Music

Almost all the music added to this page week by week is from my personal archive of private recordings.

Tracks 1 - 5

I’ve just come across a tape of a lovely trio gig by the sensitive and witty pianist FRANK HARRISON at the Verdict, Brighton nine years ago. Dave Whitford is on bass and I was depping for Frank’s regular drummer at the time Enzo Zirillo. A cheeky parody of DOXY, a lively MY ROMANCE, the gorgeous ballad ANSWER ME MY LOVE, the haunting waltz ALICE IN WONDERLAND and a rip-roaring IN YOUR OWN SWEET WAY. It was a gas to play with these two consummate artists.

Tracks 6-9

BOB MARTIN! What a wonderful and sorely missed alto player he is and I’m NOT taking into account his emphysema which obliged him to play sitting down.. Here are four tracks recorded live in 2009 with MIKE GORMAN piano, JULIAN BURY bass and myself on drums. The tunes include classic originals by Thelonious Monk and Jackie McLean.

Tracks 10 and 11.

The Fasching club Stockholm: a gig by virtue of Swedish radio featuring KJELL BERKLUND (trumpet) TERRY SEABROOK (piano) PETER JANSON (bass) me on drums and the incredible ROLAND KEIJSER on tenor. Please go to the entry on the Musings page “Ack värmeland, du sköna” to read more about this musician who is very little known in the UK. “Marie Antionette” is by Wayne Shorter, Then we have Roland’s extraordinary flute introduction to Teddy Edwards’s “Sunset eyes” and a rousing version of this great tune.

Track 12

The American tenor saxophone giant SAL NISTICO (1940-1991 ) caught on a gig in Brighton in 1985, playing a roaring STITT’S BLUES.. The recording is swimmy and toppy, made in the audience but edit these defects out of your ear and concentrate on SAL’s commanding performance. For further details about this session, click on the “Musings” page for the blog “SALVATORE NISTICO HEAVYWEIGHT CONTENDER”

Tracks 13 and 14.

From the album “THAT’S JUST THE WAY I WANT TO BE” recorded by BLOSSOM DEARIE in 1970 which I was delighted to be part of. Cross-refer to the Musing “BLOSSOM IN AUTUMN”. Long daddy green is a satirical song by DAVE FRISHBERG (Don’t miss the cash register). Secondly, Blossom’s take on Joni Mitchell’s Both sides now

Track 15

Please go to the “Musings” page for the memoir BRANSCOMBE BRAINSTORM for details

Track 16

A very rare BBC Jazz in Britain broadcast from the old Golders Green Hippodrome (unheard for forty-six years) by bassist DARYL RUNSWICK’S 14-piece orchestra featuring writing by him and pianist TONY HYMAS. The band includes KENNY WHEELER, HENRY LOWTHER, RAY WARLEIGH, STAN SULTZMANN. DON RENDELL, CHRIS PYNE, DAVE HORLER, FRANK RICOTTI plus magnificent tuba from CLIFF BEVAN. Talk about a star line-up! Beautiful ensemble and solos.

Track 17.

For this track, cross-refer to the Musing “Wailin’ Wellins”. The studio album NINE SONGS (TRIO TR577) is one of my desert island discs. Here is the tune Don and Bobby come together on, “Di’s waltz”. You MUST buy this record if you haven’t already got it. Every bit of it is hauntingly beautiful.

Track 18.

Long Tall Dexter (Gordon) in his pomp at a Norwegian festival in 1977 with Eivin Sannes (piano) Arild Andersen (bass) and me on drums. Nobody plays on the “Rhythm changes” like him or inserts such hip quotes (even Jim Mullen!)

Track 19

The magical week at Ronnie’s when MICK PYNE RON MATTHEWSON and SPIKE WELLS appeared as a trio opposite a big band led by Allan Ganley and Tony Kinsey. This lithe version of AUTUMN LEAVES is are among those Mick Pyne felt to be the pick of the recordings. Ironically, it didn’t appear on the commercial CD subsequently issued. RON’s bass playing is sublime.

Track 20,

Talking of whom, RON MATTHEWSON is “all over it” leading his own sextet including DICK PEARCE, ALAN SKIDMORE, STAN SULZMAN, JOHN TAYLOR and myself on a BBC Jazz Club broadcast from 1985. Dig the impassioned soloing all round.

Tracks 21 and 22

By the close of 1985, the PETER KING quintet with HENRY LOWTHER, JOHN HORLER, DAVE GREEN and SPIKE WELLS was a fully integrated and cooking unit. Here’s some of the first set from a gig at the old Bull’s Head. The opener was composed by American altoist Bobby Watson and the set closed with Freddie Hubbard’s fiendish TAKE IT TO THE OZONE. Kenny Wheeler told Freddie we had added it to our repertoire and he snapped back “Nobody can play that!” See what you think…………

Track 23.

The quintet some four months earlier in full cry at the Pendley Manor jazz festival (which I believe replaced Bracknell). Here is the set closer - Herbie Hancock’s scorching EYE OF THE HURRICANE.

Track 24 - 25.

The late great DON WELLER recorded live at Wakefield Jazz by the promoter ten years ago. DAVE NEWTON on piano who composed the hard-grooving opener, Andy Cleyndert on bass and myself on drums instead of the usual Dave Barry. Then a ballad (by Jimmy Van Heusen) which was one of Don’s favourite tunes (as he says) . A lovely memory of a unique jazz voice.

Track 26.

A little more from DON WELLER, at the 606 club three years earlier this time with John Donaldson on piano (plus Cleyndert and myself). Jubilation, a swinger by Junior Mance, was popular with the Don (and his audiences).

Tracks 27 - 30.

STAN SULZMANN and JOHN TAYLOR on a superb live gig from 1982. JOHN TAYLOR is on fire throughout. Virtuoso piano. On the Elvinesque “Black ice” Stan plays soprano. Otherwise he blows up a storm on tenor.

Tracks 31 - 32

A BBC Jazz club broadcast which proves a roaring affair with Georgie Fame and the Harry South big band AND Georgie’s own group.. Here are two numbers featuring vocals. Georgie and Alan Skidmore are on top form and I have left in most of compere Humph’s introductions as they are worth chuckling over. My favourite is “Papa’s got a brand new bag i.e. father’s remarried”!

Track 33

Charles McPherson wailing in Brighton in 1989 on PARKER’S MOOD backed up by down and dirty blues piano from Mick Pyne.

Tracks 34 and 35

The 1969 Tubby Hayes big band for BBC Jazz Club performed and taped at the Paris Theatre, Regent Street on 1st October. Here are two tracks of what compere Humphrey Lyttleton described as the finest broadcast yet of any Tubby Hayes big band.. “Blues for Pipkins” really takes off. The theme sounds suspiciously similar to Gerald Wilson’s “Blues for Yna Yna”…… The tribute to Johnny Butts contains scintillating alto from the recently departed Peter King.

Track 36

Courtesy of Dave Bennett, recording engineer and calligrapher extraordinaire who produced such beautiful publicity for Peter Boizot’s Pizza Express, I can share with you Tony Coe’s beautiful rendering of BODY AND SOUL (on a gig with Kenny Davern) backed by John Horler (piano) Dave Green (bass) and myself.

Track 37.

A rare gem from the time when the then wunderkind GWILYM SIMCOCK graced my trio. We made an album (“Reverence”) and gigged around the South, doing several evenings at the 606 in Fulham. Here’s a number from a set on one of those nights with a noisy crowd, squeaky stool and Gwilym on superb, inventive form all over the piano. Simply In a class of his own.

Tracks 38 - 41

The Mick Pyne trio (the subject of the musing “Freeman ‘Hardy ‘n’ Willis) records with Ray Warleigh and Kenny Wheeler in 1994. Back in 1970, these five musicians formed 5/6ths of the Ronnie Scott sextet which toured Czechoslovakia. Here, we perform two haunting originals by Ray, a beautiful standard and an original by Ken. I asked Ken at the time which country he was shortly moving to and he said none. People learned not to ask Ken for an explanation of his tune titles………. I wonder whatever happened to the original tapes. Presumably they formed part of Ray’s estate since he financed the session. What a shame this intimate, mellow session was never officially released on disc. Evan Parker, no less, produced the session and he and I are now determined to release all the material from the session on LP or CD. If we can’t find the 15ips master tapes, Evan reckons my cassette version may be good enough to clean up………………………..

Tracks 42 and 43

Teddy Edwards on a tour of the UK in 1988. See the Musing “Delicious, not just good, gravy”. His Georgia is deep soul and Good Gravy is Teddy’s famous signature tune/sign off. It’s a low down blues. He was accompanied by my trio featuring Adrian Kendon on bass and the superb, understated piano of ROY HILTON.

Tracks 44 and 45

This is the 1st-half-of-1969 Tubby quartet with guitarist Louis Stewart, Ron Matthewson and myself. Two numbers from a BBC Jazz Club broadcast in May. Humph comperes with his usual amusing suavity….

Track 46

See the Musing “A stirrup cup and tally ho for the jazz meet”. A sample of music at the Hare & hounds Worthing: the sublime Liane Carroll - whenever I work with her, we always include our signature duet of voice and brushes on the Billie Holiday classic.

Track 47

A gem of a gig at “Ron’s Place”, the King’s Head, Fulham at the end of 1979. Tony’s favourite blues line “Groovin” (by Kenny Burrell) . John Horler on piano, me on drums and some breathtaking bass virtuosity from Chris Laurence.

Track 48

A memorable evening at Ronnie’s when I was playing with Mike Carr (organ) and Dick Morrissey showed up and sat in. He was bursting to play as you can hear on this scorching version of ST. THOMAS worthy, i my humble opinion, of Sonny Rollins………….

Tracks 49

The Tubby Hayes big band in its last incarnation. Tubbs reassembled the full personnel shortly before his death for a final BBC outing. SIENNA RED sounds as if it might have been Tubby’s salute to the Miles Davis/Gil Evans tune “Gone”. Roaring electric piano solo from Alan Branscombe, Tubby sounding passionate and some stratospheric arco harmonics from Ron Matthewson before the drums come back for the final theme statement.

Tracks 50 -52

Rarest of rare Joe Harriott. YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST! Joe was on top of his game when he fronted a quartet in the Oxford Union Debating Hall at an event to raise money for the then Joint Action Committee again Racial Intolerance (JACARI). Almost all the gig survives on tape and I present three extracts: HERE’S THAT RAINY DAY, Thelonious Monk’s off-kilter composition JACKIE-ING and the lovely song (think Billie Holiday) THEY CAN’T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME. Brian Priestley on piano, the late John Hart on bass.

Tracks 53

In 1970, while I was a member of three bands (Tubby Hayes, Ronnie Scott, Humphrey Lyttleton), I briefly led my own Ornette-Coleman inspired piano-less quartet with Jeff Clyne on bass, Pete Burden on alto and Marc Charig on cornet. I had got to know Pete at the Sunday afternoon sessions at the Troubadour in Earl’s Court (see the “musing” THE BE-BOP KING OF HASTINGS). Marc, whose career has ranged from avant-garde to blues and pop, I had first met at school in 1960 when we shared a youthful enthusiasm for Clark Terry. This memorable line by Ornette Coleman himself is the final number from a live Jazz Club broadcast introduced by the imperturbable Humph.

Track 54

Stan Getz accompanied on a tour of Scandinavia in February 1970 by the Tubby Hayes rhythm section. This track is from a concert recorded by Swedish radio.

Track 55.

Art Themen, Dave Newton, Dave Green and myself at the old Bull’s Head in 2006. SPOILER ALERT - THIS IS THE MOST SWINGING PIANO SOLO I HAVE EVER HEARD!

Tracks 56 and 57.

A cooking gig at the 606, Lots Rd. Morny, Barry Green, Phil Donkin and myself firstly stretching out on Joe Henderson’s McCoy Tynerish blues line and then at breakneck tempo on Tubby’s old warhorse. Fast enough for you, Tubbs?!

Track 58

The divine Bobby Wellins with his version of this gorgeous Mel Torme piece. A rare unissued bonus track from the “Fun” CD with Mark Edwards, Andy Cleyndert and me. This little gem is for life, not just for Christmas (woof woof).

Track 59

The Oslo club scene in the 70s. Think Lifetime etc. Loose jazz-rock with Arild Andersen again, Jon Eberson (gtr) Jon Balke (pno) me (dms). A mind-blowing week’s engagement