Cecile Mclorin Salvant - perfection at Cadogan Hall

I first came across Cecile McLorin Salvant a couple of months ago when I heard a track from her new album, For One To Love, being played on Jazzfm. Soon afterwards I purchased that album, her third, and the  the previous one, Woman Child. Both recordings are excellent, showcasing her vocal range, versatility across a range of styles and respect for jazz history. Delighted to discover that she was to perform at this month's London Jazz Festival,  I went to her concert at the Cadogan Hall last night and came away completely hooked.

Supremely confident at just 26 years, she led a sell out audience through gems from the great American song book, compositions of her own and re-imaginations of some of the all time classics of vocal jazz. Throughout she demonstrated her creativity and improvisational skills which also stretch to song writing and producing the artwork for her new album. Tres elegant in silver shoes and silk, she sang in French as well as English partly in acknowledgement of Friday night's terror attacks in Paris and partly because she is as comfortable in both languages. Her parents are both French speakers from Guadeloupe and Haiti and Cecile studied both law and music in France. Opening with a French song from the 1930's she also included the Monique Andree Serf song La Mal de Vivre in her programme, describing it as a song about the blues and adversity but which ends in optimism.

Cecile has been compared to some of the all time greats and her reading of Gershwin's Let's Face the Music and Dance and It Ain't Necessarily So as well as the three Cole Porter songs she gave us demonstrate why. Great phrasing by the way on It Ain't Necessarily So - "Fo' he made his home in that fishe's ab-do-men". Oh yes. She sang with the clarity and inventiveness of Ella - every word being audible and whilst closing my eyes during Porter's So In Love I found myself in 1950's Carnegie Hall listening to Sarah Vaughan's rich tones. These are some of the best songs ever written but they require sensitive handling and respect. She gave them both - demonstrated superbly on Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh's When In Rome - the ultimate in sophistication and understatement giving it a straight  reading. 

Serious stuff but Cecile McLorin Salvant also understands humour. There was off mic banter with pianist Aaron Diehl throughout the performance and she teased the audience mercilessly throughout the double entendre filled Bessie Smith number You've Got To Give Me Some - accompanied solely by piano. Cole Porter's less well known Gentlemen Don't Like Love raised a few laughs too. Not to mention that thing she does with the voice "falling" at the end of some lines. 

Throughout the concert, our heroine was supported by a world class trio led by Diehl and accompanied by bassist Paul Sikivie and drummer Lawrence Leathers. Diehl also arranged several of the songs. And his arrangements were something else too. I loved the live recreation of the Bacharach and David song Wives and Lovers featured on the new album with its urgent opening and piano punctuation adding impact to the "warning" of the lyrics. Also outstanding was Diehl's arrangement of the Judy Garland classic The Trolley Song - so strong that you really can feel the trolley clanging, bell dinging, motor chugging, buzzer buzzing and all the rest of it. It was her recording of this song that made me realise that Garland is another of her vocal influences, especially in the last line ".…and it was grand just to stand with his hand holding mine, to the end of the line…" where I am sure that she purposely pays tribute to dear Judy. Listen to it here to see if you agree.

Other treats included Somehow I Never Could Believe, the aria from the Kurt Weill/ Langston Hughes opera Street Scene, written in 1946 but rarely performed, her own composition Monday and another excellently re-arranged classic, Something's Coming from West Side Story. She received a standing ovation and wasn't going to get away without coming back at least once. She stunned the audience by singing another blues number unaccompanied and without mic and then left with a bow and a backwards wave 

Already the winner of a sack full of awards, Cecile McLorin Salvant is surely a megastar in the making - watch out Dianne and Dee Dee! The concert of the year for me, and I've been to some big ones. More please.

Stacey Kent at Ronnie Scott's

Tonight, Stacey Kent and her four piece band delighted Ronnie Scott's with a selection of songs by Jobim, Valle and from the Great American song book. Outside it was a cold and grey Soho September night, but inside we were transported to the cool breeze of a Brazilian evening, and with just a little imagination we could have been in Rio, Sao Paulo or Bahia.

As well as celebrating the music of some of the greatest composers of all time, we celebrated the birthday of Jim Tomlinson, Stacey's husband, who demonstrated some less well known skills in addition to his magnificent saxophone and flute playing. But more of that later. The evening opened with two laid back songs - Marcos Valle's Double Rainbow and then another ballad, both of which served as a reminder of Stacey Kent's velvety, slightly understated but exquisite voice. Now, I enjoy improvisation as much as the next jazz fan, but hearing these great songs sung straight, supported by really tight band is very refreshing. 

After the mid tempo start, things speeded up a little with a nice work through of Jobim's So Danco Samba and then, from the great American songbook, Alan Brandt and Bob Haymes' That's All, written in 1952 and still fresh. In the same vein, we also had Rogers and Hammerstein's Happy Talk from South Pacific, with Stacey accompanying herself on guitar. Over the last few years we have seen albums in French and Portuguese from Ms. Kent as well as a number of more contemporary songs - all great but she really really shines on the standards which is where most of us first discovered her. Great news then that in November she will be releasing Tenderly, a new album of jazz standards. Can't wait.

The remainder of the first set included a couple more Jobim songs - a very cute version of One Note Samba, again featuring our heroine on guitar and an absolutely cracking version of The Waters of March sung in Portuguese. The latter was presented as a duet between her and husband Jim, who she revealed was once the lead chorister at Hexham Abbey and who surprised us with his very OK Portuguese vocal as well as a great contribution on flute. A nice touch and evidence of the very real musical partnership between this couple, with him having produced all of her albums as well as playing on them.

The link with Valle is more than just admiration for a great songwriter on Kent's part. She explained that together with her husband, she had worked with the great Brazilian on a number of projects, performed with him in Brazil and of course, recorded an album together a couple of years ago to celebrate his 50 years in the music business. This is a woman who the all time greats want to work with. The legendary Brazilian guitarist, Roberto Menescal plays on the new album and Booker Prize winning author, Kazuo Ishiguro co-wrote two songs for her with Tomlinson - The Ice Hotel and Changing Lights both of which she performed tonight.

Tomlinson featured largely in the second set with a magnificent reading of Bacharach and David's Alfie, written (he confessed) in the year of his birth - 1966 - and a tribute to the recently deceased Cilla Black. This was purely an instrumental reading but he made that saxophone sing every one of those famous words. Together with One Note Samba and  Waters of March this was truly the highlight of the evening for me. We returned to the Brazilian theme for the remainder of the second set - Valle's So Nice (a real classic with Bebel's version a favourite of mine) and another Jobim hit - Meditation, both given great readings. We were also treated to Valle's Cricket's Sing For Annemarie ( a lot of huggin' and a lot of kissin' and…) before one more Valle song - This Happy Madness for an encore. 

Surely one of the world's best jazz vocalists, Ms. Kent was ably supported by a most accomplished quartet. Jim Tomlinson's contribution s already noted but  Graham Harvey shone on piano (I'd like to hear more from him) whilst Jeremy Brown on bass and Josh Morrison on drums were also excellent. Great solo on Cricket's Sing for Annemarie by the way Josh and another great evening at Ronnie Scott's that was over all too soon. And one other good thing - it's the first gig I've been to in some time where I was able to enjoy the music without some nuisance talking throughout the performance. Perhaps there is hope after all.

Avishai Cohen's New York Division at the Barbican

Avishai Cohen and his New York Division played the Barbican last night. They took us on a musical journey that included stops at several of his albums - from the very first to his most recent, displaying influences from be-bop and classical music and ending with a series of songs in English, Hebrew and Spanish. 

Over the years I have been to many of his concerts and every time there is something new and different. He has given us jazz quartets, jazz with strings, experimented with songs in a variety of languages and now we have the New York Division which adds three more world class musicians to his most accomplished trio. For slightly more than two hours last night our Avishai was accompanied on stage by Kurt Rosenwinkel on guitar,  Steve Davis on trombone and Diego Urcola on trumpet, the line up being completed by trio members Nitai Hershkovits on piano and Daniel Dor on drums.

Entering the stage in darkness to cheers and applause it was straight into the music with songs from the current album From Darkness, including Ballad for an Unborn and Amethyst (and I think Signature as well?), a good long workout of Shuffle from the Colors album of 2000 and an even earlier piece from his very first album - Bass Suite #2 from Adama, released in 1998. I especially enjoyed this reference back to his early solo days which he played to open the second set, accompanied only by messers Davis and Urcola in a short but engaging interplay between the three instruments. Throughout the evening, there were clear references to classical music as well as middle eastern and other influences and for me there are echoes of both early music and the streets of Jewish Spain before the expulsion in 1492.

The second set/ lengthy encore (for which thanks!) included a vocal version of the old Nat King Cole classic Nature Boy (revived in the 1970's by George Benson-  also a classic). Singing in English, it was an emotional reading of a mystical song and one which Cohen has yet to record. He teased the audience by saying he would - which was responded to with a cry of "do it". I hope he does.  This was followed by my favourite track from his Aurora album - Alon Basela, sang in Hebrew and inspired by his father. The title means an oak tree in a rock and the lyrics are about staying firm through adversity. I like the tense, urgent feel of the song and the way his voice becomes an additional instrument in the performing of it. I loved the physicality of his performance of this song, with much drumming of fingers on the bass, providing his own percussion. 

No Avishai Cohen concert is complete without at least one song in Spanish and or Ladino and we were treated to a salsa influenced piece with euphoric Latin influenced piano playing from Hershkovits and the sharpest trumpet playing from Diego Urcola. Urcola's playing was for me one of the highlights of the evening - I've already been on Amazon looking for his albums! Still in a Latin theme, we then had a solo from Cohen as he performed the Argentinian song, Alfionsina Y El Mar before the ensemble rejoined him for a lengthy and riotous reading of Gershon Beat from the At Home album, which I still think is one of his best. Each of the musicians were showcased in this final number including Cohen displaying little known percussion talents using drums ticks on his metal music stand to accompany drummer Daniel Dor. Dor stood out with a magnificent solo that left the audience cheering and him exhausted! 

British audiences love Avishai Cohen and received several standing ovations, calls from the auditorium for favourites to be played and murmurs of recognition of most of the numbers and he can play an audience in a small intimate like Ronnie Scotts or a large auditorium such as the Barbican to equal effect. He is currently working on fusing jazz and classical music more closely and will premiere this work in Sweden in September with his trio performing with the Malmo Symphony Orchestra. Let's hope he brings this show to London soon, oh and Avishai - don't forget about recording Nature Boy too!

Nicola Conte returns to Ronnie Scott's

Nicola Conte returned to Ronnie Scott's last night for the first of four concerts spread over two evenings. As ever, it was a show to remember with extremely polished performances from all concerned but the show was absolutely stolen by sax player Magnus Lindgren and female vocalist Melanie Charles who not only shone in their own right but treated us to a musical conversation between voice, sax and flute.

The first set is always a little shorter at Ronnie Scott's to ensure the second house gets started on time and cognisant of that, Conte led his musicians through a series of songs taken mostly from his two most recent albums Love and Revolution and Free Souls as well as a few other older number. The music flowed with very little chat from the stage and the audience liked that just fine. Opening with the instrumental number All Praise To Allah from Love and Revolution before Ms Charles took the stage to Spirit of Nature from the more recent recording (which features her voice). We were then taken on a musical journey through jazz, soul and African influenced tracks including the joyous We Get Our Love From The Sun, Black Spirits, Shades of Joy, Soul Revelation  and a riotous psychedelic soul version of the spiritual song, Sometimes I Feel Like  A Motherless Child  first recorded by Paul Robeson in the 1930's. 

Exquisitely elegant, Haitian born New York resident Ms Charles is a very talented young woman. In patterned dress and green shoes she treated us to a little of her skills on the flute, harmonising with Lindgren. But most of all this girl can sing and she gave us a hint of her scat skills on Hoagey Carmichael's Baltimore Oriole and We Get Our Love From the Sun. It would have been good to see a little more of that - but she's going to be around for a long time. Baltimore Oriole was given a good long workout with some great piano and flute and of course a soaring vocal. I have always loved Lorez Alexandria's 1957 and 1963 versions of this song but Nicola and the crew gave her a run for her money last night.

Conte is an egalitarian leader allowing his musicians to showcase their talents, not dominating, but very definitely holding the whole thing together on guitar and being the musical genius behind the ultra sophisticated Nicola Conte sound. The current combo is completed by three excellent Italian musicians, long time member Pietro Lussu on piano, rising star Luca Alemanno on bass and Marco Valeri on drums. Italy has become a real force in modern jazz with not only Conte but also Gaetano Partipilo ( a former member of Conte's combo), Gerardo Frisina (Movement surely being one of the best jazz albums of 2014) and of course gravel voiced vocalist Mario Biondi. In fact there was a bit of an Italian thing going on last night at Ronnie Scott's as Georgia Mancio opened the show and included Bruno Martino's 1960 composition Estate in her set.

My first concert at Ronnie Scott's for 2015. A great start.

Late night pizza - Aaron Goldberg at the London Jazz Festival

The Aaron Goldberg Trio played Soho's Pizza Express late last night as part of the London Jazz Festival. Not only was it an excellent set, it was also free, although as Mr Goldberg pointed out you still had to pay for the pizza!

This extremely tight trio played for just over an hour, taking us through several tracks from the new album - The Now- as well as a couple of older numbers from earlier recordings. The set opened with Trocando Em Miudos, a Chico Buarque composition. The Portuguese is difficult to translate but the story behind the song is one of a separation, a divided home and leaving with only regret. A downbeat start in terms of subject matter but an excellent introduction to the evening musically speaking.

This was followed by a very playful version of Charlie Parker's Perhaps which not only showcased Goldberg's undoubted skills but also those of rising bass star Joe Sanders. Sanders previously played bass for the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz and has played with Ravi Coltrane, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter amongst others. Totally engaged with his instrument including "singing" to it off mic, we were treated to some unexpected vocal work from him too. Mr G also referred to him as his fashion advisor and tonight he was resplendent in a blue v-necked elbow padded sweater, white shirt, tie and wool peaked cap. Nice.

Other tracks from the new album included The Wind in the Night and YoYo. The Wind in the Night is a laid back ballad and Goldberg's own composition. Nice brush work from drummer and long time collaborator Eric Harland on this one. Harland is another stellar player and has worked with Betty Carter, Wynton Marsalis and Terence Blanchard amongst others. I especially liked YoYo which is based on a Haitian folk song about a generous meat vendor who gives extra meat to his customers! It featured a latin/ oriental flavoured piano and a cheeky conversation between bass and drums. Those latin/ oriental flavours brought to mind other favourite jazz pianists of mine - the wonderful Omer Klein and Omri Mor as well as a hint of Maurice El Medioni! Just great and the audience loved it. Incidentally this was a much younger crowd than the regular Pizza Express/ Ronnie Scott's turnout - in part because of the free entry as Soho jazz venues ain't cheap - but good to see and hope for the future!

One of my favourites from the earlier Worlds album, Lambada de Serpente (featured in the clip above) got a good long workout later in the set, its slow start building and building into an optimistic latin influenced piece of happiness with all three musicians shining. Continuing the latin kick, we were treated to a thumping version of Manha de Carnaval (also known as Black Orpheus), the much recorded Luiz Bonfa/ Antonio Maria penned classic and one of the best received pieces of the evening. Background Music from the new album is a musical sprint played at breakneck speed with some great work on bass and if you closed your eyes you could have been in a smokey 1960's New York jazz club listening to Bill Evans and his team.

It was all over too soon but the trio were persuaded back to the stage for a nice long version of Stevie Wonder's Isn't She Lovely from the Home album with some interesting cutting short of sentences in the main melody. And that was it - out into the cold cold Soho November night. Another great evening at Pizza Express Jazz - and the music was for free!

Oh, and I bought the new album. It's very good.

Soul to Soul with Carmen Lundy at Pizza Express

Earlier tonight, Carmen Lundy was magnificent in the first of four performances over two nights at Soho's Pizza Express. Taking the stage to a very warm welcome she opened proceedings with the uptempo Kindred Spirits, a story of making it despite being born on the wrong side of the tracks. Her own composition and the opening track of her new album, it set the tone for the evening with the audience captured from the beginning.

Her voice ranges from the velvety to the harsh. She can sing slow, she can sing uptempo. But best of all, Carmen Lundy can swing and sing real jazz. This was best displayed on the title track of her superb new album - Soul to Soul. Impossibly cool and atmospheric it could have been 3 in the morning rather than 8.30 in the evening. And with jazz funk legend Patrice Rushen playing the piano accompaniment(!) it couldn't possibly have been cooler. In a similar vein, Daybreak is another classy jazz number that swings and sees her voice soar upwards in a happy romantic mood.

Carmen Lundy is a real performer who gets into the mood of each song. She spoke of the courage it had taken to write (and sing) When Will They Learn, a plea to stay away from drugs and a memorial to the many great musicians and friends she has lost over the years to this scourge. It would have been possible to hear a pin drop during the song and her feeling and emotion reminded me of the similarly themed (although totally different sounding) Esther Phillips song - Home is Where the Hatred Is.

Much of the music on this new album has a message, a story. Ms. Lundy wrote Grace together with the South African artist, Simphiwe Dana who she met whilst performing in that part of the world before working together in the States and producing this story of overcoming prejudice, breaking down barriers and "stepping into the light". Grace is confident, uplifting and hopeful and once again, we had great piano from Patrice Rushen  whilst Jamieson Ross on drums and percussion and Darryl Hall on bass were outstanding throughout.  

I am a sucker for a great bossa nova number and Everything I Need is just that with its insistent Brazilian rhythm, laid back vocal and again, ultra cool feel. Ba-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, ba-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da… 

One long set of a little more than an hour flashed by and it was time to go but not before an encore and a story from one of the audience about how Carmen deliberately sang off-key in the early days of Camden's Jazz Cafe to get the attention of a non-jazz audience who were annoyingly chatting through her first two numbers. Well there was no need for such tactics tonight and she left the stage to a second standing ovation. It is hard to understand why she is relatively overlooked despite having a voice that matches the likes of Diane Reeves,  Dee Dee Bridgewater and other stellar contemporary female jazz vocalists. Her distinctive style combines a contemporary feel with references to some of the all time greats including another Carmen - the  late, great Carmen McRae and the also underrated Nancy Wilson. 

She told us tonight that she is very proud of her new album and feels that it is her best work so far. She has written or co-written 11 of the 13 tracks in addition to playing several instruments, doing the string arrangements and co-producing the album. She is right, its a classic. If you haven't got the album get it, and if there are any tickets left for the Saturday night shows (and there probably aren't), get one. Tonight was one of Pizza Express Jazz's finest hours.

Elaine Delmar - Jazz Royalty at JW3

The fabulous Elaine Delmar took the stage to applause last night at JW3, gave a big smile and treated the full house to two excellent sets of jazz standards taking us on a tour of some of the best songs ever written.

Supremely elegant in black layered gown and diamond jewellery and ably supported by the Brian Dee quartet the first set included Jobim's No More Blues, Gershwin's There's A Boat That's Leaving Soon and I Love's You Porgy, and rousing, swinging versions of Cole Porter's I've Got You Under My Skin and It's Alright With Me. Ms. Delmar's voice is perfectly suited to these classics - ranging from silk to velvet and if necessary gravel, reminding me more than a little bit of the late Carmen Mcrae and a touch of Sarah Vaughan especially on those lovely deep velvety notes. Now that's praise. And that wasn't all. She gave us a haunting version of Michel Legrand's Windmills of Your Mind, Paul Williams' I Won't Last a Day (made famous by the Carpenters) and Honeysuckle Rose from the pen of Fats Waller. The latter song has a story attached to it. Elaine performed it on stage in the 1970's in the London version of stage show Bubbling Brown Sugar and not only that, Miquel Brown one of the other stars of that show was in the audience. Some of us remember her as a disco artist in the 1980's!

The second set was equally impressive with a great bossa nova version of Porter's Begin the Beguine, Rogers and Hart's Little Girl Blue and Who Knows Where or When before Edith Piaf's Hymn d'amour. The jazz audience at JW3 is informed and discerning, but Elaine Delmar had them in the palm of her hand, even managing a little audience participation to Fats Waller's Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter with the crowd more than happy to sing along. If that was a risk so was doing Summer Time. Not because she can't sing it beautifully but because it's perhaps a little overdone. However, performing it to only the accompaniment of Simon Thorpe on bass was a stroke of genius. It was a tense, intimate performance. Just great. Thorpe shone on Summer Time whilst quartet leader Brian Dee on piano and Jim Mullen on guitar were both excellent, providing some very cool support to Elaine and giving us some cracking' solos particularly on the more bossa nova influenced numbers. Some of remember Mr. Mullen from playing with the Average White Band in the 1970's and later in the jazz-funk outfit Morrissey-Mullen. Those were the days.

The show finished with a good workout of another Porter song - Let's Do It and that closed another great evening of jazz at JW3. As well as giving a great vocal performance, Ms. Delmar came out between sets to talk to the audience and to sign CD's…including mine! She was also very engaging on stage, knowledgable about the songs and the songwriters and sharing a few memories from days gone by, including performing nearby in the 1950's at a place called the El Toro club. If any readers have memories of the El Toro please share them in the comments box. A quick google reveals that Barbara Windsor performed there in the late 50's. Cor blimey. And by the way, another google shows that Elaine Delmar is in her early 70's (I hope she doesn't mind my saying so if she ever reads this). She looks a whole lot younger than that and sounds better than ever.

Elaine Delmar - they don't make them like her anymore. Thanks JW3.

Polly Gibbons Quartet - Jazz at JW3

Polly Gibbons played two excellent sets earlier this evening at JW3 on London's Finchley Road. Elegant with hair up, hooped earrings, sophisticated black and white stripes and impossibly high healed silver shoes her deep, slightly rough edged voice was ideally suited to this intimate venue. 

Her choice of material for the evening included straight forward jazz standards as well as more bluesy numbers. Scorching hot on the blues, she treated us to (I'd rather drink) Muddy Waters and Basin Street Blues interspersed with extremely cool renditions of Almost Like Being In Love, Comes Love, Bye Bye Blackbird (brilliant bass from Mark Lewandowski) and the jazz standard ballad  For All We Know.  Not only can Ms Gibbons sing, she also recognises the best versions of these standards - citing Aretha Franklin's classic version of Muddy Waters and Ella's recording of Basin Street Blues as her favourites. Amen.  The talented Ms Barber also writes and performed a couple of her own compositions - My Own Company and Midnight Prayer co-penned with tonight's pianist and Ronnie Scott's musical director - James Pearson. Both songs feature on her album My Own Company which is now in my possession!

This rising star of British jazz was accompanied by some tight playing from the afore mentioned James Pearson on piano, Mark Lewandowski on bass and Ian Thomas on drums. The trio opened each set before being joined on stage by Polly - Falling in Love With Love for the first set and Lullaby of Birdland for the second - giving both pieces good long workouts showcasing each of the musicians.

Polly Gibbons is a rising star of British jazz, has been nominated for a British jazz award and performed several times with the much loved Ian Shaw. She cites Mahalia Jackson, Billie Holiday and Nina Simone as influences, reinforcing that bluesy feel to her singing. A great evening and a performer I'd very much like to hear again.

Jazz at JW3 on the first Sunday of every month is becoming a bit of a must for London jazz fans. The new Jewish community centre for London on Finchley Road is a great venue with a programme that includes theatre, cinema, classes in a range of subjects, activities for children and families and of course music! No kidding, the programme is so interesting, this is a venue I check alongside the South Bank and the Barbican when looking for somewhere to go. Although the main audience for JW3 is London's Jewish community - everyone is welcome and the crowd is often surprisingly diverse. Just to add to the experience, JW3 also has a great cafe and restaurant - Zest where you can dine before or after performances - but be careful to book for the restaurant wing - it's very popular. Oh and by the way Zest, the sweet potato gnocchi was spot on!

Yvette Johansson - live at Bennetts Lane Jazz Club

My current travels in Australia brought me to Melbourne just in time to catch Yvette Johansson's appearance at Bennetts Lane Jazz Club. And what a treat that turned out to be! Supremely elegant in a wrap over top and long black skirt, she took am enthusiastic audience through two sets of well loved jazz standards and some of her own compositions.

I had not been familiar with her work before the concert but she won me over with her opening number, a velvety reading of - Give Me The Simple Life, made famous by Ella Fitzgerald and written by Rube Bloom. She went on to give us Duke Ellington's It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing), an uptempo version of Love Me Or Leave Me, made famous by Billie Holiday and Nat King Cole's Let There Be Love. On the latter number she displayed her talent for improvisation, adding some humorous words of her own…Let there be oysters (and other crustaceans!) under the sea…

These were great song choices and everyone loves standards but Yvette put her own stamp on them. Nowhere was this better demonstrated than in Bill Loughborough's Better Than Anything where she added several verses of her own…better than pizza on Lygon…better than brunch on Brunswick…better than sun dried tomatoes - giving the song a real Melbourne stamp. Effortlessly at ease with her standing room only audience who had turned out on a cold Good Friday evening, she chatted about falling in love, her preference for cold weather and this week's eclipse leading us into a cool version of Moonglow. Her own compositions were equally engaging. I especially liked Half A Dozen Daffodils and Sophia Loren whilst Alaska, her plea for love in a cold climate, was also well received. Clearly influenced by Ella, Billie and the other greats, there is also a touch of Stacey Kent about our Yvette with her rich, velvety and very clear delivery. 

Ms. Johansson was ably supported by talented trio - drummer Gideon Markus, pianist Joe Ruberto and bass player (and club owner) Michael Tortoni. Ruberto was particularly outstanding and injected some nice Latin touches into some of the numbers. The evening was rounded off with Bobby Hebb's Sunny (the second time I have heard this performed live in recent weeks) and she left us wanting more. A great evening at a great little club. Yvette performs regularly at Bennetts so Melbourne jazz fans really have no excuse not to catch her! 

Nate Wong - Jazz in Hong Kong

Whenever I travel I try to find some live jazz to go and enjoy. Last week, I had just one night in Hong Kong on my way to Australia and luckily it coincided with an appearance of the Nate Wong Trio at the Fringe Club in Hong Kong's Soho. 

The Hong Kong born drummer teamed up with Teriver Cheung on guitar and a keyboard player whose name I unfortunately missed. (Sorry!), to lead us through a number of jazz standards including Ellington's Take the A Train, Sunny made famous by Bobby Hebb and the Johnny Rivers' penned Bring it on Home, as well as some of his own own compositions. These classics gave Wong a chance to demonstrate his versatility on the drums with some great solos and good interplay with his colleagues. Teriver Cheung was also excellent with his understated approach on guitar.

The gig was billed as the worldwide launch of Wong's new jazz trio and was attended by a range of Hong Kong arty types, friends, fans and family and the occasional traveler - like me. The trio also performed some of Wong's own compositions which included pieces he performed on the melodica, which I can best describe as a keyboard with a  mouthpiece and which gave a bluesy feel to the evening. My own favourite of the evening was his rendition of the Nat King Cole classic - A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square. Lovely. All of the pieces were well received by an enthusiastic audience.

Nate told the audience that he had only just flown in from the States, that the trio had only met each other a few hours before the gig and that there had been no chance to rehearse. If that's the case then I would advise readers to go along to his next gig at the Fringe on April 26th when he will be joined by veteran Hong Kong jazzer Ted Lo on keyboards and Ecuadorian guitarist Daniel Toledo. Hong Kong jazz fans should not miss this opportunity to see a rising star perform in his home town. 

The Fringe is a great venue where a variety of arts programmes take place. It is also a lovely heritage building dating from 1913, restored in recent years and the recipient of an important award for its sensitive restoration. Oh…and there's a good cafe too!

Dianne Reeves - jazz superstar on London's South Bank

The applause started when she walked onto the stage, before a single note was sung. It continued to the very end of the show and beyond the encore. Dianne Reeves' concert at the South Bank must surely be one of the jazz events of the year and a if not the highlight of this year's London Jazz Festival.

Her extremely accomplished band opened up with a lengthy workout of Summertime before Dianne herself joined them, going straight into Dreams, the old Fleetwood Mac number given a new arrangement. One of the tracks on her recently released album Beautiful Life, it was greeted with cheers just a few bars in. She really did have them eating from her hand! We were treated to a number of songs from the new album - several of them covers including jazz standard Stormy Weather sung slightly behind the beat and a reggae influenced version of the Bob Marley classic, Waiting in Vain - both with a Dianne Reeves stamp on them, making them her own as she has so many other classics over the years.

Then there was Tango, her own composition and something she described as an homage to "all of the songs I have purchased but never been able to understand". Completely improvised with references to both Latin and African music, it was so convincing that non-Spanish speakers (like me) could well have been fooled into thinking there were real lyrics to this piece! It reminded me a little of Buena Vista Social Club but mixed with West African music too - something a little different from Dianne!

I don't think there is anything that Ms. Reeves cannot sing, but for me, she is at her best singing classic jazz standards. She treated us to her version of I'm In Love Again, written (with Cy Coleman) and made famous by Peggy Lee, although I love Blossom Dearie's version best. It was just perfect. Big sighs of contentment from me and I am sure from many others in the audience as she worked her way through the lyrics to my favourite verse - "I'm alive again, I can wake up and sing. Nothing bores me now, I enjoy everything" . I wanted her to sing it again straight away. Dianne recorded this on her When You Know album. She also performed the heavily gospel influenced Today Will Be A Good Day from the same recording. 

Ms. Reeves was supported by a quartet of world class musicians. Peter Martin shone on piano, especially on I'm in Love Again, demonstrating a real intimacy between instrument and voice. Romero Lubambo on guitar, Reginald Veal on bass and the wonderful Terreon Gully on drums completed the line-up that made this a very special occasion.

Despite suffering from the extreme heat in the concert hall, Dianne and the band were tempted back to the stage at the audience's insistence and closed with a haunting performance of  I Want You, made famous by Marvin Gaye and written by the great Leon Ware. Once more rapturous applause from an adoring crowd and she was gone, but promising to come back soon. Don't leave it too long Dianne. I keep reminding myself how lucky we are in London - Dianne Reeves and Dee Dee Bridgewater, for me the best two contemporary jazz singers in the world have both been here this year. And we also have great new artists like Zara McFarlane a young British vocalist who performed a short set with her band. She was fabulous according to Dianne Reeves, and I have to agree. She gave a confident performance which included her version of reggae classic Police and Thieves and the self penned Woman in the Orange Grove. Great vocals, a nice manner and real jazz. Watch this woman - and buy her new album which comes out soon! 

Carleen Anderson at Pizza Express

Carleen Anderson closed this year's ReVoice festival last night at Soho's Pizza Express with a stunning set, ably supported by a very tight band, featuring Tom Cawley on piano, Al Cherry on electric guitar, Laurence Cottle on bass guitar and Simon Lea on drums.

Born in Texas into a musical family including mother Vicki Anderson and with James Brown as her godfather and Bobby Byrd as her stepfather, the young Carleen followed the route of singing in church from a very early age. As well as the family influences she has worked with artists ranging from John Dankworth and Dr. John to Jocelyn Brown, Johnny Cash and Paul McCartney. She came to the UK 23 years ago and had early success as one of the Young Disciples, whose hit Apparently Nothing was a showstopper at Pizza Express. She has also worked with the likes of the Brand New Heavies and Incognito. 

Last night she treated us to a lengthy work out of her 1990's pop hit, Mama Said (I still have the CD single from back then - you can enjoy this song by clicking on the musical link at the top of this post), the aforesaid Apparently Nothing and a tremendous version of the Deneice Williams hit Free, which brought to mind the much missed Minnie Riperton as Carleen effortlessly reached the song's super high notes. She also treated us to three songs from what she hopes will eventually be a musical based on the story of he grandparents, the first family members born free in the United States, their struggles, successes and enduring love. The influence of her pastor grandfather was especially clear in the third of the songs, a rip roaring gospel number which included Ms Anderson giving a virtuoso performance on tambourine. This is a project still in preparation - more soon please Carleen!

A word about the band. Tight throughout, there were especially outstanding performances from Al Cherry on electric guitar (on Free in particular) and Simon Lea on drums. And kudos to Carleen for being generous with her musicians - all of whom were showcased with a series of solos throughout the evening. During the encore she demonstrated her own talents by accompanying herself on piano, performing Don't Look Back in Anger. A great performance from a great vocalist that was over all to soon. Oh yes, and a very big "thanks" to my friend and neighbour Bev for inviting me! 

A night on Finchley Road - Ian Shaw at JW3

Ian Shaw gave a world class performance on Sunday night at the brand new JW3, Jewish community centre for London on Finchley Road. This was the first of a series of monthly top flight jazz concerts that will also feature Tina May, Lianne Carrol and Julian Joseph as part of a humungous programme of music, theatre, cinema, adult education, youth and family activity and much more in this beautiful building. Oh yes, and there is a rather fantastic cafe too - Zest (kosher), which just happens to be led by chefs Josh Katz and Eran Tibi - both of whom formerly worked at Ottelenghi (not kosher!).

But back to Mr. Shaw. He opened with an interesting arrangement of a potentially risky song choice - You've got to pick a pocket or two - Fagin's song from Oliver which received a polite response before things took off in a big way. Linking songs with humorous stories, confessions and reminiscences our Ian had us eating from his hand very quickly. There were a couple of numbers from his  A Ghost in Every Bar album of Fran Landesmann's songs - Feet Do Your Stuff and Small Day Tomorrow, a witty version of Barbra Streisand's I Want Everything from the soundtrack of A Star is Born and another Babs favourite - the Michel Legrand composed What Are You Doing The Rest of Your Life. His reference to Michel Legrand as Mickey Big made 'em laugh as did his story of demanding to sing at an Amsterdam jazz club despite being well oiled with beer, being refused and slurringly replying "I've won awards" before storming the stage and singing anyway!

He made us laugh but he almost made us cry when he moved from Harold Arlen's Last Night When We Were Young to a heartbreaking version of Amy Winehouse's Love Is A Losing Game. He manages to do this to me at least once in every gig! But there were other highlights too. A master of improvisation, I loved the insertion of the word "profoundly" into the Billie Holiday number Lover Man Where Can You Be..."when I remember all the little things we used to do, I am so profoundly lonely". Oh yes. And this too was cleverly linked to another Billie standard -What's New. 

Ian Shaw is one of the few jazz singers that can easily turn from jazz standards to what might be termed contemporary music and he did it again here including his version of Where Are We Now, a David Bowie song from his most recent album - still holding the audience. I liked this too, but the absolute highlight for me was Ian's reading of A Night In Tunisia during the second set. Soaring vocals, gorgeous improvisation and a stonking piano performance (throughout the gig!) from Barry Green.  Ian - please record this! The trio was completed by Geoff Gascoyne on double bass and Dave Ohm on drums - both excellent.

A terrific night on Finchley Road, with wonderful music in a great venue. I know I am going to be back for more...and Mr. Shaw mentioned a forthcoming new musical project, so look out for that too. Sundays might never be the same again...

You might also like Anat Cohen live at Pizza Express or Nicola Conte - more than entertainment at Ronnie Scott's

Anat Cohen Quartet at Pizza Express

Anat Cohen played her first ever UK gig last night at Pizza Express Jazz in London. The final concert of her quartet's European tour played to a full house that was left wanting more after two brilliant sets of    

compositions mostly taken from her current album - Claroscuro, which she explained means clear and dark, just like the music!  

This was a world class quartet with Jason Lindner on piano, Daniel Freedman on drums and Joe Martin on bass. The evening opened with a rousing version of Artie Shaw's Nightmare, a thumping, threatening tune with Anat setting the standard for the evening with warm and deep to cool and high playing of the clarinet and later the saxophone and more than ably supported by her quartet. This is the same quartet that played on the afore named latest album and the playing was tight indeed with lots of smiles and laughter, some apparent mind reading between Lindner and Freedman in particular and a very democratic approach from Anat, with lots of long and lovely solos from her boys.

There was a bit of a Brazilian theme to the evening with Pixinguinha's Um A Zero and Lo and Marcio Borges Tudo Que Voce Podia Ser being well received - the latter being my favourite of the evening together with an astonishingly long, varied and beautiful version of La Vie en Rose (which you can hear by clicking on the video below) which included some reggae influenced piano! This Edith Piaf classic was also the source of a little humour with Anat explaining it was a number she had written herself...laughs all around. Still in a Latin mood, she treated us to Siboney, a classic Cuban number, this time from an earlier album - Notes from the Village, again with a good long work out featuring some great solos from each of the quartet.

This was a great first London gig from Anat Cohen and hopefully the first of many. Ms. Cohen comes from an illustrious musical family. Her brothers - Avishai (trumpet) and Yuval (saxophone) are also extremely accomplished musicians. I had the pleasure of seeing Avishai perform in Paris last December as part of Omer Avital's ensemble, so now I only need to hear Yuval play and I've met the whole family! Together as 3 Cohens, they have recorded three albums - One, Braid and Family - all well worth checking. 

Although resident in New York these days, Anat Cohen is one of a growing number of world class Israeli musicians, including the other Avishai Cohen, Omer Avital, Shai Maestro, Ilan Salem, Eli Degibri, Daniel Zamir and a whole lot more who are producing some of the most refreshing and innovative jazz around at the moment and several of whom are performing in the UK. Lucky us.

PS. Thanks for the autograph Anat!

Eli Degibri quartet at Pizza Express

Saxophonist Eli Degibri shone tonight at his quartet's first ever London gig at the famous Pizza Express jazz club in the heart of Soho. Joined by piano maestro Aaron Goldberg, bass player Barak Mori and drummer Ofri Nehemaya (who looks even younger than his nineteen years), Degibri was warmly received by this, one of London's most knowledgeable jazz crowds.

Working his way through a number of his own compositions, we were treated to an excellent display of  "saxophony" and some great musical conversations particularly between Degibri and Goldberg who was outstanding. The first set included a nameless bossa nova-ish number that had hints of oriental piano to it as well as Story for Roni, a song Mr. D wrote for a previous girlfriend, and Big Fish from the movie of the same name. Big Fish included a lengthy work out for each member of the quartet allowing them to show off  a little. And very nice too.

During the second set, Eli spoke a little more and told us that he tends to refer to his songs by a number - according to the order they were written in, as well as by a title. He explained that this was a result of his having been a member of a big band as a teenager back in Israel and the band leader used to direct the musicians by calling out numbers rather than song titles. Eli has 53 songs in his repertoire so far - several of which appear to be named for former girl friends. Mika was one such piece and a showstopper it was too with the urgent and insistent piano intro, flailing sax playing and able support provided from bass and drums.

Jaffa born Degibri has recorded five albums now and played two tracks from his very first recording "In the Beginning" recorded back in 2003 - In the Beginning which he said was inspired by Chopin(!) and Painless which describes the feelings experienced when the pain of a heartbreak heals. His 2010 recording "Israeli Song" features jazz luminaries Brad Meldhau, Ron Carter and Al Foster, demonstrating how respected our host for the evening has become in the jazz world (you can hear the title track by clicking on the clip below). And although still not 35 years old, he is also the current co-director of the Red Sea Jazz Festival.

A cheeky semi-improvised encore and the show was over - two great sets and another chance to see him on Thursday. Go if you can.

Nicola Conte - more than entertainment at Ronnie Scott's

Last night Nicola Conte told a sell-out house at Ronnie Scott's that he (and his combo) were hoping to provide us with more than "just entertainment". He wanted to make the audience feel something. It was an interesting introduction and 90 minutes later, it was safe to say that he had achieved his goal.

I came to know his music only recently and have been won over by his eclectic mix of reworked 1950's and 1960's jazz classics, Brazilian tunes, the bossa-nova feel to much of his work and quirky numbers such as Fuoco Fatuo. I have also admired his use of female vocalists and his version of the standard Charade featuring Berlin based Lisa Bassenge is constantly on my i-pod at the moment. Last night was a little different as the team worked their way through a a number of songs from his Love and Revolution album of 2011.

There were a lot of people on the stage. As well as Nicola on guitar, we were treated to the fabulous piano playing of Pietro Lusso, Sardinian Francesco Lento - who was outstanding on trumpet, Helsinki native Teppo Makynen on drums, Gaetano Partilipo on saxophone and Paolo Benedettini on double bass. Five Italians and one Finn, all in tailored dark grey suites and ties - the epitome of European jazz cool. Makynen's drumming was accompanied by the most surprising facial expressions - groans, grins and grimaces whilst Conte maintained an almost detached concentration. After the opening two numbers, the musicians were joined on stage by vocalist Bridgette Amofah.

Although a little drowned by the band at times, Ms. Amofah gave an excellent performance in front of the most discerning jazz audience in London. She particularly shone on Max Roach's Freedom Day, Love From the Sun (once recorded by the great Norman Connors) and Conte's own composition, Love and Revolution. Freedom Day was an outstanding number not just for the excellent vocal, but also for the ripping, soaring, shrieking sax and trumpet duet at the beginning between Partilipo and Lento. Terrific. They also stole the show during the closing number Love and Revolution with a lengthy workout before Ms Amofah came back in to close things down. It was an appropriate choice of songs to end a set that had begun with Mr Conte's reference to the importance of music in the black liberation movement in the 1950's and 1960's setting the scene for the evening's programme.

I had been expecting a run through of his better known and more popular tracks, but his choice of a slightly more left-field programme was inspired. It is the second Ronnie Scott's gig in the last few months where performers have chosen to demonstrate a wider, less well known repertoire with enormous success  - I am thinking of the Jean and Doug Carne set in June last year. A great concert to begin the new year - and there's lots more to come.

Oh, and here's a little treat to be going on with...

Paris - Manger in the Marais, a bit of Bohemia and a story from Algeria

(Above - Murciano - boulangerie and patisserie in the Rue des Rosiers)

Paris was once the place I most liked to visit. I would go every year, sometimes twice and always loved it. But over time my passion for the city cooled. I travelled further afield, got braver about destinations and almost forgot Paris. But they say old friends are the best friends and attracted by Omer Avital's concert, I spent three nights there earlier this week to see if it was true.

I planned to visit some old haunts, some places that were new to me and of course, to get a big slice of culture with concerts and exhibitions. I stayed at Bastille, a very short walk from the Marais, which has always been my favourite part of Paris. I first visited the city 22 years ago with a good friend and we arrived at St. Paul le Marais without having booked a place to stay. We spent the first night in an Algerian owned place on the Rue St. Antoine. The beds were fine but there was a smell of death in the bathroom and at breakfast we were offered coffee, jam and butter - but not bread! We moved to a Moroccan owned "hotel" on Rue du Roi de Sicile. It was called Palais de Fez. Palais it was not. But it was a great location, very cheap and extremely character forming. Our room was at the very top of the building - 6 floors and no lift. The toilet was on the landing, was shared with the whole floor and offered a most unusual grey cardboard material as toilet paper. The owner told us we had to be back before midnight or sleep outside. As if. Once we got that sorted things went swimmingly and I went back there several times.

You are thinking I digress? Well actually no I don't. Palais de Fez is no more (I notice it is now Holiday Apartments Selma - so may still be Moroccan) - and that is my point. The Marais has changed much in the last decade and continues to change now. Many of the little cafes, boulangeries and other quirky long established places are gone, replaced by boutiques, new restaurants and stores selling "lovely things". My beloved Rue des Rosiers is a case in point. Twenty years ago, most of the businesses were still Jewish, now only one end of the street has  a majority of Jewish businesses with the remainder made up with some pretty uninspiring but expensive boutiques. Some trade on the former functions of their shops - the former Goldenberg's restaurant is now a clothes shop that retains the Goldenberg sign , whilst around the city a number of new shops have retained the old (and often beautiful) boulanger and patissier signs.



Some of the old favourites remain and I had my almost obligatory Hongroise (Hungarian strudel) at Florence Finkelstzajn's patisserie and cafe (pictured above), a slightly different version of it at rival Sacha Finkelstzajn's and a poppy seed cream cheese and tomato bagel (I hate salmon) at Korcarz bakery and cafe. I also had my favourite "choice of five" at Chez Marianne - humous, falafel, fried aubergine and tomato, halloumi and tzatziki with pitta. Some things never change. Except perhaps my waistline. That damn spiral staircase to the toilet at Chez Marianne's always was a nightmare to squeeze up and down, even before I grew into my clothes. And it won't be just me as devotion to falafel seems to have reached addictive proportions with some staggeringly large queues outside the take away places.



And still on the subject of food, I have a new favourite destination. Carette at Place des Vosges. It has a beautifully decorated, Belle Epoque stye interior with some pretty wonderful patisseries on view and possibly the best hot chocolate I have ever had - served in a silver pot no less, containing at least three cups! Not to mention a wicked cherry clafoutis too. A great way to pass an hour or so on a chilly winter evening. Sadly - the last of the dusty antique shops on the Place has disappeared. There were once several but now there are none. Not boutiques here, but private art galleries and posh restaurants and cafes (like the Carette!).

Enough with the food. What of the culture? I managed to squeeze in two concerts and three exhibitions as well as some serious leg work to look at some of the city's best art nouveau architecture and some modernist masterpieces too. I will post separately on the architecture, suffice to say for the moment it was tremendous and I spent one of my happiest days for some time on Friday walking through the 16th arrondissement admiring its majesty - but that's for another time.

I had planned to visit two of the exhibitions that I saw - the incredible "Bohemes" at the Grand Palais and "Les Juifs d'Algerie" at the Museum of Jewish Art and History. The third one was a bonus that I squeezed in on the spur of the moment. The Bohemes exhibition was truly inspired. It is a study of the use of the word "Bohemian" and especially its former use to describe nomadic people in Europe - collectively referred to as gypsies.

The exhibition includes early artistic representations of these people. Interestingly, they are displayed as saintly - sometimes as being connected with the holy family of Christianity (apparently during the middle ages there was a belief that gypsies came from Egypt and this may be how the link was developed) or as thieves and undesirables (see the Georges de la Tour painting above). Other artists showed them as people leading an idyllic lifestyle, at one with nature. Of course, none of this was particularly true and the Hungarian paintings from the late 1800's by artists such as  Karoly Ferenczy who took a more realistic approach showing gypsies looking after their children or performing everyday tasks. But my favourites are the works by German artist Otto Mueller who spent some time living with gypsies and painted a series of portraits in the 1930's - pictures later displayed by the Hitler regime as "degenerate art". (one of which is pictured below).

"Boheme" also tracks the involvement of gypsies in the arts, especially music (a wonderful soundtrack is played in the background as you navigate the exhibition - you can buy the CD in the shop) and theatre. This then trips over into portrayals of gypsies in the arts, especially the operas Carmen and La Boheme. The appropriation of the word "Bohemian" to describe a particular kind of "artistic" lifestyle follows, with references to starving artists in garrets and significant amounts of posing and posturing from writers and actors.Moving on,  the late 19th century saw the development of cafe society as a type of Bohemianism. There are even some cafe chairs and tables set out to provoke the imagination of the visitor.

Gypsies, like many nomadic peoples, have been persecuted over the centuries, culminating in the German attempt to eradicate them physically during the Second World War and this is referred to in the exhibition. It is also pointed out that France did not repeal all of its anti-gyspsy laws until the late 1970's. A great, stimulating exhibition with a wonderful mixture of mediums, well labelled - including with summary panels in English (thanks!) and hopefully one that will travel to the UK too. A word of warning. If you are going to see this exhibition. beware, the Grand Palais does not have a cafe - I was gasping at the end of my visit!

It is 50 years since Algeria secured independence from France after a long and bloody war. A numberof exhibitions have been staged in Paris this year to commemorate this anniversary. "Les Juives d'Algerie" is an excellent exhibition covering an often overlooked and sometimes purposely ignored part of Algerian history. Jews have been present in North Africa for centuries and Algeria had one of the largest communities. Always second class citizens (despite the romantic stories of a harmonious and equal society, much beloved by some commentators), the Algerian Jews had periods of relative peace and prosperity alternated with periods of vicious suppression and pogrom. These issues are well covered in the exhibition including footage of a series of anti-Jewish activities in the city of Constantine over a number of years, including pictures of knife wielding Arabs, bloodied ground and wrecked Jewish homes and businesses. It is also little known that during the French collaboration with the German occupation in the Second World War, Vichy France established concentration camps in North Africa where many Jews were persecuted and died.


Above - a Jewish family in Constantine, 1881.

The exhibition also examines the cultural life of the Algerian Jews. It contains many beautiful religious objects, clothing and household items as well as paintings and photographs of leading comment members and of everyday community life. My favourite part of the exhibition however, is the final room which features Algerian Jewish singers and musicians. This includes the wonderful female singers - glamorous and provocative Line Monty, Reinette L'Oranaise a blind Jewish woman and possessor of a big big voice and also Alice Fitoussi. Then there are their male counterparts - Salim Halali, Lili Boniche, Enrico Macias, Blond Blond and my favourite Maurice El Medioni who I was lucky enough to see twice in Israel a couple of years ago. There are interviews and live recordings of several of the artists as part of the exhibition together with some wonderfully nostalgic album sleeves on display.

Above - Jewish musicians in Algeria, undated.

I knew about the musicians but I didn't know about the tradition of Algerian Jewish boxers, with a number of champions coming from the community. Robert Cohen and Michael Atlan were national champions whilst bantamweight Alphonse Halimi (pictured) became world bantamweight champion in 1957.


So where are Algeria's Jews now.Not in Algeria. Systematically marginalised before and during the War of Independence and driven out afterwards, they went primarily to France and Israel although some also went to the Unites States. In 1948, it was estimated that 140,000 Jews lived in Algeria. Today there are none.

There are a number of good websites that carry information about the Jews of Algeria and of North Africa generally. Point of no return is an excellent site with frequent postings, illustrations and videos. Also of interest is Jewish Morocco which includes features on North African Jewish musicians from across the region. Click below for a taste of Jewish North African music from Lili Boniche.




My third exhibition was the small collection of Soutine works on display at the Orangerie. I love Soutine's portraits, slightly threatening landscapes and his series paintings of gladioli. The portraits are probably my favourite, showing a range of people employed in different pursuits, a waiter, a bellboy, a maid - all people who might be invisible to those they serve but in whom Soutine recognised hopes, dreams and ambitions and more often sadness, disappointment and resignation. His figures are often distorted with long thin necks, narrow heads, large and awkward hands - all adding to his description of the subject's condition.

I have to admit I have never been keen on his still lives of pieces of meat. I find them threatening and aggressive. I am disturbed by the thought (and sometimes image) of the blood of the slaughtered animal - which must mean his work is effective! There are just 22 paintings are on display but its well worth a short trip as the admission ticket covers the whole Orangerie and so gives access to the permanent exhibition too with its early works of Picasso as well as Cezanne, Derain, Laurencin and more.

So, what was my verdict on my return to Paris? Yes, some things disappointed me - the disappearance of old friends - Hotel Central in Rue Vielle du Temple which is now a jewellers and the final demise of Goldenbergs - whilst it stood empty I still had hope (!). But many more things delighted me - the terrific concerts of Omer Avital and then Eddie Henderson at the Sunset Jazz Club. The two cracking major exhibitions reviewed above and also, not yet mentioned, the seemingly super efficient metro - which has seen some investment in recent years. Most of all, I was thrilled with my architectural walks which I will write about separately. I even met some friendly and interesting people whilst searching out art nouveau and modernist gems. Will I be back soon? I think I just might.

Red hot and cool - Omer Avital Quintet in Paris!

The Omer Avital quintet - Mr Avital (bass), Omer Klein (piano), Joel Frahm (tenor saxophone), Avishai Cohen (trumpet - not the "other one") and Daniel Freedman (drums) were fantastic, formidable and מצוין (Hebrew for excellent) at the tiny Duc de Lombards club in Paris tonight.

Playing a short, four nights residency, with each gig sold out, Avital had an excited crowd waiting to go in for the second house - and we weren't disappointed. This quintet contains some of the finest jazz musicians in the world, with all five being worthy of headlining as was demonstrated through both the solo and ensemble playing this evening.

Opening with Top of the Mountain from his current Suite of the East album, Omer Avital led the quintet through a number of new songs - the brilliant Avishkes, dedicated to Avishai Cohen who particularly shone in this piece, Song for Amos, which is dedicated to Amos Hoffman, another great Israeli jazz musician,  and from the Arrival album of a couple of years ago (and which might just remain my favourite - especially the title track) and a new piece called Hafla. 

It was interesting to watch the different demeanour of each of the musicians. From my seat, Avital was the only member of the quintet whose face I couldn't see (!), but interestingly I could see his hands and was mesmerised by the elasticity of his fingers and the sounds that he produced from what seemed a mere touch of the strings. 

Avishai Cohen and Joel Frahm are of the stand and play school, squeezing some amazing sounds from their instruments. Seated right at the front of the club, I could see Cohen's lips squeezed unbelievably thinly around the trumpet. Omer Klein was in jovial mood. Some pianists grunt and make noises as they perform. Not Omer Klein, he almost dances his way through each piece, feet jumping and stamping, shaking and swaying on the stool and generally enjoying himself - including joking and laughing with Daniel Freedman in particular. And by the way, sartorially speaking Avishai, that was a great shirt you were wearing but overall Omer (Klein that is) took the prize for me for his "collars and cuffs" shirt and jeans turned up as a third "cuff". 

Back to the music. Each piece as given a through workout lasting anywhere between 7 and possibly 15 minutes, allowing a good stretch for each instrument and some terrific, loud and exciting interplay within the group. They came back for an encore and gave us Song for Peace, also from the Suite of the East album. They saved the best until last - that piano playing was red hot. It is amazing to think that a small country like Israel has managed to produce such a fantastic group of musicians and even more amazing when one realises that there are many more Israeli jazz musicians at or entering world class.  

Red hot and cool, or as they say in Israel םבבה (sababa - meaning cool). Oh, and P.S. - could you please come and play in London?