Gillespiana
The great arrangements from Dizzy's late 40s/early 50s big band period played by UK musicians. Fast, furious, and with screaming trumpet solos from Mark Armstrong.
Ronnie Scott's, September 6, 7
Islay Jazz Festival
Concerts in varied venues around the Scottish island: so you could wind up in a whisky distillery while sampling home-baking after a bird-watching excursion - and hear artists such as US clarinettist Ken Peplowski and local jazz heroes Tommy Smith and Brian Kellock.
September 14-16 islayjazzfestival.co.uk
Neil Cowley Trio
Deserving winner of Best Album at the 2007 BBC Jazz Awards, Neil Cowley's piano trio moves from the angular to the highly rhythmic and rock-influenced. Absolutely mesmerising.
The Stables, Milton Keynes, September 18
Pizza Express, London, September 20
Pete Cater Big Band Tribute to Buddy Rich
No UK drummer better exemplifies Buddy's hard-swinging, take-no-prisoners (and if you do, beat the living bejasus out of them) approach than Pete Cater. It's wham, bam and don't mind if I don't say thank you, mam.
Cadogan Hall, London, October 1
Joey DeFrancesco
With Jimmy Smith gone, the Hammond organ crown is uncontested - it belongs to Joey DeFrancesco. The 36-year-old fat boy from Pennsylvania has never tried to rehabilitate the Hammond as a cerebral instrument; instead he brings forth all the gloriously over-the-top grandiosity this cooler cousin of the fairground organ can summon, roaring and whispering like a gospel singer, infusing every number with blues and ensuring a good time for all. Forget subtlety: excess all areas is the only way with the Hammond, and DeFrancesco guarantees that for sure.
Ronnie Scott's, September 27-29 joeydefrancesco.com
Jeff Neve Trio: Nobody Is Illegal
One of the younger breed of pianists as much influenced by classical music as jazz, Jeff Neve opts for a quieter, less flashy approach than his fellow Europeans, EST, delving into a more organic, acoustic bag. There's a distinctly non-urban fluidity to his compositions; his work conveys images not of New York nights and the fast life but of an Old World whose cities sprang from, rather than replaced, the continent's ancient forests. A highly compelling debut.
Out now on Emarcy
The Unforgettable NHOP Trio Live
Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen, 'the great Dane with the never-ending name', was one of the finest post-war double bassists. Oscar Peterson's man after Ray Brown left, NHOP had a phenomenal technique and a gorgeous tone but died far too young, aged 59, in 2005. Hear why we still miss him madly.
Paul Towndrow: Six By Six
Agreeably assertive group led by a talented, fiery young saxophonist. Towndrow pulls off the difficult trick of making bop sound contemporary and relevant - the Scots seem to have that knack, and Towndrow's got it in spades.
Roberta Gambarini and Hank Jones: You Are There
Classic vocals from Italian newcomer with sympathetic accompaniment from Hank Jones, surviving brother of drummer Elvin and trumpeter Thad, and a reliably exquisite pianist.
Elan Mehler: Scheme for thought
Peaceful, intimate, contemplative piano-led work from a group who hail from New York but were discovered by Gilles Peterson at an Alpine spa resort that plays Shostakovich underwater in one of the baths.
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