8 April 2008
As a regular feature on these pages, I have been following the careers of those British and Finnish jazz musicians who many years ago took part in Polar Jazz, a series of concerts in Britain, organised by the Finnish Institute in London.
Two of those musicians, pianist Jonathan Gee and drummer Winston Clifford, appear on a new Toni Kofi album The Silent Truth (Specific Jazz). Dave Gelly of The Observer had this to say about this CD:
"Anyone who can perform the complete compositions of Thelonious Monk in the course of one day, as Kofi memorably did at last year's London Jazz Festival, must have 'dedication' as their middle name. Kofi's own music is impressive, too, because it is so complete: the compositions, the solidity of the quartet's sound, the pacing of the 10 numbers and, most noteworthy of all, the passion and control of his own saxophone playing, on soprano, alto and baritone. With pianist Jonathan Gee, bassist Ben Hazleton (who contribute two compositions each) and Winston Clifford on drums, this is an absorbing and enjoyable set." (The Observer, 6 April 2008)
I reported recently about Tony Kofi's performance at the Almuñécar Jazz Festival, Jazz en la costa. I also mentioned Kofi's first album All Is Know: Tony Kofi Quartet plays Monk (Specific Jazz 2004) with the same quartet with Jonathan Gee on piano, Ben Hazleton on bass and Winston Clifford on drums.
Here are links to previous Polar Jazz related articles:
Here are links to earlier articles about British-Finnish jazz collaboration: