Jazz on the Beach 239: Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Freddie Hubbard, Tyshawn Sorey, John Handy
Five extended jazz masterpieces
With the World Cup now well underway and England kicking off their opening group game against Croatia on Wednesday evening, I took the opportunity to try something I’ve been meaning to do for a while, and build a show around a handful of longer tracks. It meant I could broadcast Jazz on the Beach live while still keeping an eye on the match, which turned out rather well as England won 4-2. It worked for me too, watching the game with the TV sound off and the music playing through headphones.
What better opener than Miles Davis’ Right Off that took up side one of A Tribute to Jack Johnson (Columbia, 1971), the record that converted a young rock fan to the wonders of jazz the year after seeing Miles perform at the Isle of Wight festival. The musicians are guitarist John McLaughlin channelling Pete Townshend and Freddie Stone, soprano saxophonist Steve Grossman, Herbie Hancock with an impromptu Farfisa organ part, electric bassist Michael Henderson and drummer Billy Cobham, with producer Teo Macero mixing and editing the tapes to assemble the 27 minute final performance.
Next there’s Chick Corea (who I also saw with Miles at the I.O.W.) with the magical Latin fusion of Sometime Ago - La Fiesta, covering side two of Return to Forever (ECM, 1972), with Corea playing Fender Rhodes, Joe Farrell on flute and soprano saxophone, double bassist Stanley Clarke, drummer and percussionist Airto Moreira and his wife, vocalist and percussionist Flora Purim.
Following that comes trumpeter Freddie Hubbard’s deeply funky Mr Clean from Straight Life (CTI, 1971), with an all star lineup of tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, electric pianist Herbie Hancock, guitarist George Benson, double bassist Ron Carter, drummer Jack DeJohnette, percussionist Richard ‘Pablo’ Landrum and the song’s writer, Weldon Irvine, playing tambourine.
The one contemporary track on the playlist comes from drummer Tyshawn Sorey with the Charles Mingus composition A Chair in the Sky from The Susceptible Now (Pi Recordings, 2024), performed with great delicacy and feeling by Sorey, pianist Aaron Diehl and double bassist Harish Raghavan. Mingus never recorded the composition himself, but Joni Mitchell added lyrics and recorded it on Mingus (Asylum, 1979), while Mingus Dynasty released it on Chair in the Sky (Elektra, 1980).
And finally, The New John Handy Quintet with Tears of Ole Miss (Anatomy of a Riot) from New View! (Columbia, 1967), recorded live at the Village Gate that year by alto saxophonist Handy with vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, guitarist Pat Martino, double bassist Albert Stinson and our good friend Doug Sides on drums. This is the 1995 reissue which runs for just over seven minutes longer than the original version, which had been edited to fit one side of an LP.
To listen to this week’s Jazz on the Beach, click below:
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Jazz on the Beach #239 17th June 2026
Miles Davis - Right Off
Chick Corea - Sometime Ago - La Fiesta
Freddie Hubbard - Mr Clean
Tyshawn Sorey - A Chair in the Sky
The New John Handy Quintet - Tears of Ole Miss (Anatomy of a Riot)
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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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