RITA DI SANTO draws attention to a new film that features Ken Loach and Jeremy Corbyn, and their personal experience of media misrepresentation
Latest editorial
Archie Shepp Quartet, Ronnie Scott’s, London
Tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp has lost none of his fiery commitment
Insurrectionary: Archie Shepp
[Schorle/Creative Commons]
JULIA TOPPIN recommends Patti Smith’s eloquent memoir that wrestles with the beauty and sorrow of a lifetime
MARJORIE MAYO welcomes an account of family life after Oscar Wilde, a cathartic exercise, written by his grandson
KEN COCKBURN guides us through a survey of Chekov’s early short fiction, and the groundwork it laid for his later masterpieces
ANDY HEDGECOCK revels in a hugely enjoyable but deadly serious examination of the 1930s, that is an indictment of our own era
The bard distills our hellish times into fiery words
AS OCTOGENARIAN Archie Shepp plays Wise One by his old Philadelphia confrere John Coltrane, the decades melt away.
His moving horn eulogy, with drummer Steve McCraven’s flashing silver brushes and Darryl Hall’s plunging bass, deepen the sense of the long-time loss of a genius.
He begins the set with Elmo Hope’s Hope Two and that surly, gruff-noted yet astonishingly fluid tone suddenly lightens with an allusion to Softly, as a Morning Sunrise, as if every conceivable melody is stored in his horn and could be let loose at any moment.
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 wallows in an evening of high class improvised jazz, and recommends upcoming highlights in May
New releases from The Jim Mullen Quartet, Caroline Kraabel/John Edwards, and Matthew Muneses/Riza Printup