We don’t often focus on big band jazz on our show – so it was time to put that right. We featured mostly recent records – including two brand albums from the ever-creative Edition Records. We debuted the superb new album from Yussef Dayes – and you’ll really want to hear this! – and we ended with new jazz from Indonesia. And as we’ve gone to press here, news has reached us of the death of innovative pianist, big band leader, composer and arranger Carla Bley. There’s so much we could say about this important jazz musician but here’s one of her most famous compositions, Ida Lupino, in a version from her album Dinner Music. Lupino was an Anglo-American actress and singer, celebrated as a pioneering female filmmaker and the first woman to direct a film noir – The Hitch-hiker from 1953.

1.Colin Towns Mask Orchestra – The Royal Hunt of the Sun from Drama

We began with an album from composer Colin Towns that was in the running for one of the best jazz records of 2015. When he formed the Mask Orchestra in 1990, Towns brought together both new and established players on the UK jazz scene. Twenty-five years on, the Mask Orchestra released the excellent double album Drama – their seventh album with a line-up that included Alan Skidmore, Mark Lockheart and – on our selection – the late, and very great, Peter King on alto sax. As the title might suggest, the inspiration for Drama is works for theatre, featuring new and original music from Colin Towns’ extensive work in that medium, from classic plays (and films) including One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Equus and Macbeth. We began the show with The Royal Hunt of the Sun, inspired by Peter Schaffer’s 1964 play about the clash of two characters from different worlds, Atahuallpa Inca and Francisco Pizarro. This track also includes a spectacular duet between percussionists Joji Hirota and Stephan Maass.

2. Don Ellis Orchestra – Open Beauty from Electric Bath

Next up was an artist who should be better known but is undoubtedly an inspiration for much contemporary big band music. Don Ellis was an American trumpeter and bandleader who led 1960-70s big bands distinguished by their unusual instrumentation, weird time signatures and an openness towards using rock rhythms and electronics. His band included John Klemmer, Tom Scott and Milcho Leviev who went on to record with Art Pepper in his last years. Electric Bath is a good place to start with Don Ellis – there’s no less than five trumpets, three trombones, five reeds, Mike Lang on keyboards, three bassists, drummer Steve Bohannon and three percussionists. For more Don Ellis, have a listen to his 1973 Soaring album – here’s Go Back Home.

3. Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society – Dymaxion from Dynamic Maximum Tension

Argue’s earlier Secret Society albums have been some of Neil’s recent favourites and this new double CD set is no exception. Argue’s music always has a tightly structured thematic base and this one is no exception. Indeed, it’s the most complex of them all (so far). The music references key 20^th century thinkers for ideas that can help us in the present, that we can reexamine and reconfigure for our own purposes, says Argue. These include futurist designer Buckminster Fuller, cryptanalyst-computer scientist Alan Turing, composer-arranger Bob Brookmeyer, actress-screenwriter Mae West and the master Duke Ellington – among others. Argue has said that a lot of the tracks on Dynamic Maximum Tension are reflective of my personal journey in going back to the foundations of this music and trying to find ways to incorporate that into my compositional voice. In a pre-launch interview he went on to reference several of these key influences and inspirations. For example, Tensile Curves is a response to Ellington’s Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue, in which Argue uses decreasing tempo as an analog to the diminishing dynamics of the Ellington work. Listen to the celebrated 1956 Newport Jazz Festival performance of Diminuendo right here. It features that remarkable tenor solo from Paul Gonsalves that was almost entirely responsible for resurrecting Ellington’s career. Argue admires how Ellington sets up and foils expectations, doing things one doesn’t anticipate, like taking an unexpected detour on a blues form, but that all this make sense when you reflect more deeply about the music. ‘That’s jazz’ we might want to say.

4. Dave Holland Big Band – Last Minute Man from Overtime

Last Minute Man is the only tune we’ve played before on the show – but it’s so good we wanted to feature it as another good example of a contemporary big band at work. Dave Holland is, of course, the celebrated English bassist, perhaps most noted for his tenure with Miles Davis. But Holland has continued to blaze a trail across the jazz mini-genres – from the avantgarde to big band. Overtime is from 2002 (but unreleased until 2005). Holland deploys players who appeared in in his various quartets and quintets – there’s four saxophones, three trumpets and trombones, and vibes as well as bass and drums. The band includes Chris Potter, Robin Eubanks, Antonio Hart, Josh Roseman, and Alex Sipiagin among others. Chris Potter is on typically fine form and the closing track Last Minute Man is an electrifying end to this exceptional record. Seek it out if you can.

5. Nikki Iles and the NDR Bigband – Awakening from Face To Face

This great new album comes from one of the best big bands around at the moment – the NDR. Unique among Germany’s radio big bands, the NDR Bigband is a jazz ensemble composed of premier soloists of diverse backgrounds and influences who create an original and striking group sound. Like many similar bands, they began in a world of traditional radio and TV shows producing what we used to called light entertainment, but for several years they’ve ploughed a much more creative furrow – often with guest soloists, arrangers and composers. Current band members include Julius Gawlik on tenor, Peter Bolte on alto and Claus Stötter and Ingolf Burkhardt on trumpets. Here with UK pianist Nikki Iles – their Composer in Residence for 2023 – is the first fruit of this partnership, the album Face to Face. I love the NDR Bigband, says Iles, and that seems evident in this joyous music. Face to Face will be released in mid-November but you can check out the music and pre-order in all formats on the Edition Records website.

6. Yussef Dayes – Tioga Pass from Black Classical Music

This is one important record – and another example of the fertility of the UK jazz scene. 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. Now – a year later – we get the ambitious 19 track release Black Classical Music. Dayes’ regular quartet (which Neil had the good fortune to see in Singapore) are just the heart of a huge studio cast – new keyboardist Charlie Stacey, guitarist Miles James and studio guests including UK jazz royalty Shabaka Hutchings, Theon Cross and Sheila Maurice-Grey. The ambition of Dayes is clear and this is definitely one we’ll return to. In the meantime, listen to the opening title track and check out the McCoy Tyner influence – I’m thinking Ebony Queen here. What do you reckon?

7. Jasper Høiby – Love Song from Earthness

More new music from Edition Records that’s not released until late in November. Bassist, composer and bandleader Jasper Høiby is both creative and prolific. It was in his birthplace Copenhagen that he laid the groundwork for his career, founding Phronesis, one of the most influential jazz trios in recent memory. They opened for the Wayne Shorter Quartet at London’s Barbican in 2011 (another memorable concert Neil attended) blending intricate melodies with powerful rhythms and engaging improvisations. Since then, Høiby has gone on to release music in several different groups with musicians including Mark Guiliana, Tigran Hamasyan, and Shai Maestro. His new trio is called 3 Elements  and features Noah Stoneman and Luca Caruso.

8. Royal New Zealand Air Force Jazz Orchestra – Bird of Prey from Kaiwhakatere (Navigator)

Ok – so it’s an outlier, but the Royal New Zealand Air Force Jazz Orchestra really do deserve a listen. This is exciting, adventurous big band music with guests including saxophonist Oscar Lavën, whose Questions in Red album made us take notice at the end of last year. The album was co-produced by the Wellington-based Scottish drummer, John Rae. London Jazz News noted that Several observers have already heard the mighty Thad Jones-Mel Lewis band in this team of reservists’ smartly despatched energy and there are echoes of Gil Evans and George Russell in the sense of drama and suspense created. High praise indeed.

 9. Alonzo Brata – Night in Tunisia from Giant Baby Steps

We’re always interested in new talent here on Cosmic Jazz and young Alonzo Brata is a great example. On a recent work visit back to Indonesia, Neil came across Alonzo’s music and wanted to feature it here on the show. He may be only just 20, but  his rich baritone is reminiscent of Mario Biondi and the infectious This Is What You Are – and that’s a direction he could easily travel in. Brata notes that I’m a young vocalist (born in 2003) with a baritone voice and a diverse range of musical interests from jazz standards to synth-wave. From an early age I was inspired by the great jazz artists and song stylists of the past such as Al Jarreau, Chet Baker, Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, Louis Armstrong, and Frank Sinatra to mention a few. However, like many of my generation, my musical interests are wide and influenced by the gaming culture. Brata launched his YouTube channel in 2021, recorded his first studio album later that year and was nominated for in the category of Best Jazz Album by the AMI Awards (Indonesia Music Awards). That’s a pretty meteoric rise to date… Right now, he’s finding his feet genre-wise – but he’s already appeared at the huge Java Jazz Festival and will be back in the recording studio soon. Check out more on his website here.

10. Joey Alexander – Blue from Continuance

Also from Indonesia, there’s a similar story at work here. Joey Alexander has been featured several times on the show in recent years since his debut album was released at age 11. Mentored by Wynton Marsalis and Herbie Hancock, Alexander won a prestigious AMI award in 2018 for his excellent take on Coltrane’s Moment’s Notice and now he’s about to release his new record Continuance on which he’s joined by Theo Croker on trumpet, Kris Funn on bass and John Davis on drums. We featured the sprightly Blue but head to Alexander’s Bandcamp site here and listen to his reflective take on Bonnie Raitt’s I Can’t Make You Love Me.

There’s an long tradition of jazz in Indonesia and it’s worth exploring the music of other great musicians from this huge south east Asian country. Try keyboardist Indra Lesmana who has recorded prolifically with jazz artists like Charlie Haden, Tootie Heath and Airto Moreira since the 1980s and his new release – Do the Math – in this 2023 video created and directed by Lesmana himself. And what about Batavia Collective? Their name comes from the Dutch  occupation name for what is now Jakarta and the surrounding hinterland, and this trio began playing covers of popular hip-hop and soul songs but have now incorporated drum and bass, jazz and broken beat into their original compositions. Inevitably, Doni Joesran, Elfa Zulham and Kenny Gabriel are often asked what kind of jazz they are playing. Their response – To tell you the truth we don’t know. We don’t even know if our music can be considered jazz or not. We just happen to play jazz and we love to party. Have a listen to Joni Indo here and then check out their Bandcamp site where you’ll find a video for the brilliant Propulsion. And as if that wasn’t enough, there’s a complete live performance on Youtube right here. If you know the music of broken beat pioneer Kaidi Tatham them you’ll really like Batavia Collective. We’ll certainly be featuring them on upcoming shows.

More from Cosmic Jazz soon, but in the meantime, here’s the return of Neil is listening to…

Music this time comes from the usual wide range of sources. There’s a focus on Javanese and Balinese gamelan and music inspired by that extraordinary microtonal universe, a selection linked to new and upcoming Tone Poet reissues from Jackie McLean and McCoy Tyner, Yussef Dayes and Kamal Williams live in the Brownswood Basement,  a Keith Jarrett encore from the Tokyo ’84 DVD, Material and Nona Hendryx’s finest moment and – to finish – the all-female group Tokyo Groove Jyoshi with the infectious Funk No.1. Enjoy!

• Yussef Kamaal – Calligraphy (live)
• McCoy Tyner – His Blessings
• Jackie McLean – Boo Ann’s Grand
• Organized Konfusion – Walk Into the Sun
• Colin McPhee – Tabuh Tabuhan (finale – Quieto e Misterioso) 
• Keith Jarrett – Tokyo ’84 encore
• Gamelan Salukat – Likad
• arr. Iwan Gunawan – Six Marimbas for Gamelan
• Material – Bustin’ Out (long version)
• Tokyo Groove Jyoshi – Funk No.1

Cosmic Jazz this time deals out some serious and deep jazz. Expect Norman Connors (in a guise you may not recognise), a slew of contemporary artists on the Edition Records label and two artists of Latin heritage.

1. Norman Connors – Morning Change from Dance of Magic

There are a couple of examples in this show of artists not doing what you might expect. Drummer Norman Connors is probably best known for his jazz/funk work beloved of soul and jazz clubbers. But before this he was a serious jazz musician playing with some heavyweight jazz musicians. The album Dance of Magic was his first as leader, but before that he had played with the likes of Marion Brown, Archie Shepp, Sun Ra, Sam Rivers, Jackie McLean and Pharaoh Sanders. There is also an impressive roster of jazz greats on Dance of Magic – Herbie Hancock, Gary Bartz, Eddie Henderson, Cecil McBee, Stanley Clarke, Alphonse Mouzon, Billy Hart, Airto Moreira and more. Our choice for this show, Morning Change, has a terrific soprano sax solo from the late Carlos Garnett, whose life we celebrated recently on Cosmic Jazz. Norman Connors was featured on Garnett’s Black Love album – the two musicians were close friends and mutually supportive. Morning Change is a tune full of mystery, deep in spiritual and contemplative sounds and definitely one for the heart and soul rather than the dancefloor.

2. Antōnio Neves and Thiaguino Silva – Das Neves from Hidden Waters: Strange and Sublime Sounds of Rio de Janeiro

This great new crowd-funded Brazilian compilation is now available on Bandcamp – check it out right here. Neil was pleased to support the project – and will receive his 2LP set in coming weeks. In the meantime, listen to this example of the endless variety of new music coming out Rio de Janeiro. Featuring 20+ artists from Rio’s resurgent music scene, each bringing an avant-garde edge to bossa nova, samba, jazz and funk. This is the sound of contemporary Rio – a melting pot that pools popular and avant-garde, cutting-edge and traditional, with echoes of everything from Tropicália, samba, disco and Candomblé to lo-fi rock, bossa nova,  experimental electronics and – yes – even jazz. We’ve chosen  jazz upstart Antônio Neves – here alongside Thiaguino Silva. Hidden Waters is compiled by Joe Osborne and Russ Slater,  with artwork by Rio’s much-loved album cover designer Caio Paiva, a sleeve insert of two essays written by eminent music journalist Leonardo Lichote and professor and critic Bernardo Oliveira, and extensive track-by-track notes written by the participating artists themselves. We’ll dip into this collection more on release later this month.

3. Gretchen Parlato & Lionel Loueke – Akwe from Lean In

This is the first track in our sequence of music from the endlessly inventive Edition Records label. Founded by pianist and producer Dave Stapleton, Edition is fast becoming one of the most diverse labels around – with these three choices amply demonstrating this truth. We loved Gretchen Parlato’s last album – 2021’s Flor – which saw her exploring both Bach and Bowie’s posthumous No Plan album. Sure, Lean In is less musically adventurous that that exceptional previous record but it’s full of little joys – including Akwe on which she’s joined by the guitar and voice of Lionel Loueke. On drums and percussion is Mark Guiliana (Parlato’s husband)…

4. Mark Guiliana – Mischief from Mischief

... which leads us nicely into this track from Guiliana himself. Coming hard on the heels of his last record for Edition, Mischief is cut from the same sessions as this record. But it’s even more loose, spontaneous and exploratory with bassist Chris Morrisey, pianist Shai Maestro, and tenor saxophonist Jason Rigby holding down the complex rhythms and wispy melodies. One review noted a comparison with Keith Jarrett’s American quartet – Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden, and Paul Motian along with Jarrett himself – and it’s not wide of the mark. This is not easy listening but do check out this unique drummer here and on other idiosyncratic recent releases.

5. Kurt Elling and Charlie Hunter – Boogie Down from Guilty Pleasures (feat. Nate Smith)

Another Edition partnership and one that, again, really works.  Charlie Hunter has an extraordinary command of the custom eight string guitar he uses – and it’s great in this combination with Grammy-award winning vocalist Kurt Elling. Like Mischief, this EP follows on from a previous record – the excellent SuperBlue album – with this one being released in February 2023. Chicagoan Elling is one of the most thoughtful jazz vocalists around today with the knack of mining lyric sources as diverse as Persian mystic Rumi and beat poet Jack Kerouac. This choice is a little more conventional though – Al Jarreau’s  Boogie Down. On drums throughout is the great Nate Smith whose own Edition records are well worth checking out.

6. Kenny Wheeler – Smatter from Gnu High

ECM (Editions of Contemporary Music) has been a go-to label for jazz enthusiasts since their inception by producer Manfred Eicher in the 1970s. Neil remembers his first ECM purchase very clearly: the superb Keith Jarrett solo piano Bremen/Lausanne box set which he bought in Zurich in 1973. Kenny Wheeler’s Gnu High features Jarrett on piano along with Dave Holland on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums. The longest track is Heyoke at 22 minutes – fresh and inventive throughout with wonderful drumming from DeJohnette – but we chose Smatter, the shortest piece at just under six minutes. It showcases Wheeler’s supremely melodic approach to the flugelhorn, emphasising what the Allmusic review noted as the warm and cool stance only Wheeler wields, making seemingly simple music deep and profound. Exactly.

7. Arturo O’Farrill & Chucho Valdes – Fathers, Mothers, Sons, Daughters from Familia: Tribute to Bebo and Chico

Our second challenge to preconceptions comes with the next two tunes which include prominent contributions from trumpeter Adam O’Farrill. His grandfather was the Cuban composer and arranger Chico O’Farrill and his father the composer and pianist Arturo O’Farrill who has played with many Latin and jazz musicians in New York. In 2017 Arturo O’Farrill worked with veteran Cuban pianist, arranger and bandleader Chucho Valdes to produce the album Familia – not only a tribute to their fathers (both prominent Cuban musicians), but – as the title suggests – something of a family affair with contributions from several members of their own current families. Our choice of  Fathers, Mothers, Sons, Daughters includes Adam O’Farrill as a featured soloist. The cover of the CD makes a forthright statement: This recording is not about piano, Latin jazz or Cuba and this tune (although with a trace of Latin influence) proves that point.

8. Mary Halvorson – Amaryllis from Amaryllis

Adam O’Farrill is also featured on this tune providing a fierce solo as a member of the avant-garde New York jazz group led by Mary Halvorson. Derek was fortunate to see  the group with Adam O’Farrill on trumpet at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam earlier this year. They are definitely not a Latin jazz outfit. They provide a challenging but engrossing and enriching listening experience. It is not surprising to find Adam O’Farrill in this band. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York among a rich variety of musical experiences, with both parents as musicians – his mother Alison Deane is a classical pianist. He leads his own band Stranger Days which includes his brother Zack O’Farrill as drummer – check out the self-titled album here on their Bandcamp page.  O’Farrill’s website bio describes his music as both abstract and personal, writing compositions that reflect subjects such as being mixed race, growing up in New York, family history, and spirituality. The people he has performed with make for an impressive list and  include Vijay Iyer, Hiromi, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Samora Pinderhughes and Mulatu Astatke.

9.    Oded Tzur – Noam from Isabela

This week Cosmic Jazz has a special feature on the Black Jazz Records label,  but there is also an opportunity for more music, including our celebration of the patron saint of music and musicians – St Cecilia – whose feast day is 22 November.

1. Keith Jarrett – Prayer from Death and the Flower

We began the show with the music of Keith Jarrett who announced recently that, as the result of two strokes in 2018, he has lost the motor skills in his left hand and is unlikely to record more music. Last week we celebrated his music through the famed Standards Trio with Gary Peacock on bass and Jack de Johnette on drums with a track from the awesome box set of recordings from the Blue Note Club in New York. This weeks we dip into the recordings of Jarrett’s American Quartet with a track from the 1974 album Death and the Flower on the Impulse! label. This record is one of Neil’s favourite from this period, and one he bought from the much loved Sunshine Records in Little Clarendon Street, Oxford – also regularly visited by Coldcut and Ninja Tune founder Jon More at around the same time. Bought in the original Impulse! gatefold for £3.99 (see the advertisement below), Death and the Flower includes the side-long title track with its extended percussion and wood flute intro. The band are Jarrett on piano, Dewey Redman on saxophones and more, Charlie Haden on bass and Paul Motian on drums with the addition of Guilherme Franco on percussion. These records are well worth seeking out – the American Quartet is often overshadowed by the music of Jarrett’s European Quartet on ECM Records, but it is not to be underestimated. Look for this record and the equally good Treasure Island and Fort Yahwuh. Our choice from Death and the Flower – Prayer – is a moving, becalming and contemplative piece, played here on vinyl, a format we are now pleased to include in the show.

2. Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack deJohnette – Moon and Sand from Standards Vol II

More of Jarrett’s music came in the form of our second choice, one of the many records produced by the Standards Trio and all on the ECM label. Standards I and II were recorded at the same session in New York in 1983 along with a third record – Changes –  which featured free improvisations. Our choice – Moon and Sand – is not often covered by jazz musicians, but this 1979 version by Kenny Burrell is a delight as are the versions of Blue Bossa and Stolen Moments on the same release. The Standards Trio went on to record and tour for more than 25 years, recording numerous live and studio albums, almost all of classics from the American songbook. Two live recordings – Inside Out and Always Let Me Go – are the exception as both contain wholly improvised tracks. The telepathic communication between Jarrett, Peacock and deJohnette brought new insights into many familiar tunes and whilst Jarrett has his detractors (his annoying whining can be very irritating), none of 25+ recordings are without often considerable merit. Neil’s personal favourites include Up For It (2003) and After the Fall (2018), both containing outstanding versions of the standard Autumn Leaves. The trio disbanded in 2014 after more than 30 years of playing together – an outstanding achievement. All recordings are on ECM and all are still available, many in all three formats.

3. Mary Lou Williams – Ode to St. Cecilie from Free Spirits/Spiritual Jazz Vol. 11

Volume 11 is one of the latest in Jazzman’s ongoing spiritual jazz collections with a focus on music from the Danish SteepleChase label, the Copenhagen-based imprint that has recorded and released music from some of the greatest jazz musicians from the US and Europe, including many who were living in Europe at the time. These expat musicians were responsible for some classic free jazz recordings from the recently-closed Cafe Montmartre including Albert Ayler’s Ghosts and Abdullah Ibrahim’s Scenes from an African Village. Our choice was under-rated pianist Mary Lou Williams who on this track is accompanied by Buster Williams on bass and Mickey Roker on drums. Williams’ conversion to Catholicism in 1954 dramatically influenced many of her subsequent recordings, including this Ode to St. Cecile from the Free Spirits album of 1975. If you’re looking for something different try the extraordinary Black Christ of the Andes album. Here’s the backstory…

In 1962, the Catholic Church canonised a new saint: a Peruvian brother of the Dominican Order named Martin de Porres, the son of a freed slave and Spanish gentleman who refused to recognise him because he was born with his mother’s dark features. Today, St. Martin de Porres is the patron saint of those who seek racial harmony. His story and canonisation was inspiring to Williams and she began composing new material in that year, with the first performance of Black Christ of the Andes taking place in New York in November 1962. “Mary Lou Williams is perpetually contemporary,” Duke Ellington once said. “She is like soul on soul.” The sound of this unique record – which draws on blues, gospel and jazz – can certainly be described as soulful – it truly is music that comes from enslaved black people and their descendants. Listen to an instrumental taste of the album with Miss D. D. right here.

Up next was Chicagoan percussionist Kahil El’Zabar who has been rather prolific with releases over the last year. We’ve featured two albums from him in recent months on Cosmic Jazz and now up comes a third, the (ironically) titled America the Beautiful. It’s a relatively large ensemble joining the percussionist this time with Corey Wilkes on trumpet and the late Hamiet Bluiett on baritone saxophone. There are two versions of the title tune, Charles Wright’s Express Yourself and a twist on Afro Blue called Sketches of an Afro Blue but we featured Jump and Shout (For Those Now Gone). There’s no doubt about the focus for this music – “Now’s the time for us to collectively invoke a confluence of trust and imagination that will enlighten a future path towards ethical humanity,” El’Zabar writes in the album’s statement of purpose.  The album is on the new UK Spiritmuse label and, as so often these days, you really should give yourself a treat and get it on vinyl – beautifully produced and a joy to look at too with great cover art from Nep Sidhu.

A piece of essential information for any serous jazz lovers (and certainly anyone who loves the music we play on Cosmic Jazz) is that from August 2020 the Real Gone Music record label from  announced a programme to reissue the catalogue  from the Black Jazz Record label on remastered vinyl with some select CD releases too. The label was started in 1969 in Oakland, California by pianist Gene Russell – one of whose tunes starts the sequence on this week’s show – along with percussionist Dick Schory. Black Jazz had an explicit intention – to promote the talents of young African American jazz musicians and singers – and released twenty albums between 1971 and 1975. Some of the more notable artists to record for Black Jazz Records were Cleveland Eaton, former bassist for Count Basie and Ramsey Lewis and organist/pianist Doug Carn, whose four albums were the most successful for the label.  Singer Kellee Patterson gained notoriety as the first black Miss Indiana in 1971, before recording her debut album, Maiden Voyage in 1973. With co-owner Dick Schory’s knowledge of state-of-the-art stereo recording techniques, Black Jazz strove for the kind of audiophile status that most 1970s indie labels could barely even dream of and, from 1972 to the label’s end in 1975, each album was issued with a surround-sound Quadraphonic version.

If you’re not aware of the music on Black Jazz, this is your opportunity to discover the many treasures on the label. Original pressings can be expensive and so this Real Gone initiative is a welcome development in this new vinyl era. We featured five tunes from the label, beginning with Gene Russell’s My Favorite Things.

5. Gene Russell – My Favorite Things from Talk to My Lady

Talk to My Lady is classic mid-period Black Jazz, with some original compositions and three covers – Stevie Wonder’s You Are the Sunshine of My Life, Gamble and Huff’s Me and Mrs Jones and the Rogers and Hammerstein classic My Favorite Things. The band included Ngudu (Leon Chancler) on drums who would go on to record with George Benson, Weather Report and Michael Jackson. Russell transforms My Favorite Things with his innovative Fender Rhodes and Henry Franklin is great on acoustic bass – CJ jazz fact: it’s Franklin who played on Hugh Masekela’s hit Grazing in the Grass! Russell’s death at just 48 in 1981 left the Black Jazz catalogue in limbo, but hip hop sampling and championing by DJs like Gilles Peterson and Theo Parrish ensured continued awareness of the label. Indeed, through the Japanese Snow Dog label, both Peterson and Parrish reissued their own Black Jazz compilations in 2012 and 2013 respectively.

6. Doug Carn – Chant from Adam’s Apple 

The selection from keyboard player Doug Carn was released in 1975 and was his fourth and final record for the label. Sharing Carn’s approach was a group which included saxophonist Ronnie Laws, who had worked with Earth, Wind and Fire before that band’s big commercial breakthrough. Of the others, guitarists Nathan Page and Calvin Keys had both performed with organist Jimmy Smith. Carn frequently added lyrics to established jazz classics and on this album he gives this treatment to the Wayne Shorter tune Sanctuary. There is also a version of Earth, Wind and Fire’s Mighty Mighty (We are people of the sun). Carn – who had in fact played with EWF for a short time, has done keyboard duties with the likes of Nat Adderley, Shirley Horn and Lou Donaldson, as well as his then wife Jean Carne [sic] with whom  the music took in elements of soul. In 2015 he released the album My Spirit, a live recording of tunes from his Black Jazz albums.

7. Calvin Keys – Aunt Lovey from Proceed with Caution 

Guitarist Calvin Keys is another Black Jazz artist who is still around. He was born in Nebraska in 1942  but moved to San Francisco and became part of the jazz community there. He was also an educator and has taught at the Oakland Public Conservatory, as well as giving private lessons and mentoring young musicians. Again, there is an impressive list of musicians that he has worked with – Joe Henderson, Ray Charles, Ahmad Jamal, Bobby Hutcherson and Pharaoh Sanders. On this album he’s joined by pianist Kirk Lightsey on electric piano, Charles Owens on saxes and trombonist Oscar Brashear. Aunt Lovey moves from straightforward funky Grant Green-style licks into a freeish Sonny Fortune-style soprano sax solo and some very overdriven keyboard work from Lightsey before fading out and leaving you wanting more.

8. Walter Bishop Jr.’s 4th Cycle – N’dugu’s Prayer from Keeper of my Soul 

Pianist Walter Bishop Jr. is probably best known for his Muse label records from the 1970s, particularly the excellent Soul Village – a record we have featured a number of times on Cosmic Jazz and which includes a longer take on Soul Turnaround, which had appeared on Coral Keys, his first recording for Black Jazz. In his teens growing up in New York Bishop knew Sonny Rollins and Art Taylor – good friends to have around! On this session from 1973 Ronnie Laws appears on both sax and flute (and, yes, Ronnie Laws is the younger brother of CTI flautist Hubert Laws).  Gene Russell produced and the album also includes a take on Kenny Dorham’s Blue Bossa.

9. The Awakening – The Ultimate Frontier from Mirage

The Awakening were a six piece Chicago-based ensemble that included AACM alumni Reggie Willis on bass and Ari Brown on flute and tenor sax. Perhaps uniquely for groups broadly described as playing spiritual jazz, The Awakening were able to deliver Art Ensemble frenzy (as on the superb Jupiter) alongside the mellow funk of Brand New Feeling. Led by pianist Ken Chaney, who was writing music for Chicago soul-jazz stars Young-Holt Unlimited in the 1960s (you can hear him on their million-selling 1968 hit Soulful Strut), The Awakening also included trumpet player Frank Gordon from Young-Holt Unlimited and guests on some tunes providing further instruments and vocals. This one has Anita Jeffries and Ben Wright on vocals. The album was released in 1973 with Gene Russell again as producer. This is an album not to miss: the music can be deeply intense and spiritual and contemplative and challenging – and like so much of the music on the Black Jazz Records label was imbued with Black consciousness and pride and so is very much in tune with the times and issues facing those communities. And that, of course, much makes it entirely relevant for these troubling times too…

Look out for more from the Black Jazz label in upcoming weeks on Cosmic Jazz.

This week’s show is the usual mixture of jazz music across different styles and different ages but with a few tunes from the classic jazz label Blue Note Records – featuring new music and classic compositions – along with a Polish and Brazilian interlude.

1. Renee Rosnes – I.A. Blues  from Renee Rosnes

A  recent programme on BBC 4 TV in the UK on Blue Note Records (which Derek enjoyed, although Neil was less convinced) prompted the selection of some tunes from the label, including a couple of less well known ones. The sequence started with a 1990 vinyl recording from Canadian pianist and composer Renee Rosnes. The artists involved on the album illustrate the sort of company she has kept during an illustrious career that has produced seventeen records. On this particular record you can find contributions from Branford Marsalis, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter among others. She has also worked with Jack deJohnette and younger musicians such as Christian McBride, Chris Potter and Nicholas Payton.

2. Artemis – Step Forward from Artemis 

Stepping forward to 2020 and Renee Rosnes appears on Blue Note again, but this time with a new band she leads as producer, pianist – and composer – on one of the nine tunes. The septet Artemis is something of an all star band with Ingrid Jensen on trumpet, Melissa Aldana on tenor sax, Anat Cohen on clarinet, Norika Ueda on bass, Allison Miller on drums and Cecile McLorin Salvant on vocals.  Members of the band have contributed compositions but there are versions of the works of other composers, including a take on The Sidewinder by Lee Morgan and Lennon and McCartney’s Fool on the Hill. Incidentally, Renee Rosnes is third from the left on this album sleeve – check out the interview with band members and Blue Note CEO Don Was right here.

3. Lee Morgan – The Rajah from The Rajah 

Having mentioned Lee Morgan, it seemed appropriate to feature a track from Rajah – not one of his better known albums – partly because it was lost in the Blue Note vaults for many years. Recorded in 1965 and only released in 1984  on mono vinyl, I found a copy in a long gone second-hand record shop in Norwich which actually specialised in classical music. I did not know the record, but had the inclination that it was probably worth the £5 price tag – a view supported by its current £70 price tag on Discogs! I have never regretted this purchase and I really love this record.  As well as Lee Morgan on trumpet, it features Hank Mobley on tenor, Cedar Walton on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Billy Higgins on drums. Rudy Van Gelder was engineer and Alfred Lion session producer – simply classic Blue Note. The title tune we featured is actually the only Lee Morgan composition on the album – other tracks are by Cal Massey, Duke Pearson alongside a more surprising choice of the pop tunes What Now My Love and Once in A Lifetime. If you don’t have this rarity, the good news is that the The Rajah is going to be available on vinyl once more through the superb Blue Note Tone Poet series in January 2021.

4. Wayne Shorter – Night Dreamer from Night Dreamer 

The Blue Note TV documentary included interviews with Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock sitting alongside each other and – along with other younger musicians – they were featured playing a Wayne Shorter composition. His importance to Blue Note and to jazz and his influence on younger musicians was apparent. Pianist Robert Glasper eulogised about his work and was a key musician in the performance. The 1964 album Night Dreamer was Shorter’s fourth album for the label and features McCoy Tyner on piano, Reggie Workman on bass and Elvin Jones on drums – another classic lineup. At this time Shorter noted that his music was changing to a simpler quality – “I used to see a lot of chord changes, for instance, but now I can separate the wheat from the chaff.”

5. Jelle van Giel – Tiffany’s Dodo from Songs for Everyone 

The Jelle Van Giel group is a septet based in Antwerp with leader and drummer Jelle Van Giel the principal composer for the group. Their 2017 album Songs For Everyone has now been followed by a new 2020 release titled The Journey. We featured Songs for Everyone on Cosmic Jazz and really liked the group’s melodic, uplifting and cheerful tunes that makes you want to take notice and which are difficult to avoid humming afterwards. Van Giel is joined by Carlo Nardozza on trumpet, Egor Doubay on tenor sax, Tom Bourgeois on alto sax, Tim Finoulst on guitar, Bram Weijters on piano and Janos Bruneel on bass. If you’re trying to find this excellent release then simply go to this page on the excellent Steve’s Jazz Sounds website that we have recommended many times on Cosmic Jazz.

6. Tomasz Wendt – North from Chapter B 

Tomasz Wendt is a young saxophonist from Poland, born 1990 in Gdandsk. He has already been honoured in Poland, winning first prize in 2015 at an international jazz composition competition and then being feted by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage in 2017. Chapter B is his second album – hence the rather less than imaginative title, we assume! The group has no bass or bass guitar but does include violin, and so provides innovative and original instrumentation that produce sounds full of emotion. Wendt is joined by Jan Smoczynski on keyboards, Pawel Dobrowolski on drums and Mateusz Smoczynski on violin and electronics.

7. Art Ensemble of Chicago – Mama Koko from We Are on the Edge

As on previous shows, Neil has contributed five more choices that we have featured previously, beginning with one from the newly reformed Art Ensemble of Chicago. So where to start with this influential group? The initial Roscoe Mitchell Sextet included Mitchell on tenor sax, trumpeter Lester Bowie, bassist Malachi Favors and the great Phillip Wilson on drums. All musicians were multi-instrumentalists and played a huge range of conventional and what they called ‘small instruments’ – from conch shells to whistles. In 1968 they decamped to Paris where they released some of their first records under the AEC banner. Film soundtrack Le Stances a Sophie was recorded at this time – here’s the famous Theme de Yoyo with vocals by Fontella Bass. On returning to the US in 1972 the AEC recorded more than 20 albums through to 2004 – really their period of peak creativity. Their2019 release We Are On the Edge is very much a 50 year celebration of the Art Ensemble of Chicago – and yet it doesn’t really sound like a typical AEoC record. It’s a 2CD set of studio recordings and live performances, with an extended lineup beyond the two surviving members of the group, Roscoe Mitchell and Famoumdou Don Moye. Rapper and vocalist Camae ‘Moor Mother’ Ayewa is bought on for a couple of tracks (including our selection, the reflective Mama Koko) and elsewhere there are contributions from flautist Nicole Mitchell, cellist Tomeka Reid and new bassist Jaribu Shahid. Mama Koko has plenty of cultural and historical references with percussive West African sounds and mentions for Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey and the importance of the Congo heritage. We Are On the Edge may not be a typical album that will appeal immediately to AEoC fans but it’s worth a listen.

8. Tony Allen – The Drum Thunder Suite from Tribute to Art Blakey EP

Afrobeat legend Tony Allen was – according to Brian Eno – perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived, and the Blue Note 2017 EP was a tribute to another master kitman, Art Blakey. The album gives a new twist to some familiar Blakey tunes and was recorded live in what was then Allen’s  hometown of Paris. The record was available on a 10in EP and featured a fiery 7-piece band interpreting the Jazz Messengers classics Moanin’, A Night In Tunisia, Politely and The Drum Thunder Suite through Allen’s Afrobeat prism. The EP was produced by Vincent Taurelle, whose production credits also include Allen’s previous album Film of Life. Allen’s sound remained unique with his distinctive drum patterns appearing immediately on The Drum Thunder Suite and his Parisian group sustain the music through some some interesting soloing from Daniel Zimmerman on trombone, Nicolas Giraud on trumpet and Yann Jankielewicz on tenor sax.

9. Milton Nascimento and Belmondo – Nada Sera Como Antes from Belmondo & Milton Nascimento

Nada Sera Como Antes (Nothing Remains the Same/Nothing Will Be as It Was) is one of the many stand out tracks on one of Neil’s favourite albums – Nascimento’s essential Clube da Esquina album, but we feature it here through a surprising collaboration between French trumpeter Stephane Belmondo. Many have recorded this track (which owes much to several Brazilian songwriters’ love for the aforementioned Lennon and McCartney) but this version is a sensitive interpretation that sits comfortably alongside the best. Fancy other versions of Nada Sera Como Antes? Try this one from Elis Regina, this from impassioned vocalist Mark Murphy and an  another from Nascimento’s debut US release, the Milton album which features soprano sax from Wayne Shorter and piano from Herbie Hancock – “holding a teardrop of sun in the mouth of the night.”

10. Gato Barbieri – Bahia from Fenix

Sticking with the Brazilian theme, here’s fiery tenor saxophonist Gato Barbieri and his version of the Brazilian standard Bahia. On the Flying Dutchman label, Fenix is one of Barbieri’s best albums with outstanding performances from an all star line up of Lonnie Liston Smith, Ron Carter, Lennie White and Nana Vasconcelos on berimbau. It’s well worth exploring – there are plenty of examples on Discogs on vinyl and CD.  If the tune is familiar, you may have come across it through John Coltrane’s version on the album of the same name. Bahia is something of an underrated record, partly because it was assembled by Prestige Records long after it was recorded: the music comes from 1957-58 but was not released until 1965 and the group is ‘trane’s quartet of the time –  pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Art Taylor on most tracks – another superb line up!

11. Keith Jarrett – Bop Be from At the Blue Note, June 4th 1994

Celebrated pianist Keith Jarrett has recently revealed that he may never play professionally again: following two strokes in 2018, he has lost the motor skills in his left hand and is unlikely to record more music. In a dazzling career that has seen him embrace the electric phase of Miles Davis, lead both a European and an American quartet, record a number of classical and solo piano albums and – perhaps most notably – lead the Standards Trio with the late Gary Peacock and Jack de Johnette, Jarrett has become one of the jazz world’s most famous figures. Neil has followed his career ever since buying the vinyl box set of his Bremen/Lausanne concerts in 1974 in the Fnac store in Zurich, Switzerland (in the days when you could listen to a whole record in a private booth!) and amassed most of his recordings, including this stand out six CD set of three nights recorded at the Blue Note Club in New York. The interplay among the trio is consistently outstanding and Jarrett does little of the ‘vocalising’ that many find irritating. Not only is the music consistently outstanding, the recording quality is – even by ECM’s exalted standards – excellent. If the six CD set is a daunting purchase, then the single disc version includes both this track and a long take on Autumn Leaves that has one of Jarrett’s best improvised vamps on record.

12. Binker Golding – Skinned Alive, Tasting Blood, from Abstractions of Reality Past & Incredible Feathers 

We were delighted to see that London based and born saxophonist Binker Golding won the Jazz FM 2020 Instrumentalist of the Year award. He has played with several Cosmic Jazz regulars such as Sarah Tandy, Maisha, Moses Boyd and Zara McFarlane. His 2019 album (see the long title above) was a bit of a surprise though. It’s more restrained, melodic and harmonic than much of his previous work (certainly more so than when I saw him play with Moses Boyd in the Moses and Boyd duo) and sounds in places remarkably like a Blue Note session. The musicians on the album include some of the finest young players in London – Joe Armon-Jones on piano, Daniel Casimir on double bass and Sam Jones on drums – and they form a tight quartet that amply demonstrates their jazz chops. Of the many recordings now available from the new crop of UK jazz players, this is one album to really recommend.

13. Shirley Scott – What Makes Harold Sing from One For Me

We ended this week’s show with the Harold in the question here being tenor saxophonist Harold Vick. The tune was composed by Hammond B3 organist Shirley Scott who along with Vick and drummer Billy Higgins formed Scott’s trio on a record released originally by the essential Strata East label in 1974. It has now been re-released by Gilles Peterson’s Arc Records with a new cover photo  by the Blue Note classic photographer Francis Wolff. Indeed, this could easily be a classic soul jazz Blue Note release from the mid 1960s. Scott recorded 40 albums and should be as well known as her then husband Stanley Turrentine on whose Blue Note records she often featured. Best heard on vinyl – of course! – this was a great soulful end to the show.

This week’s show has a very different feel from last week’s deep jazz sounds. We began with a new discovery from Brazilian master Hermeto Pascoal and the lost Vice Versa studio sessions. The track is Casinha Pequenina – all 26 minutes of it. Recorded in Sao Paulo in just two days in 1976 and not released until November last year, this is exciting improvised music, most of it recorded in first takes and still unedited. Guitarist Toninho Horta is there but Nivaldo Ornelas on tenor saxophone is one of the highlights too. You can download the whole Far Out Records album from Bandcamp right here or find it at your local independent record store. If you like this, check out the epic Slaves Mass album recorded by Pascoal in the following year and (apparently) noted for the use of squealing pigs as one of the sound effects…

Next up was one of the edits from a new BBE Records release from the Chicago DJ and producer Mark Grusane, but featuring bandleader Choker Campbell who appeared (anonymously) as saxophonist on numerous Motown hits. Campbell was also the writer of Albert Jones’ track Mother Nature, with a string section famously sampled on the title track of one of our favourite rap albums, Common’s ecstatic Be. You can check out the wonderful Be (Intro) here.

Deep jazz is never far away from our playlists and it was a return visit to one of the best compilations from last year – this one featuring baritone sax maestro Hamiett Bluiett on the track Oasis from a Soul Note album from 1981, before heading leftfield once more with more new music. This time, the new artist is Polish/Danish band Beam, led by alto saxophonist Bartosz Czarniecki. The quartet also features Anna Roemer on guitar, Michał Nienadowski on bass and Emil Thorenfeldt on drums.

Trumpeter Marquis Hill made a name for himself in 2017 and he continues to surprise. His latest EP is simply called Meditation Tape and includes some spoken word comments from drummer Marvin ‘Bugalu’ Smith at the end of each track. It’s music to wind down with – whereas Daniel Crawford’s take on Fela’s classic Water get No Enemy is an upbeat way to end the show from his very under-rated jazz/neo-soul album The Awakening.

1. Hermeto Pascoal/Grupo Vice Versa – Casinha Pequenina from Viajando Como Som/The Lost ’76 Vice-Versa Studio Session
2. Choker Campbell edit. Mark Grusane – Carioca from The Real Sound of Mark Grusane
3. Hamiet Bluiett – Oasis from You Need This: an Introduction to Black Saint & Soul Note 1975-1986
4. Beam – Kerteminde from One
5. Marquis Hill – Good Morning from Meditation EP
6. Daniel Crawford – Water No Get Enemy from The Awakening

Neil is listening to…

• Hermeto Pascoal – Slaves Mass
• Les Amazon d’Afrique feat. Mamani Keita – Doona
• Art Pepper – Patricia
• Keith Jarrett Trio – I Fall in Love Too Easily
• Cannonball Adderley Quintet – live in Oslo 1969

Derek is listening to…

1. Ntjam Rosie – Take A Good Look At me
2. Ntjam Rosie – Never Give Up
3. Anouar Brahem – Blue Maqams
4. Nicholas Payton – Afro-Caribbean Mixtape
5. Havana Meets Kingston feat Solis & Randy Valentine – Candela