The Tories introduced the 50% strike ballot threshold to make industrial action harder. MATT WRACK argues that a Labour government has no justification for leaving it on the statute book
Kenny Wheeler
Songs for Quintet
(ECM 2388)
4/5
WHEN you go through the pedestrian tunnels of Leytonstone Underground station in east London, you pass through a series of striking mosaics of scenes from films by Alfred Hitchcock, who spent his childhood over his father’s grocery shop in Leytonstone High Road. There’s even one of the boy Hitchcock on a pony outside his dad’s shop, with flags and bunting waving.
But if you leave the station and walk northwards towards Wallwood Road, you’ll find another memorial — a blue plaque commemorating another Leytonstone resident who made the Atlantic crossing in the opposite direction to Hitchcock and whose artistry, for more than 60 years, was at least the equal of the cinema legend.
CHRIS SEARLE urges you to listen to two new albums by the US Indian pianist VIJAY IYER
CHRIS SEARLE recommends a work of love and deep admiration for a great musician
CHRIS SEARLE recommends a new album featuring Pat Thomas and Ahmed, and marvels at the tempestuous power of a live performance
As part of the 2025 London Jazz Festival Rich Mix offered intriguing sessions titled 'Persian Jazz,' CHRIS SEARLE was there


