Barack Obama loves her, the purists call her the real thing — and now, says Esperanza Spalding, who performs at the London Jazz Festival next month, she wants the world to hear her astonishing music
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Hero of the Sixties counter-culture Michael Horovitz tells Tim Willis why it would take uncommon sense for him to be appointed Oxford professor of Poetry on Friday.... more
Could suitors soon be circling for Home Retail Group? That was the question on traders’ lips today, with both private-equity firms and trade buyers mooted as potential bidders... more
With jazz megastars becoming ever more scarce, featuring two of them in one supergroup was a masterstroke for London Jazz Festival's closing night.... more
Camille undoes preconceptions of French pop, The Breeders release their most accomplished and ambitious album and alto-sax genius Charlie Parker's legacy continues.... more
The little-known friendship of the black jazz diva Ella Fitzgerald and white Hollywood sex goddess Marilyn Monroe makes for an absorbing piece of theatre... more
Chick Corea and Bela Fleck share an extraordinary split-second empathy, not only when performing their super-precise duets but also while soloing.... more
Some classy pop from Tori Amos, more of the same old rope from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and a nice send-off for the late jazzman Tony Scott are among the week's offerings.... more
The Last King of Scotland, a riveting fiction about African dictator Idi Amin, boasts a terrifying performance from Forest Whitaker, says Derek Malcolm.... more
With Acoustic Ladyland's new album offering up a post-punk twist on jazz, Pete Wareham talks about how his skater past is influencing the present.... more
Clint Eastwood, Hollywood's most famous Republican, used to make gung-ho movies, but his latest is anti-war. As he tells Mike Goodridge, he didn't mean it to be unpatriotic.... more
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