TOP NEWS JAZZ

Folk-soul singer wins £25,000 prize on third attempt for the album Kiwanuka, described by the Guardian as one of the best albums of the last decade The 2020 Mercury prize for the year’s best British album has gone to Michael Kiwanuka.“I’m over the moon, so so excited,” he said on ... read more

Khadifa Wong’s fascinating documentary Uprooted traces the origins of an artform and the cultural bias that robbed great practitioners of recognition Jazz dance. It’s Broadway and the West End, Liza Minnelli draped over a chair in Cabaret, the gold top hats of A Chorus Line, the clicking fingers of West ... read more

(Edition)The saxophonist takes Stan Getz’s unique collaboration with Eddie Sauter in a bold new directionFocus was a 1961 album by Stan Getz, wildly adventurous at the time, in which Getz improvised tenor saxophone solos to music composed by Eddie Sauter, played by a small string orchestra. It’s widely regarded as ... read more

(Rhino)This celebratory reissue includes outtakes that confirm the original’s brilliance and the sense of a genius in transitionWithin the same few weeks in the spring of 1959, the great saxophonist and composer John Coltrane astonishingly found the composure to play a key role on one of the most thoughtful and ... read more

Tenor-saxophonist who played with many famous names before becoming a soloist and recording artist in EuropeThe tenor-saxophonist Hal Singer, who has died aged 100, had just joined Duke Ellington’s orchestra in August 1948 – “the greatest musical thrill of my life” – when his recording of Cornbread, a honking instrumental, ... read more

Founder member of Kool & the Gang and co-writer of hits including Celebration and Ladies’ NightKool & the Gang were one of the first fully fledged funk ensembles – taking the influence of Sly Stone and James Brown’s pioneering recordings and blending it with strong jazz leanings, their distinctive sound ... read more

He got his start at 13 alongside Richie Havens, but it was in the ever-changing jazz, soul and disco group that he made his mark. His legacy pulses through popRonald ‘Khalis’ Bell dies aged 68Ronald “Khalis” Bell was nothing if not an adaptable musician and songwriter. He began his career ... read more

He helped galvanise the US civil rights movement, and today sparks intense debate about cultural dominance and the musical canon. In his 250th anniversary year can we listen to Beethoven and what he represents with fresh ears?Exactly 80 years after Beethoven’s death in 1907, the British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor began ... read more

Brilliant British jazz saxophonist and composer inspired by Charlie ParkerThough jazz romantics like to portray the genre as the work of unkempt magicians conjuring sonic miracles out of the air, the music is as much a product of imagination corralled by obsessive diligence as any art.The British jazz saxophonist Peter ... read more

(Ubuntu)Neale’s uniquely delicate alto sax sound is joined by bass, drums and the at times too arresting guitar of Peter Bernstein on this set full of ingenuityIt’s an alto saxophone sound rarely heard nowadays, cool but intimate, each phrase ending with a tiny shiver of vibrato, and no one deploys ... read more

The Guide’s writers and critics on this season’s best culture, including Tracey Emin, Candyman and the return of Kylieby Leonie Cooper Continue reading... ... read more

Songwriting and composition awards herald politically conscious work including Dave’s Black, described as ‘important and eloquent’Dave, Little Simz and Jamie Cullum are major winners at 2020’s Ivor Novello awards, which honour the best in British songwriting and screen composition.Dave was awarded best contemporary song alongside producer Fraser T Smith for ... read more

The dawn chorus is created by birds chasing their next hit of opioid, according to a US biologist. Which explains why it’s so much like free-form jazzName: Jazz.Age: Much older than you think. Continue reading... ... read more

The young US singer-songwriter’s boundless, free-flowing debut album is a breath of fresh airIt’s a challenge for any new artist to break through at the moment, but Liv.e (the E is silent) has ingenuity on her side. The Dallas-born, LA-based artist’s lo-fi music evades categorisation with a knowing wink, weaving ... read more

Bream helped cement the guitar in the classical tradition with composers including Britten and Arnold writing for himJulian Bream, the British guitarist regarded as one of the finest exponents of the classical style, has died aged 87. The news was confirmed by his management company, who said he died “peacefully ... read more