Well – it was a good show! We loved the rare Masabumi Kikuchi track from a 1980 Japanese album (Susto) which followed a Milesian late 70s groove better than most – not surprising given that Dave Liebman, Steve Grossman, James Mason and Airto were involved. Trumpet duties from Terumaso Hino completed the picture. A great track and one we’ll come back to.
Elsewhere were the promised 1969 Indian-trance grooves from Pat Martino, a surprisingly straight take on Human Nature from Vijay Iyer and a dazzling solo outing from the World Saxophone Quartet’s alto player Julius Hemphill.
New jazz vinyl cuts came from Max Grundhard and Gideon Van Gelder along with a vinyl reissue of The Silver Apple, a 1975 album from young British pianist Peter Fish. The show gathered speed to finish with a dazzling workout from Charles Earland and a slice of Herbie’s best street funk from the sometimes overlooked classic Thrust.
- Vijay Iyer – Human Nature
- Albert Ayler – Zion Hill (alternative take)
- Manuel Valera – Home
- Wendell Harrison – Tons and Tons of BS
- Masabumi Kikuchi – New Native
- Max Grundhard – Vortex
- Julius Hemphill – Kansas City Line
- Gideon Van Gelder – Wave
- Pat Martino – Baiyina
- Peter Fish – Friend and Lover
- Gato Barbieri – Milonga Triste
- Charles Earland – Cosmic Fever
- Herbie Hancock – Spank-a-Lee
And so onto our videoclip for this week. Here’s Julius Hemphill leading a big band playing The Hard Blues sometime in the 1980s.