No excuses can hide the criminal actions of a Nazi fellow-traveller in this admirably objective documentary, suggests MARTIN HALL
‘I aim for a sound that conjures up vistas of sunrises and wide open landscapes’
CHRIS SEARLE speaks to self-taught tenor saxophonist Nat Birchall
Tenor saxophonist Nat Birchell and the Unity Ensemble
PAUL DONOVAN relishes a fascinating exploration of the leading lights of the Labour right in the 1970s
BEN LUNN alerts us to the creeping return of philanthropy and private patronage, and suggests alternative paths to explore
A novel by Argentinian Jorge Consiglio, a personal dictionary by Uruguayan Ida Vitale, and poetry by Mexican Homero Aridjis
MIK SABIERS savours the first headline solo show of the stalwart of Brighton’s indie-punk outfit Blood Red Shoes
New releases reviewed by IAN SINCLAIR
STEVEN ANDREW is moved beyond words by a historical account of mining in Britain made from the words of the miners themselves
WHEN Chorley, Lancashire-born tenor saxophonist Nat Birchall brought his septet, the Unity Ensemble, to the Cafe Oto in the teeming, cosmopolitan heart of Hackney, it was as if he had brought the ancient majesty and mystery of the Pennines in the beauty of his horn, so much is the rural north of England endemic to his sound.
With fellow Coltrane-loving veteran hornman Alan Skidmore supplementing pianist Adam Fairhall, thunderous drummer Paul Hession, bassist Michael Bardon and percussionists Mark Wastell and Lascelle Gordon, they played live the music on their serene, almost hymnal new album, New World, to hugely receptive London listeners.
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