This latest show covers a lot of musical ground with some names well-known to Cosmic Jazz listeners. Alongside this are others new to the show, some long-established, some newly arrived – with personnel links across the tracks that remind us how jazz is often a family affair. And since we went to press. we have learned today (12 April) of the death of Mike Westbrook just after his 90th birthday – which makes our brief tribute below more poignant. We will want to celebrate his life and work more fully in future shows.
1. Brian Jackson feat. Carl Cornwell – Moonshine from EP Two
Brian Jackson is a legendary songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. For many years he was in partnership with Gil Scott-Heron, although Jackson has perhaps been the lesser known of the two. Derek has just pulled out from his shelves the vinyl album Bridges by Gil Scott-Heron to which Jackson contributes keyboards as well as vocals and compositions. A version of another tune from this album – Racetrack in France – can be found on the EP from which Moonshine is taken while our choice from the EP features tenor saxophonist Carl Cornwell . In fact, from 29 May you can go further than an EP as British label (BBE – Barely Breaking Even) are celebrating 30 years of releasing music and will release all the EP tracks and more on a triple LP/2CD set entitled Now More Than Ever. The music is essentially re-workings of tunes from Brian Jackson’s past. There is particular interest as the Nuyorican Masters At Work team (Louie Vega and Kenny ‘Dope’ Gonzalez) – much loved here at Cosmic Jazz – are responsible for the production. Another Cosmic Jazz favourite, Luisito Quintero, provides congas and percussion for the tune Moonshine. You will come across these names again later in the show.
2. Joel Ross – Bach (God The Father in Eternity) from Nublues
Derek has recently discovered the music of Joel Ross and would highly recommend his work to those who who are not familiar with it. Ross is a composer and plays the vibraphone, an instrument that has been unusually common on Cosmic Jazz of late. Neil saw him play some dazzling vibes in Makaya McCraven’s 2023 visit to the Barbican, London and was hugely impressed. Now, it may be a surprise to see Bach in the title of a jazz tune but his music has long been significant to many jazz as well as classical musicians. Indeed, UK pianist Neil Cowley has just released an album which celebrates this influence – check out Scurry from Built on Bach. The Blue Note publicity to accompany the release of the album Nublues (2024) describes the tune as injecting the sound of the church and the rhythm of Black American music into a melodic fragment by J.S.Bach. Ross is accompanied on this number by his partner the flutist Gabriel Garo, with Jeremy Corren on piano, Kanoa Mendenhall on bass, Jeremy Dutton on drums and Immanuel Wilkins on alto saxophone. The album emerged from his study of the blues during Covid lockdown. He saw that the blues was not just a 12-bar form but rather a feeling – Sort of a spirit or an energy. Ross has combined his feeling for the blues with music that is more accessible and melodic than his previous work, but still incorporates the jazz direction he’s developed.
3. Joel Ross – Calvary from Gospel Music
The tune Calvary is different from the rest of the music on the latest Joel Ross album Gospel Music (2026) in that it is the only tune not written by him and the only tune with vocals. It has been selected, however, because it is a wonderful, spiritual track, Joel Ross is upfront on his Christian beliefs and as Derek put together this playlist over the Easter weekend Calvary seemed to be particularly relevant. Furthermore, the Blue Note publicity comments Ross is committed to worship in and through his music. The album Gospel Music was released in January 2026 and Derek hopes to include more from this album in future shows. The vocalist on Calvary is Ekep Nkwelle who delivers the number with an appropriate spiritual and moving solemnity. She was born in Cameroon but is based in New York and is seen as a rising star. AllAboutJazz wrote that she somehow manages to sound both solidly in the tradition and like no-one else. The tune Calvary was actually written by Betty Jackson King (1928-1994) – a Chicagoan composer, choral director, keyboard player, lecturer and publisher. Ross was – like a number of great new jazz players – also born in the city.
4. Mike Westbrook – Metropolis from The Cortège Live at the BBC 1980
It’s thanks to Mike Gavin from Cadillac Records that we can feature a tune from this epic performance from nonagenarian UK composer Mike Westbrook. This previously unissued gem in the Westbrook canon emerged in November 2025 and was the first recording of a suite that features the amazing vocals of Kate Westbrook and Phil Minton and a who’s who of British jazz musicians of the time. The Cortège Live is a large-scale work incorporating settings of European poetry performed by a 16-piece orchestra with Westbrook on piano, tuba and voice along with Guy Barker and Dick Pearce on trumpet and flugelhorn, Malcolm Griffiths on trombone, Chris Hunter and Alan Wakeman on saxes and flute and Lindsay Cooper on oboe, bassoon and saxes. Mike Westbrook is a longtime favourite here on Cosmic Jazz and, having recently celebrated that milestone 90th birthday, it felt more than appropriate to feature some of his music. The album is now available on Cadillac Records – the home of so much great British jazz – and you can track it down right here on their website. Highly recommended.
5. Dave Holland, Norma Winstone and the London Vocal Project – Will You Walk A Little Faster from Vital Spark (the music of Kenny Wheeler)
It’s thanks to Edition Records for this new release from jazz legends Dave Holland and Norma Winstone, together with the versatile London Vocal Project. Vital Spark is a collection of Kenny Wheeler’s final compositions that capture an unusual combo of jazz ensemble and choir. On our choice, Norma Winstone reprises the arrangement of Lewis Carroll’s Will You Walk a Little Faster – one of our favourites – check out this Gerardo Frisina remix. As a bonus, there’s a great soprano sax solo here from Mark Lockheart. Throughout, Wheeler’s settings of poems by Stevie Smith, Lewis Carroll, and William Blake are inspired – 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.
6. Olivia Murphy – calliope & the magpies from Fateful Birds & Fledgling Stories
And it’s thanks to Chris France from Prescription PR for this fascinating new album from composer Olivia Murphy, to be released in May and available on Bandcamp in CD and DL formats (no vinyl as yet). UK jazz musician Django Bates has written the sleeve notes for this release and he notes this music has at its heart an artist’s burning desire to express themselves freely, honestly, without compromise, wasting no thought on commercial concerns. The album references a number of avian-related stories. Calliope, the Greek Muse of epic poetry, transformed nine sisters into magpies after they dared to suggest their voices were more beautiful than hers and the four movements in the Sister Suite sequence take their names from a quote in the novel Little Women, where Beth describes herself and her three sisters as birds taking different paths in life. This is an innovative, brave album with a unique soundworld – explore via Bandcamp and for more on Murphy’s music and influences check out her website here.
7. Karim Saber – Sundance from Sundance
Sundance is the second release from British-Iranian guitarist, composer and bandleader Karim Saber. Recorded in January 2025, it retains the same personnel as his first release, Transmission. Matt Cook is on tenor saxophone, Alex Wilson on piano and Fender Rhodes (of whom more later in the show), John Jones on bass and Jack Thomas on drums with Aitzi Cofre Real on vocals on three tracks. The title track has a strong melody which allows for some great improvisations from Saber, Wilson and Cook. Sundance is an impressive album and we will definitely hear more from this young guitarist.8. Ygor Przebindowski – Salto from Salto
Salto (2025) is the latest album from Ygor Przebindowski – a multi-instrumentalist composer of music for theatre, film – and now jazz. There’s a wide range of contemporary jazz influences here – including the addition of a Polish turntablist. Przebindowski is on piano and vibes and is supported by Marcin Jadach on bass, Fryderyk Mlynarski on drums and DJ Eprom Mical Baj on scratching and sampling with the addition on some tracks of vocalist Sabina Rachel ‘playing (apparently) the voice of a journalist. This is an intriguing release and well worth investigating. Like much new jazz from Poland and eastern Europe, this record comes thanks to Steve’s Jazz Sounds – an online emporium of all that’s best in the music and a site you really should investigate.
9. Louie Vega presents Luisito Quintero – Oshagriña from Percussion Maddness
From this stage on the show moves into Latin Jazz territory but also re-visits artists we have met already in the show. Louie Vega, of Masters at Work (see above) is accredited as the presenter of the album Percussion Maddness (2006) by percussionist Luisito Quintero. Vega and Quintero are joint composers of the selected tune Oshagriña which features Milton Cardona and the Aranla Chorus. To further the inter-connectedness of this show, the UK release of this 2006 record was via BBE (see above). You can track down the CD version of this record here on Discogs and Neil is lucky enough to have a rare 7″ vinyl EP version of some of the tracks from this excellent record. Quintero was born in Caracas, Venezuela and Oshagriña is steeped in the vibes of Afro-Venezuelan rhythms. Quintero travelled extensively with the leading Venezuelan salsa artist Oscar D’Leon but moved to New York where his playing crossed over Latin, jazz, funk and African rhythms and is reflected in the list of distinguished artists with whom he has collaborated – including Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Mark Anthony, Gloria Estefan, Richard Bona, Jack De Johnette, Willie Colon, George Benson, Natalie Cole, Herbie Hancock and the various projects that have come from Masters at Work.
10. Alex Wilson – Havana Thoroughfare from Anglo-Cubano
British pianist/keyboard player Alex Wilson is another to make a second appearance on the show. He features in Karim Saber’s Sundance (see above) but he is better known as a performer of salsa/Latin jazz music both in his own and other groups. The tune Havana Thouroughfare is from the 2000 Candid release Anglo-Cubano and covers classic Latin Jazz territory of rhythm and percussion. The tune gives, in Wilson’s words, a flavour of what it’s like to walk the streets of that most atmospheric city. Wilson travelled to Cuba and was introduced to the top Afro-Cuban percussion band Clave e Guaguanco. He was joined in Havana by members of his London band Paul Booth (tenor sax), Dyani Akuru (congas) and co-producer Dave Puttman. Parts of the album were recorded both at the famous EGREM Studios in Havana and in London. The result is an interesting mix of Latin Jazz, salsa and cha cha.
More from Cosmic Jazz soon.
Rubberband was recorded in 1985 but not released until 2019. As such, it qualifies as ‘lost album’ – with all the critical uncertainty that this status brings. Of course, it’s not a great Miles album – that would have been too much to expect. But there are many redeeming features – not least the vocals of Ledisi on this version of the title track. It’s a highlight of this patchy album, recorded when Miles had left Columbia Records and was heading to Warner Bros., and it’s very much a record of it’s time – there’s lots of synths and slap bass but there’s still the unmistakeable Miles tone liberally sprinkled across the record (and note that – uniquely on CJ – throughout this piece we will be referring to the trumpeter by his first name alone).
In 1970, Miles was going full on to change the course of jazz. He tested the waters with the sublime In a Silent Way (1969) but went all out with Bitches Brew the following year. There’s so much to say about this record – and Neil has done that in his initial Cosmic Jazz profile. It’s worth recapping a little of that right here: In 1973 I went for an interview in Oxford. I had some time to spare while waiting for a train and so I dropped into a local record store. Flicking through the jazz racks, I saw this sleeve. Bitches Brew by Miles Davis. I teased the sleeve out of its plastic wallet. A gatefold. Inside was an essay by Ralph J Gleason and a great colour shot of Miles. Back to the front cover. Right at the top it said ‘Direction in Music by Miles Davis.’ And it was a double. That cover – by Mati Klarwein – was clearly by the same artist as had provided the inspired cover for Santana’s Abraxas album, also released in 1970. Inside the gatefold was a list of the performers – Wayne Shorter on soprano sax (my favourite sound at the time), Joe Zawinul on electric piano, Bennie Maupin on bass clarinet, Billy Cobham on drums – and another photo of Miles. I had no idea what it would sound like – but I knew it would be my sound. Neil noted that he now knows each twist and turn on every track – and he still does! He could have chosen any of the tracks on this Teo Macero-produced album but went for the single version of Spanish Key which can be found on the 
This celebrated soundtrack to Louis Malle’s film (1958) was improvised by Miles while watching a playback of the film in the studio. Miles was playing the Club Saint-Germain in Paris in November 1957 and was introduced to Malle by Juliette Greco (with whom Miles had previously had an affair). Later he was invited to a private screening of Ascenseur Pour L’Echafaud (Lift To The Scaffold) before taking his group to the studio and improvising to a projection of extracts from the film. The result was this perfect soundtrack recorded in just three hours. The band he used was the Barney Wilen Quartet: Wilen on tenor sax, Rene Urtreger on piano, Pierre Michelot on bass and American expat drummer and bebop pioneer Kenny Clarke. In his autobiography, Miles claims he chose the studio for its gloomy, dark ambience and that’s translated into this stunning music. Just check out 
Very recently re-released, The 
Neil acknowledges that there are good reasons why this didn’t make the final cut on In A Silent Way, the album that first saw Miles breaking out of the classic Quintet structure and instead beginning to deploy a bigger cast of what would become the most important musicians in jazz. Splashdown is simply not good enough. But it is fascinating in these box sets to hear the evolution of what becomes some of the most influential music in the genre. By early 1969, Miles’ core working band had stabilised around Wayne Shorter now on soprano sax, Dave Holland on bass with Chick Corea on Fender Rhodes and Jack de Johnette on drums. For In a Silent Way, Miles added Tony Williams (again) and Herbie Hancock (again) and then included English guitarist John McLaughlin and Austrian keyboard player Joe Zawinul (who had been in Cannonball Adderley’s band). Significantly, this was the first jazz album to be extensively edited by producer Teo Macero whose techniques were informed by classical sonata form. The result was that the first and third sections of each of the two tracks on the album were the same. Check out this alternative take on the stunning 
Now, this is music to make you cry – indeed Neil knows people who do when they listen to this early example of work by the First Great Quintet as they were called – Miles on trumpet, John Coltrane on tenor sax, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums. As his star rose in 1955, Miles had formed his new quintet and – in order to fulfil contractual obligations – he went into the studio in 1956, recording in just two sessions enough material for four albums. These were subsequently titled Workin’, Cookin’, Relaxin’ and Steamin’. From Workin’, It Never Entered My Mind was a Rogers and Hart tune recorded by – among others – 
Another selection from one of the Columbia boxes, this track comes from the Complete Jack Johnson set, collected in 2003. Named for Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán, this track is also one that didn’t make the final cut on the Jack Johnson album (1971) – but it is a terrific piece, driven by Jack De Johnette’s rock-powered drumming and Steve Grossman’s stunning soprano sax. The album was conceived by Davis to accompany a documentary about Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion and was clearly inspired by the political and racial subtext of Johnson’s story. The musicians on the two day session also included John McLaughlin and Sonny Sharrock on guitars, Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea on keyboards with new electric bass player Michael Henderson setting an irresistible groove.
We end this show with a wonderful tune from Miles’ favourite singer, Shirley Horn. This would be the final guest appearance on record from Miles – just a few months after recording this in 1991 he would be dead. But there’s no sense of loss of tone here – that unmistakable trumpet sound weaves around Horn’s vocal with the same mesmerising effect that we heard on It Never Entered My Mind. In a magazine interview Horn noted Well, I loved Miles so much. He got to be like a part of me. Of course, I knew about him many years before actually. I met him, but I was a married woman and I got a call. To this day, I don’t know how he got this phone number, but I was with my mother-in-law and my husband down in Virginia having breakfast and this party said, “This is Miles Davis. I want you to come to New York. There is some people, I think, you should get to know.” And I thought it was somebody, some friends playing a joke or something. So I thought about it and I thought that maybe I should go to New York. And she did… If you don’t know Shirley Horn’s unique vocal styling then Neil also recommends her later 1998 tribute to Miles which features a cover drawing by Miles of them both. It’s a fitting image to end this first Miles @ 100 show. There will be more.
Welsh harpist Amanda Whiting is making waves on the UK jazz scene and this special edition of her 2025 EP includes her previous record The Liminality of Her. Production is by Adam Scrimshire (see our previous show) and there are guest appearances from vocalist Alice Russell, Chip Wickham and others. Whiting’s style is laidback, thematically inquisitive and – like the great Alice Coltrane – definitely on the spiritual side. It’s something that the contemporary use of the harp in jazz seems to inspire – think of current players like Brandee Younger from the US, Alina Bzhezinska from the UK and Edmar Castañeda from Colombia. For more check out this 
This is a terrific record from San Francisco-born Sacha Berliner and her stellar group featuring Marcus Gilmore on drums, Burniss Travis II on upright and electric bass and James Francies on piano and Fender Rhodes. Special guests include Jaleel Shaw on alto saxophone, Julius Rodriguez on analog synths and vocalist Thana Alexa. Onyx is only Berliner’s second album and this 2022 issue captures her fiery, dense sound beautifully with production from analogue specialist Steven Mandel and engineering from GRAMMY® winning Ben Kane. Very highly recommended.
Another acclaimed vibraphonist, Brennan describes the inspiration for this late 2025 release: I’ve always been captivated by the night sky, endlessly wondering about what lies beyond. Amidst the vast expanse of stars, there is a sense of balance and symmetry that fascinates me—an order within the chaos. The innate patterns of the constellations sparked my curiosity, prompting me to explore how these celestial forms might be translated musically. In the summer of 2024, I developed a process that allowed me to collect pitch and numerical data from constellations. I overlaid the shapes of constellations onto a circle of fifths, intrigued by whether the symmetry of the constellations could translate into musical symmetry—whether harmonic or melodic. The circle of fifths is already a highly symmetrical structure that organizes pitches in a sequence. By mapping the constellations’ shapes onto this circle, I discovered new relationships between pitches, chords, and even key signatures. These relationships emerged purely from the constellations’ symmetry, not from traditional music theory. Err – wow! The instrumentation for this record is a traditional jazz quintet – piano, bass, drums, guitar, and mallet percussion – along with a standard string quartet and additional electronics. Another highly recommended album and available in all three formats from your local specialist record store or 
Neil saw young vibes player Lewis Wright many years ago at a local pub jazz gig in Suffolk. Since then, he released a first album in 2018 before going on to perform internationally with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and working with Hugh Masekela, Tony Allen and Melody Gardot. The Color of Intention features drummer Marcus Gilmore along with bass player Matt Brewer and was originally released in 2019 but is now available on vinyl – again, check it out 
Saxophonist and composer Ben Wendel releases his new album BaRcoDe next month on Edition Records. It’s a daring new electroacoustic album for saxophone and mallets (vibraphone and percussion). The project features four leading vibists and percussionists – Joel Ross, Simon Moullier, Patricia Brennan, and Juan Diego Villalobos – and was recorded at The Bunker Studio in Brooklyn. There’s a blurring of the line between chamber music, modern jazz, and electronic experimentation and this takes Wendel’s creative language into new territory. The question, of course, is – Does it work? And the answer is resolutely, Yes. There’s something of Steve Reich’s minimalist music here – and you can certainly hear it in the album’s opening track Clouds. Not surprisingly, this is another highly recommended release – and it looks and sounds spectacular in the 
Up next on the show is another of our ‘doing it different’ features – one tune in two different versions. This time it’s something of a modern standard – On the Nile. This is a Charles Tolliver composition but it first appeared on McLean’s 1965 classic Jacknife, just reissued by Blue Note in the Tone Poet series. Jacknife captures the saxophonist in a post-bop mode with trumpeters Lee Morgan and Charles Tolliver, pianist Larry Willis, bassist Larry Ridley, and drummer Jack DeJohnette. There’s modal explorations, churning rhythms, and good old hard bop grooves – and, of course, this Tone Poet vinyl edition is produced by Joe Harley from the original analog master tapes and sounds amazing. If you’ve not experienced these pristine vinyl reissues yet then treat yourself to this one.
Tolliver waited until 1969 to record On the Nile for his first album with the Music Inc. quartet, formed with pianist Stanley Cowell. The recording first came out on Freedom Records but then appeared on Arista Records. But this shorter and more powerful version of On the Nile comes from a slightly later release – Tolliver’s first on the label he created with Cowell, Strata-East. This 1971 version compares well with McLean’s take but there’s the additional power of a huge horn section augmented by Bobby Brown, Wilbur Brown, Jimmy Heath, Clifford Jordan, Howard Johnson, Garnett Brown, Curtis Fuller and more. By the end of its life, the label had released 58 albums of near-uniform artistic excellence – a remarkable achievement for an independent company run on a shoestring by two musicians with no previous business experience. We’ve featured the 
Pittsburgh-born pianist Horace Parlan recorded seven records for Blue Note, of which Up and Down is probably the best. The quintet is top drawer – Booker Ervin on tenor, Grant Green on guitar, George Tucker on bass and Al Harewood on drums. The sound is more soul-jazz than hard bop and all six tunes give space for the soloists to shine. Better still, this was one of Neil’s favourite Blue Note Tone Poets from 2025: all have great depth and spaciousness, but this is one of the best. We’ve chosen the title track Up and Down – a Horace Parlan original – but the whole album is hard to beat.
Alluding to the DJ reference in the title of his latest album, Gerald Clayton explains that it’s a record where the A side can be played simultaneously with the B side… you hear two separate pieces at the same time. Each side of the twelve-track album is meant to be heard separately and simultaneously. The music in the latter experience is obviously twice as dense as on the detached tracks. Neil’s not tried this yet but the tracks certainly work individually – and that’s probably down to the calibre of the musicians involved – Marquis Hill, Elena Pinderhughes, Joel Ross, Kendrick Scott and drummer of the moment, Kassa Overall. Spotify (which Cosmic Jazz will never normally endorse because of the 
It’s not easy to equal the original version of Rising to the Top from Keni Burke, but we think one of our favourite funk outfits Lettuce have cracked it. Founded in Boston, US, Lettuce are lead by drummer Adam Deitch and we love this take on the soul classic from the latest album Cook. Released in December 2025, the eleven tracks include funk, soul, jazz, hip-hop and more. As we noted in January when we featured the title track, Lettuce have been described as groovy, soulful and fresh – and we’d agree.
Neil came across the Japanese husband and wife team – neo-soul guitarist Toshiki Soejima and trumpeter/multi-instrumentalist Nahokimama – in an online search for some new music. Their 10 track album was released in December 2025 on the new Sterofox label and includes this chilled example of their craft. Check our 
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 with the ambitious 19 track release Black Classical Music following in 2021. Since then, Dayes has released another live EP (recorded in the mountains above Malibu) which will be joined by this new recording due in March 2026. It features the extraordinary Japanese vocalist and sanshin virtuoso Minami Kizuki and Dayes noted that Kizuki came with her vibes, and we just tapped in. And it was literally that feeling of when you’re on edge and you’ve just got to be listening, you’ve got to be in the zone, regardless of the circumstances. The drummer is joined by his longtime collaborators Rocco Palladino, Venna, Elijah Fox, and Alexander Bourt. We’d recommend both this album and the 
New Zealand/Aotearoa’s finest The Circling Sun have released two albums that have been on Cosmic Jazz turntables in recent years. Second LP Orbits channels the cosmic energy of 1970s spiritual jazz, filtered through synths, layered percussion, and an eight piece choir of Maori and Pacific Island singers. The personnel on this album includes Cameron Allen on tenor and alto saxes, John Bell on cornet and tenor horn, Guy Harrison on synths and Julien Dyne on drums and percussion and this track comes from the new download that features an additional three tracks. You can find it 
Producer, multi-instrumentalist and DJ Adam Scrimshire’s latest album is available on download and vinyl with the record being available from just £1 – but we’d recommend that you pay more as 90% of that money will go to three charities – The Refugee Council, MAP (Medical Aid for Palestinians) and Earth Percent. The album includes various guests – all friends of Cosmic Jazz – including Nat Birchall, Idris Rahman, Tamar Osborn and Faye Houston. New music blog 
Saxophonist Dave Liebman and the late pianist Ritchie Beirach formed Quest in 1981 with bassist George Mraz and drummer Al Foster. Later versions of the group had the equally talented Ron McClure on bass and Billy Hart on drums. You won’t find it easy to track down this extended take of the Billy Hart composition, Redemption where Dave Liebman very clearly channels his inner Coltrane – even Discogs doesn’t show it! Beirach is not as well known as he should be: for more information check out 
We end this show with an excellent tune from the live in the studio album from German collective Jazzanova. As far as Neil is concerned, Jazzanova don’t put a foot wrong – whether their studio albums or their remixes. This new record celebrate 20 years of Jazzanova’s groundbreaking debut album In Between with a new live reinterpretation. On its release in 2002, In Between set something of a benchmark for what would come to be known as nu jazz – a 
Dinah Washington (1924-1963) recorded this version of What a Difference a Day Makes in 1959. It was based on the tune originally written in 1934 by Mexican songwriter Maria Grever. The tune became a pop hit, in fact, Derek has it on a vinyl compilation Cruisin’ 1959 which features top Black popular music tunes on station KGFJ in Los Angeles. The DJ on the record describes it as Dinah Washington’s latest big hit. Washington was a versatile artist – primarily a jazz singer, but equally at home singing pop or the blues. She was given the title ‘Queen of the Blues’ This tune is complete with choir and strings, but I particularly like the constant beats from the brushes and Dinah’s sultry voice with a tone that’s almost casual and dismissive. What a Difference is a love song but Washington sings it in an almost detached and matter-of-fact way – and this all adds to the appeal of this version.
Ledisi is probably best known as an R&B singer and is a 2021 Grammy winner (for best traditional R&B performance), but the crossover between R&B and jazz is a substantial one – think of Dianne Reeves for example. And at this point we should make clear that the Cosmic Jazz view is that R&B connections should never be a cause for suspicion among jazz lovers. This tribute to Dinah Washington is an excellent jazz album and interestingly, Jazzwise magazine recently included insightful comments from Ledisi in an article on Ella Fitzgerald. The arrangement for this tune and most others on the album come from bassist Christian McBride. Drummer McClenty Hunter is on brushes for this one, with piano from Michael King – outstanding on this track but throughout the album. Look him up here at 
The tune Moonlight in Vermont, written originally in 1944 by Karl Suessdorf and John Blackburn, linked in Derek’s mind to the 2025 compilation of essays in 
We have played this tune before on the show – and although it’s not called Moonlight In Vermont Kira Neris samples a Mel Tormé’s famous version of the tune in a number he calls Open Doors. Born Hervé Poudoulec in Nantes, France Neris has worked on and explored the links between jazz and house music – often a great combination as here. The music is somewhat introspective and austere with an opening that sounds ominously gloomy and threatening – but the tune is actually beat-driven and rhythmical. We rate this tune and the album as a Cosmic Jazz favourite – once more, strongly recommended. Of course, there are many more versions of the tune to explore – but start with that great 
This version of the tune written by Thomas Bell and Linda Creed was released originally in 1974 but re-released by British label Mr. Bongo in 2020 – very welcome as the original was a Japanese only release. The making of this record illustrated the reference to ‘people’ and ‘world’ in the title of the tune – and, of course, we note the perennial truism that music does indeed make the world go round. There are three US-born Bridgewaters on the record but there’s also the global family of Czech-born bass player George Mraz and Japanese drummer Motohiko Hino along with T. Ishikuzi and director H. Matsumoto. Not surprising, then, that the album was recorded in the A.O.I. studios, Tokyo. It’s difficult to go wrong with the universal sentiments of lyrics that demonstrate just how people really do make the world go round. Add to this some terrific deep soul jazz music and you have an album that should be on your short list. The powerful, assertive voice of Dee Dee Bridgewater is accompanied throughout by delicate piano from Roland Hanna and brushwork from Motohiko Hino with a blast in the middle from Dee Dee’s then husband trumpeter Cecil Bridgewater in the instrumental break and as the tune ends.
The Jazzmeia Horn version of the tune was recorded on her first album in 2017. it is somewhat different to the Dee Dee Bridgewater version and radically different to the original by 
is the original version from trumpeter Freddie Hubbard of the tune Little Sunflower recorded on the 1968 Atlantic album Backlash. There is a later version he made from 1979 with vocals from Al Jarreau – both are included on the excellent Soul Jazz Records compilation Anthology 1966-82. Both are superb – with the latter featuring an extraordinary fading coda from pianist Chick Corea. This original is performed by an acoustic sextet, with Freddie Hubbard on trumpet and flugelhorn, James Spaulding on flute and alto sax, Albert Dailey on piano, Bob Cunningham on bass, Otis Roy Appleton on drums and Ray Barretto on percussion. James Spaulding is very much to the fore with a flute solo before trading notes with Freddie Hubbard. This is a relaxed, gently lilting recording with a hint of Latin swing. Check out that later 1979 version with its gorgeous strings and woodwinds 
The mention of Latin swing above and the presence of Latin percussionist Ray Barretto in the original suggested the tune might be an ideal one for Latin Jazz interpretation. So it proved. Los Angeles conga player Johnny Blas produced an instrumental version featuring an octet with four trombones, piano, bass and timbales alongside Blas. It is on the first of a series of Viva Cubop compilations from Ubiquity Records – with our final tune from Francisco Aguabella coming from the third in the series, The Blas version of Little Sunflower is also a gentle swinger, a degree faster in pace than the Freddie Hubbard original but with a sense of restraint and order, as is often the way with Latin Jazz. It is not music for avant-garde free expressionists but it is highly polished, tight and demonstrating some intricate musicianship. On this recording, the congas of Blas are upfront with the trombones either in unison or on solo alongside. Images of sunny summer days , sunflowers and Los Angeles all come to mind – the best thing to think about on a dull UK January day… And if you want to get that feeling right now, then check out the Viva Cubop compilation which is still available as a DL 
every jazz lover knows My Favorite Things by John Coltrane? We’ve played it more than once on the show so it’s not included here. Instead, the show ends with another jazzy version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein standard – but one with definite references to the Coltrane version. Listen to Francisco Aguabella’s take alongside the Coltrane recording – remind yourself here. Conguero and percussionist Aguabella was Cuba-born but resident in the USA from the late 1950s. While his version doesn’t reach the heights or the spirituality of the Coltrane interpretation it is well worth a listen because Aguabella has turned My Favorite Things into a joyful Latin Jazz number. You’ll get the flavour from the personnel: Aguabella on congas and bata, Jose ‘Papo’ Rodriguez on bongos and percussion and Ramon Banda on drums and timbales. There is also tenor sax, trumpet, trombone, piano and bass to provide the more Coltrane-like elements. A good mix, a good interpretation – but, sure, it’s hard to beat Coltrane.
23 November 2025’s CJ included a track from the 2018 Ruby Rushton album Ironside and we noted that Legacy! had just been released. So we start this show with a track from that latest album, their fifth. The band is led by sax and flute player Edward Cawthorne – aka Tenderlonius – with Nick Walters on trumpet and flugelhorn, Aidan Shepherd on piano, Fender Rhodes and synths and Tim Carnegie on drums, with all band members at some stage making a percussion contribution. All Ruby Rushton records are released on their own 22a independent record label. Oli Reeves in his notes to the vinyl album release states that This is a band still evolving. Trademark catchy riffs and heavy grooves are still there but are now heightened by a level of maturity and a sense of belonging that hadn’t been encountered previously. So are Ruby Rushton a band that deserves more recognition amidst the latest UK jazz revival of the last few years? I think so.
Polish bassist, composer and bandleader Wojtek Mazolewski released his new album Solo on 5 December, 2025. This takes us into what Derek is calling the ambient phase of the show, but an ambience not of the laid-back easy listening kind, but more of a deep, spiritual, meditative experience. Mazolewski has gained recognition and praise way beyond his native Poland, including from the UK in 
We are now definitely into ambient, orchestral, electronic jazz territory. Nala Sinephro is a Belgian-Caribbean composer, producer and musician living in London. The album Endlessness is her second release and another record from an independent label – this time UK-based Warp Records. Continuum 2 is a beautiful tune of meditative, celestial sounds which provides the perfect background to the awe-inspiring sky with a radiant pink setting sun surrounded by the encircling dark blue gloom of night observed from Derek’s window as he writes. This tune includes musicians well known to us at Cosmic Jazz – Nubya Garcia on saxophone and Sheila Maurice-Grey on flugelhorn. Another familiar name – James Mollison plays sax on one of the other album tracks. Just one annoyance to mention – the vinyl issue has only three recorded sides.
The album A Paradise in the Hold, released in February 2025, is the fourth release from British-Bahrani trumpeter Yazz Ahmed, who lived in her homeland until the age of nine. Now a well-established musician and although already an Ivor Novello award-winning composer, many reviews and comments have identified this album as her strongest to date. The album explores her dual heritage with Ahmed noting A thread in my work has been searching for, establishing and, now, finally embracing and celebrating my cultural identity – and it really comes across in this album, merging traditional Bahraini sounds and stories with jazz, There is a long list of musical collaborators and this is the first time she has written for vocals – Natascha Atlas is the vocalist. The music is transporting and uplifting – Ahmed says There’s so much beauty in Bahraini music. I hope this album gives people a flavour of how vibrant its culture is. And she has
It’s time to change the mood. This comes care of a crazy, chaotic ensemble from Norway called Luna Horns and good they are too. Our contact here is British soprano saxophone player Tim Lowerson, a founder band member and Oslo resident, here joined by Norwegian musicians who contribute alto saxophone, trombone, bass and drums. The music is energetic (quite an understatement), unpredictable and fun. The music can sound like a big band one minute and then stripped back down the next – and all this from just five musicians. Grab Afro-Space Hotel via 
More Cosmic Jazz regulars return to the show. Lettuce provides a funky end to the show with the title track from their album released in December 2025. Funk, soul, jazz, hip-hop and more are all there in the band’s music. Last year saw them on an extensive European tour ending with four sold-out shows at Ronnie Scott’s in London. They have also toured with rap artist Wu-Tang Clan and reggae artist Ziggy Marley, which illustrates something about the width of their appeal. Groovy, soulful and fresh is how they have been described. We can settle for that. Get your dancing shoes on now!
Don’t put those dancing shoes away just yet. The show ends with an irresistible mover that builds and builds and builds with percussive, soulful, Latin, house and jazzy grooves. It is a return to earlier shows where we end with a genre-stretching number to send us on our way with a spring in our step. It also fits in as Derek is trying to go through his record collection to re-visit past favourites and this 12″ is a recent delight. It is, incidentally, the third vinyl number on the show. This is George Benson’s re-working of Donny Hathaway’s classic The Ghetto with production from the Masters At Work team. It features Joe Sample who provides some cool keyboard sounds from the keyboards while George Benson leads with distinct but not over-reaching guitar and soulful vocals. Other distinguished contributors include Carlos Henriquez on bass, Lusito Quintero on percussion and Roy Ayers as one of the background vocalists.
DeJohnette was born in Chicago where Ahmad Jamal’s drummer Vernel Fournier was an early inspiration. But as well as learning the standard drum kit, DeJohnette was also a talented pianist and bass player – with this breadth perhaps contributing to that uniquely diverse sound. As he said, I see myself as a colorist, not as a drummer, per se... We’re going to begin with his two year association with Charles Lloyd and his 1960s quartet with a live take from a 1967 classic – it’s the best selling album Forest Flower and bassist Cecil McBee’s tender Naima-like composition Song of Her. DeJohnette’s shimmering cymbal work is perfectly judged here and an indication of the sensitivity he would later go on to show in the Keith Jarrett Standards Trio.
Next up we celebrate his tenure with Miles Davis and what is sometimes called the lost quintet. Before he was deployed as the principal drummer on the epic Bitches Brew album (1970), DeJohnette appeared in live sets with Davis on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on soprano and tenor saxophones, Chick Corea on Fender Rhodes, Dave Holland on bass and DeJohnette on drums. In July 1969 the band appeared at Festival Mondial du Jazz d’Antibes and these two dates comprise CD1 and CD2 of the Live in Europe 1969 set, issued by Columbia Records in 2013. They are a revelation. Just listen to DeJohnette’s drumming (and everything else that’s going) on right from the beginning of the band introductions and a version of Directions.
While Bitches Brew was widely recognised as one of the most innovative records in jazz, 1972’s On The Corner polarised opinion. Indeed, Davis biographer Paul Tingen stated that it became the most vilified and controversial album in the history of jazz. Only more recently has its worth been more accurately judged. Writing for The Vinyl Factory, Anton Spice described it as the great great grandfather of hip-hop, IDM, jungle, post-rock and other styles drawing meaning from repetition. DeJohnette was the key drummer on this unique record and he’s heard to maximum advantage with his pattering repeated drum pattern across pretty much the whole of the first side of this extraordinary record. And talking of vinyl, some versions of the record can sound rather muddy, so for a more detailed and balanced version it might be worth exploring the MoFi Original Master Recording – 
DeJohnette began recording for Manfred Eicher’s ECM label in 1974 with the Timeless trio featuring John Abercrombie and Jan Hammer and in the same year he appeared on Steve Kuhn’s superb Trance album. He went on to appear on more essential ECM recordings including Kenny Wheeler’s Gnu High (1975), Gary Peacock’s Tales of Another (1977) and George Adams’ Sound Suggestions (1979). But it was with the Pat Metheny album 80/81 that he joined the jazz superstar ranks with a 2LP live double set released in 1980 and featuring Metheny’s handpicked quartet with Michael Brecker or Dewey Redman on tenor saxes, Charlie Haden on bass and, of course, Metheny on guitars. We’ve chosen the lengthy Two Folk Songs (1st) which includes Metheny’s characteristic strumming, Brecker’s edgy and imaginative tenor solo and DeJohnette’s furious drumming.
DeJohnette established his Special Edition group in 1980 and this first incarnation is possibly the best. It features David Murray and Arthur Blythe on saxes and more and along with Slip Murray on bass and DeJohnette on drums, but also melodica and piano. There are two fantastic versions of Coltrane tunes – Central Park West and India – along with three compositions by DeJohnette. We’ve chosen Zoot Suite which has a great 4/4 bass groove with quirky accents and solos from Blythe on alto and Murray on tenor, along with DeJohnette on melodica. The tune ends with some characteristically powerful drumming from the leader. This is Neil’s favourite Special Edition record and it’s worth finding a copy on vinyl or CD if you don’t know it. It was reissued on CD via ECM’s Touchstones series in 2008 and Neil recently picked up a near mint vinyl copy in the excellent 
Of all DeJohnette’s collaborations with other musicians (and there are many) perhaps the most celebrated and enduring was that with the Keith Jarrett Standards Trio. The association began with the first Standards album in 1983 and continued the trio was disbanded in 2014. Along with bassist Gary Peacock, Jarrett on piano and DeJohnette on drums, the trio have released over 30 albums including some 20 live recordings. By 2000, the musical communication between these three performers had become nothing short of telepathic, and their group improvisations frequently take on a complexity that sounds almost composed. The Trio undertook frequent world tours of recital halls and was one of the few truly successful jazz groups to play both straight-ahead and freely improvised jazz. Derek has already featured one of our favourite tunes from this extended repertoire – the remarkable take on Autumn Leaves from the complete Live at the Blue Note box set (1995) – and we’ve chosen two very different tunes to end this DeJohnette tribute. First up is one of Neil’s favourites – an album he bought on vinyl on its release in 1983 – it’s the extended take on God Bless the Child from that very first Standards album. 
Now this one is very much not a standard. The Jarrett Trio occasionally strayed into free improvisation but only two albums focus on this approach – Changeless (1989) and Inside Out (2001). Both capture the trio departing from its regular format to improvise freely without the framework of the American popular songbook or bop standards – and the result on both albums is spell-binding. The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz wrote that Changeless contains original material which is deeply subversive (though also respectfully aware) of the whole tradition of jazz as a system of improvisation on ‘the changes’… On Changeless, there are no chord progressions at all; the trio improvises each section in a single key, somewhat in the manner of an Indian raga. The results are impressive and thought-provoking, like everything Jarrett has attempted.
We start in 1992 with the first album released by pianist, composer and broadcaster Julian Joseph. The title of the album The Language of Truth may sound a little pretentious but the music is good. Joseph’s band included Mark Mondesir on drums, Alec Dankworth on double bass, Jean Toussaint on tenor and soprano saxes and – on this track (the outstanding one on the album in Derek’s opinion) – Sharon Musgrave on vocals. This is an excellent re-working of 
We can count Ruby Rushton as part of the present jazz revival/renewal which has been going on for some time, though in fact, the album Ironside was released in 2018. It was the band’s fourth album. There has, however, just been a new fifth release in October 2025 from the band 
Back we go to 1987 to another of the trailblazers from those days who is still going strong – namely, Bristol saxophonist Andy Shepherd. He was someone else Derek heard at the time, in what was then a small performance centre in a converted former shoe factory in Norwich. The tune Java Jive was from his debut self-titled album released on the Antilles label, a subsidiary of major label Island Records. It is another warming tune with almost a big band sound from no less than ten musicians, including Sheppard on soprano sax plus trumpet, trombone, two tenor saxes, piano, vibes, bass, drums and percussion. By this time Sheppard had been playing for a decade, although with this album he was greeted as a newcomer. It had not, however, been until he was nineteen that he had first acquired a saxophone, with art being his main focus before then. Since this release he has continued to experiment and to innovate with a constantly changing group of musicians from around the world and even with a single musician – for example, the album Deep River with pianist Joanna MacGregor. Check 
This is the first of our two tunes from 2025. The Shieling from Fergus McCreadie was released by Edition Records in October 2025. Although he does not seem to have been around for long we can no longer think of him as a new artist – this is his fourth album. Along the way he has been a BBC Radio 3 Next Generation artist (a scheme to support talented musicians to reach the next stage of their careers) and been nominated for a Mercury Music Prize. He has a longstanding trio with bassist David Bowden and drummer Stephen Henderson and they produce a distinctive sound rooted in the folk traditions of their Scottish homeland mixed with lyrical improvisations which is evident straight away from the opening notes of the tune Wayfinder. The album was recorded in a remote cottage studio on North Uist on the Scottish Outer Hebrides and produced by trumpeter/composer Laura Jurd, another outstanding British musician in the current wave. Over the past few years McCreadie has become one of the most recognised voices in British jazz and his recent tour, following the release of The Shieling, took the trio across Europe.
Derek remembers seeing Steve Williamson playing music back in the day with 
The show comes right up to 2025 again to complete our past and present jazz revivals/renewals mix. This time we feature another contemporary talent from the excellent independent British jazz label 
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.
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 – 
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.
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 t
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.
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!