sun 17/08/2025

New Music Reviews

Ode to the Human Spirit, Kings Place

Matthew Wright

Who knew the human spirit needed such bureaucratic care? The celebration of International Jazz Day, founded by UNESCO in 2011, at King’s Place last night was nothing if not well cared-for.

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Reissue CDs Weekly: Grace Jones

Kieron Tyler


Grace Jones NightclubbingGrace Jones: Nightclubbing

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The Men They Couldn't Hang, Shepherd's Bush Empire

Jasper Rees

From the balcony overlooking the mosh pit you get a good idea of how long a band has been going. Last night at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire, The Men They Couldn’t Hang celebrated their 30th anniversary while a small kinetic cluster of mainly bald 50-year-olds pinged into one another like shiny billiard balls. A fiver says a sheepish accountant or two will have had some explaining to do this morning in A&E.

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Reissue CDs Weekly: John Tavener

Kieron Tyler

 

John Tavener: The Protecting VeilJohn Tavener: The Protecting Veil

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Christy Moore, Royal Festival Hall

Jasper Rees

“You’re great listeners. You have surrendered your ears.” The reverent hush that descended for two hours on the Festival Hall is a new sort of sound at a Christy Moore concert. There was a time when such a gathering would bristle with fervour. Twenty years ago, if not of Irish descent, you could feel distinctly like the odd one out.

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Ivo Neame Quintet, Kings Place

Matthew Wright

Pianist Ivo Neame, whose quintet gave a masterclass in the more reflective, concept-driven variety of contemporary jazz at Kings Place last night, is one of the lynchpins of the London scene. As well as leading and composing for this, his own group, he’s also a member of the LOOP Collective, supertrio Phronesis, and Marius Neset’s Golden Xplosion.

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Reissue CDs Weekly: Vee-Jay Records

Kieron Tyler

 

Chicago Hit Factory – The Vee-Jay Story 1953-1966Various Artists: Chicago Hit Factory – The Vee-Jay Story 1953-1966

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theartsdesk in Oslo: The Tape to Zero Festival

Kieron Tyler

The on-stage collaboration between north-Norwegian ambient maestro Biosphere and his similarly inclined but sonically darker countryman Deathprod was a one off. At Oslo’s Tape to Zero festival, Biosphere and Deathprod bought the you-had-to-be-there moment. The pair had collaborated for a remix project of composer Arne Nordheim in 1998, but this was about new music.

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Spring Quartet, Barbican

Matthew Wright

In the 1960s and early 70s drummer Jack DeJohnette, now 71, was learning his craft with nearly everyone who was anyone, including Coltrane, Monk, Keith Jarrett and Miles Davis.

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Evan Parker: 70th-Birthday Celebration, Kings Place

Matthew Wright

John Coltrane’s extravagant, trance-like saxophone-playing is often considered the pinnacle of jazz technique, but for Evan Parker, who celebrated his 70th birthday with a concert at Kings Place last night, it was only the starting point.

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