MARIA DUARTE recommends a remarkable study of the friendship between a Palestinian and a Pakistani, broken by a hostile state
STANDING on the chassis of a wrecked car, the expressive image on the album Somersaults shows a group of inner-city boys larking about on an urban wasteland, with one of them flying upside down in a forward roll over the graffitied bonnet.
It’s an image symptomatic of the record itself — edgy, risky, yet filled with a sublimated lyricism and audacity.
That lyricism goes back some way for bassist Olie Brice, who’s joined on the record by saxophonist Tobias Delius and drummer Mark Sanders. Born in east London, Brice spent his teenage years in Jerusalem and those years have stayed with him: “Some of my earliest musical memories are of communal singing in synagogue and around family tables,” he tells me.
CHRIS SEARLE waxes lyrical over Alan Skidmore’s tenor-tonic, Jeremy Pelt, and the Yusef Lateef Quartet
CHRIS SEARLE relishes the genius of pianist Alexander Hawkins, his many ensembles, and his new album
CHRIS SEARLE recommends a work of love and deep admiration for a great musician
As part of the 2025 London Jazz Festival Rich Mix offered intriguing sessions titled 'Persian Jazz,' CHRIS SEARLE was there



