About

Yeah, I know. Yet another amateur critic posts subjective opinions on the vast and polarised world of jazz. Hardly the most enticing or innovative concept, I'd agree. 

So here’s my pitch: 

I’m writing from the often frustrating perspective of an avid jazz fan hampered by one major disadvantage - I don’t live in London. Given the capital-centric nature of the UK jazz scene, its enduring fondness for late-night scheduling, and the wretched state of our public transport*, my enjoyment of live performances (surely the natural and best medium through which to appreciate jazz) necessitates fiendishly complex and selective feats of planning, not to mention outrageous expense. 

Bands who take to the stage ridiculously later than billed for no apparent reason, thus condemning me to either miss my train home or split halfway through the gig, will inevitably invoke my ire. Yes, I'm talking to you, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble 

And, of necessity, I find myself exploring some less-celebrated non-metropolitan venues. Sometimes, though not always, that means I'm catching performances by less-celebrated musicians, too. I see that as a good thing.

My blogging MO: 

Rejection of numeric comparative methodology, and freedom from conventional temporal and organisational constraints. Er... yeah – so I don’t do marks out of ten or star ratings, and I review recorded releases primarily on a whim. Sometimes they’re freshly released, sometimes I unearth an old favourite from my collection. 

I’ll review gigs on my subjective experience, and post notices and news according to whims that I won’t attempt to rationalise. Sorry. 

A personal taste thing

Naturally, this blog reflects my own personal musical tastes and opinions. That means:

• you won’t find a whole lot of vocal jazz (either on record or live) reviewed here. With a few notable exceptions, it’s not my bag;
• ditto 'big bands', again with some exceptions
• almost no reviews of jazz superstar/legend gigs in cavernous venues. They rarely deliver the vibe I’m seeking, and my bank balance can’t support the hit;
• an unashamed bias towards contemporary Brit, Euro and ‘world’ jazz. Not saying I’m closed to the good ol' US of A’s output but, for me, the scene this side of the pond is absolutely fizzing right now, and there are some amazing sounds coming from all continents (possibly excluding Antarctica, but I'm open to persuasion).

I’ll be overjoyed and surprised in equal measure if your tastes mirror mine. If they don’t, that’s not really so much of a shock, is it? 

I hope you enjoy what I write, and please feel free to comment your agreement, dissent or other random stuff. Your views are as valid as mine - but keep it civil, or my blog overlord superpowers will summarily consign your remarks to the cyberspace dustbin. 

And, of course, this all raises that perennial, vexed question:

What is jazz, anyway?

And my answer is... frankly, I'm not sure if there's a single definition or, if there is, what its relevance is. If you're an acolyte of Winton Marsalis, or one of those other "real jazz died with [insert historical musician/era of choice]" types, you might find yourself aghast at my lack of respect for canonical purism and disregard for artificial genre definitions. 

As my Uncle Alan used to say, "it's all music, park your prejudices and listen." Or look elsewhere for news and reviews of whatever the term jazz means to you.

Acknowledgements

I'd like to tip my virtual hat to my great friend and musical sparring partner, my frequent gig companion and the other living person I know whose musical taste is closest to mine (we don't always agree). To preserve his blushes, I refer to him simply as Jazzy G throughout this blog. 

Why the acknowledgement? We have an unspoken, friendly competition thing going on. It's about what new stuff we can find to introduce to one another, and who spots the upcoming gigs first. As a rapacious vinyl collector, whose floorboards groan under his gargantuan collection, and an obsessive listings trawler (some people clearly have too much time on their hands) he turns me onto much more stuff than I could ever hope to reciprocate with. I thank him for that.

And then there's my aforementioned, late Uncle Alan, to whom this whole blog is dedicated. May all our ears be as open as his were.

*I could have called this blog Jazz Appreciation From An Unwilling Victim Of Criminally Privatised Public Services, but that seemed a little less than catchy, as blog titles go. Besides, Last Train does deliver that knowing nod to all those ubiquitous train / ‘trane references, don’t you think?