Julian Arguelles: Let It Be Told | Album Reviews

Having an imperial past has its advantages.

The UK jazz scene has always been enriched by the various diasporas from around the empire who have relocated to London and never more so than by the members of influential South African group the Blue Notes, who made their home in London during the apartheid era.

Saxophonist Dudu Pukwana and pianist Chris McGregor were a particular inspiration for saxophonist Julian Arguelles and his contemporaries in the seminal Loose Tubes big band, and here, in the company of fellow Loose Tuber, keyboardist Django Bates, Arguelles re-arranges their upbeat music for his old friends in the Frankfurt Radio Big Band.

The results are a joyous affirmation of the liberating power of music and a vehicle for some big-hearted solos from the leader.