In the UK, and more particularly in London we are experiencing a huge resurgence of interest in contemporary jazz. A new wave of younger jazz-schooled musicians with wide ranging roots and influences beyond jazz-hip hop, the club scene, grime. Afro-futurism, Reggae, R&B. Playing in different venues, and mainstream international music festivals, and attracting much younger audiences than has been traditionally the case for jazz.

When Ezra Collective carried off the prestigious Mercury Prize last year, the first avowedly jazz band to do so in living memory, it was a clear sign that the tectonic plates were shifting, that jazz -influenced music was again entering the contemporary music mainstream.

See my blog celebrating the Ezra’s win here.

In UK terms you probably have to go back to the mid-1980’s the last time young British jazzers held the stage in the popular musical imagination to an equivalent extent. The earlier «wave” probably lasted 5 years before the major record labels turned elsewhere. And of course, many of those artists continue to perform and record, think of Courtney Pine, Julian Joseph, and many of the members of Loose Tubes.

It feels different this time, at least I hope so., The number of artists, platforms, and the extent of global interest in the current UK jazz scene feels as though that it could be the beginning of something rather than a short term spike.  In the last year Ezra have played the Albert Hall in London, Shabaka Hutchings has filled the Hollywood Bowl and young UK jazz musicians are regularly headlining on the European festival circuit.

An important contribution to this sense of optimism and sustainability are the numerous UK conservatoires who are now turning out jazz musicians, while Tomorrow’s Warriors continues to do amazing work in developing a much younger generation of jazz talent. This isn’t to say that everything in the jazz garden is fine, the continuing impact of BREXIT and the closure of many small venues are very worrying trends, however the numbers of young people playing and listening to our music and pushing the jazz boundaries is on a different scale to previous jazz upswings.

A welcome reminder that UK jazz has had many periods of high creativity comes with the publication of remarkable book by Richard Morton Sack LABYRINTH-British Jazz on record 1960-75. I have been poring over it since my wife Judith got it for me as a Christmas present (hints were dropped). It is clearly a labour of love, featuring album covers and synopses of scores of jazz albums many of them now forgotten (at least by the streaming platforms) if not by vinyl owners of a certain age. I can highly recommend it.

The book is a useful reminder that those 15 years, despite the dominance of rock music for most of it was a period of astonishing creativity within UK jazz and particularly on the London jazz scene. The range of original compositions, influences, small, large and very large ensembles plus the astonishing ability and creativity of many of the leading musicians of that era was remarkable and well referenced in the book. As an example, Tubby Hayes, whose career was cut tragically short was recognised as a world class saxophonist, flautist, and vibes player by his early 20’s.

And the book charts very personal territory for me. My own jazz journey started in the late 60’s. My first album buys were Stan Tracey’s Little Klunk and Miles Davis’s Filles de Kilimanjaro (what great choices for one so young!). My first gig was a Stan Tracey trio at a pub in Finchley with more people behind the bar than in the audience.

I had the opportunity many times to hear Mike Osborne, Alan Skidmore, and John Surman in their fiery prime. To hear cutting edge and experimental big bands playing the compositions of Mike Gibbs, Neil Ardley, Mike Westbrook, John Warren, Michael Garrick Keith Tippett and Kenny Wheeler. To be literally blown away by the turbo charged township vibes of the Brother of Breath bringing together a core of South African exiles- Chris McGregor, Dudu Pukwana, Harry Miller, Mongezi Feza and Louis Moholo with the cream of London’s modern jazz scene. To witness the UK’s own brand of jazz-rock via Ian Carr’s Nucleus or Soft Machine, and to directly experience the birth of the Free Jazz movement with such iconoclastic players as Evan Parker, Trevor Watts, John Stevens and Paul Rutherford.

The book is also a useful reminder of,

• The many collaborations between jazz and poetry drawing in such contemporary poets as Michael Horowitz, Adrian Mitchell, and Danny Abse
• The significant impact of Caribbean jazz musicians who relocated to the UK in the 50’s and 60’s including Joe Harriott, remembered best these days for his innovative series of Indo-Jazz collaborations, Harold MacNair, Shake Keane, Harry Beckett & Coleridge Goode (who arrived in the 1930’s and continued playing into his 90’s)
• The small number of UK jazz musicians who headed to the U.S very early in their careers. I am thinking here of Victor Feldman, John McLaughlin, and Dave Holland all of whom were signed up by Miles Davis.
• The many examples of albums loosely based on works of literature.
• The remarkable range of stylists, musicians whose individual sound and creativity were instantly recognisable. I am thinking here of the unique sound worlds created by saxophonists Bobby Wellins and Tony Coe, trumpeter Henry Lowther and vocalist Norma Winstone
• The remarkable career of multi-reed player Barbara Thompson, a role model for many women in jazz in the following decades.

The Playlist

All the tracks on my playlist are taken from the book. Unfortunately, many of the tunes that I could have chosen are not available on Spotify.

And remember,

“If you Love Jazz Pass It Down”- Stanley Clarke