Welcome to more new jazz with a vibes special – four contemporary vibraphone artists and their new(ish) releases – and we’ve got time to include another ‘doing it different’ (one tune; two ways). Check out music from Sacha Berliner, Patricia Brennan, Jackie McLean, Charles Tolliver and more.
- Amanda Whiting – Mary Over There from Can You See Me Now? (Deluxe Edition)
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 special feature on Bandcamp Daily – lots of new jazz harp for you to investigate
2. Sacha Berliner – Jade from Onyx
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.
3. Patricia Brennan – Antlia from Of the Near and Far
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 Bandcamp right here.
4. Lewis Wright – Mettle from The Color of Intention
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 here on Bandcamp.
5. Ben Wendel – Clouds from BaRcoDe
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 rosewood coloured vinyl version.
6. Jackie McLean – On the Nile from Jacknife
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.
7. Charles Tolliver – On the Nile from Music Inc.
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 Strata East/Mack Avenue collaboration on previous shows and these Kevin Gray produced reissues are really worth looking out for. Neil already has some of them and they sound excellent – up there with the best of the Tone Poets. We can’t wait to hear more of these as they emerge.
8. Horace Parlan – Up and Down from Up and Down
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.
9. Gerald Clayton – For Peace from Ones and Twos
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 long-standing criticism of their scandalous royalty payment structure) does have an Expanded Edition of Ones and Twos featuring a second ‘disc’ with two tracks played simultaneously. This still doesn’t appear to be available in other formats – but watch this space.
More from Cosmic Jazz soon – and an extra right now. As we went to press, we received the news of the death of salsa and Fania Records legend, Willie Colon. We’ll play more of his music in upcoming shows but here’s a starter – and one of Neil’s favourites – the 12in Latin Jazzbo Version of Set Fire to Me. Enjoy!
Neil is listening to:
- Pharoah Sanders – Love is Here – Part 2 (Live in Paris 1975)
- Miles Davis – If I Were A Bell (Live at the Plugged Nickel, Chicago 1965)
- Ahmad Jamal – Poinciana (Live at The Olympia, 2012)
- Sonny Rollins – To a Wild Rose (Live at Ronnie Scotts, 1974)
- Charles Lloyd – C L Blues (Live at the Padova Festival, 2021)
We have played this tune on the show previously – way back in February 2009 and soon after its release. Saxophonist and flautist Finn Peters had long immersed himself in dance, hip hop, Afro-Cuban, electronica and contemporary classical musics, before returning to his jazz roots with the excellent Su-Ling album in 2006. The follow-up Butterflies album featured pretty much the same quintet as Su-Ling but added (in a very subtle way) strings, a Balinese gamelan ensemble, kora, synths, a few choruses of birdsong and some inventive sound processing. The result was a jazz album – of sorts. There’s an emphasis on composition, and the birdsong elements inevitably remind us of Hermeto Pascoal from Brazil or the contemporary classical sounds of Olivier Messiaen – yes, it’s that kind of record. Guitarist Dave Okumu, pianist Nick Ramm and Peters himself – mostly on flute – solo around some beautifully subtle rhythms. Butterflies is based on the traditional Balinese tune Butterfly and includes elements of gamelan. Significantly, the producer here is eclectic composer, remixer and band leader Matthew Herbert whose own albums have often included sounds from all kinds of sources – including on Plat de Jour, the food industry… For a, er, taste of the music try 
Recorda Me is one of Neil’s favourite Joe Henderson compositions, and he’s here on this record with Tyner on piano, Ron Carter on bass and Al Foster on drums – what a quartet! This was recorded in 1991, some 28 years after Tyner and Henderson first recorded together on Henderson’s debut Blue Note record Page One in 1963. This record is an no-overdubbing all-tube amplification recording on the Chesky label – and it shows in the highly detailed sound. There’s a mix of standards and originals including Cole Porter’s What is This Thing Called Love? and Victor Young’s Beautiful Love. This is not Tyner at his most fiery or Henderson at his most squally but it’s great to hear this quartet together. Sadly not available on vinyl but you might be able to track down the CD.
I think we all thought that there would never be another Alice Coltrane record after Transfiguration, recorded in in 1978. But – some 26 years later – Coltrane released what was to be her last album, Translinear Light. Coltrane’s son, saxophonist and composer Ravi, produced the record and plays saxophone on 5 of the 11 tracks. The rest of the band is pretty star-studded: Charlie Haden and James Genus appear on bass and Jack DeJohnette and Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts are on drums. Alice Coltrane plays her signature Wurlitzer organ and piano. There’s real beauty on this record – the traditional 
The spiritual vibe is continued with this powerful slice of Japanese jazz, courtesy of the Jazzman label’s Spiritual Jazz series. Their 8th collection was a 4LP/2CD release and one of the highlights of this ongoing series. Tachibana was a rare record, even by Japanese standards. Initially, a private pressing by jazz enthusiast Yojiro Tachibana who wanted to make a recording in the venue he owned. As the excellent liner notes tell us, the band was three students – leader and pianist Tohru Aizawa was studying medicine at graduate school, while drummer Tetsuya Morimura and bassist Kohzo Watanabe were studying law. Saxophonist Kyoichiro Morimura (Tetsuo’s brother) was a teacher. The resulting music is surprisingly accomplished and a testimony to the adventurous jazz spirit of these four musicians. The Tachibana record was subsequently reissued on the BBE label in 2018 – you can find it 
Neil’s selection ends with another tune played back in 2009, the lyrical II (Suspended Variations) from Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stańko. Stańko, who died in 2018, began working with this trio some ten years before the release of Suspended Night in 2004. Pianist Marcin Wasilewski went on to record several great records for the ECM label but he’s here at his most Bill Evans/Keith Jarrett-like supporting Slawomir Kurkiewicz on bass and Michal Miskiewicz on drums. There are ten Suspended Variations on the album, each of which offers their own inventive charms but – for Neil – the standout is the rhythmically compelling Variation II. This is a highly recommended record and – if you don’t know the work of Tomasz Stańko – a great place to start.
Neil recognised that a tune from this album was played on the show in May 2013. The record has, sadly, probably gathered dust on Derek’s shelf ever since. This is undeserving and so it’s long overdue a revival. Steve Turre is a player of the trombone and seashells (see below), born to Mexican-American parents but brought up in the San Francisco area. He’s played with some significant people in the jazz and Latin worlds, they include: Ray Charles, Art Blakey, Dizzie Gillespie, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaria, Pharaoh Sanders, Max Roach, Horace Silver and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Phew! It was the latter who introduced him to seashells as an instrument and this 2004 album is made up of Kirk numbers except for one Turre original (One for Kirk). In the liner notes Turre writes that every time he played with Rahsaan he made the audience FEEL something and that Rahsaan’s spirit is alive. He’s still touching people through his music, and it still stands up. That observation still stands today. The musicians here include Vincent Herring, Dave Valentin, Mulgrew Miller and Buster Williams.
The African diaspora though the Americas is an area of great interest and concern to Grammy award-winning Puerto Rico-born saxophonist David Sanchez and this is reflected in the title of this selected tune Africa Y Las Americas. Like Steve Turre, he has worked with an impressive list of musicians from the jazz and Latin worlds and this 1995 album includes: the late Roy Hargrove on trumpet, Danilo Perez on piano, Larry Grenadier on bass, Adam Cruz on drums, Milton Cardona and Jerry Gonzales on percussion. It is more jazz than Latin but a Latin sensibility is infused throughout. The sleeve notes refer to Sanchez playing straight ahead jazz but here he’s chosen to employ a more indigenous style – the folk element of his country. Africa Y Las Americas begins with prominent, but subtle, percussion to underpin the track but there’s also Sanchez and Roy Hargrove merging and inter-changing their sounds. Music of its time, but still relevant today.
This album brings forth a number of surprises. To find saxophonist Davis Murray, with a reputation for the progressive and even the avant-garde, playing the songs of Nat King Cole may not be what you expect. To learn that Nat King Cole, who did not speak Spanish, recorded all these numbers is perhaps even more surprising. For Derek, to find this album on his shelves was also something of a surprise – but what is life without surprises? The tunes are taken from two albums that Nat King Cole recorded on 1958 and 1962 in Spanish and Portuguese. Cole had a huge following in South and Central America and his friend and manager Carlos Gastel suggested that to make such recordings was a way to acknowledge that audience. David Murray is clearly another Cole admirer as this album, released in 2011, testifies. He assembled a group of top Cuban musicians and in 2010 he recorded the tracks with this band in Buenos Aires, adding tango vocalist Daniel Melingo. Two months later he went to Portugal to add strings. This track (quizás meaning maybe or perhaps) was composed by Cuban songwriter Osvaldo Farrés in the 1940s and includes the husky, after-hours voice of Daniel Melingo, who went to Spain to score films for Pedro Almodovar and returned to Argentina in the late 1990s, to promote tango. Many of our listeners may know the tune as Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps – recorded by many including Doris Day and Gregory Porter.
Derek is almost ashamed that he has not played music by the late Michael Brecker for some time. The BBC Radio 3 jazz profile describes him as the most influential saxophonist in the post-Coltrane tradition – a view few would disagree with. He played with a variety of people and in a variety of styles from hard bop with Horace Silver to fusion with Billy Cobham and Steps Ahead, to pop/rock with James Taylor and the Brecker Brothers Band with trumpeter brother Randy Brecker. Their band was more likely to be played on a soul rather than jazz show and heard on the dance floor rather than in a jazz club. We are, however, pleased to report that we have squeezed one time, a tune of theirs into a Cosmic Jazz show. Like many of Derek’s selections this time there is more than a hint of Latin rhythms in the tune El Niño, written by pianist Joey Calderazzo. You can also find Don Alias on percussion providing some Latin textures and (again) Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts on drums. A great tune, with great artists – and something more that needs to be re-visited.
Derek has two albums by pianist Rodney Kendrick. They both deserve greater exposure. The Randy Weston tune Gnawa in Paris is on this 1993 Verve recording and reiterates so much that has been found in Derek’s selections and is what he certainly loves. We have here a leader who comes from a family of musicians, who has played with musicians from different styles – Abbey Lincoln, James Brown, George Clinton, Harold Melvin, Clark Terry, Frank Morgan, Stanley Turrentine, Freddie Hubbard, George Benson and more. There is a statement of the African American diaspora, there is a solid dose of percussion (three percussionists in fact on this track – Chi Sharpe, Aeron Walker and Big Black) providing a festival of rhythm. But above all there is memorable, inspiring, improvised music. Rodney Kendrick takes a pounding lead on piano, Graham Haynes is on forceful and uplifting cornet, Houston Person on tenor saxophone, there is Tarus Mateen on bass along with those three percussionists. Derek has got the message – search through those shelves a bit more…
If you have heard much of John Surman’s music over the years you may be surprised to find one of his tunes on this jazz dance-orientated edition of Cosmic Jazz. Fear not, this is a terrific dance number and was found by Derek on a jazz-dance compilation although the original self-titled album emerged on the Deram label as long ago as 1969. There’s pulsating percussion, clarion-like group brass and a driving, soaring and simply unbelievable sax solo from Surman himself, leading to a wild conflagration of communal blowing, a percussion solo and more surprises before sax and bass wind things down. It just sounds as if the musicians were having such fun and enjoyment and any listener gets that vibe too. What a line-up this record has: Dave Holland on bass, Alan Jackson on drums and Kenny Wheeler and Harry Beckett on trumpets. John Surman is now 80 years old and announced recently that he will not be touring any more. But we’re sure he’ll still be making any more music and just this year (2024) he released his new album Words Unspoken on ECM Records.
We featured a track from this 2023 release earlier in the year. According to 
What’s The Story is a tune from pianist/keyboard player Patrice Rushen’s 1975 album Before The Dawn. It was also released on a 1998 CD release that also included her excellent album Prelusion. We love both of these – and if you’re looking for a vinyl copy of the latter record you should explore the 2024 re-release on the Jazz Dispensary Top Shelf series Craft label. What’s The Story is a funky/jazzy number that is driven along by the bass of Charles Meeks and drums of Harvey Mason, but the real excitement and complexity comes when Patrice Rushen steps to the fore on nimble, dexterous and fast-moving Fender Rhodes. Her band is both sizable and notable – Hubert Laws on flute, Lee Ritenour on guitar, George Bohannon on trombone, Oscar Brashear on flugelhorn with (on this track only) Josie James on vocals – who rather sadly seems to be stretching and struggling to keep up and be heard, not quite making it and getting overwhelmed by the other musicians.
Neil is a huge fan of Hungarian-bornDJ and remixer Opolopo (real name Peter Major). Born in Hungary but now resident in Sweden, he spent the early part of his creative development tagging along with a touring keyboardist father and listening to fusion and electronic records with musicians like Herbie Hancock, Jeff Lorber, Earth Wind & Fire, Quincy Jones and others feeding his nascent ingenuity with beats. He’s collaborated with or remixed vocalists Gregory Porter, Omar and Steve Arrington and musicians Shaun Escoffery, The Sunburst Band and Azymuth. Neil loves his take on Herbie Hancock’s Hang Up Your Hang Ups/Butterfly which appeared on a GAMM label 12in a few years ago and here Opolopo lends his magic to Stevie Wonder’s Superstition. On first listening you might be confused because this is much more Herbie Hancock than Stevie Wonder – the music clearly samples Wah Wah Watson’s guitar from Hang Up Your Hang Ups, adds a cool bass line, some Fender Rhodes and female background vocals before we hear the familiar sound of Stevie Wonder.
Neil loves this one – and this 2024 compilation was Gilles Peterson’s favourite too. Ayo Ke Disco celebrates the musical identities that emerged during the 1970s and 80s from the newly independent countries nestled around the South China Sea – Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the Philippines. Soundway Records’ expert Alice Whittington (aka DJ Norsicaa) embraced her Malaysian heritage and collection of Asian records to create this excellent new compilation. Ayo Ke Disco (which means Let’s go to the disco in Bahasa Indonesian) draws from local label disco-funk, funk, synth, city pop, and Hindustani-Arabic rhythms to create a snapshot of the vibrant discotheques of the region. Both the vinyl and the accompanying zine are now 
Hancock repeated the success of his infectious groove on Hang Up Your Hang Ups with Doin’ It from his 1976 album Secrets – and note the similarities between this and our previous tune… Herbie Hancock mastered the transition from Blue Note bop to disco grooves more authentically than anyone else in the jazz world, and his records for the Columbia label in the 1970s are all worth investigating. From the eponymous Headhunters record of 1973 to Thrust (1974), Manchild (1975) and Secrets (1976), these records demonstrate that genre-bending across jazz, funk and soul can really work.
Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool (1994) was one of the most successful incarnations of the Red Hot albums, each released to generate funds for fighting the AIDS virus. Unlike fellow albums in this series, which tended to focus on reworkings of classic songwriters, this release is all-new material with lyrics that directly address the AIDS epidemic – and liner notes by Professor Cornell West, to boot. The musicians involved include Ron Carter, Pharoah Sanders, and Donald Byrd but they’re performing alongside new blood from the world of rap – the Pharcyde, Guru, Michael Franti and MC Solaar. We’ve chosen a superb performance from bassist Me’Shell Ndegeocello, here performing with drummer Harvey Mason (again), guitarist Wah Wah Watson (again) and featuring a with a masterful contribution from Herbie Hancock (again!) on piano.
Vibesman Cal Tjader’s was something of a musical traveller, and his Brazilian explorations certainly deepened with this release in which he joins forces with a bunch of young Brazilian musicians, all overseen by producer Airto Moreira. The result is a triumph, with a heady mix of Afro-Brazilian rhythms, American funk and 1970s electronics all linking beautifully with Tjader’s vibes and marimba. There’s a take on Moreira’s Xibaba here, but we chose Non Noa – a Sergio Mendes tune – with a terrific trombone solo from Raul de Souza. Also on the album are Egberto Gismonti, David Amaro and the great Hermeto Pascoal with arrangements throughout by George Duke under the improbable contractual pseudonym of Dawilli Gonga.
The berimbau is a single stringed instrument played with a bow, originating in Angola but later popularised in Brazil. It has become a popular instrument in Brazilian music but is also the name of and key instrument in a tune written by Brazilian composers/musicians Baden Powell and Vinicius de Moraes. There have been many recorded versions of the tune by Brazilian artists including Astrud Gilberto, Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66, Tamba Trio, Virginia Rodrigues, Joyce and Tutty Moreno and many more. In New York, Cuban-born Latin great Celia Cruz recorded a version on Fania Records. And it is to New York and Fania Records (but a different generation from Celia Cruz) that we look to for this version released in 2013. Elements of Life is fluid group of musicians assembled by producer Louis Vega, featuring Josh Milan on vocals and Lisa Fischer on background vocals and vocal scats. There’s a trombone solo from Ozzie Melendez and the excellent Venezuelan-born Luisito Quintero is on drums, congas and percussion. The tune rocks along at a formidable pace, but somehow sounds restrained – and that’s just fine. The Brazilian feel is definitely there, but there is added NY cool and a deep club groove. We love the tune and, indeed, the whole 2CD set Eclipse – check it out if you can.
We have acknowledged the links between Latin music and jazz on Cosmic Jazz for some time. It is possible that many would see more obvious links between Brazilian music and jazz, but the association is there too in salsa – as we think our final two joyful tunes on this show prove. Both of them keep us in New York and the band on this track take their name from the small neighbourhood in New York where many Latinos, particularly Puerto Ricans, live and from which so much great Latin music has emerged. The title of the 2002 album, from which this number is taken, is Un Gran Dia en el Barrio (A Great Day in the Neighbourhood) which references that most famous of jazz photos, 
Louis Vega (see Berimbau above) returns – again via Fania Records. This time, he’s remixing a tune from Hector Lavoe (1946-1993), another Puerto Rican considered by many to be the greatest salsa singer and here singing to Mi Gente (My People). Lavoe had a distinctive voice delivered with such expression, playful enjoyment and emotion all of which is very evident in this tune. In the sleeve notes to the Elements of Life album Louis Vega described Hector Lavoe as ‘El Cantante de los Cantantes’. He sends a message to my dear uncle in heaven, thank you for teaching me so much… I remember to this day how you taught me about music, being an artist and leader, style and how much variation in all you did was so important. There’s not much you can add, except to say this number has more fine big band sounding musicianship – and great remixing too. There’s more great dialogue between lead vocalist and backing vocals, more in the way of joyful party time sounds and an incredible pace to the music. You would be challenged to stay still on listening to this tune. What better way could there be to end a programme of jazzy sounds for moving and grooving?
Comin’ Home Baby was recorded in 1961 by Herbie Mann before lyrics were added by Bob Dorough and was then popularised in 
This 1969 title track is an arranger’s masterclass. The sidemen here include Freddie Hubbard, Hubert Laws, Roland Kirk, Bob James, Grady Tate and more. The walking bass comes from Ray Brown and Valerie Simpson is on vocals – she was later to find fame as one half of soul duo Ashford and Simpson. This version of a tune from the musical Hair (who remembers the hippie anthem Aquarius?) has more than a touch of David Axelrod in the complex arrangement that soars and dips across its full 12 minutes. Also on Walking in Space is an, er, killer version of the late Benny Golson’s Killer Joe and there’s a great take on Edwin Hawkins’ Oh Happy Day to close the album. This one is well worth seeking out as a perfect example of Creed Taylor’s CTI records of the time.
The opening riff of Summer in the City is perhaps more famous now as the basis for the hypnotic 
We shouldn’t forget that Quincy Jones put together the charity record We Are The World, so this extravagantly star-studded album which includes brief ‘e-appearances’ from Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, James Moody, Ella Fitzgerald and George Benson and genuine contributions from Herbie Hancock, George Duke, Chaka Khan and the Brothers Johnson has some familiar limitations. Overall, it’s too diffuse but the track sequencing works and there are some memorable tunes too, including I’ll Be Good to You, Setembro (Brazilian Wedding Song) and the concluding The Secret Garden. Birdland has Joe Zawinul on keyboards – naturally…
Now this one is better than anyone could have expected. Miles Davis died just four months after this 1991 live recording from Montreux. The record featured both the Gil Evans Orchestra and the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band – an idea conceived and conducted by Quincy Jones. The focus is on Evans’ stunning arrangements for those seminal albums Miles Ahead, Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain and although they can’t match the originals, the results are well worth a listen. Although gravely ill, Davis is (mostly) on fine form and there’s excellent backup from Wallace Roney and Kenny Garrett.
Haynes replaced Max Roach in Parker’s later quintet before Coltrane used him whenever Elvin Jones wasn’t available – you can hear him on After the Rain (see below). In the 1960s and 70s Haynes worked with Gary Burton and Stan Getz ,but it was his association with Chick Corea that was to prove one of the most durable. Beginning with the landmark Now He Sings, Now He Sobs trio album (1968) with Corea on piano and Miroslav Vitous on bass, Haynes was to feature in a series of excellent trio records for ECM with Dave Holland taking the bass chair. He went on to record with guitarist Pat Metheny on before leading his own appropriately named Fountain of Youth band well into the new century. Before this, Haynes led the Hip Ensemble – another band title that befitted his accolade as one of Esquire magazine’s best-dressed men in America. We need to reflect on this incredible legacy: from pre-swing bands to post-bop, into fusion and out into the world of 21st century jazz – Haynes was an in-demand player throughout all of these stylistic changes.
We opened this tribute to Roy Haynes with a classic from Coltrane’s first album on Impulse! Records, issued in 1963. The record is something of a mixture, with both live and studio tracks recorded from 1961 through to 1963. Two are from the celebrated Live at the Village Vanguard record and two come from Van Gelder studio recordings. When regular drummer Elvin Jones was unavailable, it was Roy Haynes who was Coltrane’s preferred choice and so he appears here on perhaps what is the standout tune, After the Rain. Haynes is also on My Favourite Things: Coltrane at Newport (1963) where you can hear him on the 23 minute take on 
Unusually for Pharoah Sanders’ Impulse! albums, Thembi (1971) has shorter tunes recorded with two different ensembles. Sanders is on tenor and soprano saxes, plus an assortment of flutes, a bailophone, a cow horn and small percussion. Lonnie Liston Smith is the dominant voice on his own composition, Astral Travelling, but there are also delights from Michael White’s violin on the title track and an intense, five-minute bass solo by by Cecil McBee on Love. Interestingly, Astral Travelling was Liston Smith’s first outing on Fender Rhodes: he recounts that I saw this instrument sitting in the corner and I asked the engineer, ‘What is that?’ He said, ‘That’s a Fender Rhodes electric piano.’ I didn’t have anything to do, so I started messing with it, checking some of the buttons to see what I could do with different sounds. All of a sudden I started writing a song and everybody ran over and said, ‘What is that?’ And I said, ‘I don’t know, I’m just messing around.’ Pharoah said, ‘Man, we gotta record that. Whatcha gonna call it?’ I’d been studying astral projections and it sounded like we were floating through space so I said let’s call it ‘Astral Traveling.’ That’s how I got introduced to the electric piano.
This 1977 Galaxy Records album was re-released on CD along with the same year’s Vistalite – and it’s well worth looking out for this ‘twofer’. There are currently 
This was one of the first records out of the gate in the Blue Note Tone Poets reissue series and it’s an essential album for any jazz collector. If you can find one, get the beautiful gatefold Tone Poet version – it’s a visual and sonic feast you will keep coming back to. The record originally appeared on the Solid State label in 1968 and, remarkably, it was only Corea’s second album. There are five original tunes with the titles emerging from lines in the I Ching. This trio recording has Corea on piano, Haynes on drums and Miroslav Vitous on bass – a group that was later to record a series of superb albums for the ECM label. It’s a wholly successful grouping: you can hear that it’s Chick Corea, but there’s a freedom of expression here that’s picked up by Haynes and Vitous, with the result that this is a near-perfect piano trio album.
Haynes chose a perfect title for this album – recorded when he was 79 years old, the music is that of a much younger man. Recorded live in 2002 at Birdland in NY, Haynes leads a quartet that also features pianist Martin Bejarano, saxophonist Marcus Strickland and bassist John Sullivan. Question and Answer is a Pat Metheny tune, first recorded in 1990 on a trio album with Metheny and Dave Holland, but this is a wonderfully spirited version. The rest of this excellent record has no fewer than three Thelonious Monk tunes and a great jazz waltz take on Greensleeves, clearly inspired by Coltrane’s version.
We like to acknowledge what is going on around us in relation to the jazz world and so it was to our sheer delight that BBC Radio 3’s five hour-long episodes of Composer of the Week – almost universally the reserve of classical composers – was devoted to the work of John and Alice Coltrane. Presented by Kate Molleson, a specialist in new classical music and with contributions from Kevin Le Gendre, the jazz broadcaster and writer, this is something to search for on BBC Sounds – 
So this one is a kind of backhand tribute to 
This new record came out just last week and in time to reflect Nikki Iles’ appearance at the last night of the London Jazz Festival with the celebrated NDR Bigband. Reviews of the show emphasise the sheer excitement of this concert – a testament to both the quality of Iles’ writing and the musicianship of the Bigband. Soloists included Percy Pursglove, Ingolf Burkhardt and Claus Stötter on trumpets and Fiete Felsch and Frank Dell on saxes, with dynamic, exuberant solos from guitarist Phil Robson added into the mix. The new album Face to Face is very much recommended here on CJ.
Neil can personally vouch for the validity of the rave reviews for McCraven’s appearance at the LJF – what a performance from the ‘beat scientist’ and his Chicago-based band! Along with the London Contemporary Orchestra conducted by Robert Ames, McCraven was joined on stage by his current core Chicago band – a quintet with Joel Ross on vibes, guitarist Matt Gold, electric bass player Julius Paul (wearing an on-stage outfit that made him look like a jazz version of Bootsy Collins!) and trumpeter Marquis Hill. As Chris May’s All About Jazz review noted, each was outstanding: Hill soulful and sonorous, Gold raw and off kilter, Ross mercurial and emphatic, like Cecil Taylor with sticks, McCraven colossal, a Buddy Rich for our age (in the best way). Each selection from the album was transformed into a charged up, intense performance that saw McCraven delivering some powerhouse drumming. Neither flute nor harp featured as on the record – instead the LCO string ensemble created a beautiful counterpoint to the quintet. When interviewed by All About Jazz, McCraven said This is a record of my compositions that feature odd time signatures and different types of rhythms. At the crux of my concept since I started writing and playing drums is that I like to play complex rhythms. In these times—it’s in the title. To hear more current McCraven and music from In These Times, check out 
Also at the LJF this year, saxophone master Charles Lloyd is one of CJ’s perennial favourites. His distinctive tone on tenor is what drives this reflective take on Julie Styne and Sammy Cahn’s enduring American standard. Many listeners will be familiar with some of the more famous takes – in both vocal and instrumental versions. How about those by 
Japanese born, now US resident Grammy-winning pianist and composer Hiromi has built up a substantial reputation both in Japan and internationally since her 2003 debut album Another Mind. Desert On the Moon comes that debut’s follow up and the energy, dexterity and fluidity of her playing is readily apparent on this beautiful and refreshing number. What the music illustrates – as indeed does all of her work – is a willingness to experiment and cross the boundaries from jazz to pop to classical. She is quoted as saying I don’t want to put a name on my music. Other people can put a name on what I do. It’s just the union of what I’ve been listening to and what I’ve been learning. There is a creative and not always predictable energy about her work which recently saw her perform at the London Jazz Festival with both a new piano quintet and her regular group Sonicwonder whose new album can be found 
It is not always possible in the time available, but we try to play more than one tune from a new album that we select. Radio selections often play a one-off choice, frequently of one of the outstanding tunes of an album. Many of us have been caught out through being induced to pay money for an album from the lure of a single audio-friendly track. This is one reason why pianist Harold Lopez-Nussa appears for a second time on the show – but, additionally, we simply love the music. Afro En Toulouse acknowledges that in the last year, along with his drummer brother Ruy, Lopez-Nussa moved from Cuba to Toulouse in South-West France. Prominent on this tune is Barbaro (Machito) Crespo on congas, bata and vocals, maintaining those sonic links with Cuba, but Lopez-Nussa notes that this new Blue Note album Timba a la Americana is very different to his previous records, admitting that for the first time I play electronic sounds without any shame. Of course, here at CJ, we fully acknowledge and celebrate the presence of electronics in jazz.
Exactly the same reasons as above apply to the selection of further tune from another Blue Note debutant, drummer Jonathan Blake. This time, our choice is the title track from his album Passage. It’s dedicated to the memory of his father, jazz violinist John Blake Jr. who was the composer of this title tune. Not surprisingly, the number is played with emotion, passion and great virtuosity by top-notch musicians. These include another outstanding Cuban pianist David Virelles, prominent in Passage from the opening bars, but much of the tone and feeling is set by the alto saxophone playing of Immanuel Wilkins, definitely one of the young jazz players of the moment. Other members of the quintet are the much-lauded vibraphonist Joel Ross (qv. Makaya McCraven above) and bass player and composer Dezron Douglas. This is definitely an album with a contemporary New York feeling and sound.
Hammond guru Brian Auger is going through something of a renaissance at the moment. Two new box sets (both on vinyl and compact disc) have being going down a treat with listeners and probably the best of these Oblivion Express records is 1973 Closer To It! album. Happiness Is Just Around the Bend is Augur’s own composition and is a really strong vocal debut for Augur himself. The second side of this album features covers of jazz classic Compared to What and a surprisingly good take on Marvin Gaye’s Inner City Blues. The whole album is highly recommended – you’ll be able to track down a copy on 
Something of a crate digger’s favourite back in the day, an original copy of the Sabu Martinez album Afro Temple album used to change hands for up to $3000. Neil has had a reissue for decades but our choice is an edit from the New York DJ Danny Krivit – a DJ with a very interesting background. As he recounts in 
What are we doing playing this tune on Cosmic Jazz you may ask? There are several answers. It links with our previous show where we had Alphonse Mouzon playing drums for McCoy Tyner, no less. It also takes us back to a tradition on the show whereby we end the programme with a tune that stretches the musical boundaries. There is also the not so inconsequential issue of the personnel on the record: Herbie Hancock on piano and Michael Brecker on sax – and his little early sax break is worth more than a cursory listen. Mouzon played with several distinguished jazz artists, although he ventured into the pop and disco world. Certain sections of the jazz listening public, often comfortably off themselves, have been quick to criticise such moves by jazz artists yet they ignore the difficulties any musician has to earn a living – especially in this current era of paltry download revenues. Jazz artists have more difficulties than most and so we should respect their right to a living. Enjoy the record – we love it. More from Cosmic Jazz soon.
There’s a funky theme to my ten choices this time. We begin with neglected Blue Note trumpeter Eddie Gale on Black Rhythm Happening before searching out UK premier remixers Bugz in the Attic who give 4Hero’s Hold It Down more than a little re-rub. Next is that hypnotic bassline from Abe Laboriel on Herb Alpert’s second disco hit Rise followed by more Brian Auger and his Oblivion Express with another track from that great record Closer To It! That sly funk masterpiece Cucumber Slumber from Weather Report, featuring the great Alphonso Johnson on bass, comes next. Derek reminded me that Marvin Gaye’s classic Let’s Get It On celebrates a 50th anniversary this year as does the O Jay’s magnificent slavery-themed album Ship Ahoy which contains the oft-covered For The Love of Money. Next was Flora’s Song (piano by Chick Corea), one of the stand out tracks from Airto’s superb CTI album Free which seemed to complement the funky Ohlos Coloridos from Brazilian singer Sandra de Sá before ending with more bass from Bobby Hutcherson’s San Francisco album and the evocative Ummh. If the spirit moves ya…
Sāo Paulo’s Otis Trio released their 74 Club album in 2014 – and then seem to have fallen silent. Surprisingly perhaps, their roots lie the European and American free jazz scenes of the 60s and 70s. Some five years in gestation and recorded on vintage analogue equipment for period authenticity, 74 Club is (as the Far Out press release of the time noted) both deftly subtle and furiously intense with the standard trio configuration of guitar, bass and drums augmented with both vibes and a posse of free blowing horn players who together create a sound which reverberates with echoes of Ornette Coleman, Sonny Sharrock and Pharoah Sanders. Whew! Montag’s Dream may start off as more of a straight ahead modal excursion with vibes very much to the fore – but it’s not long before some Pharonic tenor sax kicks in. We like it and we hope you do too.
Up next was Astrud Gilberto herself from her first recording with her then husband Joāo Gilberto and saxophonist Stan Getz. There are numerous stories around on how this young, inexperienced singer appeared on the record but her appearance inaugurated the whispery, vocal version of that languid, delicate characteristic of the bossa nova – nylon strung guitars creating a reduction/synthesis of samba percussion. Gilberto – who died earlier this month aged 83 – sang on just two tracks on this 1964 album but this was enough to seal her place in musical history. The Girl from Ipanema might be seen as nothing more than a wine bar cliché but the lyrics remain a powerful evocation of Rio’s most famous district. We played the edited 45 single version of the tune which omits the Brazilian lyrics of Joāo Gilberto but emphasises those carioca qualities of the girl ‘who passes by’.
The writer of The Girl from Ipanema, Tom Jobim, is one of Brazil’s greatest composers. The album Wave from 1967 was arranged by Claus Ogerman following his move from Germany to become the house arranger at Verve Records and so co-created hundreds of records including albums by Wes Montgomery, George Benson and Diana Krall. Wave features two of Jobim’s most famous tunes – the title track and the beautiful 
From the heydays of the bossa wave comes a successful cooperation between Brazilian guitarist Baden Powell and American drummer Jimmy Pratt on the unimaginatively-titled album Baden Powell Swings with Jimmy Pratt. Composer of our choice Coisa No.1, Moacir Santos is heard here on baritone saxophone. You can listen to the original orchestrated version of that Santos tune 
Perhaps the most talented of all the bossa nova group of the 1960s, Tamba Trio pretty much created the bossa-pop sound, fusing bossa nova melodies with close harmony vocals. Their take on Jorge Ben’s 
Neil first heard this record when crate digging in the Brazilian section in a small regional record shop in the UK. Ohlos Coloridos or Colourful Eyes is the standout track from her fifth self titled album (1986). It’s based on an infectious guitar and bass riff and the lyrics refer to Sá’s Cape Verdean ancestry – You laugh at my clothes/You laugh ar my hair/You laugh at my skin/You laugh at my smile/But the truth is: you also/Have creole blood. In Brazil, tri-racial people with African, European and Amerindian heritage are referred to as sarará. Check out 
Marcos Valle is something of a Cosmic Jazz hero. Neil has been lucky enough to see him live in the UK and has 
Sabrina Malheiros was born in Rio and is the daughter of Alex Malheiros – bass player with Azymuth and now the only surviving member of the original trio. Title tune Clareia comes from her 2017 album on the UK’s Far Out label. As with much of Malheiros’ music for the label, the tune was written in collaboration with her father and producer Daniel Maunick – son of Bluey Maunick, founder of British jazzfunk legends Incognito. Father Alex plays bass on much of the album and it’s a classy effort that’s well worth exploring. Incidentally, Alex Malheiros continues to record his own material – his most recent album Tempos Futuros emerged in 2021 – here’s the track 
Our tribute begins with Greetings to Idris from that wonderful Journey to the One album. Idris is, of course, drummer Idris Muhammad who went on to release his own eclectic funk-driven albums. On the reflective Kazuko (Peace Child) he incorporates the Japanese koto, just as McCoy Tyner did on his superb Sahara album. Journey to the One also features Coltrane’s After The Rain in a straight reading much like 
Greetings to Idris is appropriately followed by Morning Prayer from 1971’s Thembi, the fourth of those Impulse! albums and featuring Lonnie Liston Smith on keyboards, Michael White on violin and Roy Haynes on drums. Recorded with two different ensembles, Thembi was a departure from the slowly developing, side-long, mantra-like grooves Pharoah Sanders had been pursuing on his earlier Impulse! albums. The tunes are much more concise but also more diverse too – lots of percussion, a bass solo from Cecil McBee (on the track simply called Love) and 
The first of Neil’s choices and a tune which features Sanders’ distinctive screeching over Sonny Sharrock’s hypnotic guitar line and Henry Grimes’ magical bassline. We featured just the second half of this side-long piece. The tune has been sampled and used in a number of different contexts: the bass line in Herbie Hancock’s 
Wisdom Through Music is one the lesser known Impulse! releases but it features some fine music, including High Life – something of an outlier in the Sanders canon. As the title suggests, High Life is a tribute to the music style of West Africa and Sanders really does emulate the high life style with an stellar band including Joe Bonner on piano, Cecil McBee and several percussionists, including Miles Davis alumni Mtume and Badal Roy. This record and Village of the Pharoahs were reissued by Impulse! on a single CD in 2011 and this ‘two for one’ set is worth looking out for. Village of the Pharoahs is probably the stronger album of the two, but both records (released originally in 1973) have their great moments.
Next up is from one of the best of the Theresa label albums, Shukuru from 1985. We could probably do without the synth choir but Jitu is a sparking tune. Support comes from William Henderson on keys (including the rather dated sounding Kursweil 520), Ray Drummond on bass and Idris Muhammad again on drums – and vocalist Leon Thomas on two tunes. There are a couple of standards from the American songbook here – something Sanders would increasingly include in his later albums. So first up is Sanders’ take on Body and Soul (recorded by Coltrane too) which has a spacious, lush and more conventional sound as does the second Coltrane-influenced tune – Too Young to Go Steady, which appeared on Coltrane’s 
The later, more lyrical Sanders is also featured on a more unusual album – a collaboration with Gnawa master guimbri player Maleem Mahmoud Ghania. Peace in Essaouira begins with an extensive Sanders solo – and it’s a good one. Ghania is heard on lead vocals, tbel (tambourine), and Guimbri, a bass-like, hollow-bodied instrument roughly three feet in length. The body, which can be struck by the musician as the strings are plucked, is covered with camel skin, while the strings are made from goat intestines. The title of the album refers to the fact that in Gnawa trance ceremonies (which can last eight or more hours over one night) the Maleem, or master musician, guides the group through a cycle of invocation of seven spirit states, each of which is characterised by a different colour, rhythm, melody and type of incense. Originally released in 1994 on bassist/ producer Bill Laswell’s Axiom imprint, The Trance Of Seven Colors is a wonderful record – and easy to get hold of now that it’s a recent reissue on vinyl – you can track it down 
It was to be expected that Sanders had something of a cult following in Japan, beginning in 1966 when Coltrane took on his first and only tour of the country leading to the Live in Japan recording from 1973. This included less than half of the two concerts which were only released in their entirety in a 4CD set in 1991. Sanders’ playing here is definitely at the more extreme end of his repertoire! More typical of Sander’s later output is this collaboration with Japanese jazzers Sleep Walker on their album The Voyage from 2006. Led by keyboard player Hajime Yoshizawa, Masato Nakamura on saxes, Tomokazu Sugimoto on bass and Nobuaki Fujii on drums. Sanders appears only on the final title track and is superb – but the album is worth getting hold of for the other tracks too (a couple of which feature vocals from Bémbé Ségué and Yukimi Nagano). There are copies available on Discogs – have a look 
We went back to Pharoah Sanders with John Coltrane for the next choice – from the recently unearthed live version of A Love Supreme, recorded in Seattle at the Penthouse Club in 1965. The music on this unique take on A Love Supreme is pretty extraordinary. The recording places Elvin Jones’ drums front and centre but the additions to Coltrane’s regular quartet (Coltrane, Jones, McCoy Tyner and Jimmy Garrison) of Pharoah Sanders on tenor, alto saxophonist Carlos Ward and a second bassist, Donald ‘Raphael’ Garrett, changes both the sound and the feel of the music. The spiritual fire of A Love Supreme is now added to with the more chaotic, ‘out there’ approach brought largely to the group by Sanders. It’s magnificently executed and – as a record of where Coltrane was heading in his later years – well worth getting hold of.
Next up in this Pharoah Sanders special is a live take on The Creator Has a Master Plan from a 1975 concert in Paris from an album 
Pianist Orrin Evans studied with Kenny Barron at Rutgers University, played as a sideman with various groups, spent three years with The Bad Plus and then decided to branch out on his own. The result is The Magic of Now album for which he’s assembled a quartet. It includes Bill Stewart on drums, with whom he had played in Steve Wilson’s band and of whom he says his cymbal choice, the tuning of his tom-tom, the way he plays his bass drum It’s not like anybody else and alto sax the is the young player Immanuel Wilkins, whose recent album The 7th Hand we have featured previously on Cosmic Jazz. Incidentally, Wilkins as an 11 year-old attended a summer camp where Evans was an instructor. Now Evans says can hear in his music and conversation a dedication to culture, a dedication to building a library, a dedication to history. On bass is Vicente Archer who provides a powerful drive to the opening of Mynah (composed by Stewart), before Evans and Wilkins come in with their solos. Without a break the tune goes effortlessly into the Mulgrew Miller tune The Eleventh Hour which Evans had been determined to record for some time.
Melissa Aldana is a tenor saxophonist born in 1988 in Santiago, Chile who was already playing in Santiago jazz clubs in her teens where she was spotted by Panamanian pianist Danilo Perez. He invited invited her to play at the Panama Jazz Festival – and also to apply for US music schools. She ended up training at the Berklee College of Music before moving to New York to train under veteran tenor player George Coleman. The album 12 Stars is her first solo recording for Blue Note, although she has previously recorded for the label with the group Artemis, whose record we’ve also played on Cosmic Jazz. The title is linked to the tarot symbols which she studied during lockdown and then composed music for each of the symbols. Los Ojos de Chile (The Eyes of Chile) was inspired by the uprisings of people in Chile who got shot by police officers using riot shotguns with rubber bullets. Many of them lost their sight. Chilean musicians in New York played and raised money for an organisation called Los Ojos de Chile which provided money for those who were affected and so it’s not surprising that the music on the album has, overall, a sense of gravity, intensity and deep sincerity.
Drummer Jack DeJohnette is one of our Cosmic Jazz heroes. Neil was lucky enough to see him perform in London in 2005 when he celebrated the music of Miles Davis and in particular the album Jack Johnson. With a backdrop screening of William Cayton’s legendary 1971 documentary charting the life of the first black heavyweight boxing champion of the world, DeJohnette was teamed up with four of the British scene’s hottest young musicians – saxophonist Jason Yarde; trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist Byron Wallen; David Okumu on guitar; and Neville Malcolm holding down the bass. It was a memorable demonstration of DeJohnette’s tumbling drum rolls matched to the fight footage, with cymbal crashes accentuating each jab from Johnson. But DeJohnette is much more than a heavyweight percussionist. He was the drummer in Keith Jarrett’s longtime standards trio but he began his career in the influential Charles Lloyd group of the 1960s before working with Miles Davis on Bitches Brew in 1970. He moved to ECM Records in the mid 70s for a sequence of superb albums – we chose his take on Coltrane’s India from the essential Special Edition record – a first outing for his group, with saxophonists David Murray and Arthur Blythe in tow. The track follows their take on Central Park West, another Coltrane standard from his 1960 album Coltrane’s Sound – check it out 
Originally released in 1976 and promptly proclaimed a landmark of British jazz-rock (Melody Maker termed it “one of the great musical achievements of our age”), Kaleidoscope of Rainbows includes contributions from Ian Carr, Tony Coe, Dave MacRae (no relation!) and saxophonist Barbara Thompson who died recently. The record was very much part of the astonishingly vibrant British jazz scene of the time, recently captured in the superb Tony Higgins compilation Journeys in Modern Jazz: Britain (2021) – check out a Guardian newspaper review 
High Pulp are an experimental Seattle collective with a cross-pollinated jazz fusion, hip-hop, post-rock, and electronic sound. Mutual Attraction Vol. 1 is the first of three EPs that were further expanded on in their 2022’s Pursuit of Ends album. Before that came three Mutual Attraction albums, with this one celebrating the music of Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders and Sun Ra. Much of the group’s sound stems from drummer/bandleader Bobby Granfelt’s infectious beats and here he’s joined by longtime bandmates keyboardists Rob Homan and Antoine Martel, guitarist Scott Rixon, and saxophonists Andrew Morrill and Victory Nguyen. Together, they play with a textured, deeply analog groove aesthetic that draws from a wide array of influences but here tempered to focus on the more hypnotic spiritual elements of these three influences. All three Mutual Attraction EPs are worth exploring – with Vol. 2 focused on beatmaster J Dilla and Vol.3 on rapper Frank Ocean.
We first featured this duo in 2021, when we also played their take on John Coltrane’s Wise One. Saxophone elder Archie Shepp and pianist Jason Moran first met
We’ve featured this excellent album from singer Somi before on CJ. Zenzile is an ambitious and fully realised tribute to South African singer Miriam Makeba and it’s really something special. The lead single was a take on Makeba’s classic 
On the principle that if you like jazz you will like this, it seems appropriate to remember Lamont Dozier who died earlier this month. He is undoubtedly best known as a member of Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team for Motown that produced hits for Marvin Gaye, Martha & the Vandellas, The Four Tops, The Isley Brothers, The Supremes and many others. After the partnership broke up Lamont Dozier went solo and later worked and supported other musicians. Derek has two much-loved solo albums Bittersweet (1979) and Peddlin’ Music On The Side (1977). It is on the latter that Dozier’s masterpiece Going Back To My Roots can be found. At the time he was working with the South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela and, along with McKinley Jackson, Masekela arranged the rhythm for the tune. It is a tune that builds and builds with strident piano (Joe Sample), thumping bass (Wilton Fender), up-front percussion (Paulinho da Costa and Bill Summers), a heavenly choral response and occasional whistles and screams. It is a joyful, exhilarating and wonderful experience – a must-hear/must-have record. Going back to my Roots/To the place of my birth/Back down to earth sings Dozier and these words along words in the chorus from an unspecified African language, the use of Nigerian saxophonist Orlando Julius (not credited on the record sleeve) and the percussive sounds have led to the assumption that this was Dozier’s statement of African consciousness inspired by the Roots TV series. But in an interview with Blues & Soul in 1977, Dozier denied this and stated that while living in Los Angeles his roots were in Detroit and he needed to keep returning there. Some still continue to interpret it otherwise. There have been several covers of the tune but the original is the one. Play it loud – celebrate and enjoy.
The show starts – as it has done before – with soulful, jazzy grooves and beats from the Boston-based funk outfit Lettuce. Unify is their eighth studio album and it doesn’t disappoint. Pre-pandemic, Lettuce were constantly on the road but after the touring was halted the band were, explained drummer Adam Deitch, “Dealing with the pandemic, being in separate places, trying to survive without our best friends, without touring, not to mention the political divide in this country… We really needed to unify.” Lettuce are now well into their 50 date world tour and will be in the UK for an appearance at London’s Scala Theatre on 20 September.
As often on Cosmic Jazz, we changed the tone with a Brazilian sequence. Singer/songwriter Sabrina Malheiros – daughter of the Azymuth bass player Alex Malheiros – produces cool but joyful samba/ jazz influenced music, and her record Clareia (released on 
Friends from Rio is a project begun by Far Out label founder Joe Davis to bring together many of their artists in a project originally aimed at the dance floors of London. Started in 1994, Friends from Rio releases continued to appear on the label – the last one emerging in 2014. Cravo e Canela was written by another Brazilian musical heavyweight, the great Milton Nascimento and has been recorded by many musicians over the years. It first appeared on one of Neil’s all-time favourite records – Nascimento’s superb collaboration with Lô Borges called Clube da Esquina – listen to that version 
Realce is one of Gilberto Gil’s most disco-influenced albums and is very much a document of the end of military dictatorship in Brazil. Released in 1979, the aforementioned Dorival Caymmi features on one track (
And so began a short set of John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders tunes and influences, selected by Neil in Singapore beginning with pianist, composer and live remixer Mark de Clive-Lowe who’s back with a 2LP/CD set featuring the music of Pharoah Sanders. As with previous records, this one was recorded live at 
This rare live recording captures Sanders in Paris with I Want to Talk About You, one of Coltrane’s most beautiful ballads. Neil was reminded of this tune when he heard it performed live by the Ravi Campbell Trio in 
This take on a Coltrane classic comes from saxophonist Sean Khan’s tribute, issued last year on BBE Records. Intriguingly, there are three parts to the album: The Future Present mostly comprises material written by or closely associated with Coltrane, reimagined by a plugged in, medium-sized, with-strings-and-harp ensemble that includes takes on Acknowledgement and Afro Blue; The Past has versions of Coltrane standards – including Equinox and Impressions; and finally there’s The Future Past with two remixes of Khan originals by broken-beat pioneer Kaidi Tatham. Our choice of Afro Blue features some fine soprano sax from Sean Khan and a vocal by the Cinematic orchestra’s Heidi Vogel. “I made a conscious effort to represent all of Coltrane’s main artistic periods,” says Khan of the album. “From hard bop, to sheets of sound, to spiritual jazz and finally his last, most experimental and cosmic period. I have never heard a record that attempts to reflect all of the great man’s epochs in this way and use the recording artist’s autobiography, my own, as a conduit to these ends. So here I am, for better, for worse.” It’s a noble project and is a Cosmic Jazz recommendation.
UK saxophonist Nat Birchall is a long-time advocate of the music and sound of John Coltrane and here he’s taken a tune from pianist Billy Gault – another jazz musician who should be better known – check out another of his great modal compositions 
Back in the UK in June, Neil couldn’t help but buy the newly issued 2LP mono and stereo version of Coltrane’s classic My Favorite Things record from 1961. The back story is that in March 1960 while on tour in Europe, Miles Davis bought a soprano saxophone for Coltrane – an instrument used in the early days of jazz but (with the exception of Steve Lacy) somewhat rare in the 1950s and 60s. Coltrane was intrigued, and he began to play it in performance. In the summer of 1960 he put together what would be the first version of his classic Quartet with McCoy Tyner on piano, Steve Davis on bass and Elvin Jones on drums. It was this group that would feature on My Favorite Things. According to Lewis Porter’s biography, Coltrane described the album is “my favorite piece of all those I have recorded”.
We last featured vocalist Janet Lawson in February 2021 following her death earlier in the year. A singer who used her voice as another instrument, Lawson collaborated with many jazz luminaries over the years, including Chick Corea, Ron Carter, Cedar Walton, Duke Pearson and Eddie Jefferson and many others. Most of her work was in New York clubs and from 1968-69 was a regular guest on Steve Allen’s New York TV show. Lawson was also involved in improvisational acting, teaching master classes in vocal improvisation and was a founder member of Women In Music, a group of six musicians. So High was a staple at the legendary Sunday afternoon sessions at Dingwalls in London. You can still download her 1981 debut 
Here on Cosmic Jazz we both like to return and replay music that we love. This debut concept album was released in 1997 and featured guest appearances from George Benson, Roy Ayers, Tito Puente, the Salsoul Orchestra and – on the celebrated cover of the Rotary Connection classic I Am the Black Gold of the Sun – US vocalist Joscelyn Brown. The brainchild of the Masters at Work pairing of Kenny ‘Dope’ Gonzalez and ‘Little’ Louie Vega, Nuyorican Soul was a celebration of their jazzier, old-school latin influences – and it totally works. With a collection of well-chosen covers and sympathetically written new material all interpreted by some old school guests the album is a Nuyorican (New York/Puerto Rican) masterpiece that seamlessly brings together club and street into a mix that still sounds good twenty years down the line. The album includes takes on Bob James’ Nautilus (bracketed here as MAWtilus), the Salsoul Orchestra’s Runaway and the superb original It’s Alright, I Feel It! – easily the equal to some of those classics. The album closer, George Benson’s You Can Do It (Baby) is unforgettable – listen to the full 15 minute version 
Everyone will know this tune – written and performed by Bill Withers and available on his debut album Just As I Am from 1972. In this original version the sentiments of the lyrics and the way Withers delivers it conveys messages of sadness and regret. But when the same tune is sung by Severino Dias de Oliveira (aka Sivuca) it becomes a joyous, hip-swinging, mood-changing event that brings forth the sunshine, rather than denying it. This is my favourite version of the song. For the first time, the album where you can find this version – the eponymous Sivuca – will be re-released in vinyl on 26 February 2021 by our friends at 
This is another record we are catching up on again. We actually first played tracks from this album back in 2015 but have begun to appreciate its qualities once more and have featured several tracks in recent shows. Pianist Domink Wania is joined by Max Mucha on double bass and Dawid Fortuna on drums. Wania is an outstanding pianist and this debut album was much anticipated. It remains his only solo album but there is a long list of Polish jazz musicians on whose records he has appeared and made a major contribution, including Tomasz Stanko – one of the Polish greats. He’s also played with jazz artists from further afield, including Americans Marcus Miller, Dave Liebman, Lee Konitz, Don Byron and Eddie Henderson. He is also an educator in Krakow and Katowice and released his first solo piano album, Lonely Shadows, in November 2020. Check out this video of the track 
