Off to Darfield Library to change my books; local libraries staffed by trained librarians are the heart of every community. Long may they thrive!

www.ticketsource.com/sgct/dylan-f.... This should be a great gig with the brilliant Dylan Fowler, former member of The Ian McMillan Orchestra!

👍

I love that venue... I was lucky enough to see Corey Mwamba playing in a duo with Robert Mitchell there a couple of months ago. Hats off to ace organiser Mr @jazzteabeer.bsky.social 😎

Japanese scientists have confirmed a monumental discovery: asteroid Ryugu contains all 5 nucleobases essential for DNA and RNA. By analyzing 5.4 grams of material returned by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft, researchers identified adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine, and uracil in similar proportions.

Coming up this Wednesday at The Lescar! A brilliant 7 piece line up led by Miles Pillinger and Fergus Quill, and a unique and energising tribute to Brazilian music legend Hermeto Pascoal. Doors 8pm, music 8.30pm, £10 or £7 for students. www.jazzatthelescar.com/index.html

Dollar Brand, Don Cherry, & Carlos Ward • The Third World-Underground (1974) Sept. 11 • WEWANTSOUNDS wewantsounds.bandcamp.com/album/the-th...

So proud of Andrew’s letter in the Barnsley Chronicle!

For the first gig of the summer we were spoiled for choice with a double bill of explorative, forward-thinking music provided by brand-new London-based quartet Bishop/Hafner and longstanding local duo Jez Matthews (@jazzteabeer.bsky.social) and Will Shaw. ✍️ Ebony Nembhard

TONIGHT at The Lescar Ruth Goller (Skylla, Melt Yourself Down, Let Spin, Laura Jurd) on electric bass/voice + Pedro Velasco on guitar and effects. Thunderous bass sounds, delicate, unique tunings, layered vocal lines, beautiful meditative guitar playing. 8pm, doors 7.30pm £10 or £7 for students.

So happy about this! A campaign I've long supported, and a venue/community I've long supported, coming together with this for a Sheffield venue is just..! 👨‍🍳😘

Abdullah Ibrahim, quiet giant of the jazz piano, has died at 91. www.npr.org/2026/06/15/8...

Rest in Power, maestro Abdullah Ibrahim. Here is a fine NPR Music obit by Martin Johnson.

There's a lot of discussion in the news at the moment about the safety of children on the internet. Yet the very real physical harm done by cars to children, on a regular basis, rarely gets attention. Echoes of Wimbledon here 😕

So long, Abdullah Ibrahim.

RIP Abdullah Ibrahim (1934-2026)

They played an absolutely brilliant gig at @listencambridge.bsky.social back in January. You're in for a magical evening!

Coming up at The Lescar this Wed 17th June, two brilliant & distinctive musicians, Ruth Goller (electric bass/voice) and Pedro Velasco (guitar/effects); two solo sets, plus a magical duo performance to finish. Doors 8pm, music 8.30pm, £10 or £7 students. Details here: www.jazzatthelescar.com

Hamba Kahle Abdullah Ibrahim. Thank you for the decades of wonderful music!

Pianist Abdullah Ibrahim crafted a magnificent new culture for South Africa theconversation.com/pianist-abdu...

RIP to Abdullah Ibrahim. Here is a fine recent career overview, from the NYRB: archive.ph/0xgN0

RIP Abdullah Ibrahim (sigh) Think we’ll be listening to this tonight youtu.be/1RDbvShzznc?...

Not to poet-post, but one of the problems of the internet is that it's fuelled a culture in which people "love poetry" but never actually pay for it - consuming fragments posted online instead of immersing themselves in full collections - then being surprised when poets ask to be paid for their work

Abdullah Ibrahim’s “playing rarely relies on force; instead it creates soundscapes of reflection….Now and then he interjects a surprising burst of swing or rumbling bass when the mood strikes him, but for the most part his playing is understated. The overall effect is one of intimacy and reverence.”

Sam Gendel & Sam Wilkes :: Unrelated aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/06/02/s... On their fourth LP together, the West Coast duo trades saxophone and bass for synthesized textures, artificial tones, and strange tropical pulse. A wobbly set that ventures deeper into the Uncanny Valley.

There is no limit to the amount of drilling and sawing that people have to do on quiet Sunday mornings. They must all have limitless books and things to put on the shelves they are putting up.

The excellent RTT (Real Time Trains) website now has an app! It shows how any British train performed up to 2 weeks ago, shows planned rolling stock for any given train, and shows the *planned* platform so you can be positioned ready, ahead of the scrum (includes Eurostar).

It is with deep sorrow and profound love that we announce the passing of Sonny Rollins. The Saxophone Colossus died this afternoon at his home in Woodstock, NY at the age of 95. 1/2

Here's a #GiftLink to this New York Times obit of Sonny Rollins: www.nytimes.com/2026/05/25/a...

“My wishes for the planet in 2024: No killing. No killing. Don't kill anyone, anywhere, for any reason. -S.R.” Tweeted by Sonny Rollins on Dec 31, 2023

💔🎶✨🕊️💫🎷🙌🏾

a literal giant.

RIP Sonny Rollins, a great jazz talent and the last surviving musician in one of the best photos of men in suits during the 20th century

Join us TONIGHT 21/5 at The Lescar for Emma Coates, a wonderful saxophonist/vocalist, visiting us with a brilliant band (Tom McEwen - guitar, Nika Ticciati - bass, Louis Berthoud - drums). Here's a recent recording from Brudenell in Leeds. Doors 8pm, £10 / £7 students. youtu.be/FnmUYG8shzY?...

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/.... Evening stroll soundtrack: stirring jazz presented by @sowetokinch.bsky.social @bbcsounds.bsky.social

More information, press reviews and links to buy #JoinTheFuture here: jointhefuture.net/book/

Liyoze Line Nangakithi · Nduduzo Makhathini · Shabaka Hutchings youtu.be/-qkuB5hROIU?...

New music from Sheffield! Look Outside EP by Miserychords (James Peacock). ditto.fm/look-outside...

You may have seen a fair bit about Daniel Dylan Wray’s new history of music in Sheffield, ‘Groovy, Laidback & Nasty’. It’s a great book and well worth reading - I heartily recommend it. When you’re done with that, grab my book, #JoinTheFuture - plenty more Steel City fare in that

"Whatever I’m feeling while I’m making the album, is whatever I’m feeling, but sometimes I don’t realise what that is until I’ve gotten out of producer mode. I listen to the album later, and then the feelings are clear..." Miho Hatori Interviews Loraine James... and Vice Versa buff.ly/VX0KE3q

The Sleeves album on @12xurecs.bsky.social is so good and so unlike anything else rn. Great chat btwn them and @chrisrichards.bsky.social here. thefutureisourstomake.substack.com/p/open-to-an...

A magical night at the Keystones Piano Festival in the Samuel Worth Chapel, Sheffield. Brilliantly organised by @jazzteabeer.bsky.social and the ace Jazz At The Lescar team. Great news... Corey Mwamba is back! ❤️

My spring round up of hot new #jazz releases and tasty reissues/archival albums is up now on POW Mag. Featuring reviews of: Tomeka Reid, Aaron Shaw, Walter Smith III, Asher Gamedze, Harriet Tubman, Joe Henderson, Cecil Taylor, Julius Hemphill, Roy Hargrove.

So the war was quite literally pointless. All around the world they're rationing energy, there are food shortages, people are suffering and dying, all for absolutely fucking nothing.

Trumpeter/composer Ambrose Akinmusire and guitarist/composer @maryhalvorson.bsky.social have released "Blood & Sand," from their forthcoming album, 'Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings,' due June 12. You can hear it at akinmusirehalvorson.lnk.to/slomoneon

Our Sheffield-based community media platform, @nowthenmag.bsky.social, recently announced long-awaited plans to return to print. In part two of our 'History of Now Then' series on the Opus Blog, we explore how the magazine evolved over its first 12 years in print ⤵️ #Sheffield #IndependentMedia

This will, in all likelihood, be the last full-length collection that we publish. It's a fine book: as good as any we've put out in the last twenty years.

Bud Powell.

It's #bandcampfriday! Here's some music that I recorded last year with Hannah Brady (clarinet/sax) and Nicola Farnon (cello/pedals) at the Samuel Worth Chapel in Sheffield. whaledetective.bandcamp.com/album/whale-...