Jazz on the Beach 235: Trio Grande, Jimmy Smith, Fumika Asari, Horace Parlan, McCoy Tyner, Charles Chen, Rickie Lee Jones, Barney Kessel, Cosmos, Pharaoh Sanders
'They got a juke box that goes doit, doit...'
Welcome to the latest Jazz on the Beach. As I’ve mentioned a few times before, putting the playlist together every week is a voyage of discovery. I’m constantly hearing exciting new music, reacquainting myself with artists and repertoire from the past seven decades, and discovering those I missed the first time around.
Among this week’s new releases is the phenomenal Trio Grande performing Wayne Shorter’s Blues a la Carte from their new album What’s Left (La Reserve, 29th May). Guitarist Gilad Hekselman, saxophonist and keyboard player Will Vinson and drummer and bassist Nate Wood bring new meaning to multitasking, as this video shows.
Following their recent version of Miles Davis’ All Blues, here’s a second track from Nicholas Payton & Butcher Brown’s upcoming A Supreme Blue (Concord Jazz, 24th July), with John Coltrane’s Pursuance, featuring Payton on trumpet (and keys?) with tenor saxophonist Tennishu, guitarist Morgan Burrs, bassist Andrew Randazzo and drummer Corey Fonville. It takes guts to approach this repertoire and I’m looking forward to hearing it context with its fellow A Love Supreme elements Acknowledgement, Resolution and Psalm when the album is released.
Pianist, magician, and software engineer Charles Chen conjures up Oscar Pettiford’s elegant Laverne Walk from The Long Way Home (Cellar/La Reserve, 19th June). The lineup features guitarist Félix Lemerle, and the vastly experienced rhythm section of 98 year old double bassist Bill Crow and 91 year old drummer Steve Little, who both still play a weekly gig at Smalls in New York.
New to me is the 33 year old Japanese guitarist Fumika Asari who plays a fine straight ahead version of Chick Corea’s Chick’s Tune on her third album Enter a New Phase (Reborn Wood, 27th April), with Hammond organist Nobuyoshi Nagata and drummer Yusuke Yaginuma.
A major rediscovery is pianist McCoy Tyner’s Goin’ Home from Asante (Blue Note, 1974), recorded a few years earlier with alto saxophonist Andrew White, guitarist Ted Dunbar, double bassist Buster Williams, drummer Billy Hart and percussionist Mtume. I had a copy of the album and leant it to someone in the late ‘70s, but I can’t remember who. If it happened to be you, it’s never too late to give it back.
After playing flautist Roger Glenn’s Kick on the show last week, I went back to listen to his playing on trumpeter Donald Byrd’s Mizell Brothers-produced soul jazz classic Black Byrd (Blue Note, 1973). Here’s Flight Time, with Byrd and Glenn, guitarist Dean Parks, percussionist Bobbye Hall, pianist Joe Sample, keyboardist Freddie Perren, bassist Wilton Felder and drummer Harvey Mason.
We’re deep in Coolsville (not Scooby-Doo’s hometown) with Hammond maestro Jimmy Smith and Messy Bessie from Back at the Chicken Shack: The Incredible Jimmy Smith (Blue Note, 1963), featuring deeply soulful playing from tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, guitarist Kenny Burrell and drummer Donald Bailey.
That leads nicely on to the Duchess of Coolsville, Rickie Lee Jones, and Danny’s All-Star Joint from her debut Rickie Lee Jones (Warner Bros, 1979), featuring an appropriately all-star band of bassist Willie Weeks, drummer Steve Gadd, pianist Neil Larsen, guitarists Buzzy Feiten and Fred Tackett, percussionist Victor Feldman and the esteemed horn players Tom Scott, Chuck Findley and Ernie Watts.
Buzzy Feiten and Neil Larsen also feature with their own band Full Moon and Larsen’s tropical Malibu from Full Moon (Douglas, 1972), with Brother Gene Dinwiddie playing flute, bassist Freddie Beckmeier, drummer Phillip Wilson and guest trumpeter Randy Brecker and percussionist Airto Moreira. This album has been one of my desert island discs for over 50 years, along with Miles’ A Tribute to Jack Johnson, The Allman Brothers’ Live at the Fillmore East and Junior Wells’ Hoodoo Man Blues. The other 6 slots are constantly changing.
There’s more hard boppin’ than usual this week, with the Miles Davis Quintet’s Four from Workin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet (Prestige, 1960), recorded in 1956 with tenor saxophonist John Coltrane, pianist Red Garland, double bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones.
One of the greatest hard bop albums is surely tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley’s Soul Station (Blue Note, 1960). Here’s the title track recorded with pianist Wynton Kelly, double bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Art Blakey.
And there’s pianist Horace Parlan with Monday Morning Blues from the excellent Glad I Found You (Steeplechase, 1984), recorded in Denmark with his fellow expat Thad Jones on flugelhorn, tenor saxophonist Eddie Harris, double bassist Jesper Lundgaard and drummer Aage Tanggaard. It’s being reissued on vinyl by Steeplechase in June.
If you only know Barney Kessel as a member of the Wrecking Crew or from Julie London’s Cry Me a River, here’s the title track from Let’s Cook! (Contemporary, 1962), where he stretches out and swings deeply with consummate tone alongside vibraphonist Victor Feldman, pianist Hampton Hawes, double bassist Leroy Vinnegar and drummer Shelly Manne.
I loved Cozmos’ inspired Afro-Cuban version of Sun Ra’s Watusa (Jazzroom, 2025), with drummer Kiko Cornejo, percussionist Steve Haney, double bassist Mark Vanderpoel, tenor saxophonist Travis Klein and alto saxophonist Sam Robles. I’d like to think Sun Ra would have loved it too. And there’s tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders’ sensational You’ve Got to Have Freedom from Journey to the One (Theresa, 1980), with Eddie Henderson playing flugelhorn, pianist John Hicks, double bassist Ray Drummond, drummer Idris Muhammad, and vocal assistance from Dee Dee Dickerson, Bobby McFerrin, Vicki Randle, Ngoh Spencer. I really enjoyed Sanders’ work on the Theresa label, especially A Prayer Before Dawn from 1987. If only Mosaic’s box set was on vinyl!
And finally… there’s the sensational Vanisha Gould with Don’t Worry Bout Me from her J.O.T.B. Album of the Year She’s Not Shiny, She’s Not Smooth (Cellar/La Reserve, 2024), with pianist Chris McCarthy, double bassist John Sims and drummer Jongkuk Kim.
I took the train up to Ronnie Scott’s to see Vanisha perform the final show of a short European tour with drummer Chris Andersen’s Quartet, featuring tenor saxophonist Andreas Toftemark, pianist Tuomo Uusitalo and double bassist Lasse Mørck. Needless to say she was incredible and the sold out house absolutely loved her wonderful voice and larger than life personality. I only wish she’d sung more of her own repertoire as she’s such a talented songwriter.
To listen to this week’s Jazz on the Beach, click below:
Or listen back on Mixcloud:
Jazz on the Beach #235 20th May 2026
Horace Parlan - Monday Morning Blues
Nicholas Payton & Butcher Brown - Pursuance
Fumika Asari - Chick’s Tune
Cozmos - Watusa
Vanisha Gould - Don’t Worry Bout Me
Charles Chen - Laverne Walk
McCoy Tyner - Goin’ Home
Gábor Szabó - The Beat Goes On
Miles Davis Quintet - Four
Trio Grande - Blues a la Carte
Pharoah Sanders - You’ve Got to Have Freedom
Jimmy Smith - Messy Bessie
Full Moon - Malibu
Rickie Lee Jones - Danny’s All-Star Joint
Barney Kessel - Let’s Cook!
Donald Byrd - Flight Time
Hank Mobley - Soul Station
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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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