Clik here to view.
Concert review: Gwilym Simcock Quartet
CBSO Centre, Birmingham UK 22-05-10 Gwilym Simcock might have been the instigator, but if the composing credits fell mainly to the two British players – the other was guitarist Mike Walker – the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Russ’s pic of the week: 24-05-10
Here is electric bassist Steve Swallow from the gig with Gwilym Simcock, Mike Walker and Adam Nussbaum at the CBSO Centre on Saturday. It’s Russ Escritt’s choice for his pic of the week. Russ has...
View ArticleClik here to view.
CD review: The Impossible Gentlemen
The Impossible Gentlemen (Basho Records SRCD36-2) The first recording by this perfectly balanced transatlantic band – guitarist Mike Walker and pianist Gwilym Simcock from this side of the pond;...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lots of great gigs to look forward to this autumn
Back in the relatively sunny spring (can you remember back that far, to a time when a bright yellow orb hung in the sky for more than a few minutes at a time?), there was that messy divorce between...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Concert review: The Impossible Gentlemen
CBSO Centre, Birmingham UK 01-12-2012 Well, it wasn’t quite what I expected. With a second album talked about and a European tour coming to an end, I expected to hear a lot of new music from this...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sirkis, Walker/Dixon and Smith III make for a jazz feast this week
It’s a jam-packed programme over the next couple of days with visitors from near(ish) and far, and a few rare treats to be had. Tomorrow’s Jazzlines Free session at Symphony Hall’s cafe bar is an...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Gig review: Mike Walker/Iain Dixon Quintet
Barton Arms, Aston, Birmingham UK 01-02-2013 Reviewed by Laurence Jones This Lancashire based quintet co-led by saxophonist and clarinettist Iain Dixon and guitarist Mike Walker (a quarter of The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
British jazz’s very special supergroup goes on tour
The word supergroup is one that’s been bandied around, especially in the rock world, since my youth. If I recall it right, it was first applied to the band Blind Faith, which included Eric Clapton and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The insufficiently sung heroes of British jazz and the week’s other great...
When it comes to unsung heroes – or maybe insufficiently sung heroes – jazz, being itself rather an unsung art form, is likely to have a good few. One of this illustrious group’s UK contingent is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Concert review: Nikki Iles’ Printmakers
mac, Birmingham UK 31-05-2013 Back in the 1950s and the couple of decades following, the US government send their jazz musicians round the world to spread the cultural message about America’s own...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Impossible Gentlemen – Internationally Recognised Aliens
(Basho Records SRCD 43-2) The coming together of the young British pianist Gwilym Simcock with the slightly older fellow Brit, guitarist Mike Walker and the US drummer Adam Nussbaum, together with the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Impossible Gentlemen
Jazz At The Arena, Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton UK 20-10-2013 All jazz groups incorporate solo improvisations, when one player explores the theme and his/her imagination to make a spontaneous creation...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Jim Hall 1930-2013 R.I.P.
Very sad to hear that the great guitarist Jim Hall has died. Hall had such a glorious natural style of playing. From Sonny Rollins’ The Bridge in 1962 right up to Hemispheres, his duo/quartet...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Disc of the day: 14-04-10
Real Book North West Band: Real Book North West (Jazz Services/33 Records JSLCD004) So, the idea is this: the Real Book was an initially unofficial collection of jazz standards which musicians in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Simcock heads up the week ahead
Of the many young jazz players who have emerged from UK music schools in the first decade of this century, surely a contender for brightest and highest shooting star must go to pianist Gwilym Simcock....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Concert review: Gwilym Simcock Quartet
CBSO Centre, Birmingham UK 22-05-10 Gwilym Simcock might have been the instigator, but if the composing credits fell mainly to the two British players – the other was guitarist Mike Walker – the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Russ’s pic of the week: 24-05-10
Here is electric bassist Steve Swallow from the gig with Gwilym Simcock, Mike Walker and Adam Nussbaum at the CBSO Centre on Saturday. It’s Russ Escritt’s choice for his pic of the week. Russ has...
View ArticleClik here to view.
CD review: The Impossible Gentlemen
The Impossible Gentlemen (Basho Records SRCD36-2) The first recording by this perfectly balanced transatlantic band – guitarist Mike Walker and pianist Gwilym Simcock from this side of the pond;...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fund the plucky Northerner!
Search this site for the name Mike Walker and you’ll find loads of highly complimentary words about this guitarist based in the North West of England. I find it hard to articulate just how much musical...
View ArticleClik here to view.
He’s four-fifths of the way there – please help!
One of the most terrific guitarists on the planet and one of this country’s most loved jazz musicians is trying to raise money to record an ambitious project. The man is Mike Walker and the project is...
View Article
