TOP NEWS JAZZ

While Courtney Pine led out the new avant garde, it was time to take stock of the old timersIt’s an archetypal jazz shot on the cover of the Observer Magazine of 15 February 1987, a grainy Thelonius Monk, one of the great originals, wreathed in smoke and lost in music ... read more

(Rivermont)Works by Jelly Roll Morton and other early 20th-century piano greats just fly in the hands of this 21st-century virtuosoIf anyone is going to succeed in rescuing good music from the ghetto called “early jazz”, it will be the pianist Andrew Oliver. I wouldn’t go so far as one critic, ... read more

The Manchester rapper imagines 48 hours in Ibiza surrounded by Black Coffee, Megan Thee Stallion and her own octopus recipeDefinitely Ibiza. The beaches, weather, vibe and people are just so correct. People need to experience a hot country that has the energy that Ibiza has. It’s my favourite place in ... read more

Annie Ross | Recipes | Job titles | Brexit | Oxford graffiti Your obituary for the brilliant Annie Ross (27 July) reminded me of a production of The Threepenny Opera I was lucky enough to see in London in the mid-60s. Directed by Tony Richardson, it starred the extraordinary threesome ... read more

My friend and former teacher Bill Davies, who has died aged 83, was a well-known south Wales trumpeter. A founder member of the Constellation Big Band, he was known for his ability with high notes and his melodious “Harry James” style.He was born and lived in Lamb Street, Swansea, until ... read more

Simone’s prowess on the piano and her exceptional baritone were intact, but this show can be tough to watch for the uninitiatedRead all of the pieces in this seriesThe enduring image of Nina Simone is one of a sharp, radical, no-nonsense artist. But on stage at the Montreux Jazz festival ... read more

The 83-year-old is heralded by everyone from Bono to Basquiat for his ‘fourth world’ vision for music – and pop has caught up with himCrackling down a phone line from Los Angeles, Jon Hassell apologises in advance. Now 83, the multi-instrumentalist and composer – a hero of Brian Eno, Björk, ... read more

28 July 1970 Stretching the formula of soloist over rhythm section to its limits, this is the postgraduate course for students of jazz-rock When rock first thumped into the hit parade and revitalised pop music, jazz musicians ignored it in the hope that it would go away and die. Fifteen ... read more

Jazz singer whose vocally athletic style brought her acclaim as a solo performer and with the trio Lambert, Hendricks & RossThe jazz singer Annie Ross, who has died aged 89, consistently brought the best out of good songs – and sometimes the best out of her expert admirers, too. The ... read more

(Black Focus)The London keys player and house DJ brings together funk, club culture and cool jazzStreet Dreams is the opening track of the second solo album from London keysman Kamaal Williams, and it could easily be the concept for the entire thing: a sound trapped in glass between urban reality ... read more

First cash made available from UK government’s £1.57bn emergency arts fund announced on 5 July to combat effects of Covid-19 lockdownCulture secretary Oliver Dowden has announced plans to save around 150 grassroots music venues from insolvency while cashflow is limited for venues shuttered during the coronavirus pandemic.Dowden released £2.25m for ... read more

(Black Focus Records)The London producer is happy to foreground his collaborators on his second solo album, but doesn’t make the most of themComing to prominence in 2016 as one half of jazz duo Yussef Kamaal, producer and pianist Kamaal Williams spearheaded the London-based revival of the genre with his dancefloor-focused ... read more

(ArtistShare)The US composer, bandleader and Bowie collaborator protests big tech’s invasion of our lives on this powerful new albumWhen Maria Schneider led her long-running jazz orchestra in a 2015 London performance of that year’s release The Thompson Fields, the great American composer and bandleader confirmed that her scenically spacious, luminously ... read more

Yes, it boasts more women, but this year’s list of nominees doesn’t offer much in the way of surprisesMercury prize 2020: Stormzy, Dua Lipa and Michael Kiwanuka among nomineesThe Mercury music prize has caused controversy before – over everything from representation to Slowthai appearing on stage brandishing an effigy of ... read more

Performer who worked with everyone from Louis Armstrong to Robert Altman was a pioneer of the vocalese singing styleAnnie Ross, the British singer who became globally famous with jazz vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross and had a varied acting career, has died aged 89 at her home in New ... read more