Playlist - 02 July 2009
This was a solo set from Derek tonight as Neil was stuck in London. The show was full of longtime favourites - including the first three timeless classics that epitomise the ethos of Cosmic Jazz.
First up, the deepest of deep jazz from Harry Whitaker - recorded in 1976 but not officially released until 25 years later, the record features Mtume, Billy Hart, Buster Williams and Woody Shaw. If you don’t own this record, then buy it now. Next was Mademoiselle Mabry, named after Miles Davis’s then newly married wife, the model Frances Mabry who appears on the Filles de Kilimanjaro album sleeve. At the heart of this long track is the drumming of a young Tony Williams - just 17 years old when Miles Davis hired him. The tune is actually based on Hendrix’s The Wind Cries Mary and it was Gil Evans who inspired Davis to record it here. You can also hear Tony Williams on the Grachan Moncur track later in the show. Listen again if you can! Gil Scott Heron’s impassioned vocals on our third classic track will indeed “wash your troubles away” if you “call on Lady Day [Billie Holiday] or John Coltrane.”
It’s advice we swear by here on Cosmic Jazz, where we believe that music truly is “the healing force of the universe”.
1. Black Renaissance - Black Renaissance
2. Miles Davis - Mademoiselle Mabry (Miss Mabry)
3. Gil Scott-Heron - Lady Day & John Coltrane
4. Hajime Yoshizawa - Shukaku No Toki
5. Kira Neris - Open Doors
6. Gene Ammons - Hittin’ the Jug
7. Kenny Barron - In the Meantime
8. Freddie Hubbard - Red Clay
9. Sao Benitez - Feeling High
10. Grachan Moncur - Evolution
11. Cassandra Wilson - Blue Light Til Dawn
12. What’s Up - Minorism
13. Russell Gunn - Del Rio (a.k.a. Anita)
Next week we’ll showcase new music from two new CD releases - Miroslav Vitous’s audacious new project Remembering Weather Report which features a stunning reworking of Ornette Coleman’s Lonely Woman and a track from the new Brandford Marsalis release, Metamorphosen. We’ll also play a track from what is almost certainly the last time John Coltrane was recorded - his final appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival on this day - 02 July - in 1966. This has just been released for the first time - and Coltrane plays My Favouite Things like you’ve never heard before!
