Courtney Pine. Town & Country Club, Camden Jazz Festival, London c 1988.

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Lee Konitz and Joe Lovano, Glasgow Jazz Festival, The Old Fruitmarket, 1995.

Thanks to Rob Adams for confirming that this gig was in 1995.

Nice Jazz Festival, July 1977.

Some photographs from my second visit to the Nice Jazz Festival (“Grande Parade du Jazz”) at in the Roman ruins at Cimiez, Nice. (Here are my pictures from the previous year, 1976.)

Joe Newman and Clark Terry

Joe Newman

Clark Terry

Dizzy Gillespie

Alan Dawson, Jon Faddis and Dick Hyman

Zoot Simms

George Duvivier and Arnett Cobb

Earl “Fatha” Hines and Eddie Graham

Dave Brubeck

Nice Jazz Festival, July 1976.

For several years, my father went to the Nice Jazz Festival, set amongst the Roman ruins at Cimiez. In 1976 and 1977, it coincided with our family holiday. I wasn’t much of a jazz fan as a teenager: a week of jazz at Nice was sufficient for a whole year. (It was a few years before I really got gripped.) But I did take quite a few photographs (a habit which has stayed).

Doc Cheatham

Joe Newman

Dick Hyman

Gerry Mulligan

Illinois Jacquet

Eddie Daniels and Zoot Simms

Zoot Simms

Tommy Smith Quintet featuring Jason Rebello. The Town & Country Club, Camden Jazz Festival, c. 1990(?).

As far as I recall, this gig was part of a Blue Note night at the T&CC.

Evan Parker / John Edwards / Mark Sanders with Mikolaj Trzaska. Cafe Oto, London, September 2014.

Julian Arguelles. “Playtime”, August 2014.

“Playtime” with Chris Grieve. Edinburgh, May 2014.

Christian Scott Sextet. Edinburgh Jazz Festival, July 2014.

Leah Gough-Cooper / Hanna Paulsberg Quartet and Julian Arguelles Quartet. Edinburgh Jazz Festival, July 2014.

I hadn’t seen Julian Arguelles play for several years, and then I get to see him twice in a week…

First up though was Leah Gough-Cooper and Hanna Paulsberg Quartet. I saw Gough-Cooper play in last year’s festival with a sextet, and whilst I thought the playing was excellent, the compositions didn’t work for me – they seemed took busy, as if trying to fit in everything she could do.

The tunes she and Paulsberg brought to the party this year were of a different order – simpler, but with more depth; essentially more mature. With Gough-Cooper on alto and Paulsberg on tenor, they had gutsy voices, ably helped by Calum Gourlay on bass. They played a really enjoyable set.

Arguelles set which followed was something else, though. A different league. Confident and assured, subtle and unshowy, the music was engrossing. They started off with several pieces from a suite and finished with a piece called “Iron Pyrites” apparently abstracted from a Stone Roses’ tune (with any of the Roses elements well and truly disposed of), and in between played a wealth of exciting music.

Arguelles was helped by his band – Kit Downes on piano, Sam Lasserson on bass and James Maddren on drums. Downes is always a pleasure and Maddren, who regularly plays in Downes’ trio, was a revelation – he could let rip in the less intimate, amplified setting. Together, the quartet were an excellent unit.

This was a wonderful gig, one of my favourites of the Festival, and I’m looking forward to seeing Arguelles again in Playtime’s Fringe programme on August 20!