theartsdesk Q&A: Singer Dee C Lee

Q&A: DEE C LEE The vocalist discusses music, life, love, heartbreak and glorious Eighties times

The vocalist chats through music, life, love, heartbreak and glorious Eighties times with The Style Council and WHAM!

Dee C Lee was born Diane Sealy in London in 1961. She is best known for her 1985 hit “See the Day”, later covered by Girls Aloud, and for being in two of the Eighties' most notable pop acts, The Style Council and WHAM!. But she was also prolifically involved in multiple other musical projects, and now has a new album appearing, Just Something, her first in over 25 years.

Album: Sarah Jane Morris - The Sisterhood

★★★★★ SARAH JANE MORRIS - THE SISTERHOOD A brilliant ode to female torchbearers

A brilliant ode to female torchbearers

Released yesterday to coincide with International Women’s Day, The Sisterhood will surely prove to be one of the brightest jewels in Sarah Jane Morris’s varicoloured discography.

Album: Squarepusher - Dostrotime

★★★★ SQUAREPUSHER - DOSTROTIME Chelmsfordian prog-jazz-acid-rave mania

Chelmsfordian prog-jazz-acid-rave mania showing no signs of dimming

Tom “Squarepusher” Jenkinson has covered a lot of ground over three decades, from dank cellar ambience to refined baroque composition, and from chirpy funk to monstrous noise. But his default mode is instantly recognisable: 170+ beats per minute jungle / drum’n’bass-adjacent breakbeats, squelching acid techno synths, high drama rave chords, all with him playing jazz fusion bass guitar over the top like a maniac.

Tony Kofi Quartet, 606 Club review - from good to great

★★★★★ TONY KOFI QUARTET, 606 CLUB From good to great

British-Ghananian saxophonist and his fabulous quartet pay homage to Thelonius Monk

Twenty years ago, the British-Ghanaian saxophonist Tony Kofi recorded the results of a venture as ambitious as it was potentially audacious: an album of transpositions for sax of music by the master of improvisational quirk and idiosyncratic technique on piano: Theolonius Monk.

Album: Plantoid - Terrapath

The surprise return of the nexus of prog-rock and jazz-rock fusion

Terrapath is a prog-rock album with a large dash of jazz-rock fusion. When the styles were in their Seventies pomp, an album side could be occupied by one cut. Both sides might feature, at most, four, maybe five tracks. Yet Plantoid’s debut LP fits 10 tracks into its 39 minutes, three of which are under three minutes apiece.

Music Reissues Weekly: Mike Makhalemele & Winston “Mankunku” Ngozi - The Bull And The Lion

Important, Apartheid-flouting South African jazz album from 1976 re-emerges

The Bull And The Lion was originally released in 1976 by Jo'burg, a South African label which opened-up for business in 1973 with a couple of singles and the first album by black singer Margaret Singana. Her debut LP was titled Lady Africa. The same year, the imprint issued the second single by Rabbitt, a white pop-rock band whose guitarist Trevor Rabin became internationally known when he played with Manfred Mann and then joined Yes.

Albums of the Year 2023: Scott Dunn with Claire Martin and the RPO - I Watch You Sleep

This tribute to the late, great Richard Rodney Bennett is a thing of exquisite beauty

A flawless song list comprising Richard Rodney Bennett originals plus some of his favourite standards, stunning arrangements by conductor Scott Dunn, plus the mellifluous vocals of Claire Martin magically aligned in my Album of the Year, I Watch You Sleep, an extraordinarily beautiful tribute to Bennett marking the tenth anniversary of his death.

Albums of the Year 2023: Cécile McLorin Salvant - Mélusine

The jazz-rooted boundary breaker stood out in a highlight-filled year

If Mélusine is encountered without knowing its background or themes it would still be remarkable. There is no need to know anything about what frames this journey through Chanson Française, electronica, jazz and show-tune sensibilities with lyrics in English, French, Haitian Kreyòl and Occitan. For all these aspects, Cécile McLorin Salvant’s seventh album is striking enough.