…just to say – watch out for a change of date on the live page; Decoy are now appearing on 22nd June at Cafe Oto, not 25th as originally broadcast!

Do check out the live page for some new dates…amongst them, I’m very excited to say, the return for the first time since the London Jazz Festival last year of Decoy, this time at Cafe Oto on Saturday June 25th. Get ready…

I’ve posted it before, but this is phenomenal. The music of course speaks for itself; and the interview at the end is an education in itself.

Yes, McCoy!

Very excited to be presenting my new Ensemble at Cafe Oto this evening. With Dom and Javier abroad, the lineup now retains Otto Fischer, Hannah Marshall, and Orphy Robinson, but adds the fantastic Shabaka Hutchings, Oren Marshall, and Mark Sanders.

Needless to say, the guys sounded great in rehearsal the other night…so please come along. There will be some copies of the first Ensemble album for sale at a knock down price…not many left, so get ‘em while you can! As I’ve mentioned before, you can look forward to the next album arriving very soon on Babel…more on that later.

Cafe Oto – 8pm doors – music at 8.30-8.45ish, I’d imagine – tickets here.

While I’m at it – I’m currently updating my mailing lists…so should anyone wish to receive my monthly email with news about gigs, releases, etc. – please do drop me a line! The contact page is as good a way as any, or indeed my email address is at the top of this page.

Here’s a link to a review I’ve just written. A wonderful new release from the always spectacular Nessa label. I’m not in the habit of reviewing things (indeed this is the first thing I’ve had published since some book reviews for the British Journal of Sociology(!) a few years back), but felt strongly about this release…

And please check out the LondonJazz blog regularly – a great resource!

Do check out this week’s Jazz on 3…not only is there a great concert from Ingrid Laubrock’s ‘Anti-House’ (with Mary Halvorson, John Hebert, Tom Rainey, and special guest Liam Noble – and while you’re at it – do check out their fantastic CD on Intakt), but there’s also the chance to hear Jez and me get serious on the subject of kazoos…

In the middle of a really fun tour with Mulatu Astatke at the moment…plenty up on YouTube of what we’ve been up to (search for ‘Mulatu’ then ‘Most Recent’). Here’s one link to get started!

Had a lovely gig with the fantastic Nick Malcolm, Pete Oxley, Raf Mizraki, and Mark Doffmann at the Spin in Oxford last week. Here’s a brief review in the Oxford Times!

Very honoured to be named in the El Intruso Critics’ Poll, in both the piano and keyboards category (at #5 and #1 respectively). It goes without saying that I’m quite embarrassed by the company, but I am extremely flattered, so thank you to the writers and listeners who voted for me.

Also great to see my friends and collaborators Harris Eisenstadt and Taylor Ho Bynum on the lists…3/4 of the Convergence Quartet…so – seamless linking – do watch this space for information on our Autumn tour: we’ll be in the UK in November!