Jazz on the Beach 214 & Blues Beach 88: Phil Upchurch, Longineau Parsons, Nucleus, John Coltrane, Nubian Twist, Joe Farnsworth, Elvin Jones, Lisa Hilton, Harper Trio, Ruben Fox, Gerry Mulligan
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I was saddened to hear that the wonderful guitarist and bassist Phil Upchurch died last month at 84 years old. I’ve enjoyed his playing as an artist in his own right or when working with George Benson, Donny Hathaway, Jimmy Smith, Chaka Khan, Curtis Mayfield and on the hundreds of sessions where his unique touch added so much to the groove. There’s a fine tribute by fellow Substacker Leo Sidran on his The Third Story, which includes a chat with his father Ben who first worked with Upchurch in 1972. I’ve picked a song from that era, it’s the title track from Darkness, Darkness (Blue Thumb, 1972), produced by Tommy LiPuma and featuring rhythm guitarist Arthur Adams, bassist Chuck Rainey, pianist Joe Sample, drummer Harvey Mason and percussionist Bobbi Porterhall.
I always loved Barry Feinstein’s photo of Upchurch playing a Fender Coronado on the cover, but I couldn’t get anywhere close to emulating his impeccable tone when I finally tried one many years later.
Last week’s Hot Rod by the Don Rendell / Ian Carr 5tet stimulated a lot of interest. So I’ve followed up with Song for the Bearded Lady by Carr’s jazz fusion pioneers Nucleus from their second album We’ll Talk About It Later (Vertigo, 1971). Alongside trumpeter Carr are saxophonist Brian Smith, electric pianist Karl Jenkins, guitarist Chris Spedding, bassist Jeff Clyne and drummer John Marshall.
In 1975, I was talking to Chris Spedding at The Speakeasy, the late night London club heavily frequented by musicians. At that time he was a member of rock band The Sharks, and I told him how much I enjoyed his jazz playing while with Nucleus. His curt Northern response was: ‘I wasn’t playing jazz, they were’.
New releases this week include producer and guitarist Tom Excell’s Leeds collective Nubian Twist with their tribute to the Brazilian jazz funksters Azymuth with Azimuth (without the ‘y’), the first single from their upcoming album Chasing Shadows (Strut, 20th March), featuring new vocalist Eniola.
There’s harpist Maria-Christina Harper’s (what a great aptronym) Harper Trio, with the melodic two part Ephemeral Now from Dialogue of Thoughts (Little Yellow Man Records, 24th October), with tenor saxophonist Josephine Davies and drummer Evan Jenkins.
And West Coast pianist Lisa Hilton’s splendidly named Blues on the Beach from Extended Daydream (Ruby Slippers Productions, 28th November), with tenor saxophonist JD Allen, trumpeter Igmar Thomas, double bassist Luques Curtis and drummer Rudy Royston.
Not a new release as such, but just reissued for Record Store Day Black Friday by Ubiquity Records is trumpeter and Florida A&M University professor Longineu Parsons’ eponymous self released debut. It was recorded with his band in 1980 while living in Paris, and I’ve gone with the tremendously exciting opener Take the High Road, featuring soprano saxophonist Sulaiman Hakim, pianist George Edouard Nouel, double bassist Jack Gregg, drummer Chris Henderson and percussionist Roger Raspail.
Also this week… I’m loving master drummer Joe Farnsworth’s hard driving Sidewinder-ish Prime Time from The Big Room (Smoke Sessions Records, 2025), with the phenomenal lineup of trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, alto saxophonist Sarah Hanahan, vibraphonist Joel Ross, pianist Emmet Cohen and double bassist Yasushi Nakamura. I’m still getting over seeing him play with Emmet Cohen in London recently, they were sensational.
I’ve only played John Coltrane’s Impressions twice on the show, and the last time was a couple of summers ago. I’ve played other versions by Pat Martino, Stanley Turrentine, Wes Montgomery & Wynton Kelly Trio, Jamaaladeen Tacuma and Eric Dolphy. So here’s the title track from Impressions (Impulse! 1963), recorded at the Village Vanguard on 3rd November 1961, where Coltrane plays tenor together with pianist McCoy Tyner, double bassist Jimmy Garrison, drummer Elvin Jones and alto saxophonist Eric Dolphy joining in on the final chord.
The aforementioned Elvin Jones leads his own band on The Ultimate (Blue Note, 1969), his second trio album with double bassist Jimmy Garrison and saxophonist and flautist Joe Farrell. Here’s Ascendant, with an incredible Farrell performance on soprano saxophone.
Two songs that seem to fit together well are Gerry Mulligan’s title track from Night Lights (Phillips, 1963) and the Chet Baker Quintet’s On a Misty Night from Boppin’’ with the Chet Baker Quintet (Prestige, 1967). On the first, Mulligan swaps baritone saxophone for piano with Art Farmer on flugelhorn, valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer, guitarist Jim Hall, double bassist Bill Crow and drummer Dave Bailey. While Baker plays flugelhorn with tenor saxophonist George Coleman, pianist Kirk Lightsey, double bassist Herman Wright and drummer Roy Brooks.
Another thing they have in common is they were both reissued by New Land Records: Mulligan in 2022 and Baker last summer as part of the Five From ‘65: The Quintet Summer Sessions.
An appropriate song for the time of year is tenor saxophonist Ruben Fox’s When Snow Falls on New York. It is beautifully sung by Vuyo Sotashe along with pianist Mathis Picard, double bassist Russell Hall and drummer Kyle Poole, and comes from Introducing Ruben Fox (self-released, 2021), the album that introduced me to Samara Joy on the wonderful So Much Joy. I’ll play it again soon.
And speaking of New York… I’d be making a beeline to Katz’s Delicatessen or Barney Greengrass and some of the other places mentioned in fellow Substacker Juliet Sibley’s excellent If You’re Visiting New York, Start Here. In the meantime, Tongue and Brisket in London will have to suffice for Reuben sandwiches and chicken soup.
And while we’re talking Ashkenazi soul food, very belated thanks to Paul Burger for telling me years ago that the best bagels in London were from Daniels Bakery on Finchley Road in Temple Fortune. I finally made it up there two weeks ago, and he was absolutely right.
To listen to this week’s Jazz on the Beach on Mixcloud, just click below:
Jazz On The Beach #214 10th December 2025
Joe Farnsworth - Prime Time
PYJAEN feat. Jackson Mathod - Is That It
Phil Woods - Au Privave
Eddie Harris - Sham Time
Nucleus - Song for the Bearded Lady
Lisa Hilton - Blues on the Beach
Nubian Twist feat. Eniola - Azimuth
John Coltrane - Impressions
Longineu Parsons - Take the High Road
Harper Trio - Ephemeral Now
Chet Baker Quintet - On a Misty Night
Ruben Fox feat. Vuyo Sotashe - When Snow Falls on New York
Elvin Jones - Ascendant
Gerry Mulligan - Night Lights
Phil Upchurch - Darkness, Darkness
Stan Getz - Wave
Mark Millington - Overdrive
Blues Beach
It’s the final Blues Beach of 2025 with the next show broadcasting live on New Year’s Day. Hopefully this playlist will help keep you going over the festive season, all without a corny holiday song in earshot. You’ll be Hip Shakin with J.B. Hutto and doing the T-Bone Shuffle with Albert Collins, Robert Cray & Johnny Copeland.
Irma Thomas warns Don’t Mess With My Man, B.B. King is Paying the Cost to Be the Boss, Percy Mayfield is pleading Please Send Me Someone to Love, the Staple Singers ponder the immediate future on This May Be the Last Time while Jimmy Reed reassures on Honest I Do.
To listen to this week’s Blues Beach on Mixcloud, just click below:
Blues Beach #88 11th December 2025
J.B. Hutto & His Hawks with Sunnyland Slim - Hip Shakin’
The Holmes Brothers - Promised Land
Irma Thomas - Don’t Mess With My Man
B.B. King - Paying the Cost to Be the Boss
Albert Collins, Robert Cray & Johnny Copeland - T-Bone Shuffle
Lightnin’ Hopkins & Sonny Terry - Rocky Mountain
Lonnie Johnson - St Louis Blues
Percy Mayfield - Please Send Me Someone to Love
Buckwheat Zydeco - Tee Nah Nah
Etta Baker - One-Dime Blues
Little Walter & His Jukes - Blues With a Feeling
Jimmy Reed - Honest I Do
The Staple Singers - This May Be the Last Time
Nappy Brown - The Right Time
Walter ‘Wolfman’ Washington - You Can Stay but the Noise Must Go
Scrapper Blackwell - Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out
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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).