John Shand Posts

September 18, 2020 / Album Reviews - Archive

MORE THAN ANYTHING (Orenda) 8/10 You hear the intensity of the initial impetus: these nine compositions all relate to the love, loss and grief felt by the trombonist and composer Jon Hatamiya across nine years while supporting his mother as cancer sapped away her life. Even the unusual instrumentation plays…

September 16, 2020 / Features - Archive

Robert was rubbish at school. Rubbish at the trumpet too, for which he swapped his violin, vexing his father, who declared there were no great concertos for trumpet. Robert ventured to suggest Miles Davis with Gil Evans, but his father scoffed. When his trumpet teacher lost patience with him, too,…

September 11, 2020 / Concert Reviews - Archive

Jazz: NOW Wired, August 15 8.5/10 Ellen Kirkwood gets it. She understands that this composing lark isn’t  really about just stringing notes and harmonies together; that, at its heart, music is a narrative art, and therefore the three simplest rules of story-telling apply: establish expectations, fulfil them and subvert them.…