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I first saw drummer Kassa Overall a decade ago when he appeared in London with trumpeter Theo Croker. He was impressive then, but even more so when he brought his own band to the Love Supreme Festival in July 2025. Now he brings us CREAM , his fourth solo studio album and it’s a brilliant piece of modern jazz that fuses hip-hop and ‘proper’ jazz drums in arrangements of tunes that really shouldn’t work in a jazz setting. But they do. There’s nothing new in jazz musicians arranging contemporary tunes for a jazz ensemble, but Overall takes surprising hip-hop tunes like The Notorious B.I.G.’s Big Poppa . This tune in particular takes on a new rhythmic feel with the drummer’s complex rhythms and some dextrous melodic mixing between Emilio Modeste’s tenor sax and Anne Drummond’s flute. Many of these arrangements take the original tunes and make them absolutely the drummer’s own. Overall’s arrangement of Eddie Harris’s Freedom Jazz Dance  makes it instantly recognisable but still different, with Emilio Modeste dancing along with Matt Wong’s organ, all sitting above Overall’s drums, Bendji Allonce’s percussion and Rashaan Carter’s double bass. The outstanding tune is the title track - C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me)  by the Wu-Tang Clan. Totally reinvented by Overall, it’s a beautiful opportunity for the gorgeous, entrancing soprano sax of Modeste to float above the complex and tight rhythm section. Then you get to Overall’s arrangement of Nuthin but a ‘G’ Thang , which is a remarkable piece of work, with Modeste’s bass clarinet and Drummond’s flute that resembles the feel of the original, with added complexity and delicious percussion. Throughout, Overall’s drums sit brilliantly alongside his small but beautifully-formed ensemble: Bendji Allonce (percussion); Matt Wong (keyboards); Emilio Modeste (sax); Tomoki Sanders (sax and percussion); Rashaan Carter (bass); Jeremiah Kal’ab (bass); and Anne Drummond (flute). Overall says: “This project is a full circle moment for me, creatively. All of the knowledge and insight gained from the electronic and hip-hop vantage point was applicable from the perspective of the drumset and arranging for live acoustics. To take music that originally comes off as crass or as a club hit and to reframe it with an intellectual and intimate feel shows some kind of humor or absurdity. The point is to open the listener up. Also, I just wanted to make something that sounds dope.” Dope it might be, pretty some of it certainly is. I was blown away by the Overall set at Love Supreme (with many of the same players) and look forward to seeing him again on his current tour, now these arrangements are out in the world.

There’s something effortless about the new album from pianist Aaron Parks and his intimate ensemble. It takes a lot of work to sound this laid-back and cool. Starting with A Way , this collection of seven original tracks seems to express much about the complexity of life, with each member of the ensemble working together and separately to provide a soundtrack for today. Out on 7 November, this the third Blue Note that takes Parks (piano) and his trio of Ben Street (bass) and Billy Hart (drums) into the depths of modern, expressive jazz. This time they become a quartet with the adept addition of Ben Solomon (tenor sax). Ahead of the release, track two - Parks Lope  - was released as a single and it certainly feels like a leisurely stroll around a park. It’s the kind of track that would leave you smiling as you groove around any green space. The beauty of For María José  is intensified by a piano solo that includes a barely discernible scat singing from Parks. The final track is a beautiful ending, coaxing out more background vocals from Parks as he introduces the tune of Raincoat  and is joined by the rest of the ensemble. The piano raindrops fade into a beautiful ending to what is a stunning album. Intricacy and intimacy come together in all seven tunes. It feels like four players coming together to weave their magic around the compositions. Parks says: “I don’t conceive of this as being so utterly distinct from past projects. It’s another book of songs that felt like they were calling for their own context, for a certain group of musicians to bring them to life. This is a record that loves the jazz tradition, the tradition of Black American Music. It’s not about nostalgia or preservation. It’s about being alive within that lineage, that continuum. That’s what the title points to, it’s a big yes, a way of saying ‘absolutely, let’s join that party.’”

A collection of some of the most exciting and in-demand musicians in the UK joined trombonist Dave Keech  on his new EP, ‘Tokyo’: then they all made it to the stage of London’s 100 Club for the launch event. @tatianagorilovsky Appearing in front of a packed crowd, Dave bought an outstanding jazz ensemble to perform first a set of blistering standards including Caravan, Body and Soul, Cotton Tail  and an impressive version of Wayne Shorter’s Witch Hunt . These are musicians at the top of their game and each tune showed ensemble playing and individual improvisation at its finest. Dave Keech is a really exciting trombonist, which probably explains why these musicians made themselves available for the initial recording and then the 100 Club gig. We’re talking the cream of UK and European jazz: Binker Golding (sax), Nikolaj Torp Larsen (Hammond organ), Rob Luft (guitar), Nim Sadot (bass), Corrie Dick (drums) and Andre Espeut (vocals). Binker’s sax acted as the perfect foil to Dave’s trombone lines, balanced with seemingly-effortless improvisations. The rhythm section of Nikolai, Rob, Nim and Corrie is practically unbeatable. Each of them performed as sideman and soloist to make the standards anything but. After a brief break - with a DJ set from jazz head Sten King - and Dave’s effusive thanks to the musicians themselves and others who had made this event possible, the EP launch took over. Throughout the night, Dave’s affinity with Japan and all things Japanese was balanced with an absolute love of jazz, composition for this stellar ensemble and outstanding trombone skills. Great view of Dave by photographer Tatiana Gorilovsky The five tracks on Tokyo  were influenced by the musicians, artists, writers and experiences most significant to Dave, including Channeling the experimental Charles Mingus and his Beneath the Underdog  in Above the Underdog . Using music to represent a response to the artwork of Eduardo Paolozzi can only work with musicians of the calibre on stage last night. Corrie managed to convey a sense of the artist’s sculptures in the closing bars of Eduardo’s Dream .  Meanwhile, Americanology  and Blood  presented different sides of a deep understanding of Northern Soul and funk. No-one plays Hammond organ like Nikolai and Dave’s compositions bring out the best of those keys. The launch event ended with Tokyo , the title track and an enormous beast of a funky end it was. You can hear my conversation with Dave for an episode of Harmonious World by clicking here and there’s also a live episode with award-winning guitarist Rob Luft on Harmonious World and my YouTube channel. If you missed the EP launch event, get hold of Tokyo by clicking here .

Tenor sax player Mark Turner has released Reflections on: The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man - a powerful commentary on important social issues for our time. Inspired by the James Weldon Johnson book The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man , Turner has composed a suite that juxtaposes spoken extracts from the book alongside fine, complex and intricate modern jazz. The book is a semi-fictional account, set in post-Reconstruction America, of a biracial man able to ‘pass’ as white. Turner says: "I hadn't ever read a book that talked about passing before. At least I hadn't read one that talked about passing that was written that early on. In my family, we talked about that all the time because my mother can pass. Also my great aunts did exactly what the protagonist does in the book." The music stands alone as a modern jazz quintet, but the links to the book are clear. Each composition is titled with allusions to the book's chronology and the piano quotes Lift Every Voice and Sing  (also written by Johnson) towards the conclusion. Reflections on: The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man  was premiered at New York’s Village Vanguard in 2018. Alongside Turner’s virtuosic tenor sax are David Virelles (piano and synths), Jason Palmer (trumpet), Matt Brewer (bass) and Nasheet Waits (drums). The suite has a connection running through it and each song is connected by recurring themes that move between players. The wonderful Pulmonary Edema  allows full flight to Turner’s sax, with some piano accompaniment where the moments they come together are visceral. Synths on New York  add a new dimension to the music and the quintet’s sound, contributing an edge that is somehow menacing. Deliberately, Turner is tapping into the work of bandleader Sun Ra, moving effortlessly from free opening to groove with trumpet and tenor running hand in hand. The album is released by Giant Step Arts , founded by award-winning photographer and recording engineer Jimmy Katz and his wife Dena. Jimmy says: “Giant Step Arts exists to aid musicians in realizing their artistic dreams. It does not sell music and artists retain full rights to their music. We work tirelessly to raise funds with the goal of helping more musicians." With Reflections on: The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, Turner balances music and message in an insightful and joyous whole, ending with the brief but insistent Closure  that perhaps allows us to hope that sometime there will be a settling of some of the issues raised in Johnson’s book.

When people ask me (as inevitably happens about once a month, when someone discovers that I played sax with The Style Council in the 1980s) what Paul Weller is like, I always struggle with a reply. He’s a genuinely good bloke, who is absolutely passionate about music and a hard worker. It’s not a very interesting response. Now, I have the answer - I shall direct everyone to Dan Jennings’s authorised oral history - ‘Dancing Through the Fire’. In my experience over the years since I worked with Paul back in 1983/4, people are broadly split into three camps - those that loved The Jam; fans of The Style Council; and people who discovered the solo work. There’s something for everyone in Dancing Through the Fire, because journalist and fan Dan Jennings spoke to more than 180 people who have spent time with Paul across 50 years of music. The book started as a podcast in December 2020 - originally Desperately Seeking Paul and now the Paul Weller Fan Podcast. Dan had a short list of people he wanted to interview to find out more about his hero. The list grew and he eventually managed to not only get an interview with the man himself, but now more and more people who have crossed paths with him. Dan has taken the interviews and painstakingly extracted the nuggets from each, to tell a chronological, cogent story of a complex man. The fact that it’s an oral history, with contributions from so many people is extraordinary. Some, like me, knew Paul for a brief period, and others weave their way through the pages of this book. Paul himself says at the end: “I mean, I’m just good at being me, I suppose.” And he is good at being himself. Dancing Through the Fire explores Weller’s unique position in music history (shared with Lennon and McCartney) as one of the few artists to achieve Number 1 albums in five consecutive decades. It is a pity that this book wasn’t around when John was still with us. He, above all people, would have loved seeing what people said about his son. I hope knowing that it was being written and making her own contribution pleased Ann, Paul’s mum, who sadly passed away in July 2025, just before the book’s release. What I do know is that its publication is pleasing to many, many fans of Paul Weller and his music. If you want to hear what I said when Dan interviewed me on Desperately Seeking Paul episode 19, click here You can hear Dan's chat with me on Harmonious World here.

Just when you think you’ve heard all an artist has to offer, they produce something as entrancing as Jacob Collier ’s ‘The Light for Days’. With seven GRAMMY® wins and performances to crowds around the world, Collier was on top form at this summer’s Love Supreme Festival, but this new collection of originals and covers seems to herald a new direction after the intense productions of the Djesse project. With just a couple of guitars over four days, The Light for Days  comprises six originals and five covers and that voice. Of course, there are several voices, with Collier’s signature use of harmony, particularly on the Disney-esque Keep an Eye on Summer . There is a warmth and personality to these tracks, whether it’s the originals or the covers from some of his inspirations including James Taylor, The Staves, John Martyn, The Beatles and The Beach Boys. The gorgeous Norwegian Wood  is more than a Beach Boys cover, with Collier’s voice and guitar mesmerising. Similarly, on Heaven (Butterflies) , where the stripped-back performance seems to allow the guitar and voice to express so much more than some of the big productions on Djesse. Watch the sometimes near-naked Collier coming close to nature in his stunning music video  for the latter track, filmed in Costa Rica. I first heard Collier’s name when I attended an audience with Quincy Jones  in 2014, the younger man’s mentor. Q was very clear that we should expect great things and Collier has always delivered. And there’s something achingly intimate about The Light for Days . Collier has been on my list as a future guest on Harmonious World, but the man is perpetually busy. I’m not giving up hope. Always busy (which probably explains his absence from Harmonious World, Collier last year performed with AURORA on an iceberg for Greenpeace. The man is inventive and inspirational and until I can interview and ask him more about all that, I’ll happily keep listening to The Light for Days .

Musically and geographically, connecting Korean string trio Hilgeum with innovative anglo-Polish singer Alice Zawadzki is genius and their performance at London’s Southbank Centre was stunning. The intimate setting of the Purcell Room was full to capacity with a truly diverse audience across gender, age and nationality. We all gathered to hear these women perform modern music, while not trying to put them into a specific genre box. My interview with Alice for an episode  of Harmonious World just a few weeks ago centred on the process whereby she collaborated with Hilgeum for a week in Korea, preparing to perform a selection of each other’s tunes. In this special performance in London, Hilgeum and Alice each performed a selection of their own songs, before they came together with Butterflies  and a mash-up of Utopia  with Za Górami , the title track from Alice’s 2024 album. It was a delight to hear each selection of their own music, before they came together. Hilgeum consists of Yoin Cho (gayageum), Yerim Kim (geomungo), and Somin Park (haegeum). Together, the two zithers and the fiddle work to provide the strings and percussion with the musicians’ well-honed variety of techniques. For those of us who had never seen these beautiful, traditional  instruments, the evening was a delightful lesson in their modern use. Similarly, Alice’s inventive voice and violin provided solo, other-worldly music, particularly in the evocative Get Thee to the Truth . An openness to cultures, music and collaboration exudes from every part of her being. In July 2025, I previewed  all that London’s K-Music Festival  has on offer this autumn, and I’m aiming to get to more shows before it ends at the Barbican on 20 November. The people behind the K-Music Festival are Serious, who produce the EFG London Jazz Festival, this time working alongside the Korean Cultural Centre UK. All told, this performance was brilliant, with lighting effects that enhanced the music and an immensely successful collaboration across cultures and genres. The joy of being a journalist who crosses genre boundaries is that it doesn’t matter to me where you put this music. One thing is certainly true, that this evening took my understanding of Korean music way beyond my previous experience of manufactured K-Pop bands. I look forward to discovering more.

South London’s inspirational World Heart Beat Music Academy is hosting a special season celebrating all things vocal and I was treated to an intimate evening of modern chamber opera. Previous guest on Harmonious World , pianist and composer Nicole Brancato , has worked with baritone Jeremy Weiss  to create Infinitesimal , based on groundbreaking research about near-death experiences. The first performance was in front of the audience in London’s Nine Elms as part of ‘Season of the Song’. The music is quite extraordinary, with lyrics that bring to life the memories that might pass through your mind at the end of your life. Director Kevin Newbury  brought the production to life and, together with an impressive technical crew around them, Nicole and Jeremy portray moments from their own lives. The sparse props used are all vital and meaningful, with a traditional radio that seems to convey the work of real scientists who have researched the brain at the end of life. Hearing the voices of those experts as they punctuate the opera brings a sense of reality. Nicole and Jeremy worked together on the libretto before the piano and voice brought it all together in preparation for the production. Each of them tells stories that may or may not be real and remembered. Those props - a suitcase that becomes a mirror and a screen; a rucksack containing autumn leaves and meaningful photos; the radio that many of us still remember from our childhoods - work visually alongside the sonic world of piano and voice. Immediately prior to the performance I saw, Nicole and Jeremy joined by a group of young students from a local school. Their questions seemed to pre-empt some of the lyrics that they hadn’t even heard, and they were fascinated by the life of musicians - many of them were at World Heart Beat to experience music hands-on thanks to the marvellous work of the organisation behind the venue. Infinitesimal  is desperately moving and intimate, exploring the connections between humans, both each performer and the audience. The team behind the production brought movingly a sense of possibility in death in our own relationships and reminiscences. The tour is continuing, so I urge you to explore this production when it arrives at a venue near you. Find out more here .

Jazz Is Dead Records can always be relied on to issue the most ground-breaking and extraordinary music. This time, it’s a collaboration between JID’s Adrian Younge and the Brazilian musical legend Carlos Dafé. JID 025  is a blistering, ebullient celebration of this collaboration. Reading about Dafé is eye-opening, with the music allowing his story to be told by the man himself. He collaborated not only with Younge on the production, but also with family and friends, writing melodies, lyrics and spoken-word passages inspired by stories he once told his children. Born in Vila Isabel, Rio de Janeiro, he grew up surrounded by music and poetry. His father, a chorinho player, and his mother, a poet, nurtured his talent from a young age. In the 1970s, Dafé became a pillar of Brazil’s Black music movement, alongside Tim Maia, Cassiano, Wilson Simonal, and Banda Black Rio. Known as “The Prince of Soul,” a title bestowed by Nelson Motta, Dafé brought samba, soul and funk into harmony, creating enduring hits like A Beleza É Você Menina .   Dafé and Younge began collaborating in Los Angeles and the Brazilian legend was captivated by Younge’s creative process, saying: “I was in awe of the stupendous arrangements Adrian had created, so I made sure to leave plenty of space for the instrumentals to shine.” As a baritone sax player, I just loved JID 025  from the opening notes of Amor Enfeiticado (Bewitched Love), released as a single earlier than the album itself. Forming something of a title track, Jazz Esta Morte  (Jazz is Dead) kicks all the musical detractors out of the way. Brazilian lyrics convey a staggering sense of soul and story-telling above the intensely intricate arrangements for a huge ensemble. Another favourite track is the smoky ballad Como Entender O Amor  (How to Understand Love), with Dafé’s poetic lyrics and vocal acrobatics flying high above the orchestrated arrangements. None of these tracks are extended, but each gives a tiny slice of this fantastic collaboration between Dafé and Younge.

Marco Cafolla is a truly energetic and focussed musical dynamo: his latest release is out on Acid Jazz Records with Federation of the Disco Pimp. ‘ Gratuitous ’ is a truly epic piece of funk. From the title track (which you will have heard if you listen to Jazz FM, where it’s been a staple for several weeks) right through to the genius Is Daddy Okay? , this is an album that grooves and funks all the way, with a decisive rhythm section led by Marco’s piano and outstanding horns. It was a delight to interview Marco Cafolla, for a forthcoming episode of Harmonious World. You can listen to that conversation here . Although this is their first album since the pandemic, it’s also the first on the highly-prestigious Acid Jazz label. Previous cuts are available on Bandcamp . The ten new tunes build on the previous outings and Marco has brought in some impressive guest appearances: Billy Valentine (vocals), Fred Wesley (trombone) and Kenni Holmen (sax). If you like to dance and want tunes with more than a touch of soul, this is the 2025 album for you. Fred Wesley blasts it out on The Pieces That Remain  after some horn lines and sparse vocals that establish the groove nicely, with Wesley’s simple but effective trombone lines made for the funk. Similarly, Freak  features Kenni Holmen’s sax, previously heard with, among others, Janet Jackson, Prince and Gladys Knight. These guys add a touch of class and Billy Valentine’s vocals on Gratuitous  are an awesome soul/jazz/funk melee. The title track proves Marco Cafolla’s status as pianist, composer and arranger and I’m looking forward to the next release in spring 2026, where Mama Terra’s  Inner Space  is promised.

The hugely successful ‘The Summer Portraits’ album by composer and pianist Ludovico Einaudi has been given a makeover by the great man’s son, Leo. This is not the first such collaboration, but it brings a delicate and refreshing spin to the collection of eight tracks. All of this is alongside the announcement of a series of concerts in 2026 that will feature the pianist in different settings. Following a record-breaking and stunning run of concerts at London’s Royal Albert Hall earlier in 2025 (you can read my review here), he has just confirmed his biggest ever UK performance, at The O2, London on Friday 10 July 2026 with his full band. There will also be an appearance at that event of organist Anna Lapwood MBE. With the remix of The Summer Portraits , Einaudi v Einaudi is anything but a battle. It is a refreshing of the original tracks, which the composer described as the result of a cascade of personal memories triggered by sun, summer and family holidays. The son’s reinterpretations of the father’s creations are a homage. There is no attempt to improve, but rather to adapt them to a different style.  Consider In Memory of a Dream : Leo’s version is a recognisable, electronic version of the original: just as jazz musicians regularly take standards and tunes and make them their own. It doesn’t help to (as I tried) play sections of the original and compare to the newer iteration. Each track is looked at by a different musician, and there’s something quite marvellous about them. Ludovico explains, “For several years now, I have been engaged in a musical exchange with Leo, collaborating on various projects, films, and more. There has always been a strong understanding between us, and in addition to having a musical sensibility very close to mine, Leo possesses an artistic sensitivity that I perceive as deeply personal. This is why ‘Einaudi vs Einaudi’ offers a renewed perspective on my original versions, bringing a fresh interpretation to the pieces while preserving their spirit.” Leo adds, “From the outset of our musical connection, working with my father has always been marked by a deep sense of complicity and a true symbiosis of ideas. What has always amazed me is how natural our collaboration felt. Reimagining his songs happened with that same ease — it became a journey of constant discovery through the endless details at the heart of his music. It allowed me to see new sides of it, to let those elements enter my own imagination, and to shape them into a new form — one that respects their essence while giving them a new life.”

The jazz heritage is strong in the ethos, the method and the music of the Nigel Price Organ Trio. Their sold-out album launch event at Soho’s Pizza Express Live was a case in point - three incredible musicians at the top of their game, channeling some of the finest of the giants upon whose shoulders they stand. You may have already read my review of the Nigel Price Organ trio’s latest album - It’s On!  - which is a fine piece of work from a fine ensemble under the leadership of an extraordinary guitarist. This established trio consists of Nigel, with Hammond organ genius Ross Stanley  (who I chatted with for an episode of Harmonious World with guitarist Chris Allard when their album Tortugas  was released) and the brilliant young drummer Joel Barford . Their first album - That’s It, Right There  - first demonstrated that they do, indeed, have ‘it’. The launch event itself captivated a capacity, appreciative audience in one of the finest of UK jazz clubs on Dean Street. The trio was, at once, laid back and tight. A quarter of the way through the tour to launch It’s On!  the trio may have been tired, but there was no evidence of that in their playing. There’s an episode of Harmonious World on the way, recorded in my local coffee shop while Nigel was on his way to an earlier gig. You can find the list of venues on the website , but book quickly, because tickets will continue to sell fast. Alongside tracks from It’s On!  like the funky, Booker TJones-like Chonky , the George Benson-inspired Backatcha  (one of my favourites) and Splash the Cash , the set-list included the lovely Detour Ahead  and Joe Zawinul’s Midnight Mood . The night was a delightful celebration of the new album, a reflection of the trio’s previous works and standards that reflect the musicians’ influences. Talking of musicians, it’s rare to see so many other musical creatives in the audience, with young and old, jazz and classical professionals all enjoying this brilliant album launch. ‘It’ is very much ‘On!’