The Jazz Mann | Jazz music reviews and news from the Jazz Mann Ian Mann

Winner of the Parliamentary Jazz Award for Best Media, 2019

Jazz Album Reviews

Taupe

waxing / waning

A quite glorious racket, a thrillingly visceral musical ride. Taupe marshal their uncompromising music with skill, conviction & imagination & the playing is crisp, crunching & razor sharp throughout.

Jazz Sabbath

Jazz Sabbath Live

Aleph Aguiar

Sugar on my Blackbeans

Billy Marrows Band

Dancing On Bentwood Chairs

Julie Campiche

Unspoken

Harry Christelis

Preserving Fictions

Søren Bebe Trio

Gratitude

Jazz Mann Recommended Listening

Asaf Harris Quartet

I Thought I Was Ready

Harris is a superb saxophone soloist & an intelligent and consistently interesting writer. His efforts are enhanced by the playing of a top notch quartet with whom he has established a strong rapport.

Olly Chalk

In Those Remote Stars

There’s nothing predictable about Chalk’s writing or the group’s playing and the music is all the better for that, fresh and exciting and with a new surprise around every turn.

WDR Big Band featuring John Goldsby and Bob Mintzer

Big Band Bass

A classy piece of work that demonstrates Goldsby’s gifts as both a player and a writer. The playing from the members of one of the top contemporary jazz orchestras in Europe is exceptional throughout.

Karim Saber Quintet

Sundance

Another excellent album that combines Saber’s jazz and rock influences. As a writer he likes to embrace light and shade and his pieces are also rich in terms of colour and texture and narrative feel.

Live Jazz Reviews

Tomos Williams Trio

Tomos Williams Trio, Brecon Jazz Club, The Muse Arts Centre, Brecon, 03/03/2026.

Abacus

Abacus, Music Spoken Here, The Marr’s Bar, Worcester, 26/02/2026.

Ben Crosland Quintet

Ben Crosland’s All Star Band Play the Ray Davies Song Book at Jazz at Progress, Progress Theatre, Reading, Berkshire, 20/02/2026.

Rich Meehan Trio

The Rich Meehan Trio JdP Music Room, St Hilda’s College, Oxford, 19/02/2026.

Yetii

Yetii, “Inner Worlds Tour”, Black Mountain Jazz. Melville Centre, Abergavenny, 22/02/2026.

Ankora

Ankora, Music Spoken Here, The Marr’s Bar, Worcester, 12/02/2026.

Jazz Mann Features

In Memoriam - Dani Harris (1988 – 2026), Ralph Towner (1940 – 2026), Richie Beirach (1947 – 2026).

"Jazz is a community. We all feel sadness when a member of that community passes, never mind how well or how remotely we knew them". Ian Mann reflects on three jazz lives that ended in January 2026.

6th Annual Bath Jazz Weekend, Widcombe Social Club, Bath, Sunday 11th January 2026.

Ian Mann enjoys the final day of the Weekend and performances by the Rebecca Nash / Alex Merritt Duo, Elliot Galvin's 'The Ruin'' and the Emily Tran Quintet.

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