JAZZ AT CHARLTON HOUSE TWO NIGHTS AGO...

A fascinating mix of martial arts, music and poetry...that was Friday night, 21st September, at Charlton House, Greenwich...

The bill was headlined by jazz singer Sarah Moule in her show : Femmes Fatales; the honey voice transported us through history by standards from different times. By her side was amazing pianist, composer and husband Simon Wallace, a man with a long successful history in show business...
Watch a minute and  half of their show here...

The gig began with a newly created jazz duet combo- with Andre Mathurin on bass and Robert Stekelenburg on piano...see a brief moment taken from their 15 minutes wonderful symbiosis here...

JAZZ POETRY NIGHTS LONDON - St Patricks Day

Jazz Poetry Nights at the Pangea Project had an unusual edge to it. Plenty of intense surprises, wonderful performers and a loyal, sincere, attentive audience. The best thing about the Pangea Jazz Poetry Nights is the appreciative audience and a supportive club management.

Jonny Virgo raps and toasts backed by Ogmios (bells), Andre Mathurin (bass) and several other musicians, jamming and playing during this climaxing moment towards the end of the exciting night, Wednesday, 17th.
(Pic by Ursula T)



Ursula T the inicisive German poet, philosopher and writer works out one of her favourite pieces : "Sea Weed" backed by Stephano on guitar, host Freddy (piano) and Andre Mathurin (bass) not in picture.
(Pic by Antonio Mamede)

The evening began with an intro of Abiye biye (Supermodel) by Freddy and Andre on bass; then Ogmios whose deep poetry had the audience chuckling and cheering especially when he called out the most interesting point of the evening. An hour earlier an elderly Russian lady had walked into the club with two young friends and was especially attracted by the house piano.
"It is Russian and I am Russian," She said, proudly.
Her name was Elsa and we quickly found out she was an amazing pianist. Ogmios' lyrical wit, his hip hop delivery blended surrealistically with Elsa. It was even more interesting when she played these East European melodies to accompany Ogmios poem about Medieval times and modern specifics.
This is what Jazz is all about. Surprises and instant improvisation.


Tunes Under Fire.A powerful unusual duet: psychedelic jazz electric guitar by Doug Kinloch
and James Gilbert (Sax)....
Their set was assisted by house bassist, Andre Mathurin and Brother Niyi on percussion....
(Pic by David Green )

Brother Niyi, the local Stoke Newington writer, teacher and poet, is a veteran of the London performance poetry scene. He always brings something special to such occasions. On the said night he strolled in, huge heavy African drum on his shoulder and he did his many trademark things, one of which is that "wake up" call:
"Everybody say Yeah Yeah..."
Djembe beat, social, political, psychological lyrics and a reminder of the Nigerian, Afro cultural jazz background. He reminded us what
Afro Beat means ("go on google it...") by not forgetting to give tribute to one of his heroes the great Fela Anukulapo Kuti .

JAZZ POETRY NIGHTS LONDON

Monthly Jazz Poetry Nights continue to shine at London's Pangea Project .
Despite a sinister cold night, on Wednesday February 10th we kept the same vibe of diverse, unique acts:
1-Jazzman John Clarke (UK) : dynamic, lively, bebop motor-mouth
2- J.J.Adamson (Kenya): Marimba, percussion, guitar and vocals
2-Burnt Toast (Canada/ UK) : Urban London; hip hop, music and words

Burnt Toast: special

3- Ursula T (Germany)- International lady read from her three collections
4-Graham Pollock (UK) : Dry humour, subtle delivery; strong message.
A typical Pollock poem:
Christmas card people . . .
We used to phone
Each other regularly.
Then it became
Occasionally,
And then very
Occasionally . . .
After a while
Our only contact
Was a card
At Christmas.

I don’t bother now.
I just don’t
See
The
Point . . . .


5- Freddy Macha (Tanzania): Afro jazz and lyrics (Host and MC)

Jazz bassist
Andre Mathurin (St Lucia)


Suprise guests
Free Jazz Musicians (UK) : Tunes Under Fire : James Gilbert (Sax) and Doug Kinloch (Guitar).

Another special presence was local Stoke Newington Photographer David Green whose snaps on the night will hopefully find their way here...

NEXT JAZZ POETRY NIGHT - 17th March...

JAZZ POETRY NIGHTS LONDON

Jazz Poetry Nights aims at promoting jazz music and poetry from all corners of the world in London.
This month we are at the Pangea Project in Hackney.

We began during the London Jazz Festival in November 2009. If you like jazz and music in general and would like to hear and see different performers of literature step in, entry is free.
For those looking to perform please email your queries to : kilimanjaro1967@hotmail.com
This is not a one off.
It aims to continue....

A song called : Freedom

I penned this song in 1980 while reflecting on various types of freedoms in many ways and million places around the world...I was living in one of the poorest districts of Dar es Salaam (called Mwananyamala Kisiwani) in Tanzania. The previous night i experienced a very troubled sleep due to prolonged chilling shrills and screaming... a man was beating his wife for borrowing a piece of soap from a neighbour.
That is how poverty interacts with freedom and relationships.




Playing and enjoying this memorable session in Winter 2009:

Piano- Kaz Kasozi (Ugandan multi-instrumentalist musician);
Bass- Andre Mathurin (from St Lucia where they have that special annual jazz festival)
Percussion- Trevor Antonio (African- Carribean rhythm man)....
I have been playing on and off with these great guys for over a decade. They have one thing in common which i always look for and love in musicians: they are sensitive, creative, they listen and do not over play...

On a hand held Camera is Krawl, a man of such intense talent; he is also a Capoeira (the Brazilian martial arts and dance) teacher.

This London session was recorded, edited and produced by Kaz Kasozi for his Video-cast series which showcases various musicians with similar themes and styles.