Jazz Goes To Leeds radio show on ChapelFM 19th June 2015

"Mr John Toolan plays the best in contemporary Jazz from our fair city"..... with live sessions and interviews with singer Marlena Kelli and guitarist Chris Sharkey.....

Marlena Kelli

Chris Sharkey

The wonderful technical assistance.....

Listen again here......

So Nice in Nice.......

"Jazz Goes To Leeds/Left of Leeds" Radio Show April 3rd 2015

A selection of photographs of the John Bailey Quintet setting up, and a chance to listen again to my "Left of Leeds" radio programme for ELFM.

"John Toolan brings you a packed show full of tracks and recordings from the contemporary jazz scene in Leeds and featuring a live set from the fabulous John Bailey Quintet"

Listen again to the show here.....

Ashley Reaks – "Before Koresh" album review

Occasionally one hears an album and is immediately struck by the dexterity of the songwriting, music with a message, delivered, like a Trojan horse, amongst exquisitely constructed tunes. “Before Koresh”, the seventh album from UK-based collage artist and musician Ashley Reaks, is one such album. There is a sense from the opening bars of the title track that the listener is about to embark upon an education, and will in all probability enjoy every moment of it. A mesmerising cast of collaborators also guarantees a thought-provoking journey. Joining Reaks on vocals, bass, guitars and keyboards we have Maria Jardardottir on vocalizations, Dave Kemp on saxes, guitar, bass recorder and accordion, Nick Dunne on guitar solos, Hull poet Joe Hakim on vocals, postman Kevin Boniface on vocals and legendary Dickies vocalist (yes, THE Dickies) Leonard Graves Philips vocals on “The Dustman”. Many of the songs on here appear, on first hearing, innocuous and charming, but careful, repeated listening reveals an off-kilter disturbing element that Reaks appears to master. Lyrics such as “He throws dust in the eyes of all the babies that he meets…” add a menacing quality to “The Dustman”. Influences appear from many disparate genres as dub reggae and dissonant sound collages characterise ‘Wearside Jack’, whilst affectionate, suburban folk permeates through ‘Gleaming Cinders’. ‘Crystal’ and the gloriously titled ‘I Want to Get A Celebrity Pregnant’ showcase the caustic, yet uproarious, talents of wordsmith Joe Hakim. The words are at once abrasive and austere, yet within the context of the other music on “Before Koresh”, playful and taunting. Slightly less uncompromising, but none the less poignant, is the voice of Huddersfield Postman Kevin Boniface on the mischievous ‘Mr Barton and The Squirrels’. The unsettled integrated with the harmonious is a specific characteristic of “Inch Perfect” which fuses an almost childlike musical box melody with backwards vocals and an ominous bass line. ‘Hell And Back Again’ closes the album with a subtle blend of sing-along refrains, jazz funk and dissonant improvisation, which, on paper, would appear incompatible, but which on “Before Koresh” appear totally conventional....

Read the full review at This Is Not A Scene

Drunken walk around Gilling East, Christmas Day 2014

Note Commando anthology book for 50p....

Album Releases of 2014: A Personal Best

In no particular order, and no excuses for reissues.......

Aphex Twin - Syro (Warp)

Scott Walker and Sunn o))) - Soused (4AD)_

Sleaford Mods - Divide and Exit (Harbinger Sound)

St. Vincent - St. Vincent (Loma Vista)

Nat Birchall Quintet - Live in Larissa (Sound Soul and Spirit)

Dylan Howe - Subterranean (Motorik)

John Coltrane - Offering: Live at Temple University (Impulse!/Resonance)

Jon Hassell and Brian Eno - Fourth World Vol. : Possible Musics (Glitterbeat)

Marshall Allen Presents Sun Ra And His Arkestra - In The Orbit Of Ra (Strut)

Miles Davis - Miles at the Filmore 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3 (Columbia Legacy)

Jane Weaver - The Silver Globe (Finders Keepers)

Captain Beefheart - Sun Zoom Spark: 1970-72 (Rhino)

King Crimson - Starless Box Set (DGM/PANEGYRIC)

Jazz Goes To Leeds 87.7FM Radio Show 9th December 2014

As part of the ELFM "Tuned In" festival of live FM broadcasts I produced a show of jazz, improvised and experimental music broadcast 6pm Tuesday 9th December 2014. The show was originally broadcast on 87.7FM. 

"An hour of jazz and improvised music from in and around the Leeds area, illustrating the diversity of styles that the music can incorporate. Jazz Goes To Leeds will feature recorded music from around the region in conjunction with live music and discussion with Sam Jackson and his latest “Drawing Hands” project"

Link to a stream of the live FM show originally broadcast 6pm 9th December 2014

Link to Drawing Hands Bandcamp page