STEVE JOHNSON recommends a protest album with a harder edge than many in the genre
‘May music never become just another way of making money’
KEITH TIPPETT talks to Chris Searle about his newly re-released momentous album The Unlonely Raindancer and life’s vagaries
DENNIS BROE finds much to praise in the new South African Netflix series, but wonders why it feels forced to sell out its heroine
CARL DEATH introduces a new book which explores how African science fiction is addressing climate change
In his second round-up, EWAN CAMERON picks excellent solo shows that deal with Scottishness, Englishness and race as highlights
Fiery words from the Bard in Blackpool and Edinburgh, and Evidence Based Punk Rock from The Protest Family
MATTHEW HAWKINS is mesmerised by a performance that dissolves the line between audience and performer
MATTHEW SHARPE recommends the essays of a Renaissance politician that instruct and unnerve after 400 years
THE brilliantly original Bristol-born pianist, Keith Tippett, has been cutting extraordinary albums since his first, You Are Here… I Am There in 1969 when he was 22. So the reissue of his neglected 1979 classic solo album The Unlonely Raindancer is a significant jazz moment.
It was recorded during a 1979 tour of the Netherlands. I asked him about his pathfinding life in music, and the now-times relevance of the record.
“My parents met in the war. My dad became a policeman and my mum was southern Irish and a housewife. At home I heard all kinds of music — western classical, church choral and brass bands. My grandad lived with us and played piano with a beautiful touch. I began to learn when I was six or seven years old.
More from this author
CHRIS SEARLE speaks to Chris Laurence, bassist and bandmate of saxophonist TONY COE
CHRIS SEARLE speaks to vocalist Jacqui Dankworth
CHRIS SEARLE pays tribute to the late South African percussionist, Louis Moholo-Moholo
Re-releases from Bobby Wellins/Kenny Wheeler Quintet, Larry Stabbins/Keith Tippet/Louis Moholo-Moholo, and Charles Mingus Quintet
