ALAN McGUIRE welcomes a biography of the French semiologist and philosopher
Best of 2023: Jazz albums
CHRIS SEARLE picks his favourites
ALEX HALL is frustrated by a book that ducks a clear definition of terrorism and fails to perceive the role of the state in sponsoring it
JOE GILL wholeheartedly recommends an eloquent manifesto: how to change the world one local project at a time
Inspired by a photograph, a unique memorial in Michigan immortalises US true labour heroes. MICHAL BONCZA recalls a great story rarely told
MARIA DUARTE, LEO BOIX and ANGUS REID review Brides, Dead of Winter, A Night Like This, and The Librarians
MARIA DUARTE is entertained by a wry portrait of befuddled resistance to US authoritarianism
FOR me, the record of the year is the re-release of a precious vinyl disc on CD of the Jazz Doctors, who toured the UK in in 1983-84, and recorded their first session as Intensive Care on John Jack’s Cadillac label in a Hoxton studio in November 1983.
Val Wilmer’s expressive sleeve photograph shows squatting tenor saxophonist Frank Lowe, drummer Dennis Charles with a cymbal under his arm, violinist Billy Bang and bassist Rafael Garrett fresh from the US, posing in an East End park. As they romp into Jackie McLean’s Little Melanae, they play with prescriptive fire in the heart of London.
More from this author
CHRIS SEARLE speaks to US pianist Paul Cornish
CHRIS SEARLE encourages you to go hear a landmark performance, and introduces some of the musicians
CHRIS SEARLE hears the ordeal of the Palestinian people in the improvised musicianship of a UK jazz trio
Reviews of the Neil Charles Quartet, the Freddie Hubbard Quintet, and the Olie Brice Quartet
