Shabaka Hutchings
London
Birmingham's jazz scene may not make the headlines as London's does, but the city's social mix, vivid nightlife and local jazz promoters keep a pot boiling from which the wider UK jazz world benefits. One of the most promising recent jazz arrivals has been young saxist Shabaka Hutchings, a former classical clarinetist who was spotted in his adopted Birmingham by Soweto Kinch and Courtney Pine. He's worked both in classical ensembles and in the Midlands Youth Jazz and Walsall Jazz Orchestras, and subsequently moved south to study at the Guildhall and start an association with the Dune Records and Tomorrow's Warriors stable. Hutchings regularly works with Gary Crosby's Nu Troop and trumpeter Abram Wilson's band, performs originals with his own quintet Splay, and with folk/indie singer Kinzli. This gig also presents classical/jazz/experimental group the Portico Quartet.
John Fordham
· The Vortex, N16, Mon 23
T-Model Ford
on tour
With T-Model Ford, it's hard to tell whether making blues music is in his blood or the only sensible occupation for him, given the kind of life that he's lived. Born in Mississippi, it wasn't long before James Ford's high-spirited carousing led him to weekly sojourns in jail - and finally to be convicted of murder, for which he served a surprisingly few years in prison. The blues of his life duly created, he found a home for them on Fat Possum records, where, since the deaths of both RL Burnside and Junior Kimbrough, T-Model is now the label's most senior surviving operative. While it's fair to say both RL and Kimbrough had more musical talent than Ford - his songs are more a venue for him to vent his psychotic, octogenarian spleen - his primitive guitar playing still sounds as tightly-wound as his temper occasionally appears to be.
John Robinson
· Thekla, Bristol, Mon 23; The Faversham, Leeds, Tue 24; The Social, Nottingham, Wed 25; Norwich Arts Centre, Thu 26; The Musician, Leicester, Fri 27
