This latest Cosmic Jazz started with some examples of UK jazz now and then. The contemporary bands Kokoroko and Seed Ensemble are separated by a UK jazz legend – Michael Garrick. We followed this with two more legends from Brazil, then ended with a Keith Jarrett live performance that included the late Jack DeJohnette. The next Cosmic Jazz will be, in total, a celebration of DeJohnette’s extraordinary range and diversity.   

1.  Kokoroko – Three Piece Suit from Tuff Times Never Last

The show starts again with another tune from the second album release of UK band Kokoroko. This came out in the summer of 2025 with a sleeve cover to match the hot summer vibe – and the music fits this scene too. There is so much going on here in a happy conglomeration of sounds. Oneme Edgeworth makes his mark on flute whistle, with much happening from guitar and percussion.  Next, Azeke comes in with muted and mysterious vocals, while from time to time we get the high life- sounding brass chorus from Sheila Maurice-Grey on trumpet, Anoushka Nanguy on trombone and Chelsea Carmichael on tenor saxophone.  We should not forget Duane Atherley’s bass which thumps its way through the number – ever-prominent but not dominant. Derek loves this record – highly recommended.

 2.  Michael Garrick – Lime Blossom from Troppo/Late Autumn Sunshine

There is plenty going on in this tune too with outstanding British musicians from a different era –  although vocalist  Norma Winstone, saxophonist Art Themen, trumpeter Henry Lowther and bass player Dave Green are still active. The latter two are in the band Still Waters and in 2024 Norma Winstone released – with pianist Kit Downes – Outpost of Dreams on ECM Records. Winstone is prominent too on this track as her voice soars to the heavens, above a cacophony of wonderfully ingenious, deep, spiritual sounds being created by the other musicians. Again, we have telling brass contributions – this time from Lowther and Themen. It’s appropriate to play Lime Blossom now as a live version is also included on a new Garrick compilation from My Only Desire Records, Late Autumn Sunshine – to be released on limited 2LP vinyl, CD and DL later this month. Of course we should mention the 1974 album Troppo is still available via the Impressed re-release of 2004. There is little we can add to what has already been said about composer and pianist Michael Garrick (1933-2011). Derek once saw him playing solo organ in Norwich Cathedral, as well as in the Don Rendell/Ian Carr group and as leader of his own band.  He was an inventive and experimental player and composer who was at the forefront of British jazz from the 1960s until his death and produced important, serious and essential music. Hopefully, the re-releases have introduced him to new audiences.  Lime Blossom is sandwiched on the show between two contemporary pieces and they all sound good together.

 3.  Seed Ensemble – Mirrors from Driftglass

There are names that re-appear in this show and here we have trumpeter Sheila Maurice-Grey and tenor saxophonist Chelsea Carmichael of Kokoroko, but this time in another UK band – Seed Ensemble led by alto saxophonist Cassie Kinoshi, who incidentally played on the first Kokoroko album.  Other musicians include Theon Cross on tuba, Shirley Tetteh on guitar and Cosmic Jazz favourite Sarah Tandy on piano and Rhodes (but what has happened to her of late?). The album Driftglass was a Mercury Music Prize nomination in 2019 and was released on the Jazz Re:freshed label. Yo can find it here on Bandcamp. Like Kokoroko, the music has a London inner-city jazz groove with West African and Caribbean influences. There are important political messages too: on the sleeve Cassie Kinoshi writes that the band is my way of celebrating the vibrant and distinctive diversity that has significantly influenced what British culture has become over the centuries. She expresses the hope that the music plants a seed of awareness. That message is probably even more important now than when it was written a few years back.

 4.  The Ipanemas – Sacunda from Return of The Ipanemas

As promised, we moved to Brazil but with bass, percussion and brass still very much to the fore. Here it’s the engaging trombone of Paulo Williams that’s the main brass focus. The Return of the Ipanemas was released in 2001 and is another from our UK friends Far Out Recordings. It was indeed a return for this Brazilian group formed in the 1960s and merging Afro-Brazilian jazz, samba and bossa. Too far ahead for the time, they recorded just one album but drummer Wilson Des Neves and guitarist Neco – both from Rio de Janeiro – were still prominent on the Brazilian music scene, playing with many of the top Brazilian musicians through the years. Joe Davis of Far Out Recordings responded to a request from Ivan Conti of Azymuth to record The Ipanemas again and in 2022 Wilson and Neco, helped by a new set of musicians, recorded The Return of the Ipanemas and the renewed band went on to record four other albums for Far Out between 2003 and 2010. If you like this, check them out on the Far Out website.

5.  Airto – Flora’s Song from Free/The Best of Airto

The feel stays with Brazil, although this tune includes US musicians. It’s the band led by Airto (as he is credited on both the original and later release of this recording) – percussionist extraordinaire Airto Moreira. The track Flora’s Song (Airto’s wife is Flora Purim) is not to be confused with the more dance orientated Samba Da Flora. The former is a heavy jazz/Brazilian piece with jazz at the forefront and Airto’s unique percussive embellishments. The accompanying musicians present an impressive list – Ron Carter on bass, Joe Farrell on soprano sax, Keith Jarrett, (who returns on our final CJ track for this show) on piano and , Hubert Laws on flute taking things down a bit in volume but not in intricacy. There’s also a contribution from prolific session guitarist Jay Berliner. Free was released originally in 1972 on the CTI label with the assistance of two more prominent jazz names – Creed Taylor as producer and Rudy Van Gelder as engineer. Recorded at Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Free was Moreira’s first US success and remains one of his most fully -realised records. Essential.

 6. Keith Jarrett – Autumn Leaves from Keith Jarrett at the Blue Note

Following the recent death of US jazz drummer, pianist and composer Jack DeJohnette (09 August 1942-26 October 2025) Derek – who had the privilege of seeing DeJohnette perform at Snape Maltings in Suffolk, UK – wanted to include something that involved Jack DeJohnette in this show – but do look out for an upcoming show that celebrates in its entirety his music. As a tribute here though, Derek concluded this show with an extended track where DeJohnette is a member of a trio led by pianist Keith Jarrett with Gary Peacock on bass. Jack’s contribution is immense, not in an upfront way (although he is featured in a wonderful, complex and driving solo well into the tune) but because his contributions are so subtle, so precise, so perfect and so inspiring that they were an exemplary illustration of the drummer’s equal contribution in the piano trio. Like many of the trio’s recordings, this one came live in 1994 from the Blue Note club in New York and was Keith Jarrett’s first New York engagement in eleven years. This one is a really extended take on the standard Autumn Leaves – starting slow, but by around 14 minutes really beginning to move and groove and swing with a climbdown before the ending after a full 26 minutes (including applause). What a tune, what a trio, what a pianist, what a bass player and what a sadly missed drummer!

More from Cosmic Jazz soon.