20 August 2024 - This website is saddened to learn of the death of George Foster who was a long-time friend of Ian Carr's. George was instrumental in the release of his tape recording from December 1966 of the Rendell Carr Quintet's Live At The Union (CD: Reel Recordings, 2010 and Vinyl: Stamford Audio, 2010). George was also a key player in the organising of the Ian Carr Memorial Concert which took place at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London on 23 February, 2010. George was frequently consulted by record companies regarding their British jazz reissues and as a lifelong fan of the music his knowledge of jazz was encyclopaedic. RIP George.

29 July 2024 - Rhythm and Blues Records have a new vinyl release: Don Rendell Ian Carr Quintet BBC Jazz Club April 1965 LP. The link to order is here: https://rhythmandbluesrecords.co.uk/product/don-rendell-ian-carr-quintet-bbc-jazz-club-april-1965-lp
Note: The six track on the album are also included on a Rhythm and Blues Records CD entitled The Don Rendell/Ian Carr Quintet – BBC Jazz Club Vol 2 1965-1966 which is available here: https://rhythmandbluesrecords.co.uk/product/the-don-rendell-ian-carr-quintet-bbc-jazz-club-vol-2-1965-1966-cd

16 June 2024 - Mini review: Back, Down Another Road - The Jazz Music Of Sir Karl Jenkins. This milestone concert took place on 14 June 2024 at the opening night of the Swansea Jazz Festival. Sir Karl was not only present at the event but introduced it and later played piano albeit briefly. The music was performed by The Laurence Cottle Big Band which included some well-known names such as Nigel Hitchcock (ts), Jim Watson (kyb), Mark Nightingale, Graham Blevins (tb) and Sid Gauld (t). Cottle himself was on electric bass and fretless bass guitar. The show opened with Down The Road which Sir Karl originally wrote for Graham Collier's big band and which inspired Collier to slightly re-name the title track of his second album Down Another Road (Fontana, 1969). Down The Road was eventually recorded for Soft Machine 7 (CBS, 1973) as a funky 5/4 piece underpinned by Roy Babbington's obligato bass line. There seemed to be some confusion with announcements re: the title of the opener variously being referred to as Back, Down Another Road and Down Another Road (see Sir Karl's excellent autobiography, Still With The Music for a definitive explanation). However, no ambiguities ensued for the next number, the enchanting ballad Lullaby For A Lonely Child which appeared on Collier's Down Another Road album and also on the second Nucleus album We'll Talk About It Later (Vertigo, 1971). This was followed by the never previously heard Theme For An Unmade Movie. Two more tracks closed the first half; Elastic Rock, the title track to Nucleus' debut album (Vertigo, 1970) and Cancion Rosa from Adiemus Colores (Deutsche Grammophon, 2013). Adiemus Colores was an Iberian-inspired set of tunes which featured a couple of jazz musicians including Cottle and guitarist John Paricelli. The second half saw what was probably only the second performance of the three part suite Penumbra II. Sir Karl opened the piece by playing the piano introduction. A section of the third movement of this composition was later adapted to become Fanfare on Soft Machine 6 (CBS, 1973). The original recording of Penumbra II which featured an augmented Nucleus line-up was broadcast by the BBC in 1971 and was eventually released on CD (Jazz In Britain, 2022). The closer, Cancion Amarilla, was again taken from Adiemus Colores. This concert, celebrating Sir Karl's 80th birthday, was a memorable night and an important one, serving as a reminder of his substantial contribution to jazz at the start of his highly successful musical career.

26 May 2024 - As part of Sir Karl Jenkins 80th birthday year celebrations, the Swansea International Jazz Festival is featuring a special concert on 14 June 2024 of Sir Karl's jazz compositions, including ones recorded by Nucleus and played by an All-star 16-piece big band led by bassist Laurence Cottle. The concert will be introduced by Sir Karl and is the first time in 50 years that he has been involved in a major jazz concert. The concert, entitled Back, Down Another Road: The Jazz Music of Sir Karl Jenkins, will feature jazz tunes by Sir Karl including "Down Another Road", "Elastic Rock" (the title track from the first Nucleus album), "Lullaby for a Lonely Child" and more. Sir Karl, who is also Patron of the Festival, has, together with bassist and composer Laurence Cottle revisited the old scores and transcribed those that were lost.
Full details here: https://www.visitswanseabay.com/swansea-international-jazz-festival/
 
18 November 2023 - Pianist and composer Nikki Yeoh today premiered her new work ‘Nucleus’, commissioned by the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO) and dedicated to the inspirational and still very much missed Ian Carr, alongside a reworking of her multimedia work ‘Speechmik X-ploration’, celebrating unity and plurality. Yeoh was accompanied by the 20 piece strong NYJO which included a string quartet. The second half of the concert featuring NYJO, comprised arrangements of some of Ian Carr’s finest works, including ‘Roots’ , ‘Lady Bountiful’ and three numbers from his Labyrinth album:  'Exaltation', 'Naxos' and 'Bull Dance'. The concert was held at Milton Court Concert Hall, London as part of the London Jazz Festival. The conductor was NYJO MD Mark Armstrong.

30 October 2023 - Trevor Tomkins Tribute Concert - A concert dedicated to the memory of Trevor Tomkins, former tutor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Jazz Department and legendary drummer with the Rendell Carr Quintet, The Michael Garrick Sextet and numerous other groups, took place at The Barbican's Milton Court Concert Hall on 4th October 2023. The concert was divided into three segments, the first showcasing the music of the Rendell Carr Quintet. The second featured the music of Michael Garrick's Sextet. The final ensemble was a recreation of Trevor Tomkins' Sextant. The musicians were drawn from current and former members of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Jazz Department and tutors, plus special guests who were all closely associated with Trevor, the RCQ and Michael Garrick. These included Dave Green, Norma Winstone, Art Themen and Henry Lowther. Also participating was Michael Garrick's son, trumpeter Gabriel Garrick and Martin Hathaway, GSMD Head of Jazz. Other guest artists included John Horler, Dave O'Higgins and Winston Clifford. The concert was organised by Matt Skelton and Adam Williams with an introduction by GSMD Professor of Jazz Scott Stroman. The two and a half hour concert is available to stream here:
https://tinyurl.com/yyfujdjb   
The Trevor Tomkins Sextant album For Future Reference, is available for purchase from Jazz In Britain here: https://jazzinbritain.co.uk/album/for-future-reference

16 September 2023 - It is with much sadness that we report the passing of the great drummer and co-founder member of Nucleus John Marshall. His last studio album, Soft Machine's Other Doors was released earlier this year. He was a pivotal figure in jazz and will be much missed by many. He was 82 and had recently retired from playing. RIP John.

31 March 2023 - The radically revised and updated third edition of Elastic Dream - The Music Of Ian Carr: An Annotated Discography 
is published today by Jazz In Britain. It is available from Amazon or from the Jazz In Britain Bandcamp page here:
https://tinyurl.com/388akt5d

27 March 2023 - The long-awaited biography of Neil Ardley entitled Kaleidoscopes and Rainbows is now published by Jazz In Britain. A highly illustrated 400 page hardback it contains numerous photographs including rare, previously unpublished ones of Neil's friend and colleague Ian Carr. Full details are available on the Jazz In Britain Bandcamp page here: https://tinyurl.com/ywde5v47
Note: The book is also available via Amazon.

8 March 2023 - Be With Records is reissuing another welcome tranche of Nucleus albums on 26 May 2023. The four vinyl re-releases are Nucleus’ debut Elastic Rock (BEWITH125LP), its follow-up We’ll Talk About It Later (BEWITH126LP), the Ian Carr with Nucleus + masterpiece Solar Plexus (BEWITH127LP) and finally Snakehips Etcetera (BEWITH128LP). 

19 February 2023 - The latest issue of Jazzwise magazine (March 2023) awards the Rendell Carr Quintet's Warm Up (Jazz In Britain) a four star "recommended" rating. In his review in The Observer (19.2.23), Dave Gelly also awarded this album four stars.

16 December 2022 - Ian Carr's Belladonna gets a mention in a short piece by Jim Irvin within a feature entitled 1972 Nuggets in the February 2023 issue of Mojo magazine (Issue 351, pp 44-49).

9 September 2022 - This website is saddened to learn of the death of drummer Trevor Tomkins at the age of 81. Trevor was the powerhouse behind the Rendell Carr Quintet and later played on some Ian Carr and Nucleus and albums. He also played with Gilgamesh and bands led by Michael Garrick , Neil Ardley, Barbara Thompson and others. In addition to playing, he taught at the Guildhall School Of Music And Drama. A popular player on the scene for many years he will be sorely missed. RIP Trevor.

17 August 2022 - To coincide with their vinyl reissue, there's a full page review by Jim Irvin of Labyrinth, Under The Sun and Alleycat in the latest issue of Mojo magazine (October 2022, page 98) under the punning headline 
"New Hybrid Electric Carr".

10 July 2022 - This website is very sad to report the passing yesterday of the great Barbara Thompson. In addition to leading her own jazz rock band  Paraphernalia she was an outstanding soloist and composer and along with her late husband Jon Hiseman was a member of both The New Jazz Orchestra and The United Jazz And Rock Ensemble. RIP Barbara.

21 March 2022 - Following its highly praised reissue of Roots, vinyl specialist label BEWITH Records is reissuing three more Nucleus albums. Labyrinth (BEWITH103LP), Under The Sun (BEWITH104LP) and Alleycat (BEWITH105LP) are all scheduled for release on 16 September 2022. For more details see the BEWITH website here: https://www.bewithrecords.com

21 March 2022 - Nucleus Live At The BBC  has received some rave reviews including a four star "Recommended" review by Alyn Shipton in April 2022's Jazzwise magazine. Other very positive reviews published to date include one by Sid Smith in March 2022's Prog magazine and three others in The Beat magazine and websites London Jazz News and All About Jazz. 

23 December 2021 - Nucleus Live At The BBC  box set was released last week on the Repertoire label (REPUK1410). It comprises 13 CDs and a fully illustrated 30+ page booklet replete with rare photos and memorabilia. The audio quality throughout is stunningly good and was remastered by expert sound engineer Eroc. This is the first time that an extremely comprehensive box set of Nucleus live recordings made for broadcast by the BBC has been released. The whole project was the brainchild of Colin Harper (British jazz reissue consultant and author of Bathed In Lightning - the biography of John McLaughlin) who coordinated the release from start to finish. It is, of course, highly recommended!

28 September 2021 - Nucleus Live At The BBC, a major retrospective 12 CD box set from Repertoire Records, is in preparation and will be released in late Autumn. More details from the Repertoire website here:
https://www.repertoirerecords.com/artists/nucleus/nucleus-live-at-the-bbc/
This box set is populated throughout by some never-before-heard rarities including a BBC Jazz in Britain broadcast from 19th April 1971, The Dream, composed by pianist Gordon Beck and performed by Nucleus (but not to be confused with Beck's 1989 album, Dreams!)

19 July 2021 - A vinyl reissue of the 1973 Ian Carr's Nucleus album Roots is scheduled for release on 22 October 2021 on the Manchester-based Be With Records label (Bewith102LP). The label's website enthuses about this reissue thus: Originally released on Vertigo in 1973, other than a couple of versions at the time, Roots was never re-pressed since so it’s gone on to become another one of those impossible to find records. Maybe it was a little too out there for the time, but it’s aged very, very well indeed and this Be With re-issue, remastered from the original analogue tapes, shows off just why this deserves to be back in press. For more info and to pre-order go to the Be With website page here:  https://www.bewithrecords.com/products/ian-carrs-nucleus-roots-lp

15 July 2021 - The August 2021 issue of Jazzwise includes a three page interview by Alyn Shipton with pianist/composer Nikki Yeoh on her formative jazz years studying with her mentor Ian Carr. It also reveals her forthcoming commission dedictaed to Ian and appropriately entitled "Nucleus". All being well the piece will be performed in 2022 by the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. No other details have yet been revealed.

18 June 2021 - Ian Carr's seminal 1972 album Belladonna (remastered at half-speed) was reissued at the end of April on the Mr Bongo label both on vinyl and CD. This is an official reissue, remastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road and features the original Vertigo swirl logo on the record labels.you’re looking for tutorials, tips, or simply for some inspiration, our content is designed to give you the tools and knowledge to reach your goals.We strive to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and techniques, so that you can stay ahead of the game. Our team of experienced professionals is dedicated to guiding you towards success and helping you to become the best version of yourself.

2 April 2021 - Jazz In Britain announces a newly discovered archival treasure! Ian Carr Double Quintet : Solar Session
This double quintet recorded this as a live in-studio set in London on the 26th October 1970.
It has never previously been released. Tracks comprise: Element 1; Bedrock Deadlock; Spirit Level; Torso; Snakehips' Dream. It is released around June 2021 as a limited edition 10" vinyl EP, limited editon CD and digital download.
The line-up is: Ian Carr, Harold Beckett - trumpet/flugelhorn; Brian Smith - tenor/soprano sax; 
Tony Roberts - tenor sax/bass clarinet; Karl Jenkins - electric piano/oboe; Chris Spedding - guitar;
Ron Matthewson - bass guitar; Jeff Clyne - bass; John Marshall - drums; Chris Karan - congas;
Keith Winter - VCS3. More details here: https://jazzinbritain.co.uk/album/solar-session

29 January 2021 - A major retrospective of the work of documentary filmmaker Mike Dibb - A Listening Eye: The Films Of Mike Dibb - is currently available free to view online via the Whitechapel Gallery website here: https://www.whitechapelgallery.org/events/a-listening-eye/ Mike Dibb has made several films about jazz including documentaries on Miles Davis, Keith Jarrett (with Ian Carr as consultant), The Rendell Carr Quintet and Barbara Thompson and Jon Hiseman.

23 January 2021 - Jazz In Britain is releasing a spectacular double CD of a live concert of Neil Ardley's Kaleidoscope Of Rainbows recorded at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 20th October 1975. As with the studio version on Gull Records, this concert included the current line-up of Nucleus plus guests. The recording quality is in excellent stereo. It will also be available as a digital download. Liner notes are by Sid Smith. For more details and to purchase the album check out the Jazz In Britain Bandcamp website here: https://jazzinbritain1.bandcamp.com/album/kaleidoscope-of-rainbows-live-75

13 January 2021 - From the Jazz In Britain Facebook page: "We are very excited to announce that Don Rendell Ian Carr - Blue Beginnings is now available to pre-order on download and limited edition LP from the links below (CD coming later). Previously unreleased. Beautifully packaged 180g vinyl. Flip-back sleeve. Strictly limited pressing run of 500 copies worldwide. Includes colour insert reproduction of original 1965 Shades Of Blue press release and extensive liner notes by Simon Spillett. Fully authorised."
Full details here: jazzinbritain1.bandcamp.com/album/blue-beginnings

​14 December 2020 - Barbara Thompson Live At The BBC – As stated on the Temple Music website: “This previously hidden treasure trove of Barbara Thompson recordings amounts to 14 CDs containing 27 complete radio programmes recorded and broadcast by the BBC over a period of 21 years. Many come from Barbara’s own, tapes, preserved by her husband, legendary drummer Jon Hiseman, in their archive at Temple Music, while others have been gathered from private collections across Britain and Europe. The material ranges from a live concert by the New Jazz Orchestra, introduced by Humphrey Lyttelton, in February 1969 to a set by Paraphernalia, featuring Jon Hiseman and keyboard player Peter Lemer, dating from June 1990.” It also contains Ian Carr’s participation on the New Jazz Orchestra CD and his detailed introductions to some of the various concerts.

4 December 2020 - This website is very sad to report the death of the virtuoso bassist Ron Mathewson who played on some of the most noteworthy British jazz albums including Tubby Hayes' Mexican Green, Kenny Wheeler's Song For Someone, Ronnie Scott's Serious Gold and Ian Carr's Solar Plexus. He also played and recorded with The Clarke Boland Big Band and Philly Joe Jones amongst many others. R.I.P. Ron.

14 November 2020 - The Don Rendell/Ian Carr Quintet – BBC Jazz Club Sessions 1965-1966 is now available from Rhythm & Blues Records on CD. It contains very rare previously unreleased recordings of three radio broadcasts. The first programme features Colin Purbrook on piano and the second set showcases Jeff Clyne on bass who depped for regular bassist Dave Green. The third set, compered by Humphrey Lyttelton presents the “classic” RCQ line-up with heart-stopping versions of Dusk Fire and Les Neiges D’Antan (The Snows Of Yesteryear) amongst others. The recording quality is extremely high and the CD is accompanied by eight pages of sleeve notes by Simon Spillett plus rare photographs. This release is highly recommended.