One to watch: Simon Schama’s The Power of Art

Sky Arts' new series begins Tuesday, 6 January

Focusing on eight iconic works of art such as Caravaggio’s David With the Head of Goliath, David’s Death of Marat and Picasso’s Guernica, this powerful series places great art at the centre of great moments in human history.This series is not a stroll through a gallery, nor is it a demure tour through a museum, instead it takes us on an extraordinary journey to the centre of human struggle and the dark heart of history. A combination of dramatic reconstruction, spectacular photography and Simon Schama’s unique and personal story telling transports the viewer back to the intense moments eight great works of art were conceived and born.

Each programme takes us where only art can go; into the vortex of Turner’s murderous seas; the light Guernica shone on fascist slaughter; and into the deep gravitational force fields of Rothko’s pulsing planets of colour. See Bernini’s thumbprint impressed on the kneaded clay of an old man’s beard and the slather of Rembrandt’s pigment crusting on his canvas. The Power of Art is the epic story of an unfolding force, a chance to witness the power of the individuals who changed the way we view the world.

The eight works of art included in the series are: Caravaggio’s David With the Head of Goliath; Bernini’s The Ecstasy of St. Theresa, Rembrandt’s The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis; David’s Death of Marat; Turner’s Slave Ship with Slaves Thrown Overboard; Typhoon Coming On; Van Gogh’s Self Portrait; Picasso’s Guernica and Rothko’s Seagram Building Murals.

One to watch: Jazz: The Gift

Sky Arts new jazz series begins Monday, 5 January, 2009.

Jazz: The Gift explores the evolution and the genius of America’s greatest original art form. Not simply a chronicle of musical fact or lore, Jazz shows this remarkable music in the context of the complicated country that gave birth to it and shows how this remarkable art form became a part of world culture. Jazz raises questions about race and class, art and commerce, virtuosity and collaboration, the individual and the community, the confluence of cultures and the universality of experience. Jazz: The Gift introduces jazz legends like Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, employing engaging and detailed portraits of the great men and women of jazz to demonstrate how and why they make their music.

A Twisted Affair

Twisted Christmas, Barbican Hall, 11 December
Jarvis Cocker was the headliner at the Barbican’s alternative yuletide celebration but unfortunately for the audience the former Pulp frontman wasn’t the highlight. After two and a half hours of a bewildering mix of music, comedy and shadow puppetry – some of which worked, some of which didn’t - Jarvis sloped on stage to perform two brief and forgettable songs. Luckily, there were other revelations to enjoy.

Illinois-based singer-songwriter Daniel Knox was one of them. His deep melancholic vocals called to mind cold winter nights in front of the fire and were perfect for his heart-warming rendition of the classic, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. Blues-folk duo The Smoke Fairies were ubiquitous on stage, and proved to be even better on their own than when performing back up for others. Patrick Wolf, a piano playing ex-chorister turned art-rocker, was sensational while unbilled songstress Camille O’Sullivan was reminiscent of a pre-tabloid era Amy Winehouse.

As well as the eclectic there was also the eccentric. Canadian singer Mary Margaret O’Hara and American Sandy Dillon provided much needed light relief, though it wasn’t entirely clear whether this was intentional.

What was intentional, however, was the wry comedy of Radio 4 presenter Jeremy Hardy, who ably steered proceedings from one fragmented act to another. But the night belonged to the shadow puppetry and accompanist Matthew Robbins who together earned plaudits in an otherwise borderline show.

Umeda Skytower

Umeda Skytower, originally uploaded by Paul Knipe.

Just west of Osaka station is the Umeda Sky Building, a 40 story skyscraper that looks like a vast postmodern triumphal arch. Circular windows adorn the viewing gallery and they're like portholes onto a sc-fi metropolis. Rail networks dissect the city, raised expressways snake around buildings and through skyscrapers, helipads sit like jaunty crowns on the tallest structures. These two elderly Japanese ladies observed the scene in total silence. I still wonder what they were thinking. I took this with an old pocket sized 5 megapixal camera.

Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 live at Cargo

I'd been looking forward to seeing Seun Kuti live with such anticipation that the show was in danger of being a massive anticlimax. Luckily for me, Seun and his father's original Egypt 80 had tuned in to my expectancy and delivered a storming performance that left all in awe.

Playing at Cargo in Shoreditch, the former warehouse was the perfect venue for Seun's highly politicised Afrobeat, a blend of high-life, jazz and traditional African rhythms. Reminiscent of his father Fela, Seun emerged from the shadows of his legacy to put his stamp mark on the scene despite performing much of Fela's most famous back catalogue. In fact, the highlight of the night was the title track from Kuti's new album Many Things, a bold, original anthem that puts the world to rights.

Having played at the Barbican earlier in the year to a sell out crowd, Cargo was an intimate setting for the ten man band - the hot, sweaty atmosphere was thick with the sound of the solid brass section with rythmically pulsating bodies jamming shoulder to shoulder to the beat. It was standing room only and those who couldn't dance were forced along by the push of the crowd.

After a somewhat brief hour and a half set we were left eagerly wanting more but the pre and post show DJ set was the perfect antidote. All in all, a near perfect night that will go down as one of the shows of the year.

Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 performed at Cargo in East London on Monday, 15th December.

Clive Rowe: Nothing Like A Dame

Clive Rowe is the consummate pantomime dame. Oh yes he is! Described by The Guardian as "one of the greatest ", the Lancashire-born thesp has become a Hackney institution. In the seven years he's been playing here, Rowe has cultivated a loyal local following who turn out in force each Christmas to see him camp up his dramatic chops. Last year it was in Duke Whittington; this year Rowe stars as the lead in the Empire’s production of Mother Goose. It’s the tenth anniversary celebration of panto at the Empire and is a comic caper of epic proportions. Written by Susie McKenna, who’s been responsible for a number of the Empire’s Christmas hits, the show incorporates high-jinks and high drama to charming effect with Rowe the shining star in a stellar cast. He explains: “Mother Goose is about what happens if somebody is given what they believe they want, what happens to them when they get it and how they deal with it. It is what it says on the tin, a family panto.”

Rowe is an accomplished actor whose dedication to panto has brought credibility to the genre. He’s appeared in some of theatre’s best loved productions, including Carousel and Guys and Dolls, for which he won a coveted Olivier Award. “To have your peers that are people that you respect, who are above you and have been doing it for longer than you look at you and say, “we think what you’ve done is amazing”, is an amazing accolade”, he says.

It’s not just the theatrical establishment who've taken Rowe to their hearts - Hackney has too. I suggest it must be his Northern charm. “Init!” he jokes in a sketchy east London accent. “One of the things I’ve always felt about theatre, but is even more true with the Hackney Empire, is the show starts the minute you walk through the front door, not the minute you sit down in the auditorium and the lights go on. The minute you’re received here you’re part of the panto and everybody is working towards a fantastic night”.

Rowe has appeared in television, film and on radio but says he feels comfortable on the Hackney stage. Panto for him is as much a craft as any other kind of acting. “There’s a difficult balance to get where you’re keeping everything panto level because you’re playing to the five year olds but real. The trick is finding that core of it where you may be upset about something but you’re not doing Greek tragedy, you’re not doing Chekov, it’s panto”.

And Rowe loves it. “My thing is I have a great time. I spend all year being told what I can’t do on stage and I get five weeks to do what I want to do. The fact is I’m having a good time.” And so are we.

Mother Goose is on at the Hackney Empire until 10 January 2009.

Robert Glasper: Live at Cargo

Doo-rags, hoodies and baseball caps aren’t the usual attire of jazz aficionados but Robert Glasper’s crowd is as notable for its youth as its urban fashion sense. He, himself, is dressed like one of his tribe – oversized T-shirt, baggy jeans and obligatory glass of liquor in hand. “Don’t let this jazz thing fool you,” he jokes mid-gig as he threatens to break in to a rap after seizing the mic from guest MC, Kashmere. And it wouldn’t have been out of place if he had. For Glasper, it seems hip hop is as intrinsic to his being as his first love, jazz. The fact that his show is taking place in a smoke-filled nightclub rather than a venerable jazz venue is testament to his street cred. His warm-up act isn’t some young pretender polishing his bebop chops but a DJ whose vinyl cases are crammed with Soul and Old Skool Hip-Hop. It could so easily be a cliché if Glasper wasn’t the real deal.

Website: www.myspace.com/therealrobertglasper