Jazz on the Beach 172: Branford Marsalis Quartet, Jon Bentley, Rebecca Vasmant, Gilad Hekselman
Matt Carmichael, Ndikho Xaba, Graham Dechter & Alex Frank with Walter Smith III
On this week’s Jazz on the Beach radio show playlist there’s the first track released from a new album by the Branford Marsalis Quartet, featuring the magnificent tenor and alto saxophonist with his long established lineup of pianist Joey Calderrazo, double bassist Eric Revis, and drummer Justin Faulkner. Spiral Dance comes from Belonging (Blue Note, 28th March), the group’s interpretation of the pianist Keith Jarrett’s European Quartet album Belonging (ECM, 1974), with saxophonist Jan Garbarek, double bassist Palle Danielsson and drummer Jon Christensen. If the excellent Spiral Dance is anything to go by, the elder Marsalis sibling’s first quartet record for six years (and his Blue Note debut) is going to be very special indeed.
Branford played one of the greatest sets I’ve ever heard in the historic surroundings of the Market Hall during the Brecon Jazz Festival in August 1998, with Revis, drummer Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts, and the phenomenal pianist Kenny Kirkland, who sadly passed away just a few months later. At that time Branford was also creative consultant at Columbia Records in New York while I was at Sony Jazz in London (which looked after Columbia frontline and catalogue releases). It was an era of great upheaval but he was involved in bringing some fine artists to the company, especially the brilliant Cameroonian bassist Richard Bona.
There are more excellent new releases from saxophonists, starting with the Scottish tenor player Matt Carmichael and the beautiful spiritual folk jazz (is that a thing?) of Kite from Dancing With Embers (March 28th), featuring the fiddler Charlie Stewart, pianist Fergus McCreadie, double bassist Ali Watson, drummer Tom Potter and acoustic guitarist Innes White. Here’s Carmichael performing at last year’s jazzahead! in Bremen.
I’m deeply digging Texan tenor Walter Smith III who joins West Coast guitarist Graham Dechter and double bassist Alex Frank plus drummer Ryan Shaw for a terrific version of John Lewis’s Milestones (La Reserve, 24th January).
And I’m blown away by Canadian tenor Jon Bentley’s playing on Balcony Jogger from Go Ahead! (La Reserve/Cellar Music, 21st March), with guitarist Tristan Paxton, organist Chris Gestrin and drummer Joe Poole.
One of Jazz on the Beach’s favourite albums of last year was the remarkable guitarist Gilad Hekselman’s Life, At The Village Vanguard. On this week’s playlist there’s the superb Wise Man from his new album Downhill From Here (La Reserve, January 17th), with the sensational rhythm section of double bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Marcus Gilmore.
Here’s a video:
I was delighted to see that the DJ and Producer Rebecca Vasmant has a second album project coming soon, released through a new partnership between Fred Bolza’s New Soil and Louise Paley and Nina Fine’s Women In Jazz organisation. Rooted is the first single from Who We Are Becoming (9th May), and is a tribute to Vasmant’s Holocaust surviving grandparents. The song features vocalist Emilie Boyd, multidisciplinary artist Paix, harpist Amanda Whiting, bassist Joe Rattray, drummer Graham Costello and trumpeter Cameron Thomason-Duncan.
Vasmant’s has done so much as a broadcaster, DJ and producer to help spread the word about the blossoming Glasgow jazz community. Her first album With Love From Glasgow (Rebecca’s Records, 2021), was recorded in her front room on a simple one microphone and laptop setup with some of the city’s finest young players, including those from the prestigious Glasgow School of Music.
And finally, there’s Ndikho Xaba & the Natives’ Nomusa from Ndikho Xaba and the Natives (Trilite (private press), 1971). Only 100 copies were originally pressed up until it was finally reissued in 2015 by Matsuli Music. South African exile Xaba played piano with Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane, and Sun Ra, and recorded this spiritual tribute to Xaba’s new wife in Oakland with saxophonist & flautist Plunky, vibraphonist Lon Moshe, conguero Duru, bassist Shabalala and drummer Kieta.
To listen to this week’s Jazz on The Beach on Mixcloud, just click below:
Also…
Now that January’s over, I’m starting to look ahead to Summer and the annual Deal Music and Arts Festival which takes place in July. It’s sadly a little light on jazz, but I’m really looking forward to seeing the tenor saxophonist and Tomorrow’s Warriors alumni Maddy Coombs, who will be playing at The Lighthouse, the venue for last year’s Festival appearance by pianist Sultan Stevenson.
Here’s a video of Coombs shot during a jazz re:freshed event at Ninety One Living Room in London’s Brick Lane.
Listen live on Deal Radio or Catch up on Mixcloud
Jazz On The Beach broadcasts live every Wednesday evening from 10:00 PM to midnight (UK time), with a repeat on Monday mornings from 2:00 AM to 4:00 AM (UK time).
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