This latest CJ show focuses on new jazz from Edition Records and a celebration of three great Blue Note recordings from 1965 and one British classic from the same year – 60 years ago. We also pay tribute to the late Andy Bey who died last month and, to end, include a tune from Brazilian masters Azymuth.

1. Horace Silver Quintet – Que Pasa from Song for My Father

Of course it’s a classic Blue Note album but Song for my Father (1965) is not just about that title track. It’s one of the label’s greatest hard bop dates and perhaps the best of Silver’s many superb records. Silver manages to balance jumping rhythms and complex harmonies alongside showing off his penchant for rhythms and modes from around the world. Maybe because of his own Cape Verde background, there’s bossa nova on Song for My Father, an Indian inflection on Calcutta Cutie and the vaguely Caribbean riffs on Que Pasa. Joe Henderson is on tenor on part of the album and he contributes one of his own near-standards, The Kicker. This is a gold standard jazz album and should be in anyone’s collection. If you want great sound on vinyl, your best bet is the BN Classics edition from 2021, mastered by Kevin Gray on silent 180g vinyl. And, yes, the guy on the cover is Silver’s father, John Tavares Silver.

2. Pete La Roca – Lazy Afternoon from Basra

1965 was indeed a stellar year for Blue Note records. The label had been consistently releasing great jazz albums since 1939 but in the 1960s the label found a new breed of musicians who blended bebop and hard bop styles with new freedom and outward looking perspectives. Alongside albums by the label’s established artists Lee Morgan, Dexter Gordon, Horace Silver and Jackie McLean, 1965 saw the releases of classic albums that pointed a new way forward. Classics like Herbie Hancock’s Maiden Voyage, Bobby Hutcherson’s Components, Sam Rivers’ Contours, Tony Williams’ Spring, Andrew Hill’s Compulsion and Don Cherry’s Complete Communion. Among them, there’s one release that’s often forgotten – and that’s Basra, the sole Blue Note album as a leader by drummer Pete La Roca. Steve Swallow is on bass with Steve Kuhn on piano and the ballad Lazy Afternoon features the mighty Joe Henderson on tenor.  Something about this restrained performance reminded Neil of another quiet masterpiece featuring British saxophonist Bobby Wellins – time to hear it again.

3. Stan Tracey Quartet – Starless and Bible Black from Jazz Suite: Under Milk Wood

This must surely be some of the most evocative tenor sax playing in all of jazz. It’s impossible not to like There’s a wonderful piece in Richard Williams’ ever-interesting blog The Blue Moment about this tune. Williams introduces the music by stating the album contains a track which has sometimes been called the greatest recording in the history of British jazz. That’s a big claim, and probably an absurdly unrealistic one, but the fact remains that Starless and Bible Black, the track in question, is a thing of unearthly and profound beauty, its simplicity of means and its relatively brevity (three minutes and 45 seconds) serving only to highlight its extraordinary nature and the intensity of its mood, preserved in a misty penumbra of reverb by the engineer Adrian Kerridge. It would have been impossible for the rest of the album to deliver this kind of magic but the whole thing sounds great on the 2023 vinyl reissue on Resteamed Records. If you can’t get hold of that, then just download this piece of restrained genius here on Bandcamp.

4. Wayne Shorter – Indian Song from Etcetera

And here we are with our final Blue Note classic from 1965 – but it’s not as well recognised as other great Shorter records from the mid 1960s like Speak No Evil and The All Seeing Eye. Maybe because Shorter released six albums between April 1964 and October 1965, it was possible that Blue Note just couldn’t keep up with him. And Shorter was also busy in 1965 with Miles Davis recording ESP, the first of the Second Great Quintet records on Columbia Records. Etcetera closes with its longest cut, the modal-flavored Indian Song, with its mesmeric loping groove in 5/4 time. Cecil McBee’s repeated ostinato bass motif establishes the mood and tempo before Chambers and Hancock enter, followed by Shorter, whose snaking Eastern-tinged melody is followed by a typically exploratory tenor solo that sporadically keeps returning to the main theme. The rhythm beneath him ebbs and flows, mirroring the rise and fall of intensity in Shorter’s improvisations. Hancock takes the second solo, his foraging piano underpinned by excellent drum work from Chambers, while McBee keeps plucking the same bassline until, at around the nine-minute mark, he solos, roaming more freely before resuming the main groove that prompts a recap of the main theme. A small masterpiece.

5. Les Prospection – Lido from Dance and Mood Music Vol. 18/Freedom Jazz France

Neil heard this recently on a radio show and thought it sounded familiar. It actually appears on the excellent Freedom Jazz France compilation from Heavenly Sweetness Records which we’ve featured before on Cosmic Jazz. There’s music from Stella Levitt, Eddy Louiss and American expat Noah Howard elsewhere on the record but this short track has its charms. Behind the band Les Prospection (literally) is veteran French drummer, pianist, singer and vibes player Bernard Lubat who has worked with literally hundreds of European and US musicians over the years including Dexter Gordon, Jean-luc Ponty, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach and many more.

6. Collage – Halb Sirp from Spiritual Jazz Vol. 18: Behind the Iron Curtain

The Spiritual Jazz compilation series continues to grow – and the latest is due out later this month. Here’s a great little tune from the latest – and it’s all music from behind what was the Iron Curtain. Halb Sirp (translated as Bad Sickle) comes from Estonian band Collage and appeared on their 1975 album Kadriko. The group was formed by Ravio Dikson who recruited students from the Talinn conservatory and school of music, and the name Collage reflects the varied repertoire of jazz, pop, classical and the Estonian folk tradition. Estonia’s geographical position on the edge of the then Soviet Union enabled musicians to watch the diverse musical content of Finnish TV and listen to the wide range of accessible radio stations with more varied playlists than their Estonian counterparts. As you can hear on Halb Sirp, all these influences are reflected in the music. Look out for this latest excellent compilation when it becomes available.

7. Olga Amelchenko – Reset from Howling Silence

Like other musicians we have featured recently on Cosmic Jazz, Russia-born alto sax player Amelchenko moved to Berlin before relocating to Paris where she is part of the thriving French jazz scene. Her debut album as a bandleader, Shaping Motions, emerged in 2018, followed by Live at Loft in 2021 and Slaying the Dream in March 2023. Now signed to UK label Edition Records, she says: Joining the label feels like a significant achievement in itself, but more importantly, it feels like becoming part of a supportive and inspiring community. Navigating the jazz world alone is challenging, and having a team of people who care about you and your music instills a great sense of confidence. Neil really likes this first Edition release which in addition to Amelchenko’s regular quartet features guest guitarist Matthew Stevens. Howling Silence comes out in July 2025 – but you can check out earlier releases here on Bandcamp and view this 2023 live performance of Midnight Dancers on Youtube.

8. Snowpoet – Our World from Heartstrings

This is different. London-based Snowpoet are Lauren Kinsella (vocals), Chris Hyson and Matt Robinson (piano and keyboards), Josh Arcoleo (electric bass) and Dave Hamblett (drums). Kinsella’s pristine vocals float above the music and – as the Jazzwise review notes – the standout track Our World sound[s] like something J Dilla might have cooked up on his beloved MPC 3000, call-and-response synth lines, a bass so deep it’s on the verge of human audibility, and Kinsella’s crystalline voice, all building to a lush, reverb-soaked coda. Heart-warming, uplifting and touching in equal measure. That pretty much sums up how Neil feels about this album – and the cover art is blissful too.

9. Andy Bey – Celestial Blues from Experience and Judgment

Experience and Judgment, recorded in 1974, is the record that cemented Bey’s reputation as a singer who could be compared with Jon Hendricks, Johnny Hartman and – in more recent times – Dwight Trible. But Bey was not only a singer – he composed much of this album including Tune Up, Hibiscus and our choice, Celestial Blues – also recorded in another version with Gary Bartz. His carefully modulated, compelling vocals with that finely controlled vibrato and long held notes have both dignity as well as power. And he’s supported by a terrific funk band that’s anchored by bassist Wilbur Bascomb, drummer Buddy Williams and keys player Bill Fischer.

10. Azymuth – Os Cara Lá from Butterfly