Jazz notes

Saturday (22nd) night's concert at the National Centre for Early Music is by Gilad Atzmon and the extended Orient House Ensemble.

Atzmon, an Israeli saxophonist now living in self-imposed exile, is openly critical of his native government's handling of the Palestinian crisis. His band sets out to remove the unnecessary barriers between Jewish and Arabic cultures and to emphasizes the similarities between the two peoples.

The ensemble includes musicians from Italy, Romania, Britain and Israel and the extraordinary Palestinian singer Reem Kelani. Details of the concert, which starts at 7.30pm tomorrow, from 01904 658338.

The Gilad Atzmon Band also appear tonight at Wakefield Jazz (01924 782339).

The York J Night Series continues on Sunday. American pianist Junior Mance's path to fame began with Lester Young's group in 1949 and he has toured and recorded with Sonny Stitt, Dinah Washington, Dizzy Gillespie and Art Blakey, to name a few. The Junior Mance Trio concert will be at 3.00pm.

The second event at the Early Music centre will be at 7.30pm and is titled Shorter Stories, celebrating the life and music of Wayne Shorter. The sextet features some of the most dynamic and creative musicians in Europe, with Norma Winstone (voice), Robert Mitchell (piano) and Mike Mondesir (bass). Details of both the above on 01904 658338.

The run-up to the FUSELEEDS04 festival continues on Thursday with Jamie Cullum at The Venue, the Leeds College of Music at 7.30pm. Jamie's £1 million record deal with Universal seems to be bearing fruit, with his Twentysomething album now in the best-selling charts. This is the best news for live jazz since the similar high profile of Harry Connick Jr some years ago, when the general audience became familiar with jazz standards via peak-time radio and TV coverage. Like HC Jr, Jamie is good-looking and will doubtless introduce the jazz repertoire to a wider audience. For details of The Venue, call 0113 222 3434.

There will be a tasty session at the Cairn Hotel, Harrogate, tonight with Gerry Green (saxophone), Pat McCarthy (guitar) and Grant Spencer (flute). The ace rhythm section will be Ken Marley (bass) and Dave Tyas (drums). Details from 01423 504005.

After 15 years of Jazz at the Crown, Boston Spa, the Zenith Hot Stompers will be playing the final session tomorrow night (01937 842544). There is no news of a new venue as yet, but co-organisers Tim and Les are scouring the region.

On Tuesday, Ian Chalk is the guest of Scarborough Jazz at Scholars. York-based Ian is better known as front line trumpet/flugelhorn player with York party band Huge and the jazz sextet, General Cluster. Catch him in solo glory, details from 01723 379818.

On Wednesday, Hulljazz presents Centripede, featuring Tom Arthurs (trumpet) and Ingrid Laubrock (saxophone). Details from 01482 492868.

In the 1970s Miles Davis tried to reach a young black audience by moving towards electric rock. The resulting album, Bitches Brew, was the point when many jazz fans stopped buying Miles albums. On the other hand, many new fans started there and the subsequent movements into funk, fusion and ambient music has produced a uniquely European form, Nu-jazz.

On the evidence of a recent 2-CD compilation, Nu-Jazz (Universal), dance music and club culture are the prime influences. It seems to have begun in the Oslo jazz underground in the mid 1990s, the prime movers being keyboard player Bugge Wesseltoft and trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer. Both are featured in this compilation.

Wesseltoft's GUBNUF has a World/dance groove, with trumpet and bass improvisation, a couple of drum breaks, an Acid jazz organ and some radio-style samples.

Molvaer evokes frozen Northern wastes, with beats and more samples to produce a sort of effects-laden trumpet version of Bjork, crossed with Arabic hip hop. The Brits weigh in with Courtney Pine, Andy Sheppard and The Cinematic Orchestra and all use normal instruments mixed over beats and samples.

Are you getting all this? Kevin Le Gendre's observations in Jazzwise magazine are useful: "Maybe nu jazz appeals to jazz audiences searching for something more 21st century because they don't check that much house music. Maybe house audiences like nu jazz because they don't check that much jazz." Call in the record shop and hear it for yourself.

Updated: 09:45 Friday, November 21, 2003