Coventry Jazz Festival
The birthplace of that marvellously acerbic jazz critic, Philip Larkin, hosts Henri Texier, Stan Tracey, Andy Sheppard and Bryan Corbett in and around the old cathedral ruins. Don't miss the jazz eucharist in the new cathedral on Sunday morning.
May 24-28
Charles Lloyd Quartet/Bennie Maupin Trio
Restless tenor sax and flute from Memphis-born Lloyd, who has long explored Eastern, folk and modal territory with the likes of Keith Jarrett and Brad Mehldau. Lloyd's on a double bill with ex-Headhunter and fellow reedsman Maupin.
The Barbican,
May 5
Mingus Big Band
Set up by Charles Mingus's widow Sue in 1991, the big band that celebrates the double bassist's music embarks on its first full UK tour and will feature Mingus's mammoth work Epitaph.
The Sage Gateshead, May 22
Brighton Festival Dome, May 23
Coventry Jazz Festival, May 25
Bath Pavilion, May 26
Salisbury Town Hall, May 27
Ronnie Scott's, May 28-30
Jimmy Scott
At 82, only the ruins of Jimmy Scott's high feminine voice survive; but what ruins, and what a voice, marked by the remnants of his ultra-slow vibrato and declarative, behind-the-beat phrasing. Catch him before it's too late.
Ronnie Scott's, May 17-19
Guy Barker Jazz Orchestra: the Amadeus Project
Long known as the UK's top trumpeter, Guy Barker has been making another name for himself in recent years as a composer of great depth and ambition. His current tour features The Amadeus Suite, inspired by different characters from Mozart's operas, and dZf, a 75-minute composition which takes the story of The Magic Flute and updates it to 1950s New York. This is not Mozart with a swing beat: the music is entirely new, and Barker's 'jazz pulp opera' (as his collaborator, thriller writer Rob Ryan, puts it) is nothing short of a masterpiece.
Wakefield Jazz Club, May 4
Norwich Playhouse, May 5
Ronnie Scott's, May 10-12
Mark Murphy
The ultimate hipster singer, with a voice as astringent as a particularly vinegary salad dressing, Mark Murphy shows up today's insipid songbirds as the retro, easy-listening sell-outs that they are. He's not for the faint-hearted: expect wild ululating and beat poet recitation as well as idiosyncratic phrasing of tunes both from the American songbook and instrumentals he's set his own words to. But at 75 Murphy remains as inspired and as gloriously left-field as ever; a true jazz great, in other words.
Ronnie Scott's, May 31-June 2
Hiromi's Sonicbloom: Time Control
A young Japanese pianist who fizzes like sodium in water, everything Hiromi does is worth listening to, even her rather off-the-wall electronic explorations. Stand well back and admire the pyrotechnics. She's also at Ronnie Scott's May 21-23.
Erik Truffaz Quartet: Arkhangelsk
A relatively restrained outing from the French ambient jazz trumpeter whose billowing, soft-edged tone wafts across electro-acoustic landscapes greatly influenced by late period Miles Davis.
Silje Nergaard: Darkness Out
of Blue
A more pop-oriented album from the terrific, candy-voiced Norwegian singer. Try to hear her at the Cheltenham Festival (Sunday May 6) when her jazz range should be more on display.
ACT: 15 Magic Years
Since it was founded in 1992, ACT has become one of the world's leading independent jazz labels. This anniversary compilation includes European artists Esbjorn Svensson, Nils Landgren and Viktoria Tolstoy (yes, she is related), as well as Americans Eddie Harris, John Lee Hooker and Michael Brecker.
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