Jazz on the Beach 230: Bobby Broom, Emmet Cohen, Lonnie Liston Smith, Paul Desmond, Avishai Cohen, Blicher Hemmer Gadd, Buster Williams, Chris Potter
Weekly jazz radio from the south east Kent coast
On this week’s playlist there are two exceptional tracks from producer Creed Taylor’s CTI label, starting with former Dave Brubeck Quartet alto saxophonist Paul Desmond‘s exquisite version of Django Reinhardt’s Nuages from Pure Desmond (CTI, 1975), with guitarist Ed Bickert, double bassist Ron Carter and drummer Connie Kay.
The second is from guitarist George Benson with Miles Davis’ So What from Beyond the Blue Horizon (CTI, 1971), with Hammond organist Clarence Palmer, double bassist Ron Carter, drummer Jack DeJohnette and percussionists Michael Cameron and Albert Nicholson. Like the majority of CTI sessions, both were engineered by Rudy Van Gelder at his Englewood Cliffs studio and sound phenomenal.
Among the new releases is pianist Emmet Cohen’s deeply swinging version of Thelonious Monk’s Well You Needn’t, the first single from his upcoming album Universal Truth (Mack Ave, 29th May), with drummer Joe Farnsworth, double bassist Ron Carter and trumpeter Jeremy Pelt. If you’re keeping score, that’s three out of three for Ron Carter so far.
Here’s the video.
The guitarist and Chicago resident Bobby Broom releases Notes of Thanks (Steele Records, 1st May), a tribute to mentor and former employer Sonny Rollins. Here’s the opening track Alfie’s Theme, which like the rest of the album is recorded with Rollins’ rhythm section of double bassist Dennis Carrol and drummer Kobie Watkins. And a reminder that Broom’s 2001 album Stand! gets a 25th anniversary vinyl release of just 200 copies, order here.
Also this week, tenor saxophonist Chris Potter’s Sister Annie from Alive With Ghosts Today (Edition, 8th May), his suite inspired by the story of abolitionist John Brown. The lineup features guitarist Bill Frisell, bassist Burniss Travis, drummer Nate Smith, clarinettist Rane Moore, trombonist Zekkereya El-magharbel and violinist Sara Caswell.
While from double bassist Avishai Cohen comes the exuberant Lookie from Eternal Child (Naïve, 29th May), featuring 22 year old pianist Itay Simhovich and 30 year old drummer Eviatar Slivnik. Cohen is only 55, but sounds rejuvenated with these extraordinary young players.
FYBSPG is a track from Tomorrow’s Warriors alumni pianist Alex Ho and alto saxophonist Donovan Haffner’s Serendipity (self released 27th March). It apparently stands for Fending Your Buoyancy in a Swell of Pure Garbage. I’m sure we’ve all been there. I’m looking forward to seeing Donovan performing in Deal during the Music and Arts Festival this July.
Back to the ‘70s for pianist Lonnie Liston Smith and the Cosmic Echoes’ Desert Nights from his jazz funk classic Expansions (Flying Dutchman, 1975), with flautist Donald Smith, soprano saxophonist Dave Hubbard, bassist Cecil McBee, drummer Art Gore, percussionist Michael Carvin, bongosero Leopoldo Fleming and conguero Lawrence Killian.
Saxophonist, flautist and original Headhunter Bennie Maupin revisits his composition Water Torture on Slow Traffic to the Right (Mercury, 1977), previously recorded on Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi band’s Crossings (Warner Bros, 1972). He’s playing tenor saxophone, saxello and synths with pianist Patrice Rushen, bassist Ralph Armstrong, drummer James Levi, guitarist Blackbird McNight, trumpeter Eddie Henderson and trombonist Craig Kilby.
Bassist Buster Williams was Bennie Maupin’s Mwandishi bandmate, and his album Pinnacle (Muse, 1975), is being reissued for Record Store Day on 18th April as part of Time Traveler’s Muse Master Edition Series. Here’s Tayamisha which was named for his daughter, with soprano saxophonist Earl Turbinton, Sonny Fortune playing flute, pianist Onaje Allan Gumbs, drummer Billy Hart and percussionist Guilherme Franco.
Bra Hugh Masekela plays some astonishing flugelhorn on the magnificent Part of a Whole from the album Home is Where the Music Is (Chisa/Blue Thumb, 1972), recorded at Island Records’ Basing Street Studios in London with pianist Larry Willis, alto saxophonist Dudu Pukwana, bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Makhaya Ntshoko.
We’re hard boppin’ with guitarist Kenny Burrell’s All Night Long from A Night at the Vanguard (Argo, 1959), with double bassist Richard Davis and drummer Roy Haynes. And to pianist Sonny Clark’s title track from Dial ‘S’ for Sonny (Blue Note, 1957), with trumpeter Art Farmer, trombonist Curtis Fuller, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, double bassist Wilbur Ware and drummer Louis Hayes.
The trio of saxophonist Michael Blicher, Hammond organist Dan Hemmer and drummer Steve Gadd have been playing together for 12 years, but never sounded slinkier than on Treme from Blicher Hammer Gadd (C-Nut Records, 2014), remastered in 2023 for vinyl and Hi-res MQA download.
Here’s Treme live from the Denmark Music Awards 2019.
Another chance to play the mighty tenor saxophonist Ricky Ford’s Ricky’s Bossa from The Wailing Sounds of Ricky Ford - Paul’s Scene (Presto Music, 2022), with pianist Mark Soskin, Jerome Harris on acoustic bass guitar and drummer Barry Altschul.
There's saxophonist and flautist Yusef Lateef’s Twelve Tone Blues from Live at Pep’s (Impulse! 1965), with Lateef playing tenor saxophone alongside trumpeter Richard Williams, pianist Mike Nock, double bassist Ernie Farrow and drummer James N. Black. Pep’s, along with The Showboat, were the leading jazz venues in Philadelphia, and on a long list of venues I would have loved to have visited in their prime.
And finally… to celebrate this year’s International Jazz Day, Middle Street Coffee and Jazz on the Beach are hosting a Jazz Kissa on 30th April from 6pm onwards. If you’re anywhere near Deal it would be great to see you.
To listen to this week’s Jazz on the Beach, click below:
Or listen back on Mixcloud:
Jazz on the Beach #230 8th April 2026
Kenny Burrell - All Night Long
Emmet Cohen - Well You Needn’t
Chris Potter - Sister Annie
Dave Holland, Norma Winstone, London Vocal Project - Fuite D’Enfance
Bobby Broom - Alfie’s Theme
Lonnie Liston Smith & the Cosmic Echoes - Desert Nights
Hugh Masekela - Part of a Whole
Avishai Cohen - Lookie
Yusef Lateef - Twelve Tone Blues
Buster Williams - Tayamisha
Blicher Hemmer Gadd - Treme
Joe Lovano - Fanfare for Unity
Bennie Maupin - Water Torture
Ricky Ford - Ricky’s Bossa
Paul Desmond - Nuages
George Benson - So What
Alex Ho & Donovan Haffner - FYBSPG
Sonny Clark - Dial ‘S’ for Sonny
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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).
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