Jazz on the Beach 207 & Blues Beach 85: Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Muriel Grossmann, Ruby Rushton, Roy Brooks, Don Grolnick, Michael Brecker, Stanley Turrentine, Rickie Lee Jones, Les McCann
Listen to more jazz and blues this autumn
Let’s start this week’s Jazz on the Beach radio playlist with the title tracks from two terrific recent Blue Note reissues, courtesy of trumpeter Lee Morgan and tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine. Morgan’s The Procrastinator (Blue Note, August), was recorded in 1967 but not released until 1978, and features tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, pianist Herbie Hancock, double bassist Ron Carter and drummer Billy Higgins.
Turrentine’s In Memory Of (Blue Note, 3rd October), recorded in 1964 but not released until 1979, now gets the full Tone Poet treatment and features trumpeter Blue Mitchell, trombonist Curtis Fuller, pianist Herbie Hancock, double bassist Bob Cranshaw, drummer Otis Finch and conguero Mickey Roker. The title track was written by Randy Weston, first appearing on Highlife (Colpix, 1963).
Another top reissue is drummer Roy Brooks’ The Free Slave (Time Traveller/Muse Master Edition Series, 17th October), recorded live in 1970 at Left Bank Jazz Society in Baltimore, and originally released by Muse in 1972. The line up features trumpeter Woody Shaw, tenor saxophonist George Coleman, pianist Hugh Lawson and double bassist Cecil McBee. If you want to dig deeper, Burning Ambulance’s Phil Freeman recently wrote about Roy Brooks and this album here.
There’s the previously unreleased version of Bacharach and David’s Alfie by Rahsaan Roland Kirk from the 2LP set Seek & Listen: Live at the Penthouse (Resonance, 5th December), recorded in September 1967 at the Seattle club. The brilliant multi-instrumentalist had recorded it earlier that year for his album Now Please Don’t You Cry, Beautiful Edith (Verve, 1967), but this live version exchanges the studio lineup of pianist Lonnie Liston Smith, double bassist Ronnie Boykins and drummer Grady Tate for his touring group of Rahn Burton, Steve Novosel and Jimmy Hopps. Although this is a tune that will always belong to Sonny Rollins, Kirk does his own thing (as he always does) and it’s a killer. Just wait for the impossibly long hold.
Resonance also have a second Kirk double album coming for Record Store Day on 28th November, with the 1963 recording Vibrations in the Village: Live at the Village Gate, featuring music that was originally recorded for a documentary that was never completed.
There’s also another track from the previously unreleased Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers’ Strasbourg ’82 (Gearbox Records, 11th October). It’s the Benny Golson composition Along Came Betty performed with pianist Johnny O’Neal, alto saxophonist Donald Harrison, trumpeter Terence Blanchard, tenor saxophonist Billy Pierce, double bassist Charles Fambrough.
Strasbourg ‘82 features excellent liner notes from Jazz and Coffee’s Syd Schwartz, who also wrote the notes for Muriel Grossmann’s Breakthrough (RR GEMS, 25th October). I’ve chosen the opening track Already There, one of four extended performances by the Paris-born, Vienna-bred and Ibiza-based saxophonist, together with her close musical colleagues Abel Boquera playing Hammond organ and Moog synthesiser, guitarist Radomir Milojkovic and drummer Uros Stamenkovic.
From guitarist John Scofield and double bassist Dave Holland’s new duo album Memories of Home (ECM, 21st November), comes a reworking of Scofield’s composition Meant to Be. It was the title track of his 1991 Blue Note album that was produced by the pianist Don Grolnick, whose own debut album Hearts and Numbers (Hip Pocket Records, 1985), features the brilliant tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker. I’ve chosen the opener Pointing at the Moon with bassist Will Lee, drummer Steve Jordan, and guitarist Jeff Mironov.
And on the subject of Michael Brecker, Jason Miles has uploaded The Genius of Michael Brecker - Sax Solo - She Walks This Earth from A Love Affair: The Music of Ivan Lins. This is a 36 minute recording of Brecker carefully putting together a solo in the studio. It’s extraordinary listening, entertaining and educational and available here.
There’s more from Ruby Rushton with The Lighthouse from Legacy! (22a, 10th October), that draws inspiration from Lee Morgan’s Live at the Lighthouse album recorded at the legendary club in Hermosa Beach in 1971. Bandleader Tenderlonious is playing soprano saxophone with trumpeter Nick Walters, pianist Aidan Shepherd and drummer Tim Carnegie. I should mention that not only do we have our own Lighthouse music venue here in Deal, but like Hermosa Beach, we have a wonderful pier too.
Trombonist Michael Dease pays tribute to fellow slip horn player Steve Turre on the hard boppin’ ST in the House from Flow (Posi-Tone, 19th September), along with pianist Geoffrey Keezer, alto saxophonist Sharel Cassity, double bassist Jared Beckstead-Craan and drummer Gary Kerkezou.
Also, vocalist La Tanya Hall is back with a sensational version of Oscar Brown Jr’s Long as You’re Living from If Not Now...When (Blue Canoe, 10th October). It features some beautiful slide guitar from Marvin Sewell along with alto saxophonist Gary Bartz, pianist Cyrus Chestnut, bassist Gerald Cannon and drummer Mark McLean.
There’s pianist Les McCann’s Harlem Buck Dance Strut from the groundbreaking synth-powered Layers (Atlantic, 1972), with electric bassist Jimmy Rowser, drummer Donald Dean and percussionists Buck Clarke and Ralph MacDonald. And alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson’s Aw Shucks! from Alligator Boogaloo (Blue Note, 1967), with cornettist Melvin Lastie, organist Lonnie Smith, guitarist George Benson and drummer Leo Morris. Finally, Rickie Lee Jones’ Chuck E’s in Love from her eponymous debut (Warner Bros, 1979), just because I love it. Great lineup with Neil Larsen playing Fender Rhodes, guitarist Buzzy Feiten, bassist Willie Weeks, saxophonists Ernie Watts and Tom Scott, trumpeter Chuck Findlay and drummer Steve Gadd with THAT fill.
To listen to this week’s Jazz on the Beach on Mixcloud, just click below:
Jazz On The Beach #207 15th October 2025
Michael Dease - ST in the House
Ruby Rushton - The Lighthouse
Roy Brooks - Free Slave
John Scofield & Dave Holland - Meant to Be
La Tanya Hall - Long as You’re Living
Muriel Grossmann - Already Here
Les McCann - Harlem Buck Dance Strut
Stanley Turrentine - In Memory Of
Don Grolnick feat. Michael Brecker - Pointing at the Moon
Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Alfie
Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers - Along Came Betty
Lou Donaldson - Aw Shucks!
Rickie Lee Jones - Chuck E’s in Love
Lee Morgan - The Procrastinator
Pasquale Grasso - Cherokee
Walter Bishop Jr’s 4th Cycle - Those Who Chant
Blues Beach
The latest edition of Blues Beach takes another listen to the playlist from Blues Beach #11 that was broadcast three years ago on 20th October 2022, only a few weeks before the Aww…Pick it, Wilson! Substack rebranded as Jazz on the Beach.
I was looking back at earlier shows that are no longer in the archive and the tracks on this one really stood out. Alongside favourites from Muddy Waters, Magic Sam, J.B. Lenoir, B.B. King, Frankie Lee Simms, Little Walter and Guitar Slim, there are some killer lesser known tracks from King Charles, Rusty Zinn, Clarence Garlow and the steel player Hop Wilson, recording as Poppa Hop.
To listen to this week’s Blues Beach on Mixcloud, just click below:
Blues Beach #85 16th October 2025
Lowell Fulson - Talkin’ Woman
Muddy Waters - You Need Love
J.B. Lenoir - Talk To Your Daughter
King Charles - But You Thrill Me
Hop Wilson - My Woman Has a Black Cat Bone
Homesick James & Snooky Prior - Homesick’s Cross Roads
Little Walter - Mellow Down Easy
B.B. King - Sweet Little Angel
Jimmy McCracklin - The Walk
Mississippi John Hurt - Avalon Blues
Howlin’ Wolf - Back Door Man
Rusty Zinn - The Chill
Magic Sam - All Night Long
Frankie Lee Simms - What Will Lucy Do
Clarence Garlow - Za Belle
Blind Willie McTell - Come Around to My House Mama
Guitar Slim - Well, I Done Got Over It
Clarence Carter - The Road of Love
Danny Kalb - Death Comes Creeping
Listen live to Deal Radio - click here
Jazz On The Beach broadcasts every Wednesday evening from 10:00 PM to midnight (UK time), repeating on Monday morning from 2:00 AM to 4:00 AM (UK time).
Blues Beach broadcasts every other Thursday from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM (UK time).
It's truly wonderful to see such a deep dive into these reissues, making one ponder the historical context of masterpieces like Lee Morgan's "The Procrastinator" and Stanley Turrentine's "In Memory Of" waiting so long for their release, which always makes me wonder what other unheared recordings are still out there, just waiting for the right moment to surface.
Keep swingin', Adam! Great stuff !