Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
Latest editorial
A galaxy of troubadours
A live jazz album brings back memories of the Duke’s phenomenal big band performance in 1960s Leeds for a nostalgic CHRIS SEARLE
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
Special report by PEOPLE’S WORLD
NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
Duke Ellington Orchestra
Ellington in Grona Lund 1963 (Storyville 1038330)
I FIRST heard the Duke Ellington Orchestra live in 1963 on their umpteenth European tour, while at the Grand Theatre, Leeds. It was during my first year at university.
It wasn’t quite the same personnel as on the version of the orchestra that played at this concert recorded at the Grona Lund Dance Inn in Stockholm a few months earlier in June 1963, but very close — the stratospheric trumpeter Cat Anderson came in for Ray Nance, otherwise it was the same.
Similar stories
CHRIS SEARLE recommends a new album featuring Pat Thomas and Ahmed, and marvels at the tempestuous power of a live performance
CHRIS SEARLE speaks to Filipino-US saxophonist JON IRABAGON about the threat of AI in the time of Musk and Trump, and how an artist can respond
WILL STONE witnesses an experimental piano concerto inspired by the work of a young Jewish victim of the Nazis
As part of the 2025 London Jazz Festival Rich Mix offered intriguing sessions titled 'Persian Jazz,' CHRIS SEARLE was there