The word “genius” is perhaps rather too readily banded about in discussions about jazz these days. The group of musicians who indisputably deserve this title is actually quite small, but it must include Louis Armstrong, Lester Young, Charlie Parker and, of course, Duke Ellington. Trombonist ‘Tricky Sam’ Nanton wasn’t so sure however: 'Genius? I don’t know about that. But, Jesus, can he eat!’ Fifty years after Duke’s death his legacy as a composer and band leader remains an im

Spring 2022 my phone rings and it’s Neil Hughes. Neil and I go back a long way to the days when he was putting on jazz gigs at the Cinnamon Club, Bowden, right opposite my old school Altrincham Grammar. Later on, when he took over the Southport Jazz Festival from Geoff Mathews he’d also carried on the tradition of presenting my octet as a Sunday night finale. For the last couple of years Neil had been programming jazz at the Buxton International Festival so when I saw his na

Ken Peplowski born 23 May 1959; died 2 February 2026 Ken Peplowski, arguably the greatest jazz clarinettist of his generation, tragically died this February onboard the jazz cruise in the Gulf of Mexico. He had only just finished a blistering set with his fellow clarinettists Anat Cohen and Paquito D’Rivera. A post on Facebook of his solo on ‘A Night In Tunisia’ from that performance shows him still at the top of his game: Swinging inventive lines, driving energy, a beautiful

Born November 1st 1926 Badin North Carolina- Died November 9th 2024 Daytona Beach Florida Short careers and early deaths in jazz have always made good copy and have become the stuff of legend. Much less publicity and consideration goes to those players who have achieved long careers and lived into extreme old age. Maybe it’s an alto sax thing, I certainly hope so, but in this category Benny Carter, Marshall Allen (still going at 100 and releasing his first solo album!) and

Some memories of John Barnes Newport Jazz Festival 1968. Onstage, Alex Welsh and his band, concluding their set, have become vaguely...

Dick Morrisey Saxophonists Peter King, Don Weller and Dick Morrisey were all born in South London in 1940 and all began their musical...

I read my first Sherlock Holmes story at the age of eleven and I’ve been hooked ever since. The amazing deductive powers of the great...

The first time I heard the Humphrey Lyttelton Band live was at the 100 Club in 1980. It sounded very impressive and well arranged and...

Bennett Lester “Benny” Carter, along with Johnny Hodges, defined the way the alto saxophone should be played throughout the swing era -...

Any drinker will tell you that a pub is only as good as it’s landlord. I think the same can be said of Jazz Clubs and festivals- they...