Ed O’Donnell, The Doyen Of Leeds Jazz

Over many years I have interviewed countless jazzmen (and a few women), who have given me pleasure by the music they played and the gusto or sensitivity with which they played it. One stands out from the rest because he was completely different. In all I interviewed him five times, three at home and two after a gig. Amazingly, he never repeated himself, his fund of anecdotes endless.

Albums: The Strokes - Reality Awaits

For a band that practically wrote the blueprint for 21st-century indie rock, The Strokes has always seemed oddly uncomfortable with nostalgia. Reality Awaits, the long-awaited seventh album, doesn't try to recreate the leather-jacket cool of Is This It or simply extend the sleek melancholy of The New Abnormal

Albums: Role Model Chuck Timely & The Hourglass

Before his breakthrough hit Sally, When the Wine Runs Out, Role Model often felt like an artist still searching for his identity. That song changed everything, pairing effortless charm with sharp songwriting, and Chuck Timely & The Hourglass proves it was no fluke. Rather than simply chasing the success of his biggest hit to date, Role Model uses it as a springboard for an album that feels more confident, more adventurous and, ultimately, more complete.

Classical Music: De Profundis: Choral Works by Parry and Elgar

Signum pairs two composers who rarely feel like strangers to one another, and this disc makes the case for their kinship well. Parry's De Profundis — a large-scale, twelve-part setting of Psalm 130 — dominates proceedings, its long arc from penitence to consolation still capable of catching a listener off guard more than a century on. God Is Our Hope and Strength offers a shorter but no less confident companion piece, while Elgar supplies the disc's more intimate corners: the partsong The Snow and the folk-inflected Scenes from the Bavarian Highlands, both far removed from the pomp he's better known for.

Classical Music: Scenes From Finland

The Oulu Sinfonia are the real stars of this cycle: precise, accurate, never once caught fumbling for a note, with woodwind and strings that make light and melody of everything put in front of them. Four composers, one landscape, and not a single weak link in the chain — Sibelius would probably approve of the company he's keeping

Exploding Flowers On Tour

Exploding Flowers has often found itself mentioned alongside revered names such as Big Star, The Soft Boys and the many bands associated with New Zealand's legendary Flying Nun Records. Rather than shy away from those comparisons, the band embraces them.

2026 Mercury Prize ‘Albums Of The Year’ Revealed

The Utilita Arena will host October's ceremony, with Sam Fender's home city welcoming back Britain and Ireland's most prestigious album prize — Andrew Palmer reports. Newcastle will once again take centre stage for British and Irish music this autumn, as the Mercury Prize confirmed the city will host its 2026 Awards Show on Thursday 22nd October at the Utilita Arena.

1980s Soundtrack In Conversation With Tom Bailey

Few artists are as closely associated with the soundtrack of the 1980s as Tom Bailey. As the frontman of the Thompson Twins, he helped define an era with a string of timeless synth-pop classics, yet his relationship with that legacy has always been measured rather than nostalgic.

Huddersfield Choral Youth Choirs Is Calling For Young Singers To Come Along To A Fun, Musical Day Out On 25 August

The Summer Singers Holiday Club will take place on Tuesday 25 August from 9.30am to 3.30pm at Lindley Methodist Church. The event is open to children aged seven and over and costs £25 per child. Organised by Huddersfield Choral Youth Choirs, the one-day club promises a lively mix of songs, games and music-making in a friendly, supportive setting.

Opeth - Paradise Found In Halifax

Two of rock music’s giants stormed into the Piece Hall in Halifax to give the summer series of concerts at the venue a heavier tone.

Double Bill For Mighty Wurlitzer As Two Organists Share Saltaire Console

August brings something a little different to Victoria Hall, Saltaire, where two organists will share the console of the Mighty Wurlitzer for a single afternoon concert on Sunday 9th August at 2.30pm. Two players, of course, means two personalities — and audiences can expect two distinct takes on this extraordinary instrument.

From Alpine Roots To Global Stages: How Oesch’s Die Dritten Keep Tradition Alive

In the rolling green valleys of Switzerland’s Bernese Oberland, where yodelling once carried messages from mountain to mountain, a family ensemble has spent nearly three decades proving that tradition need not stand still to survive.

Chris Murphy: Songs From The Trees,

With his new album Songs From The Trees, Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Chris Murphy has created a record that feels both timeless and adventurous.

Albums: Bachelor Girl Waiting For The Day: Artist Sessions

Far too often, anniversary albums feel like contractual obligations or exercises in nostalgia. Waiting for the Day: Artist Sessions is neither. It breathes new life into an already exceptional collection of songs while introducing them to a new generation through some of Australia's finest artists. More importantly, it serves as a reminder that Bachelor Girl's songwriting has always deserved to be spoken about alongside the very best pop of its era.

Crossover Albums: Revival: The New Album by Reductio

The textures throughout are stunning, and the resonance and reverberation are captured with real skill—this is a beautifully engineered record, not just a gimmick with a good story. What next—a bishop or dean DJing the gospel reading to a four-on-the-floor beat? Whatever it takes to draw new audiences into our cathedrals and abbeys, let's try it. I love its difference. I love its challenging nature. I love the disco beat. And for a critic over 60, I thoroughly enjoyed every irreverent, reverberating minute of it. Try it—and dare yourself to like it.

Albums: Now That’s What I Call Soft Rock & Power Pop Anthems

This new compilation brings together some of the biggest commercial rock songs of the last fifty years over a set of four CDs or three blue vinyl albums.

Albums: Ariana Grande Petal

If Eternal Sunshine hinted at a more reflective Ariana, Petal fully embraces that direction. These songs unfold gently, rewarding patience rather than demanding attention. The production is smooth and understated, blending soft pop with contemporary R&B textures that give the record a dreamy, almost weightless feel.

The CBSO Launches 'First Listen' – A Three-Part Concert Series For New Audiences, With Tickets Just £5 Each

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) has announced ‘First Listen’, a new three-part concert series at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall which has been created to introduce orchestral music to a new audience. At one hour each, and with tickets costing just £5, each concert in the series is designed to be the ideal introduction to seeing a symphony orchestra live.

Classical Music: Contemporary Uzbek Music for Clarinet and Piano

Contemporary Uzbek Music for Clarinet and Piano is the first commercial recording given over wholly to this repertoire, and it arrives with several works written for and dedicated to its soloist. Sayyod Mirzomurodov, an international soloist, chamber musician, and educator, is about as well placed as any clarinettist could be to bring this music to disc: several of the pieces exist because he does.

Classical Music: Vienna Philharmonic Sommernachtskonzert Schönbrunn 2026

The world's largest annual open-air classical concert needs no introduction, but Schönbrunn's Baroque park still supplies one every June: torchlit gardens standing in for a concert hall and a Viennese audience with the best seats in Europe. This year's instalment, recorded on 19 June, brought two Summer Night Concert debuts of consequence — Lorenzo Viotti on the podium and Sir Bryn Terfel as soloist, despite decades of prior collaboration with the orchestra. It hardly sounds like a first date.

HENGE Prepare To Beam Down Across 17 Countries On Biggest Mission Yet

After a decade of steadily expanding their reach across the UK and Europe, Manchester's self-proclaimed intergalactic travellers HENGE are preparing for their biggest Earth mission to date. The band have announced a 75-date world tour spanning 17 countries – with more still to come – marking not only their most ambitious run yet but also their long-awaited first shows across North America.

Albums: Little Miss Twain Shania Twain

Perhaps the biggest surprise arrives with Faded Blue Jeans, featuring Josh Homme. It's an unlikely pairing that somehow makes complete sense, with Homme's gravelly vocals adding a rugged edge to a song that blurs the boundaries between country, blues and rock. Their chemistry is effortless, and the result is one of the album's most memorable collaborations

Albums: Amy Shark Soft Pop

Amy Shark has always excelled at turning life's awkward, painful and complicated moments into memorable songs, but soft pop feels different. Stripped back and refreshingly uncomplicated, this is an album that places her voice and innermost thoughts front and centre, allowing the emotion to do the heavy lifting. The production rarely gets in the way, creating the feeling that you're sitting with Shark as she quietly unpacks her experiences without fear, shame or pretence.

Follow Your Gut, Don't Rush, Don't Compromise: Shawn Colvin On 30 Years Of A Few Small Repairs

Over the course of more than three decades, Shawn Colvin has established herself as one of America's most captivating performers and revered storytellers.

A Year At Portsmouth

Thirty years is no small tenure, and Regent Records' latest instalment in its cathedral series chooses to mark David Price's three decades at the helm of music at Portsmouth Cathedral with a disc that feels less like a retrospective and more like a tide turning full circle. As is the way with this series, the selection draws from the choir's repertoire across the liturgical year, and the result is a recording of genuine freshness — one that rewards repeated listening rather than exhausting itself on a single pass.

Classical Music: Martha Argerich: A- Z Schumann - Tchaikovsky

Martha Argerich is nothing less than the High Priestess of the Piano, and this release marks a fitting way to celebrate her 85th birthday: a complete digital collection of her recordings for Deutsche Grammophon and Philips, spanning 65 years, from 1961 to the present day. Her solo recordings, though relatively few, are each a gem — from Chopin to Ravel, Bach to Schumann — but it is her partnerships with the great artists of her generation that have defined her legacy: Claudio Abbado, Nelson Freire, Gidon Kremer, Mischa Maisky and Daniel Barenboim are among them.

Yorkshire Music Charity To Merge With National Young Talent Fund

A North Yorkshire-based music charity is joining forces with national charity Future Talent to provide increased support for young musicians in Yorkshire and the North East.

Opera North To Perform At Bradford’s Darley Street Market

Opera North’s bitesize version of Mozart’s The Magic Flute comes to Bradford’s Darley Street Market this August, offering a fairy tale opera for all the family. Mini Magic Flute packs fun, fantasy and enchanting music into a 40-minute story, making it perfect for all ages to experience their first taste of opera. A prince is in search of a princess, but will they ever find each other?

One Voice Choir To Sing For Supper With A Soul Food Festival

Audience donations of tinned and dried food will be accepted as admission to special charity concert taking please this weekend Saturday 25th July as part of the MET programme of entertainment which launched in Preston this weekend. The One Voice Choir, a Preston based group, is inviting local music lovers to enjoy an evening of live entertainment while helping families in need this summer.

From Croy Village Hall To Nashville: Jamie Rafferty On The EP That Ticks Every Box

A village hall in North Lanarkshire is not where careers in Nashville are supposed to begin. Jamie Rafferty's did anyway.

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