It was great to co-curate this series at Morley with Director Of Jazz Flavio Livigni (as a part of my artist in residence activities). It is the fourth time for this series in the beautiful Emma Con Hall at Morley (in the Waterloo Campus). We had some great performances from Zayn Mohammed, Shirley Smart and her trio of John Crawford and Simon Roth, young Maya Keys and my group TRUE THINK featuring Tom Mason, Saleem Raman, Liselötte Östblom and Zayn Mohammed, and Georgia Mancio and her trio of Robin Aspland and Andrew Cleyndert. A fantastic range of music and influences that traverse multiple regions, cultures and periods all feeding into and out of Jazz and improvised music as we know it today. I have curated/created Lifting The Lid (2007 Pizza Express, London) and Leftitude (2013 The Forge, London) and know even for a small festival or series - there is a lot of work involved. I know there are a few select gigs around that also involve an interview on stage as a part of the proceedings. So it was great to talk about ‘An Evening With Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea’ again and in more detail after also including a track in a recent selection for Soweto Kinch’s new ‘Round Midnight BBC Radio 3 programme. I do love this format - and look forward to listening back to the other interviews recorded from the sessions in this series. They will be online soon!
So a big thank you to Flavio Livigni, Matthew Gardner for sound engineering and all the students who helped the performances, recording and social media duties go so smoothly. And a thank you to everyone who came down.
For those who missed - watch out for the interviews - to come on Morley Radio/Online soon.
And I don’t do this often enough - so - check out the wondrous selection that was performed. The setlists:
3 May 2024
Zayn Mohammed
Solo Improvisation / Cadenza entitled “Cathedrals” (Gtr)
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - “Crest” (Gtr)
Karim Ziad - “The Joker” (Ud)
Dhafer Youssef - “Nouba” (Ud)
Zayn Mohammed - “Judgement Day” (Gtr)
(Trad) Taksim in D minor (Rebab)
Shirley Smart Trio (w. John Crawford/Simon Roth)
Saba - Shirley Smart
Halfouine (Anouar Brahem)
Waltz - Shirley Smart
Balkan Tune (Traditional)
Zrika - Shirley Smart
Ticaraca Tchoub - Shirley Smart
10 May
Maya Keys (Solo Flute)
Kokopelli - Katherine Hoover
Allemande and Sarabande movements from the partita in la (A) minor - JS Bach
Winter Spirits - Katherine Hoover
Air - Toru Takemitsu
Robert Mitchell’s TRUE THINK
(w. Tom Mason, Saleem Raman, Liselotte Östblom, Zayn Mohammed)
Breath Of The Architect (trio)
A Kinder Moon, A Wiser Age
Epiphany
Kintsugi
Snow Fell Upon An Outstretched Palm Of Hope (solo)
What Say You
In the Air
(all by R.Mitchell)
17 May
Georgia Mancio Trio (w.Robin Aspland/Andrew Cleyndert)
1st Set : Angel Eyes, Chega de Saudade, The Things We Did last Summer, Por Toda Minha Vida, Estate, Falling in Love With Love.
2nd Set (all originals written together with Alan Broadbent): Small Wonder, From Me To You, All My Life, On The Hill Above The Meadow, The Love I Left Behind, One For Bud.