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With a single dessert and just two glasses of wine our bill was kept in check - but the effort of doing so was not much fun
Babbo
Film
This is a film with beautiful performances and a visual style that urges you towards reflection
Bright Star
Theatre
Although the first half of Kwei-Armah’s production is pacy, funny and intelligent, the energy level then drops off
Seize The Day
I loved this film from start to finish. Take the girlfriend, tell your mum - I'd see it again tomorrow and will buy the dvd.
I saw this last night and can't remember the last time I was so moved in the theatre.
I have been to many of London's so-called best Japanese restaurants and none have been as good as the food that I've had at Aqua Kyoto
London,
Jack Massarik's rating
Reader rating
Description: A festive fun session from the world renowned orchestra under the direction of Barry Forgie.
Phone: 0871663 2500
Website: www.southbankcetre.co.uk
Extra info: Food, Pub, Air Conditioning, Telephones
Each year a star player is invited to front the BBC Big Band in some expansive music of his or her own choosing. Trumpeter Roy Hargrove was well up to standard. The slim Texan brought some scintillating scores and conducted them faultlessly. He also played brilliantly, particularly in a blistering first-half set with his dynamic young US quintet. Heated altoist Justin Robinson, mighty drummer Montez Coleman, propulsive bassist Danton Boller and an outstanding pianist, the dreadlocked Gerald Clayton, held nothing back. After an Afro-Cuban mambo, a gospel romp and a Cedar Walton burner, Hargrove restored order with a sumptuous flugel-horn ballad, Speak Low at the slowest tempo at which music can swing.
The second half, compered for BBC Radio 3 by Julian Joseph with his customary air of benign charm and mild bewilderment, contained a few hiccups but gathered steam when bandsmen including trumpeter Martin Shaw and saxophonists Martin Williams and Andy Panayi joined the solo roster. These are players of international class but an American rhythm section as crisp as Hargrove’s was still a distinct bonus.
So, too, was the vivacious Roberta Gambarini, a scat-singing guest from New York via Turin. She performed one number in Spanish, persuaded Roy to sing a chorus of September in the Rain, and swapped four-bar breaks with him in a snappy blues chase that rounded off a successful evening. Listen to the results on BBC iPlayer.
Until Sunday (londonjazzfestival.org.uk and bbc.co.uk/radio3).
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
