUARTE review Facing War, Kontinental ’25, Bugonia, and Relay
MAYER WAKEFIELD is frustrated by a production of Ibsen’s classic study of an anti-heroine that fails to elucidate her motivations
PETER MASON tunes his ear into the domestic affairs of a Carribbean couple with a troublesome son
“I NEVER considered that I wouldn’t play piano or trumpet or lead a band,” Laura Jurd asserts. That, she believes, was due to the dynamism of her teachers, remarkable women who, from the age of five onwards, gave her the confidence and self-belief to achieve.
Now in her twenties, she went on to study classical piano as a teenager, with Stravinsky, Bach, Britten and Tippett all making a profound impact, while Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Charlie Mingus, Duke Ellington and Keith Jarrett were an influence from the US jazz lineage.
Her track record for one so young is hugely impressive. A regular performer in Britain and Europe, she leads the 2017 Mercury-nominated band Dinosaur and is a prolific composer who’s equally at home writing for contemporary chamber groups and orchestras as she is writing for jazz ensemble and improvising musicians.
Similar stories
Re-releases from Bobby Wellins/Kenny Wheeler Quintet, Larry Stabbins/Keith Tippet/Louis Moholo-Moholo, and Charles Mingus Quintet
Chris Searle speaks to saxophonist XHOSA COLE and US tap-dancer LIBERTY STYLES
CHRIS SEARLE speaks to Rwanda-born jazz vocalist INEZA
CHRIS SEARLE picks his favourites