JAZZ & BLUES
The Latin fever that has been gripping London for some time now shows little sign of abating as Camden's Jazz Cafe intersperses its acid- jazz evenings with a couple of highly promising shows. Tomorrow night the Venezuelan percussionist Orlando Poleo makes his UK debut with his Orquesta Chaworo in support of a 1998 Sony album that comes garlanded with praise.
Poleo apparently has a wide-ranging grasp of salsa styles, but he cannot match the experience of fellow percussionist Ray Barretto, who is at the same venue on Wednesday and Thursday. In a career stretching over four decades, he has performed with the likes of Charlie Parker and Max Roach and recorded more than 40 albums - and is unlikely to disappoint.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Jazz Cafe welcomes the highly accomplished fusion and straight-ahead guitarist Mike Stern in support of his soon- to-be-released but as-yet-untitled new CD from Atlantic Records. An alumnus of Miles Davis's electric bands, Stern is - on the evidence of that recording - starting to wear his Pat Metheny influence on his sleeve, though he is capable of producing an original sound.
Back in the centre of town, Mose Allison - the Mississippi bluesman with a nice sideline in bop - takes up his familiar position behind the piano at the Pizza Express Jazz Club, Dean Street for much of the rest of the month.
On the recorded front, anybody lucky enough to have seen one of last autumn's handful of appearances by Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham, arguably the creators of the genre known as country soul, will be delighted to know that Proper Records has just released a record of that trip. Moments From This Theatre features such classics as "I'm Your Puppet", "It Tears Me Up" and "The Dark End of the Street" and is a fitting reminder of shows that were highly affecting affairs from two experienced hands.
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