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Autumn CD release: Finn Peters - Su-Ling
Babel are set to release the debut acoustic jazz album Su-Ling from the extremely versatile F-IRE collective flautist/saxophonist Finn Peters. Finn is a member of contemporary classical music group Nosferatu and already a face on the club scene, being involved with vocalist Jhelisa Anderson,Two Banks of Four and his own bands under several guises such as Dr Seus that have been championed by DJ Gilles Peterson. Peterson has commented recently on the upcoming Babel release: "I've been lucky to have had several of the tracks on this brilliant debut upfront and have loved playing them on the radio - now its your turn!". Also look out for a 3-page Jazzwise magazine feature in August.
Keep visiting the website for upcoming news on Finn including a live tour.

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Polar Bear nominated for 2006 Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Award Drummer Seb Rochford's Polar Bear added yet another award nomination to their illustrious collection. Having received huge acclaim, throughout as well as beyond the jazz world, for their second album Held on the Tips of Fingers -including a 2005 Mercury nomination and a new 2006 BBC Jazz award nomination - Polar Bear got the vote of government receiving a nomination for both CD and Ensemble of the year at the second Parliamentary Jazz appreciation awards. The ceremony was held on 10th May 2006 at the House of Commons hosted by Paul Gambaccini and attended by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, former Chancellor Kenneth Clarke MP, Lord David Steele and Sir John Dankworth CBE

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New July CD release:
Julie Sassoon solo piano due out in the shops early July,but you can buy it now online from Babel by clicking on sleeve on left. She is the eloquent pianist from Azilut who recorded the Babel cult classic To the Power of Three to much critical acclaim in 2001. Julie Sassoon played but will be launching her solo piano album 'New Life' (see sleeve left for samples and more info) at the Vortex jazz club, Dalston on 15 July (see lives.There is also be a piece on Julie featured in the July issue of Jazzwise Magazine.
Recent press:
"Here's a solo piano album made by an artist who was six months  pregnant at the time of recording, over two days in May, 2004. It's  tempting to make the connection between Julie's condition and the  music. It's a connection she herself makes: the five extended  improvisations have the titles ‘Indecisive Madness', ‘PM Song', ‘New  Life', ‘Forty Four' and ‘Safe Passage'. And the inlay photo in the CD  case is as arresting as the Demi Moore pregnant Vanity Fair shot. The music is just as vulnerable. ‘Indecisive Madness' is not, as the  title suggests, the incoherent ramblings of a woman awash with  hormones, but a model of harmonic logic and elegance that recalls  Debussy. The pulsing rhythms of ‘New Life' have a questing  obsessiveness, but there is a precedent in the work of Sassoon's  obvious jazz role model, Keith Jarrett. Koln Concert might have been  made under trying conditions, but at least he wasn't pregnant. What is unquestionable is the emotional commitment of Sassoon's  performance, in which raw instinct and trained musicality combine to  create something new, and it feels like the most natural thing in the  world. Julie's daughter, Mia, was born on September 2, 2004, which  means that the album had a longer gestation than the baby. The hidden  track consists of reassuring gurgles." (Mike Butler -Jazz UK)

"...will intrigue anyone interested in the process of jazz improvisation." Chris Parker, vortexjazz.co.uk

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Margate Festival 2006 line up just announced

After the success of last year's first Margate Jazz Festival (see right) Babel will be a sponsor of the 2nd Margate Jazz Festival that will run over 3 days from 14-16 July. The line up has just been announced as follows:

Friday 14th - John Dankworth and Cleo Laine at the Winter Gardens £16

FREE JAZZ ON THE PIAZZA
Saturday 15th - Mark Lockheart's Big Idea; Annie Whitehead Big Sky Quartet; Julian Siegel Quartet; Christine Tobin; Colin Towns Mask Septet; Light of the World;
Sunday 16th - Soothsayers; The Stan Tracey Quartet ; Paul Booth's Harbour Jazz Orchestra; The hKippers; Liane Carroll & Ian Shaw Duo    

Other jazz events in Margate as part of the Festival
Saturday 15 - Light of the World, Q Bar tbc (£7.00)
Saturday 15 - BougaraBou, Market Place (3.00pm)
Sunday 16 - Estelle Kokot, The Piazza (From 2.00pm Free
Sunday 16 - Badoo/Sparkes, drum workshop. 3.00pm  Free
Tuesday 18 - John Etheridge, Wig & Pen  7.30pm £tbc
Wednesday 19 - Carol Grimes & Steve Lodder, Impressions  7.30pm £tbc
Thursday 20 - Sosax,  Café G   7.30pm  £7.50
Friday 21 - Paul Booth & Friends,  Smith Court Hotel  7.30pm  £tbc
Saturday 22 - Christine Tobin & Liam Noble, The Harbour Café  7.30pm £tbc

for further information please contact
We are thinking about hiring a coach to bring people down. If you are interested, let us know

To check out more live dates for Babel artists all over the UK and abroad please click here. We are constantly updating our live page so keep going back.