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
Home’s heart is where the bass is king
Chris Searle reviews Sam Jones’s Cello and Bass (Fresh Sound)
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
One of jazz’s most sublime and overlooked bassists and a pioneer in bringing the cello into the jazz repertory, Sam Jones, was born in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1924.
When he arrived in New York in 1955 he soon found himself and his bass among stellar jazz fellowship, including stints with trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Kenny Dorham, Thelonius Monk and most prominently, a part of the rhythm section with drummer Louis Hayes of the Cannonball Adderley Quintet from 1959 to 1965.
The huge respect that he achieved among the finest jazz musicians of the era — they all called him “Home” Jones because he called everybody else “Home” — became evident in 1960-62 when he made three classic albums for the Riverside label, and many of them came forward to play in them as his sidemen.
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
As part of the 2025 London Jazz Festival Rich Mix offered intriguing sessions titled 'Persian Jazz,' CHRIS SEARLE was there
CHRIS SEARLE speaks to saxophonist and retired NHS orthopaedic surgeon ART THEMEN