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

Aleph Aguiar

Sugar on my Blackbeans

The quality of the playing and writing on this album really is exceptional, and this, allied to the energy and vibrancy of the performances raises the album above the level of the mundane.

Billy Marrows Band

Dancing On Bentwood Chairs

Julie Campiche

Unspoken

Harry Christelis

Preserving Fictions

Søren Bebe Trio

Gratitude

Asaf Harris Quartet

I Thought I Was Ready

Olly Chalk

In Those Remote Stars

Jazz Mann Recommended Listening

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.

Deborah Rose

Atlas

Drawing on a wide range of inspirations the songs are intelligent, poetic and literate and often downright beautiful.

Uneven Eleven

Live in Brighton

It may have been recorded more than a decade ago but it’s great to have this music out there and available. It still sounds fresh and exciting and just bristles with energy and invention.

Live Jazz Reviews

Ankora

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

Glen Manby / Lizzie Beesley Quartet

Glen Manby / Lizzie Beesley Quartet, Brecon Jazz Club, The Muse Arts Centre, Brecon, 10/02/2026.

BMJ Collective with John Crawford

BMJ Collective with guest John Crawford, Black Mountain Jazz, Melville, Centre, Abergavenny, 08/02/2026.

Inscape Jazz Quartet

Inscape Jazz Quartet, Kidderminster Jazz Club, St. Ambrose’s Parish Centre, Kidderminster, Worcs., 06/02/2026.

Josephine Davies

Josephine Davies: Satori, Jazz at Progress, Progress Theatre, Reading, Berkshire, 30/01/2026.

Jonny Nash and Tomo Katsurada Duo / Christopher Haddow

Jonny Nash and Tomo Katsurada Duo / Christopher Haddow, Sy; Gigs, The Darwin Room, Shrewsbury Library, Shrewsbury, 01/02/2026.

Jazz Mann Features

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.

6th Annual Bath Jazz Weekend, Widcombe Social Club, Bath, Saturday 10th January 2026.

Ian Mann enjoys performances by the Olie Brice Quartet, Alison Rayner Quintet, Robert Mitchell solo, the Louis Sclavis/ Bruno Ducret Duo and Nick Malcolm's Out Front quintet.

Jazz Mann News

Jazz North announces latest roster of Northern Line.

Thursday, February 19, 2026

Jazz North has announced its latest roster of Northern Line - the live talent development programme for jazz artists across the North. Press release attached.

Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts, New York City, announces Spring 2026 season of its free POP-UP CONCERTS - March, April, May 2026.

Tuesday, February 17, 2026

Miller Theatre’s hour-long, musician-curated Pop-Up Concerts—free, informal, and intimate—bring the audience right onto the stage. Spring 2026 programme attached.

Jazz in the West Midlands - February 16th - 22nd 2026.

Monday, February 16, 2026

A roundup of jazz, funk & soul gigs to check out this week in the West Midlands area. Listings supplied by Dave Fuller of Music Spoken Here, Worcester.

View more Jazz news