A quick ad for a great gig at the Vortex this evening – the 13 piece SomeDectet…original compositions from the bandmembers…a whole range of really interesting approaches, and of course, a healthy dose of barely-controlled musical mayhem…hope to see you there! More information at the Vortex website…

With thanks as ever to Helen Petts for her documentation, here are two chunks of the action from the Vortex with Tony Marsh on Sunday night. As you can see by the Rudolph look I am working with my nose, I had an absolutely streaming cold, but I think things turned out ok!

Here is the opening:

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…and here is the conclusion to that sequence, plus the short second piece – a piece by Louis Moholo, Pule and Gibo Pheto called ‘Mark Of Respect’.

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Do check out Helen’s other videos on YouTube – some really nice documents there, especially of the monthly Mopomoso performances.

Was a lot of fun to sit in last night for one tune with thereminist Lydia Kavina…and more classical music on Saturday. I’m accompanying scarily good young oboist Eleanor Tinlin in a Vivaldi Oboe Concert at St Michael and All Angels Church on Lonsdale Road in Summertown, Oxford, at 7.15pm. This one is in aid of an outreach project in Kenya, so a good cause…do come along!

Back to ‘normal service’, as it were…on Sunday I have the privilege of playing again in duo with the great Tony Marsh…our first performance since a really fun gig at the Freedom of the City festival at the Conway Hall in May. This one is at the Vortex, as part of October’s Mopomoso programme. Also on the bill the superb trio ‘Barrel’ (Ivor Kallin, Alison Blunt, Hannah Marshall), Pat Thomas and John Jasnoch, and the Brazilian trio of Marilza Gouvea, Ricardo Montoya, and Marcio Mattos. The Vortex is a great place to play, and I say it every time I play there, but a gorgeous piano…so it should be good…

Lovely gig with the London Improvisers Orchestra on Sunday night, and a really exciting recording session with my sextet for the BBC (on which more later) at Pinewood Studios yesterday…Yes, sometimes it’s a grind as a musician (although certainly not on the grand scale of things), but we basically live a charmed existence being able to do what we do.

Also, check out this interview with my friend and co-conspirator in the Convergence Quartet (more news on this front soon too) Harris Eisenstadt. Very excited to be playing with Harris again later in the year…see the live page for more…

…of the Qwati gig tomorrow evening at the Vortex…if our last Vortex gig was anything to go by, should be a fantastic night – so hope to see some of you there!

Tonight sees the first performance of the Dominic Lash trio, with Dom on bass, Javier Carmona on drums and percussion, and myself on piano. It’s been sounding great in rehearsal – great compositions by Dom, with the odd standards etc. thrown in here and there – so do come along to this evening’s Klinker in Tottenham.

Please take a moment to check out this link – Edu Hawkins photography.

It’s my brother’s new photography website…some really great shots (if I say so myself) of guys like Jack DeJohnette, Hugh Masekela, Louis Moholo-Moholo, Roy Hargrove, and more.

Anyhow – please take a look, and I’m sure he’d appreciate feedback on the site and the photos!

…and some advanced warning of the Qwati gig at the Vortex on Wednesday September 30th…we sold out in advance last time, so book now to avoid disappointment!

A slightly expanded line-up from the last live performance of the band. In addition to Claude Deppa (trumpet), Ntshuks Bonga (alto), Oren Marshall (tuba), Mark Sanders (drums) and myself, we have Gail Brand on trombone. And news soon of a recent recording, where Greg Bonnie also contributed some great tenor…

Just want to plug this fantastic recording. Was prompted to check it out after hearing a track on Jazz on 3 a few weeks ago. The Black Earth Strings is a really interesting group – Nicole Mitchell on flute, plus violin, ‘cello, double bass and percussion. It’s a really rhythmic group – very African influence throughout - and it’s great how they subvert what you might expect from a ‘flute plus strings’ thing. In absolutely the most positive sense, it’s not ‘pretty’ – nothing ironed-out, and you hear all the stringiness of the instruments. In fact, I think it’s a really quite muscular sound. It retains rawness and spontaneity, but at the same time is totally tight. Beautifully crafted compositions, and all very individual players in the group. I’m a big admirer of Mitchell’s playing – there a sort of take on Rahsaan at times, and I love the times where she vocalises at the same time as playing. Josh Abrams is great as ever – big old school sound…and very much enjoyed the percussionist Shirazette Tinnin,  right in the AACM tradition of things…highly recommended!

As you can see, the website has had a welcome facelift over the last few weeks. Fortunately, it has been designed to be virtually idiot proof, as far as my updating it is concerned, so hopefully I’ll be able to keep it pretty up-to-the-minute.

The rebuild may have entailed a couple of emails ’slipping through the cracks’…so if you have emailed me in the last couple of days, and I haven’t replied – please do resend anything, and I’m very sorry for not getting back to you!

I intend to use this news feed on my front page in much the same way as I did my blog previously, so if the old www.alexanderhawkins.com/blog address leads nowhere, this is why. Please do re-point any links to www.alexanderhawkins.com.

I’d of course appreciate feedback on the new layout of things, so please do get in touch!