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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 imposingly...

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 name come up I did...

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 sound and...