Jazz On The Beach 111
John Wright, Katy Roberts, The Jazz Sapiens
Listen to this week’s Jazz On The Beach
This week’s Jazz On The Beach playlist includes a deeply swinging version of Cy Coleman’s Witchcraft by the soulful Chicago pianist John Wright. It comes from his second album Nice ‘n’ Tasty (Prestige 1960) recorded with double bassist Wendell Marshall and drummer J.C. Heard, and was reissued for the first time last week by New Land Records and sounds fabulous, with Rudy Van Gelder’s original tapes mastered by Kevin Gray.
Wright recorded five albums for Prestige Records between August ‘60 and April ‘62 (one was released in ‘65) and his career was on the verge of taking off. But things didn’t work out for him, his problems with alcohol led to him being dropped from the label and his reputation made touring work hard to come by. Back in Chicago he settled into a long running gig with singer Oscar Lindsay, and it wasn’t until 1980 when he eventually cleaned up his act and went to Alcoholics Anonymous. Wright was a regular presence on the Windy City club scene and also spent fifteen years as a librarian at Cook County Jail, was married four times (outliving his first three wives) before passing away in 2017 at 83 years old.
I was in Paris in 2018 with film maker & musician Martin Goodsmith making Jazz Americans in Paris, a short film about some of the U.S. expats who had settled in the City of Light, including pianist Kirk Lightsey and bassist Darryl Hall. The focal point for the trip was a memorial concert for the great double bassist Wayne Dockery at the Sunset Sunrise jazz club in the Rue des Lombards, and one of the musicians we talked to the following day was the pianist and educator Katy Roberts, previously at Berklee College of Music before crossing the Atlantic to teach at the Bill Evans Piano Academy in Paris and the Conservatoire du Val d'Yerres.
As well as being a first class educator, Roberts is a terrific writer and arranger, and on this week’s playlist is 7th Ave from her album Live At Twins And More (self released, 2006) which included tracks recorded at Twins Jazz in Washington D.C. and as this one is, at Bop City in Paris. Alongside Roberts, the lineup features trumpeter Rasul Siddik, tenor saxophonist Salim Washington, double bassist Wayne Dockery and drummer John Betsch.
The pianist and composer Michael J. McEvoy put together a superb big band to record his original score for the Peabody Award winning documentary The Jazz Ambassadors. Once the score was in the can, McEvoy and saxophonist Paul Booth extended and fleshed out the arrangements and the newly named The Jazz Sapiens recorded Rememberence: 1955 to 1963 (Rezzonator, October). So here’s the track Bandung Conference featuring the formidable lineup of ten of the country’s finest jazz musicians.
As for new releases this week, there’s saxophonist Aiden Newland who’s playing everything on the atmospheric Lost from his debut Home (self released, Nov 24), and guitarist Julian Lage with the bucolic Omission from a new album coming next year on Blue Note. There’s also another track by violinist Benet McLean with Blue Fingers from Green Park (Sea Mammal, Nov 24th), and a second cut from Deal Jazz Club hosts The Graeme Airth Trio with Smart Alec from Night Breeze (self released, digital available now).
Also this week…Samara Joy and Pasquale Grasso, Charlie Rouse, Andrew Hill, Duke Ellington, The Dave Brubeck Quartet and Lucky Thompson, the full playlist is below.
Listen to this week’s Jazz On The Beach and enjoy the music!
Radio Times
Listen live to Jazz On The Beach every Wednesday from 10.00pm - midnight UK time and Blues Beach every other Thursday from 6.00pm - 7.00pm UK time via the internet on DealRadio.co.uk or on the TuneIn Radio app.
Both shows are broadcast live from the Deal Radio Studio at 69a High Street, Deal, Kent CT14 6EH. Just drop by if you’re passing and browse the records for sale at the front.
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