| Jazz |
Jon Regen, Live in London: Coming home to the room where it all began.
Some venues are more than a place on a tour schedule. For Jon Regen, the PizzaExpress Jazz Club in Soho is where it started. He arrived there in 2004, newly out of Little Jimmy Scott’s band, carrying the first seven songs he had ever written with lyrics, and the audience took him in. “The first time I set foot on that stage, it felt like home”, he says. More than two decades later he keeps coming back, and on November 23, 2025, during the EFG London Jazz Festival, a sold-out room gave him the night that became Live in London.
It is his first live album, and it feels overdue. It documents a band, a repertoire and a room in a single evening. It is also joyful. The line-up for that event was Jon Regen (piano and vocals), Paul Booth (saxophone), PJ Phillips (bass) and John Miller (drums). Phillips and Miller have been with Regen for 22 years. They began as fill-ins for his original touring band, but, as Regen tells it, one gig in the three of them looked at each other and knew something special was happening. They have since played together from Jakarta to Juan-les-Pins and from Beijing to Budapest. A festival director once told them, after a soundcheck, that this was a big sound for a trio. That sentence explains the album.
Paul Booth, known for his work with Incognito and Steve Winwood, joins as guest saxophonist, and it is a perfect addition. He adds a second voice, and a second melodic line, without crowding the piano. The interplay between the four is what the record is about, and it is rarely less than thrilling.
The album gathers seven songs from Regen’s catalogue. Many of them have become fan favourites, which shows in how settled and confident the playing is.
On side A of the orange vinyl Fighting for Your Love (6:44) is a rollicking opener that sets the temperature immediately, followed by Wake Me Up (6:58) and Stop Time (8:22), the second-line swagger, and one of the two long pieces, which means plenty of space for the band to stretch.
On side B of the vinyl: Eye of the Hurricane (4:20), the lead single, kept on Jazz FM’s playlist for a third week after being named “Track of the Week”. Music Director Christian Bragg said it recalls great live soul records of the 1970s, and anyone who loves that sound will understand why. Mind’s Eye (5:10) is a brand-new instrumental played for the first time on the night of the recording and Jon Regen calls it a nod to his mentor, the pianist Kenny Barron. Higher Ground (3:39), the shortest piece here, shares its title with Regen’s 2019 album, while Little One (8:52) is the heartfelt closer and the longest track on the album, a fitting way to end a great evening.
The two sides of the vinyl are almost perfectly balanced, 22:04 and 22:01, and the programme is well shaped. The two fantastic longest pieces, Stop Time and Little One, sit as anchors of each side. The back cover carries a dedication “for Kristin, Gabriel and Nicholas, who make me want to stop time”, which gives the song title a second meaning.
Readers who know Regen’s earlier work will recognise this pianist’s talent. In my review of his 1996 debut From Left to Right (review here on PARIS-MOVE), recorded on the Steinway Model D formerly at Carnegie Hall and finally released in 2026, I wrote about an articulate, unshowy touch that prefers melodic clarity to virtuoso display, and about a young pianist who thinks of music in colours and shapes, with lines that intersect and respond to each other.
Thirty years on, all of that is still here, but now it lives in a different musical setting: a band that plays together as if breathing. The training with Kenny Barron is still audible in the harmonic sense and in the restraint. What has been added is a songwriter’s voice and the charismatic ease of an artist in front of an audience. Where the debut was an intimate trio of three musicians discovering each other, this is a quartet with a saxophone to push everything one step further. For me, it is the best of both worlds.
The icing on the cake? A superb mix, and a vinyl to cherish! I have to say a word about the sound, because it is exceptional. The album was recorded by Guilherme Rujao, mixed by Ryan Williams (Pearl Jam, Pink), mastered by Steve Fallone at Sterling Sound, with lacquers cut by Joe Nino-Hernes. On vinyl the result is fantastic! The mix is transparent and warm, and the piano, the saxophone, the bass and the drums each have their own place, with the room around them. Jazz FM’s Bragg wrote that he was blown away by the sound of the album, and I share the feeling completely.
The exclusive orange vinyl is also a beautiful object. The sleeve is designed by Rebecca Meek around a London skyline, with snapshots of the band and the club on the back, and it makes the record feel like a souvenir of the night itself.
After several listening of this album, I must admit that everything works on this record. The songs are strong and well-loved, the band plays with extraordinary closeness, the guest saxophone adds magnificent tonal colours at just the right moments, and the room’s energy is audible. Add a first-class mix and a gorgeous vinyl edition, and you have a live album that deserves to be played again and again.
If you like the place where jazz improvisation meets songwriting, as the Telegraph’s Neil McCormick put it, this is the record for you. Jon Regen has been making fine music for a long time. Live in London may well be the best way to meet him. A must, absolutely.
Frankie Pfeiffer
Editor in chief – PARIS-MOVE
PARIS-MOVE, October 7th, 2026
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Vinyl tracklisting:
Side A (22:04)
- Fighting for Your Love – 6:44
- Wake Me Up – 6:58
- Stop Time – 8:22
Side B (22:01)
- Eye of the Hurricane – 4:20
- Mind’s Eye – 5:10
- Higher Ground – 3:39
- Little One – 8:52
Total time: 44:05.
All songs by Regen (Jon Regen Music/BMI), except “Wake Me Up” (Regen/Johnson, Jon Regen Music/BMI/Sony Music Publishing).
Musicians
- Jon Regen: piano and vocals
- Paul Booth: saxophone
- PJ Phillips: bass
- John Miller: drums
Credits:
Produced by Jon Regen
Recorded November 23, 2025 by Guilherme Rujao
Mixed by Ryan Williams
Mastered by Steve Fallone at Sterling Sound
Lacquers cut by Joe Nino-Hernes
Design: Rebecca Meek
© 2026 Jon Regen Music