Cosmic Jazz has to celebrate the music of three artists who have died this year and whose contribution has been significant – James Blood Ulmer, Sonny Rollins and Abdullah Ibrahim + new music from Scotland and Edition Records. The show includes more jazz greats too – Norma Winstone, Dave Holland, Kenny Wheeler.
1. James Blood Ulmer – Are You Glad To Be In America? from 7″
Derek began the show with his copy of the rare 7in single of Are You Glad To Be In America? from guitarist James Blood Ulmer. In 1972, Ornette Coleman took Ulmer under his wing and taught him the principles of harmolodics – Coleman’s system that treats harmony, rhythm, and melody equally and which defined the output of his Prime Time band. The sound is defined by twin drummers G Calvin Weston and the incomparable Ronald Shannon Jackson, along with Amin Ali on electric bass. The result is this persistent nervous energy that still retains a funk core at the heart. The three musicians construct multiple layers around Ulmer, with his guitar tone a mash-up of jazz, rock, funk, and surf elements. Add into the mix Ulmer’s attempt at singing and this sounds like a disastrous combination. And yet – the result is an impassioned plea that sounds as powerful now as in late 1971 when the single was issued on the UK Rough Trade label. Ulmer died last month leaving behind a legacy of dozens of recordings, the best of which include Are You Glad To Be In America? (1972), Freelancing (1981), Odyssey (1984) and Memphis Blood: The Sun Sessions (2001). He also appeared on one of Neil’s all-time favourite records Arthur Blythe’s Lenox Avenue Breakdown from 1980 (check Down San Diego Way here) and the Third Rail Band’s South Delta Space Age from 1995 – listen to Dusted here.
2. Sonny Rollins – St. Thomas from Saxophone Coiossus
Tenor saxophonist and jazz giant Sonny Rollins was born on 03 September 1930 and died on 25 May 2026. His long career brought him two Grammys and numerous compositions that have become jazz standards, including Oleo, Airegin and Doxy. Rollins’ significance can be judged by the fact that until his death he was the only surviving musician in perhaps the most famous jazz photo of all, Art Kane’s A Great Day in Harlem (1958). Before leading his own group Rollins played with many leading jazz musicians, including Bud Powell, Miles Davis and John Coltrane. In 1956 he began recording under his own name, with Saxophone Colossus appearing two years later in 1956 – resulting in a new nickname of ‘the saxophone colossus’. Rollins’ quartet here is Max Roach on drums, Doug Watkins on bass and long-time partner Tommy Flanagan on piano. The opening track St. Thomas is an obvious one to select, although not typical of the album as a whole. It’s catchy, it swings, and Rollins’ full-on, mighty tenor gives it a real feel-good factor. With a family heritage in the Virgin Islands, Rollins plays tribute to the sounds of Caribbean calypso and it’s this that makes the tune so distinctive. Max Roach and Rollins are a perfect combination here – Roach’s precise, measured lines give Rollins opportunity to develop that celebrated rhythmic flexibility into those continuously evolving solos evident on subsequent recordings with the drummer. The partnership was to continue through until another five star record – 1958’s Freedom Suite. Check out the extended title track here. Both these albums are an essential part of anyone’s jazz collection.
3. Abdullah Ibrahim – Little Boy from Voice Of Africa
The South African pianist and composer Abdullah Ibrahim (born Dollar Brand) died last month at the age of and he’s most definitely a musician we want to remember and celebrate on Cosmic Jazz. This track, released in 1976 on the album Voice of Africa, but played here from a vinyl re-release of 1988 from the UK-based Kaz Records, is a tune of great warmth, soul and emotional intensity. It has the spirit of South Africa but in its uplifting, joyous tone has a universal message for all of us. Little Boy drives along at a measured pace but one that makes it impossible not to sway the body and reach down to the heart and soul. The musicians include Kippie Moeketsi on alto sax – one of the legends of South African music and described as the father of contemporary Black music in the country – along with Basil Coetzee and Duku Makasion on tenors. Sipho Gumede on bass and Gilbert Matthews on drums make up this powerful sextet. Perhaps the most celebrated tune on this album is the anthemic Mannenberg, a composition Ibrahim was to play until the very end of his life. Listen to Ibrahim talking about this iconic tune and then performing it live right here. if you have not experienced the power and impact of Abdullah Ibrahim’s music this album is the perfect place to start. It is one of his very best – but there are many other riches to discover, like our next selection.
4. Dollar Brand (Abdullah Ibrahim) – The Wedding from African Marketplace
Ibrahim was born and raised in Cape Town and began piano study at the age of seven, going on perform over eight decades and dozens of recordings. He founded the Jazz Epistles in 1961 (with aforementioned Kippie Moeketsi) and celebrated trumpeter Hugh Masekela who – like Abdullah Ibrahim – was to feature on the international stage. Apartheid in South Africa forced Ibrahim to leave the country for Switzerland in 1962 and it was here that he was heard by the touring Duke Ellington who set up a recording session for him. In 1965 Ibrahim moved to New York and played the Newport Jazz Festival that year. He was to settle in New York but continued to visit South Africa where in 1974 he recorded the tune Mannenberg that was to become an anthem for the anti-apartheid movement. Ibrahim was to perform across the world, playing and recording with many musicians, giving his final live performance in Cape Town just three months before his death. African Marketplace was the first Ibrahim record Neil bought (on release in 1980) and features eight folkloric anthems that celebrate growing up in South Africa. The 12-piece group includes Americans Carlos Ward on alto, Craig Harris on trombone and Cecil McBee on bass. The Wedding is simply a beautiful hymn (with a truly gorgeous alto solo from Carlos Ward) and really the highlight of this second Ibrahim classic recording – it’s a moving, spiritual work of art.
5. Colin Steele – Covesea Bay from Stramash II
Colin Steele is a trumpeter from Scotland who we have enjoyed and played on Cosmic Jazz. He has a new album released via the Scottish label Birnam Music. In 2008 he released an album entitled Stramash and he’s now released Stramash II. It is an exciting time for Scottish jazz with, in particular, pianist Fergus McCreadie gaining international recognition but he is not the only Scottish jazz artist to emerge in recent years: for many more check out this recent feature on Bandcamp on the Glasgow jazz scene. We’ve featured several of these artists but do check out saxophonist Matt Carmichael too. A common factor is blending the traditions of Scottish folk music with jazz improvisation – and Colin Steele did this with the original Stramash – and now with Stramash II. Moreover, the musicians from Scotland appear to acknowledge and support each other with this latest album including a track called Fergus dedicated to (of course) pianist Fergus McCreadie. The tune featured here is Covesea Bay – a warm and melodic invocation the small village with iconic landmarks and natural features on the Moray coast.
6. Dave Stapleton – What Next from Quiet Fire
Quiet Fire is the new album from British producer, keyboard player and Edition Records founder Dave Stapleton – a beat-based jazz record shaped by loop-focused production and centred on Fender Rhodes, bass and drums, It’s Stapleton’s first album under his own name in over 13 years, and reflects a move towards more beat-led writing. Stapleton is featured on Prophet and Moog, with sampled fragments and background voices broadening the sound. There’s guest performances from Nils Petter Molvær on trumpet (who has his own new album out on Edition Records), Olga Amelchenko on saxophone and Stuart McCallum on guitar, alongside the core trio of Jon Goode on bass and Elliot Bennett on drums. Our regular listeners/readers may recognise the album’s title – but this is not the stunning tune by drummer Roy Haynes that we’ve featured as a Cosmic Jazz favourite over the years. Rather, Stapleton’s Quiet Fire has its own distinct energy and so is highly recommended – available direct here from the Edition Records website or here on Bandcamp.
7. Dave Holland, Norma Winstone, Kenny Wheeler – Heavenly City from Vital Spark (the music of Kenny Wheeler)
We’ve featured music from this Edition Records album on a previous show but it’s well work revisiting. Vital Spark emerged last year and is a collection of Kenny Wheeler’s final compositions that deploy an unusual combo of jazz ensemble and choir. Norma Winstone is on vocals, Dave Holland on bass, Nikki Iles on piano, James Maddren on drums, Mark Lockheart on tenor and soprano saxes and John Paricelli on guitar. Throughout, Wheeler’s settings of poems by Stevie Smith, Lewis Carroll, and William Blake are inspired and –as the PR for this release acknowledges – the result is unmistakably Kenny Wheeler: lyrical but unsentimental, harmonically rich yet spacious and the project comes across as a personal, shared act of remembering and reinterpreting, shaped by decades of friendship, collaboration, and quiet reverence for one of the most singular voices in modern music. Highly recommended.
More from Cosmic Jazz soon.