Taking a sensational big band (the WDR Big Band ) and adding some extraordinary bass in the hands of John Goldsby  makes for a compelling album with ‘Big Band Bass’. Released on 7 November 2025, Big Band Bass combines all that is expected and brilliant from the big band that is part of German public broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) in Cologne with American bassist John Goldsby. This really is some of the finest big band players around today, adding in the phenomenal bass that has been part of their ensemble for three decades. At the heart of this album are arrangements by Bob Mintzer ’s arrangements of John Goldsby compositions that allow the bass to take a lead. The WDR Big Band is really extraordinary, with a collection of flutes on the opening track - Vince Mondoza’s Sonatinita  - floating beautifully above Goldsby’s bass and a little delicate latin percussion in an extended introduction before the ensemble joins in for a section and then a decisive ending. It’s not just the big band ensemble that is on fire with Goldsby's bass, but there are some exceptional solos, including those from Karolina Strassmayer (alto sax), Ludwig Nuss (trombone), Johan Hörlén (alto sax), Ruud Breuls (trumpet) and, perhaps unsurprisingly, Mintzer himself. The latter sets light to The Baron’s Dilemma  with his sax growing from a gorgeous sax soli section with additional tenor sax solos from Ben Fitzpatrick and Paul Heller. Big Band Bass is Goldsby’s most personal project to date and he says: “Working with the WDR Big Band for 30 years has been a joy—and showcasing my original music on this album is a dream come true. With Bob [Mintzer] arranging and playing sax, and contributions from Vince Mendoza and other longtime friends, it felt like a family project.”

For those of us of a certain age, Matt Bianco provided musical highlights through the 1980s and now the band is set to do the same again, with the release of ‘Masquerader’. Alongside ‘Half a Minute’ and ‘Get Out of Your Lazy Bed’ from 1984, there are now some new classics with a newly-developed but ultimately recognisable sound. I’m not sure if it’s deliberately ironic, but A Memory for Lovers  includes references to songs played on the radio, which is where Matt Bianco owned the 1980s. All these tracks have just the right balance of pop energy and latin jazz elements, co-composed by Mark Reilly and sax player Dave O’Higgins (with the exception of the utterly danceable Matucada , which is all Reilly. O’Higgins brings a real UK jazz sound in his tenor and baritone sax playing, as well as the horn arrangements. The selection of musicians works brilliantly throughout: Mark Reilly (vocals and programming), Dave O’Higgins (tenor and baritone sax), Martin Shaw (trumpet and flugelhorn), Sebastian De Krom (drums), Geoff Gascoyne (double bass), Graham Harvey (piano, Rhodes and Wurlitzer), Ricardo Silveira (guitar), Betty Black (vocals) and Lino G Rocha (Latin vocals). For all the pop, the jazz is very cool, especially the brilliant O’Higgins sax touches, and Martin Shaw’s lovely trumpet solo on Wanderlust . Moments of Silveira’s guitar throughout the album bring just the right amount of Latin and Gascoyne’s bass combines brilliantly with De Krom’s drums. Matt Bianco reinvented for 2025 does it for me.

November’s live music started strong with both Cambridge and London promising Jazz Festivals and a little preliminary excitement from Kassa Overall and a scaled-back band under historic Denmark Street. The Lower Third sits deep below Denmark Street, formerly known as Tin Pan Alley, in London’s Soho and famous for housing music publishers, record shops and recording studios. There’s little evidence now of its historic past, but I stepped inside a cool bar and headed down to the basement at The Lower Third. Luckily, I followed advice I’ve given others many times and arrived in time for the support act. On stage was singer-songwriter India Blue and her guitar, with lots of poetic lyrics and an engaging explanation of her songs. She warmed the audience up nicely and made us all feel welcome in that intimate space. Once Kassa Overall joined the stage, it was clear he had scaled down the band behind his new album - C.R.E.A.M . Alongside his drums were Bendji Allonce (percussion), Giulio Xavier Cetto (bass) and Emilio Modeste (tenor sax). Absolutely perfect sound from the whole team on stage and in production at the Lower Third. With just one lead instrument, Emilio Modeste’s tenor sax did most of the melodic heavy lifting, until he was joined by American sax player Lauren Fink, now based in London. C.R.E.A.M. is Overall’s fourth solo studio album and several of the tunes performed were from that, but others from his previous releases. There were stand-out songs on the night, like Overall’s arrangement of Eddie Harris’s Freedom Jazz Dance  that worked brilliantly with Bendji Allonce’s brilliant percussion. Another outstanding chart is Nuthin but a ‘G’ Thang . These guys really grooved through that. But, above all, Kassa Overall is a drummer and his dexterity behind the skins is breath-taking. He was amazing at Love Supreme in July and even better with a smaller band in a more intimate, subterranean venue in central London.

Taking a taste of afro-jazz and fusing musical elements from around the world, Ubunye  are releasing their new album ‘Tell Me the Truth or Don’t Tell Me Anything’ on 33 Jazz Records. Ubunye (‘Unity’) is the conception of keyboard player and lead songwriter David Evans, and Xolani Mbatha (vocals), now including Steve Hanley (drums), Nik Svarc (guitar), Sam Dutton-Taylor (bass) and Nokuthula Zondi (vocals). Joining the band on this new album are  the incredible Soothsayers horn section of Idris Rahman and Robin Hopcraft, Dave Hassell (percussion), Emma Johnson (tenor sax) and Aaron Wood (trumpet), Maja Bugge (cello) and poet Michelle Scally Clarke. In 2023, Ubunye won ‘Best UK Jazz Ensemble’ at the prestigious Parliamentary Jazz Awards. From the opening of Hey Now , Ubunye’s Tell Me the Truth or Don’t Tell Me Anything  crafts an exciting jazz-infused Afro-pop style combining punchy horns and vocal lines: all above a rhythm section that grooves through this and every tune. The elements combine beautifully, including traditional ‘Isigqui’ Zulu music. The breathtaking Let Me Stay Here  is an almost hymnal outlet for Mbatha’s vocals, with Svarc’s guitar guiding us through this moment. When the layers of backing vocals come in the afro-jazz-gospel feel is complete. Tell Me The Truth or Don’t Tell Me Anything  concludes with Bugge’s melodic cello on Hymn  above Evans’ keyboards with expansive, expressive vocals and a calm finish to this collection of eclectic tracks. Evans says: “Our second album explores connection - to ourselves and to others, of going beyond the ego - of recognising our struggles. Much more acoustic than our eponymous debut and a deeper reflection of how the band sound live, the album traverses  a number of themes: ‘Hey Now’ emphasises the importance of honesty, authenticity and truth - it  talks about the visceral honesty from Charlie Parker and how as musicians we look to Parker, Miles, Coltrane and others as leaders - people who expressed honesty and humanity in and through music. ‘On The Road’ is inspired by the Kerouac classic, exploring Zen Buddhist ideas. ‘Let Me Stay Here’ is a song about when everything is right and wanting to stay in those moments and ‘Flowers’ is a gratitude song for people who have helped us - maybe people who are no longer here - a special person - maybe a Mother.” Check out the Ubunye website for tour dates across the UK.

It takes strength of character to release a new album where the opening melody is played by a band-mate, the tune lasts just over a minute and your own playing appears for the last ten seconds. Emma Rawicz proves once again on ‘Inkyra’ that she’s a generous musical powerhouse, emphasising her composition skills alongside those undoubted sax chops. Ikyra opens with Earthrise , featuring Gareth Lockrane on a gorgeous, sonorous bass flute before there’s a brief appearance of Emma’s sax, and a swift segue into Particles of Change , which motors along nicely and introduces us properly to Emma’s tenor sax and the entire sextet. By the time we reach the end of the album, A Long Goodbye  once more brings Lockrane’s flute to the fore. Alongside Emma Rawicz (tenor and soprano saxes) and Gareth Lockrane (flute, alto flute, bass flute, piccolo), there’s David Preston (guitar), Scottie Thompson (Rhodes, piano, Prophet), Kevin Glasgow (electric bass) and Jamie Murray (drums). Together, they take each of the leader’s ten compositions and create a sublime collection of jazz that could be anyone’s introduction to what’s great about jazz right now.Emma recently became a BBC New Generation Artist and for very good reason. Her 2023 album Chroma and her spectacular performances with pianist Gwilym Simcock, as well as concert hall performances around the world demonstrate virtuosity and dexterity. Plus, she’s one of the nicest people. You can hear my conversation with Emma for the first Harmonious World episode of 2025 here . Collaboration seems to always be at the heart of Emma’s composition and playing and Inkyra  allows every member of this sextet to shine. That opening with Lockrane’s always beautiful flute evolved into an album of outstanding performances, collectively and individually. The beautiful keyboard start of A Portrait of Today  allows the tune to expand into what sounds like a much larger ensemble piece. I love Preston’s brief guitar openings of Anima Rising and Marshmallow Tree . Not only does Emma collaborate, but she takes her inspiration from a variety of sources. She says: “Some of the inspiration for the music comes from Joni Mitchell. That might sound strange at first, because the pieces don't sound like singer/songwriter music. Nevertheless, I immersed myself in her music before composing the programme. I am fascinated by her way of structuring melodies, her use of harmony, unusual tunings and unfamiliar chords that you don't hear in jazz. That influenced me on the piano and in turn shaped my work as a composer. The result is a unique identity. I also took inspiration from the lyrics, which appear in the titles of the pieces and have also inspired the fantasy name of the album.” When I interviewed Emma at the end of 2024 for that first episode, I had no idea that 2025 would be so much her year, with Inkyra  and more touring closing it all off. Who knows what 2026 will deliver.

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 extracts 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.