Josh Arcoleo’s debut album available for pre-order
The first thing that hits home with Beginnings – tenor saxophonist Josh Arcoleo’s debut CD – is its timelessness. It’s immediately modern and wonderfully assured and yet the entire tradition of jazz’s first instrument seems to flow through it. Arcoleo has a highly personal tone on his horn and there’s an individuality about his sound that is bold and commanding. Some musicians take years to learn these lessons and others never do. Josh Arcoleo, at 23 with already plenty of road miles under his belt, definitely has gravitas, that rarest of qualities, and he has it in spades.
Ivo Neame + Guests at Purcell Room – 10th Feb 2012
Ivo Neame is fast establishing himself as one of the leading pianists and composers on the British scene. Combining melodic drive with his own elegant compositional style Ivo Neame has developed a formidable, expansive piano sound and compositional voice. A busy sideman as well as solo artist, his album ‘Caught in the Light of Day‘, released in 2009, received rave reviews. This concert sees Neame expand his writing to a larger ensemble in a set of edgy and characterful themes, matched by resourceful, conversational improvising.
Marius Neset UK Tour Dates announced
Celebrated Norweigan saxophonist and composer Marius Neset will embark on his second tour of the UK this Feb.
Marius Neset is increasingly regarded as a major emerging voice on the European jazz scene, and his second album (released in the spring) more than justifies the acclaim that is coming his way. The Norwegian saxophonist makes his instrument dance like a gazelle and soar like an eagle. It’s not just the virtuoso technique that impresses, although that is already at a level few saxophonists can live with. Nor is it just Neset’s distinctiveness as a composer. Both these aspects are part of a package that is given shape and focus by that indefinable extra factor that adds up to a unique musical personality.
“Marius Neset combines Brecker’s power and Jan Garbarek’s tonal delicacy, but has a vision that makes all 11 originals on this sensational album feel indispensable, and indispensably connected to each other. Neset is on his way to being one of the biggest new draws on the circuit”. ***** 5 stars
John Fordham, The Guardian
UK dates are as follows:
16th Feb – The Spin, Oxford, UK
17th Feb – Turner Sims, Southampton, UK
18th Feb – Hall 2, Kings Place, London, UK
22nd Feb – The Queens Gallery, North Devon Theatre, Barnstable, Devon, UK
23rd Feb – Wardrobe, Leeds, UK
24th Feb – Komedia, Brighton Jazz Club, Brighton, UK
