This show started with some blasts that sound wild, offbeat and free, but we included more conventional upbeat jazz from artists past and present. There’s also a feature on the late jazz composer Carla Bley before we end with a chilled Latin groove.
1. Yoni Mayraz – Dybbuk Tse! from Dybbuk Tse!
Derek was introduced to 
this artist in one of those fruitful music exchanges that it is always good to have. The music is unique and crosses the boundaries of jazz, hip-hop, breakbeats and Middle Eastern sounds. Yoni Mayraz is an skilled keyboard player/accompanist, raised in Tel-Aviv, but now based in London. The album was recorded live in spring 2022 in a dusty wooden studio. The vinyl copies that were released have long sold out. This title track provides a start to the show with sounds that brings us fresh, contemporary, dancefloor orientated jazz, but with a darker side. In fact Dybbuk Tse! relates to ancient Middle Eastern folklore – the Dybbuk is a wandering malevolent spirit that enters the body of a person until driven out. The title of the tune is an order to remove the spirit and the album is seen as a way to exorcism through music. Sounds heavy? It is, but it also raises the spirit.
2. Luna Horns – Cherry Blossom from Luna Horns Live Sessions
Tim Lowerson, a British soprano saxophonist living in Oslo, has long been a friend of the show and we have been pleased to play the music of the various bands he has been involved with. The music has always been full of surprises, at times chaotic, but always interesting. His latest venture – Luna Horns – is no exception. In spring 2023, after jam sessions in a bar and then a crowded apartment “interpreting Edith Piaf songs in Turkish”, they realised there was a band to be formed – and that band is Luna Horns. They started to write and play together in Tim’s living room – four brass players in a small apartment in downtown Oslo. “When none of the neighbours complained, they agreed that the music must be good”. The next step was to record two tunes live – Baluba and Cherry Blossom, with the latter featured in this show. The session is released on 10 November 2023 and will be available from all the usual sources including Bandcamp, of course.
3. Carla Bley – A.I.R. (All India Radio) from Escalator Over The Hill
An ambitious mess, a bizarre free-improv classic, an all-star ego trip – Escalator Over the Hill is all of these. At the time of release, it was certainly the longest jazz work ever. Carla Bley and librettist Paul Haines called it a ‘chronotransduction’, a term left undefined but it is certainly a kind of jazz opera. Alternatively, Marcello Carlin, writing for Stylus magazine, said It is literally whatever you want to make of it. It is devoid of every quality which you might assume would qualify it to be the greatest of all records. And yet it is that tabula rasa in its heart, the blank space which may well exist at the very heart of all music, revealing the hard truth that we have to fill in the blanks, we have to interpret what is being played and sung, and our interpretation is the only one which can possibly be valid, as we cannot discern any perspective other than our own. That may be well off the mark, but it does illustrate the range of view still held about this remarkable record. Whatever, there’s rock music, early synthesizer and ring modulator experiments, an Indian section, and repeated outbreaks of Weimar Republic cabaret in 3/4 time that both mock and revere European tradition. The libretto based on poems by Haines is pretty impenetrable and some of the band writing is pretentiously all over the place. But there are great moments in Escalator… – and the evocative A.I.R (All India Radio) is one of them. Don Cherry (who else?) is featured on his pocket trumpet. The three disc original featured an impossibly diverse range of musicians – some of whom include Gato Barbieri, Jack Bruce, Leroy Jenkins, Sheila Jordan, John McLaughlin, Enrico Rava and Linda Ronstadt. A.I.R. (All India Radio) was later recorded by saxophonist Jan Garbarek on his brilliant Witchi-Tai-To album in 1974 – listen to that version right here.
4. Paul Bley – Ida Lupino from Open, To Love
This is Paul Bley’s version of one of his then wife’s most memorable compositions – named after the British-born Hollywood actress, director, writer, and producer who was certainly one of the most influential feminist filmmakers of the Hollywood era. The first recording of the tune to be released was from Bley’s Closer album in 1966. The Penguin Guide to Jazz claims that The key track here is Carla’s classic ‘Ida Lupino,’ which her former husband turns into a rolling, almost filmic narrative with layers and the music is indeed typical of that lyrical strand in Bley’s compositions. Bley’s subsequent recording of the tune on the ECM Open, To Love album from 1973 offers another take on this wonderful tune. Carla Bley herself featured Ida Lupino in a funky, almost easy listening variant on her Dinner Music album with an immediately recognisable guitar solo from Eric Gale. For more on Ida Lupino and the music, check out this short Jazziz magazine feature.
5. Charlie Haden – This Is Not America from Not In Our Name
In 2005, former Ornette Coleman bass player Charlie Haden gave us another incarnation of the Liberation Music Orchestra that had first appeared in 1969 at the height of the Vietnam War on that first essential self-titled Impulse! label Liberation Music Orchestra record. Along with Haden, Carla Bley was the only constant fixture in the project and on this record she played piano and arranged all eight tunes. Also on board were trumpeter MIchael Rodriguez, Curtis Fowlkes on trombone, guitarist Steve Cardenas, and Miguel Zenon on alto sax. We featured a reggae-tinged version of David Bowie and Pat Metheny’s composition This Is Not America – including a sardonic quote from the Battle Hymn of the Republic at the very end. Bley’s arrangements of tunes like America The Beautiful, Dvorak’s largo theme Going Home and Lift Every Voice and Sing are just spectacular on this moving reflection on the destruction of the American dream. This music is really neither jazz nor the inappropriately named world music, but rather a reflection on the kind of global folk ethic espoused by trumpet player Don Cherry.
6. Johnathan Blake – West Berkley St. from Passage
The record Passage is a Blue Note debut for the accomplished and widely experienced drummer Johnathan Blake, although he has played on a number of Blue Note records previously. In fact, he’s been featured with many well-known artists loved by us here at Cosmic Jazz, including Pharaoh Sanders, Ravi Coltrane, Avishai Cohen, Donny McCaslin, Maria Schneider and Chris Potter. Passage is a tribute to his father, the jazz violinist John Blake Jr.. The music is inventive, warm and at times funky, with an impressive line-up in the quintet – Cuban pianist David Virelles, from whom you can hear some wonderful, delicate flowing notes on this tune West Berkley St., Immanuel Wilkins, one of the young jazz players of the moment, on alto saxophone, Joel Ross on vibraphone – another noticeable presence on this tune – and Dezron Douglas on acoustic bass.
7. Harold Lopez-Nussa – Funky from Timba A La Americana
More new music – this time from Cuban pianist Harold Lopez-Nussa who last year left Cuba with his family to live in Toulouse, South-West France, where the album Timba A La Americana was recorded and released this year. He describes the album as very different from my previous ones and certainly it is different to the trio album Un Dia Cualquiero which we have previously featured on the show. For example, there’s a quintet of musicians creating a more spontaneous feel to the music. There is some continuity with the earlier record though as his brother Ruy Adrian Lopez-Nussa plays drums on both albums and both also retain the influence of Lopez-Nussa’s Cuban heritage – the word Timba used in the title of the album refers to a Cuban musical genre. Indeed, from the opening bars of this tune Funky there are unmistakeable Cuban sounds coming from the piano of Lopez-Nussa. As with Johnathan Blake, this is a Blue Note debut.
8. Yussef Dayes – Black Classical Music (feat. Venna & Charlie Stacey) from Black Classical Music
One of most eagerly anticipated jazz releases of 2023, the new Yussef Dayes album continues to delight. The first time Neil heard this opening track he was immediately reminded of our next choice, McCoy Tyner’s Ebony Queen, and he commented on this in our previous blog post. Now you get a chance to hear the two tracks side by side – so what do you think? This ambitious full length debut record is a sprawling, 19-track debut opus which self-consciously straddles all kinds of musical influences. As a result, it touches on spiritual jazz, dub music, reggae, jazz funk, R&B, drum and bass and more, but somehow manages to hold this together to create a cohesive whole – all underpinned by Dayes’ frenetic drumming style.
9. McCoy Tyner – Ebony Queen from Sahara
Ah – how great to hear this on the show! Many years ago, this was an early introduction for Neil to the music of McCoy Tyner. Probably Tyner’s greatest album of many recorded for Milestone Records, Sahara is a triumph from start to finish. Tyner’s piano work is even more explosive than usual and every member of the quartet here are on fire. Just listen to Sonny Fortune’s soprano sax on Ebony Queen – the opening track on this record – and the sheer power of Alphonse Mouzon’s incendiary drum work. Neil has lost count of the number of times he has listened to this record – and each listening brings new insights into the music. The title track Sahara is a side-long exploration that contrasts with the ferocity of Ebony Queen and Rebirth and over the course of its 23 minutes has beautiful percussion and flute interludes alongside some of Tyner’s very best playing on record. Even Valley of Life – a solo performance by Tyner on the Japanese koto (as seen on the record cover) – has complete commitment rather a cursory orientalism. As the Allmusic review notes, Sahara is an astonishingly good record and belongs in every jazz fan’s collection.
10. Raul De Souza – Funk Das Meninas from Plenitude
Derek is sure there are some musicians who don’t get noticed as much as they deserve because of the instrument they play. For example, trombonists might come into this category – which is why it took the 2021 release Plenitude by veteran trombonist Raul De Souza before we realised what an important contribution he had made to Brazilian music, often through the recordings of his many compatriots. We are talking here of the likes of Sergio Mendes, Milton Nascimento, Flora Purim, Airto Moreira and Tom Jobim as well as jazz artists such as Herbie Hancock, Jack De Johnette, Jaco Pastorius, Cannonball Adderley and Sonny Rollins. Sadly, De Souza died in Paris shortly after Plenitude album was released but it had already marked a new phase in his career as it was recorded with his Generations Band, comprising European musicians much younger than himself – the youngest being aged 24 while De Souza was 86. At the time of its release in 2021, we featured the record on Cosmic Jazz but, as we have the freedom to return at any time to music we like it deserves another outing. The tune Funk Das Meninas provides a serious, deep, yet somehow relaxing and satisfying way in which to end this edition of the show. More Cosmic Jazz coming your way soon. Now, have a listen to a little of the music we have both been checking out this week.
Derek is listening to…
- Fuse ODG – Libation
- Fuse ODG ft Ed Sheeran & Mugeez – Boa Me
- Joshua Redman Chicago Blues (Live)
- Solem Quartet – Lili Boulanger: Nocturne (arranged for String Quartet)
- Luciano – It’s Me Again Jah (2022 Version)
Neil is listening to…
- Dave Douglas & Keystone – Fatty’s Plucky Pup
- Hank Mobley – No Room For Squares
- Leif Ove Adsnes and BBC Symphony Orchestra – Benjamin Britten: Piano Concerto
- Alice Coltrane/Carlos Santana – Illuminations
- Hiromasa Suzuki, Jiro Inagaki and Big Soul Media – By the Red Stream
We began with an album from composer Colin Towns that was in the running for one of the best jazz records of 2015. When he formed the Mask Orchestra in 1990, Towns brought together both new and established players on the UK jazz scene. Twenty-five years on, the Mask Orchestra released the excellent double album Drama – their seventh album with a line-up that included Alan Skidmore, Mark Lockheart and – on our selection – the late, and very great, Peter King on alto sax. As the title might suggest, the inspiration for Drama is works for theatre, featuring new and original music from Colin Towns’ extensive work in that medium, from classic plays (and films) including One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Equus and Macbeth. We began the show with The Royal Hunt of the Sun, inspired by Peter Schaffer’s 1964 play about the clash of two characters from different worlds, Atahuallpa Inca and Francisco Pizarro. This track also includes a spectacular duet between percussionists Joji Hirota and Stephan Maass.
Next up was an artist who should be better known but is undoubtedly an inspiration for much contemporary big band music. Don Ellis was an American trumpeter and bandleader who led 1960-70s big bands distinguished by their unusual instrumentation, weird time signatures and an openness towards using rock rhythms and electronics. His band included John Klemmer, Tom Scott and Milcho Leviev who went on to record with Art Pepper in his last years. Electric Bath is a good place to start with Don Ellis – there’s no less than five trumpets, three trombones, five reeds, Mike Lang on keyboards, three bassists, drummer Steve Bohannon and three percussionists. For more Don Ellis, have a listen to his 1973 Soaring album – 
Argue’s earlier Secret Society albums have been some of Neil’s recent favourites and this new double CD set is no exception. Argue’s music always has a tightly structured thematic base and this one is no exception. Indeed, it’s the most complex of them all (so far). The music references key 20th century thinkers for ideas that can help us in the present, that we can reexamine and reconfigure for our own purposes, says Argue. These include futurist designer Buckminster Fuller, cryptanalyst-computer scientist Alan Turing, composer-arranger Bob Brookmeyer, actress-screenwriter Mae West and the master Duke Ellington – among others. Argue has said that a lot of the tracks on Dynamic Maximum Tension are reflective of my personal journey in going back to the foundations of this music and trying to find ways to incorporate that into my compositional voice. In a pre-launch interview he went on to reference several of these key influences and inspirations. For example, Tensile Curves is a response to Ellington’s Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue, in which Argue uses decreasing tempo as an analog to the diminishing dynamics of the Ellington work. Listen to the celebrated 1956 Newport Jazz Festival performance of Diminuendo 
Last Minute Man is the only tune we’ve played before on the show – but it’s so good we wanted to feature it as another good example of a contemporary big band at work. Dave Holland is, of course, the celebrated English bassist, perhaps most noted for his tenure with Miles Davis. But Holland has continued to blaze a trail across the jazz mini-genres – from the avantgarde to big band. Overtime is from 2002 (but unreleased until 2005). Holland deploys players who appeared in in his various quartets and quintets – there’s four saxophones, three trumpets and trombones, and vibes as well as bass and drums. The band includes Chris Potter, Robin Eubanks, Antonio Hart, Josh Roseman, and Alex Sipiagin among others. Chris Potter is on typically fine form and the closing track Last Minute Man is an electrifying end to this exceptional record. Seek it out if you can.
This great new album comes from one of the best big bands around at the moment – the NDR. Unique among Germany’s radio big bands, the NDR Bigband is a jazz ensemble composed of premier soloists of diverse backgrounds and influences who create an original and striking group sound. Like many similar bands, they began in a world of traditional radio and TV shows producing what we used to called light entertainment, but for several years they’ve ploughed a much more creative furrow – often with guest soloists, arrangers and composers. Current band members include Julius Gawlik on tenor, Peter Bolte on alto and Claus Stötter and Ingolf Burkhardt on trumpets. Here with UK pianist Nikki Iles – their Composer in Residence for 2023 – is the first fruit of this partnership, the album Face to Face. I love the NDR Bigband, says Iles, and that seems evident in this joyous music. Face to Face will be released in mid-November but you can check out the music and pre-order in all formats on the 
This is one important record – and another example of the fertility of the UK jazz scene. Drummer Yussef Dayes has been making waves since he appeared on the South London jazz scene in 2016 with fellow Londoner Kamaal Williams on the self-titled Yussef Kamaal album. Better still was the collaboration on Blue Note with songwriter Tom Misch, What Kinda Music. Then on Brownswood in late 2020 came the Live at Joshua Tree EP. Now – a year later – we get the ambitious 19 track release Black Classical Music. Dayes’ regular quartet (which Neil had the good fortune to see in Singapore) are just the heart of a huge studio cast – new keyboardist Charlie Stacey, guitarist Miles James and studio guests including UK jazz royalty Shabaka Hutchings, Theon Cross and Sheila Maurice-Grey. The ambition of Dayes is clear and this is definitely one we’ll return to. In the meantime, listen to 
More new music from Edition Records that’s not released until late in November. Bassist, composer and bandleader Jasper Høiby is both creative and prolific. It was in his birthplace Copenhagen that he laid the groundwork for his career, founding Phronesis, one of the most influential jazz trios in recent memory. They opened for the Wayne Shorter Quartet at London’s Barbican in 2011 (another memorable concert Neil attended) blending intricate melodies with powerful rhythms and engaging improvisations. Since then, Høiby has gone on to release music in several different groups with musicians including Mark Guiliana, Tigran Hamasyan, and Shai Maestro. His new trio is called 3 Elements and features Noah Stoneman and Luca Caruso.
Ok – so it’s an outlier, but the Royal New Zealand Air Force Jazz Orchestra really do deserve a listen. This is exciting, adventurous big band music with guests including saxophonist Oscar Lavën, whose Questions in Red album made us take notice at the end of last year. The album was co-produced by the Wellington-based Scottish drummer, John Rae. London Jazz News noted that Several observers have already heard the mighty Thad Jones-Mel Lewis band in this team of reservists’ smartly despatched energy and there are echoes of Gil Evans and George Russell in the sense of drama and suspense created. High praise indeed.
We’re always interested in new talent here on Cosmic Jazz and young Alonzo Brata is a great example. On a recent work visit back to Indonesia, Neil came across Alonzo’s music and wanted to feature it here on the show. He may be only just 20, but his rich baritone is reminiscent of Mario Biondi and the infectious 
Also from Indonesia, there’s a similar story at work here. Joey Alexander has been featured several times on the show in recent years since his debut album was released at age 11. Mentored by Wynton Marsalis and Herbie Hancock, Alexander won a prestigious AMI award in 2018 for his excellent take on Coltrane’s Moment’s Notice and now he’s about to release his new record Continuance on which he’s joined by Theo Croker on trumpet, Kris Funn on bass and John Davis on drums. We featured the sprightly Blue but head to Alexander’s 
Music this time comes from the usual wide range of sources. There’s a focus on Javanese and Balinese gamelan and music inspired by that extraordinary microtonal universe, a selection linked to new and upcoming Tone Poet reissues from Jackie McLean and McCoy Tyner, Yussef Dayes and Kamal Williams live in the Brownswood Basement, a Keith Jarrett encore from the Tokyo ’84 DVD, Material and Nona Hendryx’s finest moment and – to finish – the all-female group Tokyo Groove Jyoshi with the infectious Funk No.1. Enjoy!
We start the show with our good friends High Pulp, whose music we have featured over the last few years. The new album is a must and, of course, you can track it down most easily 
One of the most recent signings to Edition Records, Arcoleo has sat in on a number of recordings for the label before this, his new EP for the label. Something of a multi-instrumentalist, Arcoleo began his touring life with the legendary saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis when he was sixteen before gaining a place on the renowned jazz course at London’s Royal Academy of Music, winning a Yamaha Parliamentary Jazz Scholarship and the Kenny Wheeler Jazz Prize – which included a recording contract with Edition Records. His debut album for the label, Beginnings, was released in 2012 to widespread critical acclaim, receiving 4* reviews in the Guardian. Arcoleo is also a founding member of the UK band Native Dancer who released their own first record Live in London earlier this year. K.O.K.O references a mantra from Pee Wee Ellis – Keep On Keeping On – and it reflects the big instrumental hooks, heavy beats and glitchy vocal samples found on the record – and on Pee Wee Ellis tracks like 
Ben Wendell is a Vancouver native but was raised in Los Angeles. He’s already recorded with jazz artists such as Tigran Hamasyan, Antonio Sanchez and Eric Harland and is a founding member of the Grammy nominated group Kneebody who also record with Edition. His new album for the label is, uniquely, a series of duets in which he plays with a different musician on each of the six tracks. His guests stick to their primary instruments, but Wendel fills in the space around them with multiple saxophone and bassoon parts, electronic effects, and percussion. It’s a really interesting concept and includes Cecile McLorin Salvant on a version of Gershwin’s I Loves You Porgy and Hamasyan’s dark piano voicings on the original tune In Anima. Blanchard’s trumpet is – as usual – processed against Wendell’s minimalist saxophone backing. Also on this eclectic record are guitarist Bill Frisell and flautist Elena Pinderhughes. The concept and arrangements across this new record are always interesting and it’s well worth a look. Check it out again on the Edition Records website or, of course, 
Finnish pianist Aki Rissanen has released seven albums as leader, including three excellent trio albums for Edition Records, featuring his long-standing collaborators, bassist Antti Lötjönen and drummer Teppo Mäkynen. He’s perhaps best known for his work with fellow Finn, trumpeter Verneri Pohjola (qv) on Edition and ACT Records, and Hyperreal, his latest release, will certainly consolidate his growing reputation. Rissanen switches between acoustic piano and electronic keyboards and Pohjola’s emotive and poignant trumpet sound is very much to the fore. It reminds us of other similarly ethereal trumpet players, most notably Arve Henriksen. Risannen has explained his thinking about the new album: With the rapid transformation of reality to the A.I. generated virtual reality or hyperreality, we have to be aware and adapt to these things and distinguish between what is real and unreal. Pohjola’s playing here is great. We would have expected it on the more atmospheric tunes but on others he’s clearly capable of a really funky approach too. Rissanen’s approach is as varied as we would expect – hushed tones on Code Indigo and dynamic chords and clusters on Breezy. Overall, Hyperreal is highly imaginative and a recommended listen. Check it out 
Jazz or not? We don’t care – it’s just a great tune. Chris Hyson is another Royal Academy of Music alumnus who has appeared on recent albums by Jordan Rakei and Rosie Frater-Taylor. For Sidekick he’s assembled the core unit of Joe Webb on piano with Alex Haines on guitar and brother Lloyd Haines on drums. Saxophonist Josh Arcoleo guests on the rather beautiful and dreamy 
The Wayfarers is the new trio album from Norwegian pianist and composer Eyolf Dale who is again joined by long-term collaborators Per Zanussi on bass (and saw!) and Audun Kleive on drums. Dale sees this album as a journey: Music helps me to understand and realise what my feelings or emotions are about. It helps me to make choices in life. To be in contact with my own compass he says. The music blends Nordic folk, jazz and some classical influences – and although this sounds like a typical ECM label description there’s enough individuality in harmonies and tones here to make this a really distinctive record. Of course, it’s on Bandcamp – 
Halsall is another artist we’ve championed over the years at CJ. Derek and Neil saw Halsall at a small venue in Suffolk many years ago – a far cry from his recent show in the iconic Royal Albert Hall in London. His new album is an evolution rather than a revolution, but it is one of his best. Neil links it back to his similarly atmospheric Fletcher Moss Park from 2012, but with more of a new age vibe – and in a good way. Halsall has talked about the inspirations for the album in a recent Jazzwise magazine interview, noting that the birdsong heard on the opening track was his connection to the times of the day when you hear birdsong – sunrise, sunset – and I pulled out a couple of field microphones on a balcony, and just started playing. It’s not a composition, more of an improvised collaboration with nature. As the feature notes, Halsall’s Manchester-based Gondwana Records has become something of a northern musical powerhouse, establishing GoGo Penguin (before their move to Blue Note) and now hosting Mammal Hands, Chip Wickham and new recruits like Jasmine Myra. The new album was birthed in isolated rural locations in the UK: I wanted my brain to be clear and fresh… setting a tone and mood for the record says Halsall. Water Street genuinely reflects this with its soundworld of flute, harp, kalimbas and glockenspiel. An Ever Changing View is highly recommended and a great place to start if you’re new to Halsall’s music – 
Back to Edition Records and something of a leftfield choice for the label. US trumpeter Marquis Hill has been ploughing a very new age furrow in his recent releases – and Rituals and Routines is no exception. In our view, it’s not his best work and the spoken word messages sometimes just feel intrusive, but the intention is clear: the Bandcamp notes state that The quality of the rituals and routines established in life is directly correlated with one’s meaningful success and the ability to manifest in this 3D realm. We’re not sure here at CJ what that really means but the addition here of vibes player Joel Ross is a very welcome inclusion. As always, it’s 
Wow! They did it – earlier this month, Ezra Collective became the first jazz artists ever to win the prestigious Mercury Prize and richly deserved it is too. We’ve promoted Ezra as fine examples of the new wave of British jazz with its all-inclusive approach to influences from hip hop, drum and bass, broken beat, afrobeat and grime and the resulting album is by far the best thing they’ve ever done. We can’t recommend Where I’m Meant to Be highly enough and, again, it’s 
Derek’s copy of The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Vol. II (1933 edition) provides a 1668 definition of seraphic as Of discourse, actions, appearance: Showing ecstasy of devout contemplation. It’s certainly an appropriate description for John Coltrane’s Seraphic Light – indeed, as it is for much of John Coltrane’s later work. It’s also a pretty useful guide to the discourse, actions and appearance of this current Cosmic Jazz show as we reached out to those higher musical planes. Stellar Regions was recorded on 15 February 1967 near the end of John Coltrane’s life and it was one of the recordings unearthed after his death from liver cancer by his wife Alice Coltrane and son Ravi. Alice is significant for this recording in two other ways: it was she who provided the title for the tune Seraphic Light which was untitled when recorded and – from 1965 – she had become the pianist in the quartet. Her freer approach was more suited to these new exploratory sounds than the more conventionally rooted McCoy Tyner, who had been a stalwart of the classic Coltrane quartet since its inception in 1960. Indeed, when Rashied Ali was recruited as a second drummer, Tyner commented that he couldn’t hear himself above the two drummers and so left the group in late 1965. He was followed by original drummer Elvin Jones shortly afterwards. The new quartet was taking shape. Tyner had commented that Coltrane was always searching, like a scientist in a lab, looking for something new, a different direction… He kept hearing these sounds in his head and, indeed, the music was to become much more free as Coltrane began to be influenced by many of the younger Impulse! players he was listening to – Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders and Albert Ayler among them. In the album liner notes David Wild, the writer and critic for Rolling Stone, noted that These recordings all have a similar aura. Among Coltrane’s final phrases, they are almost the last notes to be captured on tape, performances thus haunted by our foreknowledge that what will follow them is silence. More importantly and perhaps even more compelling, they represent a suggestion of the evolution his music would have taken had his life not been cut so short, a tantalizing glimpse of an unrealized future. There could be no better way to open a programme around spiritual and transcendent themes.
It seemed natural to follow John with Alice. World Galaxy comes from 1972 when Coltrane was developing in a new direction, much like her husband had done previously. The expanded group, now including Frank Lowe on tenor saxophone and Leroy Jenkins on violin, was augmented by by a full string orchestra and the voice of Swami Satchidananda who had achieved fame in the west as a ‘go-to guru’ for the new generation, appearing to rapturous acclaim at the Woodstock Festival in 1969. The music on World Galaxy is bookended by versions of My Favorite Things and A Love Supreme but these are not mere recreations of the John Coltrane versions. Alice Coltrane’s vision here is entirely her own – there truly is nothing else like this in jazz – and the three original Galaxy… compositions on the album have a mesmerising, immersive quality as Coltrane moves from Wurlitzer organ, piano and harp to create a unique soundscape that feels genuinely otherworldly.
And so on to another John Coltrane acolyte, Ferrell Sanders who was given the name Pharoah by none other than Sun Ra. Hum-Allah-Hum Allah-Hum-Allah comes from Sanders 1969 album on Impulse! Jewels of Thought and features one of his most hypnotic grooves over 15 minutes of saxophone and piano improvisations from Sanders and Lonnie Liston Smith who lays down one of his best performances on record. Leon Thomas adds his distinctive vocals with Cecil McBee on bass and the great Roy Haynes on drums. The excellent 
Our cosmic journey continues with Albert Ayler’s extraordinary Music is the Healing Force of the Universe, recorded shortly before his early death in 1970. The album is complete with a bagpipes solo from Ayler, a spiritual recitation from his wife Mary Maria Parks (who wrote all the compositions) and contributions from former Mothers Of Invention/Canned Heat guitarist Henry Vestine playing his take on electric free blues. Much as on his previous record New Grass, Ayler’s raw sound attempts to integrate the worlds of R&B and free jazz: it’s not always successful but it is again unique – there was nothing else much like this in jazz either before or since. “Life is music” and is “sometimes not understood” as Mary Parks sings on this title track.
Violinist Michael White maybe under-recorded compared with our other jazz artists but there should be no chance of this one getting away. Not only Michael White’s best album but one of the finest on the Impulse! label. It’s an unusual group too – classical guitarist Bob King, the aforementioned Cecil McBee on bass, percussionist Kenneth Nash, pianist Ed Kelley and the great Prince Lasha on woodwinds. The ten-minute Fatima’s Garden has piano, bass, shimmering bells, and violin treading a gently modal path until the introduction of Lasha’s atmospheric flute. This is a truly joyous recording and one that should be much better known. And the cover art is magnificent too.
Fiery Argentinian tenor saxophonist Leandro ‘Gato’ Barbieri might look like the outlier in this show but he’s more linked to this august company than you might think. For one thing, he had a central rôle in Michael Mantler’s Jazz Composers Orchestra epic release of 1968 – as did Pharoah Sanders, Don Cherry and the rather forgotten George Barrow (see above). The whole shebang was something of a prelude to the epic Escalator Over the Hill three record set from 1971 and which had an even more expansive lineup. Check out the wonderful A.I.R (All India Radio) 
The mega-label Universal covers Verve, Impulse! ECM and, thanks to the ongoing vinyl renaissance, several select titles are now being reissued on high quality 18gram vinyl. in association with the audiophile label Acoustic Sounds. You’d do well by starting with Alice Coltrane’s 
This selection is partly informed by the X platform choices of 
Alto sax player Kenny Garrett is one of the jazz greats and a CJ favourite. We have featured much of his music on the show over the years – from a stunning solo playing with Miles Davis to several of his own releases. His influences and tastes are eclectic. The 2016 album Do Your Dance draws upon the many dance styles that have influenced him and, by association, it recognises their links to jazz. Philly soul, bossa, calypso, waltz and Persian steps are the ones acknowledged in the track titles. The tune selected here, Backyard Groove, is a driving, heavy number in which drummer Ronald Bruner Jr. (brother of bassisit Thundercat) forcefully and powerfully leads us through an urban-sounding landscape.
This a jazz dance favourite from one of jazz music’s greatest legends. Now aged 98, drummer Roy Haynes has been a major player since the 1940s. He was a member of Charlie Parker’s celebrated quintet, played with Bud Powell, and Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane and Miles Davis, Chick Corea and Pat Metheny – and hundreds more jazz greats. His son Graham is a well known cornetist and his grandson Marcus Gilmore has followed in Haynes’ footsteps as a drummer. Quiet Fire is a compilation of two 1970s releases on the Galaxy label and is well worth looking out for on CD. Neither have appeared as a vinyl reissue – yet. On Quiet Fire (what an appropriate title!) Cecil McBee provides the propulsive bass and the great George Cables is on piano.
Herbie Hancock is a true elder statesman of jazz. Always at the forefront of innovation in the music, he has (like his old boss Miles Davis) championed the new and the experimental. Currently on tour with a hot new group that includes Lionel Loueke on guitar, Terence Blanchard on trumpet and James Genus on bass, he’s been joined by young drummer Jaylen Petinaud. Neil was lucky enough to see him in London in late July where he delivered a terrific show. This take on Actual Proof (originally on the 1974 album Thrust) comes from what was for many years a Japanese only release. It’s a live version from 1975 concerts in Tokyo and it’s close to what Neil heard in London just a few weeks ago.
Neil first heard this tune on the Somethin’ Else radio show way back in the 1980s. It comes from what is often acknowledged as the Crusaders’ best album – Southern Comfort, and also released in 1974. Neil featured it on his Neil is listening to… selection in last show’s blogpost – you can still access all ten choices right here. Stomp… is a composition by trombonist Wayne Henderson who is joined by the Crusader regulars – Joe Sample on piano and keys, Wilton Felder on bass and sax and Stix Hooper on drums. For this album they were joined by guitarist Larry Carlton – who played on Steely Dan’s Aja album, including on 
We move to contemporary London for our next two tunes. Sarah Tandy is a piano/keyboards player we love and make no apologies for returning to her album – named after a poem by Emily Dickinson. Sarah combines her love of music – which made a journey from classical to jazz – with a love of literature drawn from her Cambridge degree studies. Infection in the Sentence emerged in 2019 on the 
Kokoroko, whose name means ‘be strong’ are a London-based eight-piece band, whose album Could We Be More was released on Brownswood Records in 2022. West African Afrobeat and Highlife coalesce with jazz but with a sound that feels spontaneous and free to fit in with the contemporary London scene. Up front is the horn section of Sheila Maurice-Grey on trumpet, Cassie Kinoshi on alto saxophone and Richie Seivwright on trombone but throughout there are strong rhythmic beats from Onome Edgeworth on percussion and Ayo Salami on drums. It’s music that fits in with the feel of this Cosmic Jazz programme – uplifting for body and soul at any time and place.
The Japanese band Sleep Walker were long favourites of the show until their disbanding in 2009. Indeed, we were lucky enough to see them at London’s Jazz Café a few years ago. Into the Sun features a guest contribution from Pharoah Sanders and is a consistently entertaining record, full of good danceable tunes and lively soloing – especially from saxophonist Masato Nakamura and group founder Hajime Yoshizawa on piano and keys. Yoshizawa went on to release several records under his own name including the recent Double Moon from 2017. Here’s 
The mention of the Paris neighbourhood of Saint-Germain-des-Prés conjures up images of cool, hip cafés, bars and small jazz clubs frequented by pre- and postwar avantgarde artists and intellectuals. A series of CD compilations emerged in the 1980s designed to (vaguely) invoke the essence of the place. This tune comes from Volume 7, released in 2005. The musical medium chosen to evoke Saint-Germain-des-Prés was nu-jazz with attitude through both contemporary compositions and remixes of classic jazz artists. Metropolitan Jazz Affair is a band from Lyon France created in 2002 and their measured up-tempo sounds of percussion and Hammond organ lets us dance the show away – until next time.
My top ten tunes for this CJ checks out some great new vinyl reissues from the Jazz dispensary label and Blue Note’s Tone Poets; a couple of tunes that didn’t make it into our summer funk set above; two great Coltrane versions from Marc Johnson’s Bass Desires group (featuring the twin guitar lineup of Bill Frisell and John Scofield) and Wes Mongomery; another tune featured in Herbie’s London show; Miles at his funkiest from the 1971 Live/Evil set; and a Chaz Jankel Compass Point recording that will leave you dancing.
We start, as seems appropriate for the theme of this show, with a tune about new mornings. It is from the New York born and raised alto saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin and this particular number was the first single from her album Phoenix released in January 2023 on the British label 
Here on Cosmic Jazz we have been singing the praises of Fergus McCreadie and his trio for a few years now. They record for another leading British jazz label – 
This one comes courtesy of Rob Adams and is also a north of the border creation. Scottish multi-instrumentalist 
Some of New Zealand’s jazz luminaries have assembled to form this all-star cluster: The Circling Sun. Channeling spiritual/modal jazz and Latin rhythms, they simultaneously echo the greats such as Sun Ra, Pharoah Sanders and Alice Coltrane, while maintaining a fresh perspective on ensemble dynamics. There’s a bunch of keyboards, skilfully manned by the likes of Guy Harrison and Cory Champion, along with solid horn choruses throughout. Meanwhile, providing vital foundational support are the percussion (Soundway alumnus Julien Dyne), vibraphone, acoustic bass and full choir arranged by Matt Hunter. This feels like a group that have made music over a decade or more rather than one that’s been recently formed. We love this record here on CJ and recommend buying the very nicely presented vinyl version complete with its 
Composer, pianist, DJ and two decade-long bridge between jazz, dance and hip-hop, Mark de Clive-Lowe (MdCL), is no stranger to Cosmic Jazz. On this new release, he hooks up with influential drummer/producer/DJ, Shigeto and Brooklyn-based, Haitian-rooted, flautist/songwriter and Verve Records artist Melanie Charles on Hotel San Claudio, a collaborative LP of spiritual jazz, live deconstructed beats, and a three-track set of Pharoah Sanders reinterpretations including the iconic The Creator Has a Master Plan. The 
This one is a real surprise. Noga Ritter is an Israeli singer and songwriter now based in London whose debut release channels a diverse range of sources from Jewish melodies to Gnawa grooves all held together by an accomplished jazz sensibility. Fellow Israeli bass player and composer Liran Donin (from Led Bib) co-produces and is joined by premier English horn players Tony Kofi (tenor sax) and Byron Wallen (trumpet) to provide real muscle. The result is a really accomplished album with some cracking tunes and solos – including our choice of To the Distance, which features Patrick Kenny on trombone. Elsewhere there’s Senegalese sabar drums and kora from Seckou Keita on the title track along with a spoken word recital by Ritter on Crack the Shell. You can catch Noga Ritter live at the EFG London Jazz Festival in November and other tour dates can be found 
We’ve been watching the development of the new British jazz reissue label British Progressive Jazz (BPJ) since their inception early in 2022. This record is one of their best. It features the classic Keith Tippett Group frontline of Marc Charig, Nick Evans and Elton Dean with rhythm section appearances by British jazz luminaries Jeff Clyne, Trevor Tomkins, Roy Babbington and Bryan Spring. These six previously unreleased live studio tracks were recorded in 1970, and Green & Orange Night Park would be recorded again for the brilliantly named album Dedicated To You, But You Weren’t Listening. Only 23 years old when this great music was recording, Tippett would remain something of outlier in the British jazz scene of the time. At the time of writing, there were just 8 copies of the vinyl record left – the CD is already sold out. Head to the 
Any jazz programme inspired by the elements has to make reference to Sun Ra and so we offer a double dose of Ra-ness to end the show. Significantly though, neither of these tracks feature Sun Ra himself. The first is from the wonderful Ezra Collective – another new London jazz scene act that we’ve been championing in recent years – and comes from their first full length album Where I’m Meant to Be. Ezra include some outstanding soloists all led by drummer Femi Koleoso, and this album is a must if you want to check out one of the most mature bands in this vibrant scene. The album includes a funky take on that evergreen classic Smile (written by Charlie Chaplin – yes, indeed!), Kojey Radical and others on vocal duties and it all ends with a great reading of Sun Ra’s Love in Outer Space. The record really does all hold together and on orange vinyl makes for a treat on the decks. We can’t recommend this one highly enough.
No Sun Ra here either – this record comes from 1999, some six years after the death of Sun Ra and is not to be confused with Sun Song, a 1967 title from Ra’s huge oeuvre. It’s not an easy one to find now so check out Discogs if you’d like a copy. Perhaps unexpectedly, the Arkestra have continued since Ra’s death under the leadership of 99 year old alto sax player Marshall Allen and, indeed, they’re currently on a North American tour. It was Allen who composed and arranged Watch The Sunshine – a relaxed, if slightly chaotic number that chugs along with a minimalist, percussive, acoustic feel. There’s powerful sax from Marshall Allen, soothing vibes from Damon Choice and warming contributions in turn from trumpeter David Gordon, trombonist Tyrone Hill and guitarist Bruce Edwards. Vocalist Arnold ‘Art’ Jenkins invokes you to be yourself, free your mind and all you have to do is Watch the Sunshine. Global warming notwithstanding, it’s something we’re happy to do.
Sāo Paulo’s Otis Trio released their 74 Club album in 2014 – and then seem to have fallen silent. Surprisingly perhaps, their roots lie the European and American free jazz scenes of the 60s and 70s. Some five years in gestation and recorded on vintage analogue equipment for period authenticity, 74 Club is (as the Far Out press release of the time noted) both deftly subtle and furiously intense with the standard trio configuration of guitar, bass and drums augmented with both vibes and a posse of free blowing horn players who together create a sound which reverberates with echoes of Ornette Coleman, Sonny Sharrock and Pharoah Sanders. Whew! Montag’s Dream may start off as more of a straight ahead modal excursion with vibes very much to the fore – but it’s not long before some Pharonic tenor sax kicks in. We like it and we hope you do too.
Up next was Astrud Gilberto herself from her first recording with her then husband Joāo Gilberto and saxophonist Stan Getz. There are numerous stories around on how this young, inexperienced singer appeared on the record but her appearance inaugurated the whispery, vocal version of that languid, delicate characteristic of the bossa nova – nylon strung guitars creating a reduction/synthesis of samba percussion. Gilberto – who died earlier this month aged 83 – sang on just two tracks on this 1964 album but this was enough to seal her place in musical history. The Girl from Ipanema might be seen as nothing more than a wine bar cliché but the lyrics remain a powerful evocation of Rio’s most famous district. We played the edited 45 single version of the tune which omits the Brazilian lyrics of Joāo Gilberto but emphasises those carioca qualities of the girl ‘who passes by’.
The writer of The Girl from Ipanema, Tom Jobim, is one of Brazil’s greatest composers. The album Wave from 1967 was arranged by Claus Ogerman following his move from Germany to become the house arranger at Verve Records and so co-created hundreds of records including albums by Wes Montgomery, George Benson and Diana Krall. Wave features two of Jobim’s most famous tunes – the title track and the beautiful 
From the heydays of the bossa wave comes a successful cooperation between Brazilian guitarist Baden Powell and American drummer Jimmy Pratt on the unimaginatively-titled album Baden Powell Swings with Jimmy Pratt. Composer of our choice Coisa No.1, Moacir Santos is heard here on baritone saxophone. You can listen to the original orchestrated version of that Santos tune 
Perhaps the most talented of all the bossa nova group of the 1960s, Tamba Trio pretty much created the bossa-pop sound, fusing bossa nova melodies with close harmony vocals. Their take on Jorge Ben’s 
Neil first heard this record when crate digging in the Brazilian section in a small regional record shop in the UK. Ohlos Coloridos or Colourful Eyes is the standout track from her fifth self titled album (1986). It’s based on an infectious guitar and bass riff and the lyrics refer to Sá’s Cape Verdean ancestry – You laugh at my clothes/You laugh ar my hair/You laugh at my skin/You laugh at my smile/But the truth is: you also/Have creole blood. In Brazil, tri-racial people with African, European and Amerindian heritage are referred to as sarará. Check out 
Marcos Valle is something of a Cosmic Jazz hero. Neil has been lucky enough to see him live in the UK and has 
Sabrina Malheiros was born in Rio and is the daughter of Alex Malheiros – bass player with Azymuth and now the only surviving member of the original trio. Title tune Clareia comes from her 2017 album on the UK’s Far Out label. As with much of Malheiros’ music for the label, the tune was written in collaboration with her father and producer Daniel Maunick – son of Bluey Maunick, founder of British jazzfunk legends Incognito. Father Alex plays bass on much of the album and it’s a classy effort that’s well worth exploring. Incidentally, Alex Malheiros continues to record his own material – his most recent album Tempos Futuros emerged in 2021 – here’s the track 
There are a couple of examples in this show of artists not doing what you might expect. Drummer Norman Connors is probably best known for his jazz/funk work beloved of soul and jazz clubbers. But before this he was a serious jazz musician playing with some heavyweight jazz musicians. The album Dance of Magic was his first as leader, but before that he had played with the likes of Marion Brown, Archie Shepp, Sun Ra, Sam Rivers, Jackie McLean and Pharaoh Sanders. There is also an impressive roster of jazz greats on Dance of Magic – Herbie Hancock, Gary Bartz, Eddie Henderson, Cecil McBee, Stanley Clarke, Alphonse Mouzon, Billy Hart, Airto Moreira and more. Our choice for this show, Morning Change, has a terrific soprano sax solo from the late Carlos Garnett, whose life we celebrated recently on Cosmic Jazz. Norman Connors was featured on Garnett’s Black Love album – the two musicians were close friends and mutually supportive. Morning Change is a tune full of mystery, deep in spiritual and contemplative sounds and definitely one for the heart and soul rather than the dancefloor.
This great new crowd-funded Brazilian compilation is now available on Bandcamp – check it out 
This is the first track in our sequence of music from the endlessly inventive Edition Records label. Founded by pianist and producer Dave Stapleton, Edition is fast becoming one of the most diverse labels around – with these three choices amply demonstrating this truth. We loved Gretchen Parlato’s last album – 2021’s Flor – which saw her exploring both Bach and Bowie’s posthumous No Plan album. Sure, Lean In is less musically adventurous that that exceptional previous record but it’s full of little joys – including Akwe on which she’s joined by the guitar and voice of Lionel Loueke. On drums and percussion is Mark Guiliana (Parlato’s husband)…
.. which leads us nicely into this track from Guiliana himself. Coming hard on the heels of his last record for Edition, Mischief is cut from the same sessions as this record. But it’s even more loose, spontaneous and exploratory with bassist Chris Morrisey, pianist Shai Maestro, and tenor saxophonist Jason Rigby holding down the complex rhythms and wispy melodies. One review noted a comparison with Keith Jarrett’s American quartet – Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden, and Paul Motian along with Jarrett himself – and it’s not wide of the mark. This is not easy listening but do check out this unique drummer here and on other idiosyncratic recent releases.
Another Edition partnership and one that, again, really works. Charlie Hunter has an extraordinary command of the custom eight string guitar he uses – and it’s great in this combination with Grammy-award winning vocalist Kurt Elling. Like Mischief, this EP follows on from a previous record – the excellent SuperBlue album – with this one being released in February 2023. Chicagoan Elling is one of the most thoughtful jazz vocalists around today with the knack of mining lyric sources as diverse as Persian mystic Rumi and beat poet Jack Kerouac. This choice is a little more conventional though – 
ECM (Editions of Contemporary Music) has been a go-to label for jazz enthusiasts since their inception by producer Manfred Eicher in the 1970s. Neil remembers his first ECM purchase very clearly: the superb Keith Jarrett solo piano Bremen/Lausanne box set which he bought in Zurich in 1973. Kenny Wheeler’s Gnu High features Jarrett on piano along with Dave Holland on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums. The longest track is Heyoke at 22 minutes – fresh and inventive throughout with wonderful drumming from DeJohnette – but we chose Smatter, the shortest piece at just under six minutes. It showcases Wheeler’s supremely melodic approach to the flugelhorn, emphasising what the Allmusic review noted as the warm and cool stance only Wheeler wields, making seemingly simple music deep and profound. Exactly.
Adam O’Farrill is also featured on this tune providing a fierce solo as a member of the avant-garde New York jazz group led by Mary Halvorson. Derek was fortunate to see the group with Adam O’Farrill on trumpet at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam earlier this year. They are definitely not a Latin jazz outfit. They provide a challenging but engrossing and enriching listening experience. It is not surprising to find Adam O’Farrill in this band. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York among a rich variety of musical experiences, with both parents as musicians – his mother Alison Deane is a classical pianist. He leads his own band Stranger Days which includes his brother Zack O’Farrill as drummer – check out the self-titled album 
2022’s Isabela is the second ECM album from New York-based saxophonist/composer Oded Tzur and his quartet. His first album for the label identified Tzur’s consummate ability to meld Eastern and Western traditions while exploring new connections between American jazz, Indian, Middle Eastern, and Israeli traditions. Here, the saxophonist constructs a suite-like sequence across the different tracks, balancing restrained meditative sounds with more powerful statements. Our choice of Noam is perhaps the most hymn-like – only towards the end showing some grain in the saxophone voice. The quartet is Nitai Hershkovits on piano, Petros Klampanis on bass and the better known Johnathon Blake on drums. They’ve worked with Tzur for over five years now – and it shows.
In Japan, springtime cherry blossom (sakura) is widely celebrated as a symbol of rebirth – but is also a reminder of the impermanence of life. Scottish violinist Seonaid Aitken experienced sakura in Tokyo and – after a serious accident that left her unable to walk – she returned to Scotland and composed the Chasing Sakura Suite using jazz, classical and folk idioms. It’s all performed by a string quintet accompanied by saxophone and flute. Neil is really taken with this music – there’s Steve Reich, 20th century classical quartet and some jazzy flute (from Scotland’s Helena Kay) in the mix and it all works. Available 
Christine Tobin notes that The songs of Returning Weather are inspired by my return to Ireland after many years living abroad. I hadn’t planned, nor had I any idea that I was coming home. It was as if a great wave rolled over me and swept me along, delivering me from city to sanctuary somewhere between Boyle, Frenchpark and Ballaghaderreen. I immediately fell under the spell of the quiet beauty of this part of Co
It’s thanks to Scottish promoter Rob Adams (@rabjourno on Twitter) that I’ve discovered Irish guitarist Louis Stewart, who’s been under the jazz radar for decades. The reissue of an expanded version of Out On His Own is a welcome opportunity to give him his much deserved dues. Originally released in 1977, this solo guitar album features a mix of contemporary titles and American songbook jazz standards. At the time of first release, Sunday Times critic Derek Jewell said: Louis is revealed here as a guitar virtuoso already of considerable maturity. A virtuoso in anyone’s language, and … a musician to be spoken of in the same league as Django Reinhardt, Wes Montgomery, or, among contemporary virtuosos, Joe Pass. High praise indeed – but justified. Listen to his take on our choice for this show – the sublime Wave from Antonio Carlos Jobim. If you don’t know the tune, then 
So – thanks to Jazz Detective Zev Feldman – we have two double albums of previously unreleased performances by the Ahmad Jamal Trio, recorded live at the Penthouse in Seattle. Have no fear though – both sound quality and performances on both these records (available in all formats) is excellent. If you’re new to Ahmad Jamal then then both albums will give you an insight into the way Jamal has reconstructed the piano trio. The key word here is space – and it’s part of the Jamal trio’s soundworld of piano, bass and drums here. The music is unhurried with lengthy interpretations of both originals and standards – like our choice ofJamal’s take on Tangerine. It clearly demonstrates just how his music works, giving each member of the trio space to contribute and impact the music. Bassist Richard Evans is featured only on the 1963 tracks on which he provides able support – as on the opening track 
There have been plenty of projects where artists have faithfully covered entire classic albums but the groundbreaking 1970 Miles Davis album Bitches Brew has been good at resisting such treatment – as much because its cut and paste mixing from producer Teo Macero was entirely unique at the time of release. Add to that the then unorthodox use of effects-laden Fender Rhodes piano(s), Bennie Maupin’s rumbling bass clarinet and the angular howl of John McLaughlin’s guitar. London Brew is inspired by Bitches Brew – but it is no reproduction. Recorded in December 2020 at The Church Studios in London with 12 London based artists who also took on the name London Brew. Benji B, Raven Bush, Theon Cross, Nubya Garcia, Tom Herbert, Shabaka Hutchings, Nikolaj Torp Larsen, Dave Okumu, Nick Ramm, Dan See, Tom Skinner and Martin Terefe are all contributors and the album has been released to acknowledge the 50th anniversary of Bitches Brew. The comments of Shabaka Hutchings are relevant here: For me, that’s what Bitches Brew is. It’s a bunch of musicians making music because of the love of making music, as a social force and as a social construct. They are creating something that expresses unity and motion. That’s what it is to be alive… you know, you have unity, you have motion, and you have vibration. You don’t get any more alive than that. That’s Bitches Brew. The record is available as a 2LP set, on a 2CD pack or download from – yes – 
Label 
1977’s Tribal Dance was the third studio album from American jazz double bassist Henry Franklin, a man who worked with some of jazz’s greatest names including Freddie Hubbard, Sonny Rollins and Pharoah Sanders. Having re-released its Black Jazz label predecessors The Skipper and The Skipper At Home, the Real Gone Music label has now reissued this more obviously spiritual jazz-styled album. Featured are saxophonist Charles Owens, trumpeter Jerry Rush, trombonist Al Hall Jr., pianist Dwight Dickerson, guitarist Kenneth Climax and Woody ‘Sonship’ Theus on drums and percussion. Theus (who took his moniker from John Coltrane’s Sun Ship album) is perhaps one of the best known of the musicians here. Known for his unique drumkits, Theus had a very open, tribal-like tone which often focused on huge high mounted Chinese cymbals. You can hear him 
This tune is the title track from the debut TruThoughts release from Glasgow-based musician, producer, DJ and curator Rebecca Vasmant. It’s a blend of live and electronic music that channels Vasmant’s passion for both jazz and broken beat. She notes: Dance Yourself Free came about when myself and Emilie Boyd (vocalist) were having a music day at my place. We like to sit and listen to music that we love and come up with ideas for lyrics. And that’s just what you get on this track which features Harry Weir on saxophone and Graham Costello on drums – the chatter and laughter celebrate the warmth of friendship and collaboration that radiates throughout this release. Other Glasgow-based musicians feature across the album including vocalist Nadya Albertsson, synth and bass grooves from Dave Koor along with contributions from Norman Willmore on sax, Cameron Thompson-Duncan on trumpet and Danielle Price on tuba.
This superb jazzy house tune newly appears on a second É Soul Cultura compilation from Manchester-based DJ Luke Una on the Mr Bongo label. In May 2022, É Soul Cultura Vol.1 blends new, old, rare and under-discovered music from around the world and Piccadilly Records in Manchester made the album their top compilation of the year, with Rough Trade placing it as their number two. Vol. 1 featured 
Derek has a copy of this incredibly rare 7 inch single with the sleeve signed by Michael Garrick. It was recorded in 1971 in the same session that produced the Mr. Smith’s Apocalypse album. It featured some of the major British artists of the time – Michael Garrick on piano, Norma Winstone on vocals, Don Rendell and Art Themen on saxes and reeds, Dave Green on double bass and Henry Lowther on trumpet and flugelhorn. The spiritual-sounding title followed from Michael Garrick’s Jazz Praises at St. Paul’s recorded in the Cathedral in 1968 – and of which Derek also has a signed copy after seeing Michael Garrick perform on the organ at Norwich Cathedral in 1972. In using these religious themes Garrick said The intention is not simply to gee-up religious music, or, belatedly, to make jazz respectable: it is: on the contrary, to draw straightforwardly on the natural resources of all participants so that there may be some emotional and musical gain. Garrick is one of the great figures of modern British jazz – check out his wonderful album Black Marigolds (1966) and the jazz waltz 
The spiritual feel continues with what has become an annual tradition on Cosmic Jazz to play pianist Harry Whitaker’s Black Renaissance. It is a tune with a deeply religious sense of Black empowerment and Afrocentric spirituality, recorded in New York City on 15 January 1976 – Martin Luther King Day. There is jazz, there is soul, there is poetry, there is rap before rap was known widely. The record is essentially a jam featuring some top-level musicians – Woody Shaw on trumpet, Azar Lawrence on tenor and soprano sax, David Schnitter on tenor sax, Buster Williams on bass, Billy Hart on drums and Mtume and Earl Barrett on percussion with further contributors providing singing and speaking voices. For many years it was a lost masterpiece until it was found and released by LuvN’ Haight for Ubiquity Recordings in California in 2002. An essential tune for us here on the show.
The next three selections all contain a contribution from Harry Whitaker. The record output may have been limited under his own leadership, but Whitaker did work with several other artists including as musical director on Roberta Flack’s I Feel Like Making Love. He also spent four years with Roy Ayers’ Ubiquity and made an important contribution to the tune He’s A Superstar, a soul-jazz-fusion classic. The album He’s Coming – from which the tune is taken – was recorded in 1972 at no less than the Van Gelder Studio with the man himself as recording engineer. Whitaker plays electric piano, organ and also contributed vocals but it’s the superb co-arrangement with Roy Ayers that is so memorable. Other well-known names are involved in the project too, including Ron Carter on bass, Billy Cobham on drums and percussion and Sonny Fortune on soprano saxophone and flute.
Here is another example of Harry Whitaker as musical director/arranger as well as playing piano for Kansas City-born vocalist Eugene McDaniels on his 1970 release Headless |Heroes of the Apocalypse. To quote McDaniels: Harry Whitaker did the arrangements and God loves him, I just really appreciate him so much because his sound is a sound that I really relate to. Its got that Miles-ian kind of quality. There were other quality musicians present at the session as well – Gary King on electric bass, Miroslav Vitous on acoustic bass, Alphonse Mouzon on drums and Richie Resnikoff on guitar. Lyrically, the album was a savage indictment of American society and touched a raw nerve in some. Indeed, President Richard Nixon’s deputy Spiro Agnew rang up Atlantic Records to complain! McDaniels was the writer of Compared to What – a hit for Les McCann and Eddie Harris on their album Swiss Movement recorded live at the Montreux Festival in 1969. The lyrics included the lines The president, he’s got his war / Folks don’t know just what it’s for / Nobody gives us rhyme or reason / Have one doubt, they call it treason. When released as a single, the song sold over a million copies and reached No. 35 on Billboard’sR&B chart. 
The final selection to which Harry Whitaker made a contribution is a tune that Derek makes no apologies for having played more than once already on Cosmic Jazz. It is You’re Not In Love from the 1997 album Old Devil Moon by vocalist/composer Carmen Lundy. Quite simply, this is a gorgeous, luscious tune whose sound radiates deep warmth. Emotion comes out of every note and – despite the vitriol in the lyrics – there’s passion, determination and feeling in Lundy voice. You’re Not In Love is certainly up there with Black Renaissance as an essential Cosmic Jazz tune. On the back of the CD sleeve Harry Whitaker is credited with keyboards, while inside for the individual track listing he is credited with synthesiser. Does it matter? Also present are Billy Childs on piano, Victor Bailey on electric bass, Omar Hakim on drums, Mayra Casales on percussion and the great Randy Brecker on flugelhorn. Here at Cosmic Jazz think Carmen Lundy is one the most underrated jazz singers today: also an accomplished songwriter and exhibited artist, she usually surrounds herself with celebrated musicians too – Geri Allen, Robert Glasper, Phil Upchurch and others. It’s worth checking out her recent releases on her own Afrasia label beginning with the excellent 2CD set Jazz and the New Songbook: Live from the Madrid (2005) – listen to
Have you ever got a record out to play that you have not heard for some time and then discovered on it a tune that has gone unnoticed by you in the past? and to your delight you love it. This happened recently to Derek when he was searching through the Café Latino compilation and found Anita O’Day’s version – from her 1958 album Anita Sings the Winners – of Peanut Vendor or El manisero to give its original Spanish title. The original was written in 1930 by the Cuban Moises Simons, sold over a million copies in sheet music and has been recorded over 160 times – probably the most recorded tune ever. The first best-selling recording and the first Cuban million seller was made in New York in 1930 by Don Azpiazu and His Havana Casino Orchestra with Antonio Machin as the vocalist who you can see 
Tania Maria’s1983 jazz-fusion recording Come With Me from her 1983 album of the same name for Concord Jazz is one of those understated classics. A tune you know, but a tune it may take you some time to realise just how good it is, or at least that has been Derek’s experience. Tania Maria is a Brazilian-born singer, composer, keyboard player and composer with a degree in law. She moved to France in 1974 where she gained international recognition before moving to New York where – from the early 1980s – she made an impact on the club and radio scene. Come With Me became a staple of soul clubs and jazz dancers worldwide – thanks as much to John Pēna’s hypnotic bass line as Maria’s vocals. She has since made numerous albums and appeared at some of the most important jazz festivals around the world including Monterey, Montreux and the North Sea Jazz Festival.
We have a tradition at Cosmic Jazz of ending the show with a tune that somewhat stretches the boundaries of jazz, but which we feel is a tune that any jazz lover will enjoy and respect. This time it is from the late dub pioneer and sound system man Jah Shaka – also known as the Zulu Warrior – who died on 12 April 2023. He was born in Jamaica but came to South London in the 1950s. Derek has witnessed him at work and has memories of a slight man, totally immersed in what he is playing and bouncing gently to the music in dimly-lit, even totally dark, settings. That music was something else. It was spiritual and intense with a bass that was very, very heavy played on a system – certainly back in the early 1980s – which still used valves. Hearing Shaka was an experience. There was something special, something unique and something religious that set him apart from other sound systems. The title of the tune Dub For Everyone summed up his approach: his music was a symbol of peace and at his dances everyone was invited. This Cosmic Jazz show began and ended with a spiritual feel, but for this last number to get the full effect, just turn up the bass, let your speakers and anything around vibrate and become totally immersed in the sounds.