Jazz on the Beach 229 & Blues Beach 96: Eddie Harris, Billy Childs, Jason Miles, The Visitors, Flea, Merkolino Dimond, Nubiyan Twist & Patrice Rushen, Pyjaen, Calvin Keys, San Francisco Blues
Jazz and blues radio
Deal at dusk. Jazz on the Beach and Blues Beach are broadcast live from Deal Radio, less than 200 yards from the water’s edge.
Let’s get into this week’s playlist with tenor saxophonist Eddie Harris’ Freedom Jazz Dance from The In Sound (Atlantic, 1966), featuring trumpeter Ray Codrington, pianist Cedar Walton, double bassist Ron Carter and drummer Billy Higgins. Miles Davis’ version from the following year’s Miles Smiles is terrific, but I have a particular fondness for Harris’ original, which has such an incredible groove and is deeply soulful, as is the whole album.
New releases this week, starting with the pianist, composer and arranger Billy Childs and Ask Me Now from Triumvirate (Mack Avenue, 24th April). It’s his first trio album for 25 years and features his touring rhythm section of double bassist Matt Penman and drummer Ari Hoenig. Childs’ last album, The Winds of Change, with Brian Blade, Ambrose Akinmusire and Scott Colley, was one of my favourite albums of 2023, and this already looks set to follow suit.
Whether it’s the sunshine, the surf or the sardines, the synth and keyboard guru Jason Miles is a man reborn since moving to Portugal a few years ago. He sent me an advance of his album 100 Miles for Miles Davis (Lightyear Records, 1st May), and as the man responsible for the programming and shaping of much of Miles’ sound from the groundbreaking Tutu onwards, who could be more fitting to contribute to this centenary year? I picked the track 100 Miles, featuring Jason’s keyboards with trumpeter Randy Brecker, tenor saxophonist Ada Rovatti, and his fellow Lisbon Electric 4Tet members bassist Yami Aloelela, guitarist Tiago Oliveira and drummer Vicky Marques. The artwork is by Jo Gelbard, Davis’ neighbour who became his painting collaborator and partner.
Londoners PYJAEN self-release C’est la Vie, the first single from their upcoming third album following a three year wait. It’s great fun too, with guest accordionist Anatole Muster joining saxophonist Ben Vize, trumpeter Dylan Jones, bassist Benjamin Crane, drummer Charlie Hutchinson and guitarist Tjoe Man Cheung.
Former Leeds College of Music alumni Nubiyan Twist feature pianist Patrice Rushen on the excellent Threads, from new album Chasing Shadows (Strut, 20th March). She joins leader and guitarist/bassist Tom Excell, trumpeter Jonathan Ensor, keyboard player Lewis Moody, bassist Luke Wynter and drummer Finn Booth with the horns of Denis Scully, Nick Richards and Hannah-Mae Birtwell.
Flea proves there’s more to life than playing bass in the Red Hot Chili Peppers by returning to his first instrument, the trumpet, for Honora (Nonesuch, 27th March), his debut solo album. There are guest vocalists including Thom Yorke and Nick Cave, but here’s the nimble instrumental Morning Cry with guitarist Jeff Parker, double bassist Anna Butterss and drummer Deantoni Parks. This is no vanity project, he’s serious about this, and it shows.
Pianist Merkolino Dimond’s Brujería (Vaya, 1971), is one of the best salsa albums I’ve heard, and it’s about to be reissued by Craft Recordings for Record Store Day on 18th April. Here’s Mi Irmita featuring one of Dimond’s typically dynamic piano solos, alongside bassist Andy Gonzalez, bongo player Louie Rivera, conguero Antonio Tapia, lead vocalist Angel Canales, trumpeter Danny Reyes and trombonists Richie Montanez and Fudgy Torres.
Another timely reissue is The Visitors’ spiritually soulful Motherland (Muse, 1975, Jazz Dispensary 29th May). Here’s Fables of Africa featuring brothers Carl and Earl Grubbs on alto and tenor saxophones, with pianist Joe Bonner, double bassist John Leen and drummer Victor Lewis. John Coltrane’s first wife Naima was the Grubbs’ cousin, and he became their inspiration, spending time with them when he returned to his house in Philadelphia.
There’s a second track from guitarist Martin Taylor’s recent solo project Standards Vol. 1 (P3 Music, January), with his fabulous version of Jerome Kern’s I’m Old Fashioned. Here’s a video from five years ago of Martin playing the song and talking a little about it.
And finally… two outstanding versions of film composer Bronisław Kaper’s composition Invitation, the theme of the 1962 film of the same name. The first is by guitarist Calvin Keys from An Evening With Calvin Keys (LifeforceJazz Records, 2003), recorded in 1994 at Maybeck Recital Hall, Berkeley, California for KJAZ radio, with double bassist Tim Hauf and drummer Gaylord Birch.
The second is by tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson and is the opening track on Tetragon (Milestone, 1968), featuring double bassist Ron Carter, pianist Don Friedman and drummer Jack DeJohnette. I originally planned to hold one of them back until next week, but why wait? I think they complement each other.
Bronisław Kaper may be better known in jazz circles for composing On Green Dolphin Street, but he’ll always be a hero to me for the classic Cosi-Cosa from The Marx Brothers’ A Night at The Opera.
As it’s my birthday on Monday, here’s Groucho and Margaret Dumont.
To listen to this week’s Jazz on the Beach, click below:
Or listen back on Mixcloud:
Jazz on the Beach #229 1st April 2026
Eddie Harris - Freedom Jazz Dance
Nubiyan Twist & Patrice Rushen - Threads
Michael Brecker - Midnight Voyage
Merkolino Dimond - Mi Irmita
Jason Miles - 100 Miles
PYJAEN feat. Anatole Muster - C’est la Vie
Calvin Keys - Invitation
Billy Childs - Ask Me Now
Flea - Morning Cry
Frank Wess, John Coltrane & Paul Quinichette - Wheelin’
The Visitors - Fables of Africa
Martin Taylor - I’m Old Fashioned
Gino Vannelli - Brother to Brother
Joe Henderson - Invitation
Duke Pearson - The Phantom
Blues Beach
It’s a San Francisco Special this week, featuring some of the blues artists who are associated with the Bay Area. I’ve kept the psychedelic ‘60s bands out for now, so no Quicksilver, Dead or Airplane, but Janis Joplin was the real thing. There’s Jesse Fuller’s San Francisco Bay Blues, Fillmore West stalwart Elvin Bishop’s Party Till the Cows Come Home released on Bill Graham’s Fillmore Records, early Bonnie Raitt, heavy Chicago expats Nick Gravenites, Michael Bloomfield, Steve Miller and Charlie Musselwhite, as well as lots more.
So ‘Look West, Golden Gate’, with an hour of great blues!
To listen to this week’s Blues Beach, click below:
Or listen back on Mixcloud:
Blues Beach #96 2nd April 2026
Roy Rogers - Black Cat Bone
Jesse Fuller - San Francisco Bay Blues
Steve Miller Band - Mercury Blues
Elvin Bishop Group - Party Till the Cows Come Home
Johnny Heartsman - Paint My Mailbox Blue
Taj Mahal - Leaving Trunk
Nick Gravenites and Michael Bloomfield - It Takes Time
Tommy Castro - Can’t Keep a Good Man Down
John Lee Hooker & Santana - The Healer
Bonnie Raitt - Walking Blues
Sonny Rhodes - Blues Is My Religion
Robert Cray - Hot
Janis Joplin - A Woman Left Lonely
Charlie Musselwhite - Crazy for My Baby
Boz Scaggs - Runnin’ Blue
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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).
Love Nubian Twist.