Articles by Ian Patterson
Queer Blues: The Hidden Figures Of Early Blues Music
by Ian Patterson
Queer Blues: The Hidden Figures Of Early Blues Music Darryl W. Bullock 352 Pages ISBN: 978-1-9131-7252-7 Omnibus Press 2023 The blues is ripe with legends and myths, not least the oft-touted claim that W.C. Handy was the father of the blues. But as Darryl. W. Bullock tells it, there is an important tract of blues history that has not got its due. Until now. In his telling, many of the blues pioneers were ...
read moreDoes Jazz History Weigh Too Heavily on Today’s Practitioners?
by Ian Patterson
It is no outlandish claim to say that jazz is obsessed with its past--just look at the number of tribute albums, songs and concerts inspired by the music's forbearers, or at the never-ending stream of historical reissues. For many jazz musicians, navigating jazz means honoring the music's “ancestors" and playing “in the tradition." Jazz education programs generally look to the past to instruct their students. Reviewers of albums by contemporary jazz musicians, almost without exception, make ...
read moreWhat Is Your Favorite Jazz Interpretation Of The Beatles?
by Ian Patterson
When The Beatles landed at John F. Kennedy Airport on February 7, 1964, they were greeted by around three thousand fans. Two days later, when The Fab Four performed on The Ed Sullivan Show, the television audience topped 70 million. Popular music was never the same again. It was not long before jazz musicians followed the lead of countless pop acts in covering The Beatles' songs. The list is an incredibly long one and, some sixty years later, ...
read moreDuke Ellington: Isfahan
by Ian Patterson
Part of Duke Ellington's Far East Suite (1967), “Isfahan" took its inspiration from a visit to the city of Isfahan, Iran, in 1963. Of the ancient city Ellington wrote: “everything is poetry," a sentiment transferred beautifully to this most moving of Strayhorn/Ellington compositions. Curious too, to see Ellington holding the sheet music for soloist Johnny Hodges. The same tour also took the Duke Ellington Orchestra to Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon, among other stops. Will such an itinerary ever ...
read moreJoel Frahm Trio At Scott's Jazz Club
by Ian Patterson
Joel Frahm Trio Scott's Jazz Club jny:Belfast, N. Ireland April 12, 2024 Another sold-out gig. It is not an uncommon occurrence at Scott's Jazz Club. Yet this was no ordinary occasion for Ballyhackamore's award-winning venue. For starters, the Joel Frahm Trio was in the house. Scott's Jazz Club has attracted plenty of outstanding musicians since opening its doors in 2021, but this felt like a cat-got-the-cream event. And there was an extra ...
read moreWalter van de Leur: Jazz & Death, Part 2—Dancing With the Devil
by Ian Patterson
Part 1 | Part 2 Most people would probably take a linear, historical view of jazz in an attempt to understand its complex history. Walter van de Leur, Professor of Jazz and Improvised Music at the University of Amsterdam, starts with death. His book, Jazz And Death: Reception, Rituals And Representations (Routledge, 2023) illustrates multiple ways in which jazz's fascination with death feeds into the narratives and mythologies that surround the music and its practitioners.
read moreAleka Potinga: Romania: Songs Of Love And Longing
by Ian Patterson
You can take singer/cellist Aleka Potinga out of Romania, but you cannot take Romania out of her musical soul. Classically trained in Bucharest, and Dublin-based since 2012, Potinga has slotted into the city's fluid jazz/improvised music scenes, working with Izumi Kimura, Ronan Guilfoyle, Tommy Halferty and Cello Ireland. Her debut album Person I Knew (Self-Produced, 2019) featured imaginative interpretations of modern jazz classics by Wayne Shorter, Thelonious Monk and Bill Evans. Prior to that, her debut EP Aleka (EM, 2016) ...
read moreRemembering Albert 'Tootie' heath
by Ian Patterson
Drumming great Albert 'Tootie' Heath played with a who's who of jazz greats, from John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins to Wes Montgomery and Nina Simone. He recorded all too infrequently as a leader, probably because he was so in demand for other people's projects. This clip from the 2014 Chicago Jazz Festival finds Heath in the company of Ethan Iverson and Ben Street paying tribute to Thelonious Monk. Bye-ya Tootie, and thank you! ...
read moreWalter van de Leur: Jazz & Death, Part 1—A Closer Walk With Thee
by Ian Patterson
Part 1 | Part 2 What is jazz? Beacon of the oppressed; music of jny: New Orleans bordellos; popular dance music; revolutionary music; high-art music with an established cannon; progressive music that absorbs and grows; hermetic traditional music... Jazz has always meant different things to different people. Even the term 'jazz' is political and contentious. Black American Music, or borderless music of the world? The most democratic form of music, or a club that is stubbornly ...
read moreNout: Live Album
by Ian Patterson
Buckle up. Proceed with caution. As debut albums go, French trio Nout's reasonably titled Live Album is a riot of musicianship, foundation-shaking noise and fearless originality. The music purveyed by Delphine Joussein (flute), Blanche Lafuente (drums} and Rafaëlle Rinaudo (electric harp) is invariably referred to in press releases as the missing link between Sun Ra and Nirvana, but perhaps Rahsaan Roland Kirk and The Chemical Brothers would offer better signposts. Suffice it to say, Nout tramples all over established genres ...
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