Jazz On The Beach 116 & Blues Beach 41
Jazz On The Beach 116 & Blues Beach 41
Jazz Albums of 2023, Sultan Stevenson, Blues Beach's Blue Christmas
It’s been another exceptional year for new jazz album releases and while there’s no standard criteria for compiling these end of year ‘best of’ lists, all I can do is think back to how the music that I’ve played live on the show over the last twelve months has made me feel. So for this week’s final Jazz On The Beach show of the year, I’ve chosen seventeen tracks from some of the very best of them.
The one album that stands out above the rest is Sultan Stevenson’s Faithful One (Whirlwind Recordings), an incredibly mature and deeply spiritual debut from the 23 year old London-born pianist and composer. I wrote about this album for London Jazz News when it was first released, I loved it then and even more so now.
I chose the album’s title track featuring his telepathic and supportive long standing rhythm section of double bassist Jacob Gryn and drummer Joel Waters with trumpeter Josh Short and guest tenor saxophonist Denys Baptise. Stevenson won Jazz Newcomer of the Year at the prestigious 2023 Parliamentary Jazz Awards and has been selected for a Jazzahead! showcase in Bremen next April - yet another Tomorrow’s Warriors alumni destined for great things!
I was discussing my choices with someone who asked why Rickie Lee Jones’ Pieces of Treasure made the list, as he felt there were probably ‘more deserving’ female jazz vocal albums this year. He may have a point, but this raw and honest album brought back the same intense and bittersweet emotions that her first two records gave me over forty years ago. As I said earlier, all that matters is how the music makes me feel, and I hope that’s the same for you.
This week on Blues Beach I’m rolling out last year’s Blue Christmas Special, as these songs really deserve to be heard at least once a year.
And finally, a very special thank you to our dear friend Sharon Cullen, the owner of Wellingtons Coffeehouse & Bistro in Dover and Park Avenue at Welly’s Coffeehouse & Bar in Deal who sponsor Jazz On The Beach and Blues Beach, always serving great coffee and those sensational hot giant pretzels. And my grateful thanks to Marc Carey and Tony West at Deal Radio for giving me the freedom to play whatever I want to on their unique local community platform with a global reach.