Jazz on the Beach 246 & Blues Beach 103: Thelonious Monk, Zaccai Curtis, Chico Hamilton, Juju, Dida Pelled, Kenny Burrell, John Donaldson, Eddie Gayle, Tyreek McDole

Soundtracks were a big feature of last week’s playlist, and following on from Miles Davis’ Florence sur les Champs-Élysées from Ascenseur pour l’échafaud comes Thelonious Monk’s Ba-Lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are, originally recorded for Roger Vadim’s Les Liaisons Dangereuses 1960 but not used. The tape from that single day’s recording session at Nola Penthouse Sound Studios on 27th July 1959 was sent to Paris, where it was hiding in plain sight, before finally being rediscovered decades later. It was eventually released as Les Liaisons Dangereuses 1960 Unreleased OST (Sam Records, 2017), featuring the terrific lineup of tenor saxophonists Charlie Rouse and Barney Willen (who also appeared on the aforementioned Miles track), double bassist Sam Jones and drummer Art Taylor.

The soundtrack eventually used in the film was composed by Duke Jordan and performed by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers with, yet again, Barney Wilen!

I really enjoyed singer Tyreek McDole’s debut Open Up Your Senses last year, and out of the blue comes a new single Think of You (Artwork Records, 29th July). It was produced by trumpeter Theo Croker, with musicians including pianist Michael King, guitarist Emmanuel Michael (what a great solo), double bassist Brandon Rose and drummer Joe Dyson. A change of style perhaps, but with a voice like that McDole can sing anything he wants.

There’s the British pianist and composer John Donaldson with the deeply touching They Danced from his album We Were Together, I Forget The Rest (Hexagonal Records, 28th August), dedicated to his late wife Agatha Coffey. It features some of the UK’s finest, including guitarist Rob Luft and saxophonist Ian Ballamy, as well as the voices of Norma Winstone and Rebecka Edlund.

You never quite know what guitarist, singer and podcaster Dida Pelled will do next. After the sultry blues of I Wish You Would she’s going all Americana (whatever that means) with her next album due in October, and has just covered the traditional folk song I Wish I Was A Single Girl Again (La Reserve, 31st July), with organist Sullivan Fortner, bassist Tony Scherr and drummer Kenny Wollesen. Just wait for her guitar solo.

And while we’re talking vocalists, there’s Mose Allison’s Your Molecular Structure from I’ve Been Doin’ Some Thinkin’ (Atlantic, 1968). His annual trio residencies at PizzaExpress Jazz Club in Soho were always memorable, especially the night a hot pepper got stuck in the back of my throat and I had to rush outside coughing.

Which is as good an intro as any to pianist Duke Pearson’s Chili Peppers from The Right Touch (Blue Note, 1968), with some spicy soloing from tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard.

We’re hard boppin’ with pianist Sonny Clark’s Minor Meeting from My Conception (Blue Note Japan, 1979), recorded in 1959 with trumpeter Donald Byrd, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, guitarist Kenny Burrell, double bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Art Blakey.

It happened to be Kenny Burrell’s 95th birthday on 31st July, so here’s some of his finest post Blue Note playing on the title track of God Bless The Child (CTI, 1971). Happy birthday, Mr Burrell.

From one master guitarist to another… Martin Taylor’s perfectly chilled TV theme Five-O from Kiss and Tell (Sony Jazz/Columbia, 2000), the first and probably the best of the two albums we made during my time at Sony Jazz.

Over the weekend I rediscovered the Chico Hamilton Quintet’s wonderful Passin’ Thru (Impulse!, 1963), and added the title track to the show. It drew one of the most positive reactions of the evening. The lineup features Hamilton on drums, tenor saxophonist and the song’s composer Charles Lloyd, trombonist George Bohanon, JOTB favourite guitarist Gábor Szabó and double bassist Albert Stinson.

We’re getting out there with trumpeter Eddie Gale following in Sun Ra’s footsteps on Look At Teyonda from Black Rhythm Happening (Blue Note, 1969), leading a nine piece band with drummer Elvin Jones and soprano saxophonist Jimmy Lyons, an eleven piece vocal group and there’s even an astrologer.

Look at Teyonda sits happily on the playlist with bandleader Plunky Nkabinde’s Juju and Nia (Poem: Complete the Circle) from the album Chapter Two: Nia (Strata East, 1974), featuring Nkabinde on flute and soprano saxophone, pianist Al-Hammel Rasul, bassist Phil Branch, drummer Babatunde, percussionist Lon Moshe and Ngoma Ya Uhuru playing bells and reciting the poem.

I briefly met Stan Getz in 1970, which was admittedly a slightly scary experience for a 16 year old. But I always loved his playing, especially his Captain Marvel album (Columbia, 1975), recorded three years earlier with the phenomenal lineup of electric pianist Chick Corea, double bassist Stanley Clarke, drummer Tony Williams and percussionist Airto Moreira. Here’s Captain Marvel live at Montreux.

And finally… there are few sounds as beautiful as John Coltrane’s Say It (Over and Over Again) from Ballads (Impulse!, 1963) with pianist McCoy Tyner, double bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Elvin Jones. Meanwhile the great Coleman Hawkins adds a seductive calypso beat to Speak Low from The Hawk Relaxes (Moodsville, 1961), with pianist Ronnell Bright, guitarist Kenny Burrell, double bassist Ron Carter and drummer Andrew Cyrille. The album is being reissued in Craft’s Moodsville Acoustic Sounds Series on 18th September, which is just as well, as an original mono vinyl copy does not come cheap, even if you can find one.

• Sonny Clark - Minor Meeting

• Chico Hamilton Quintet - Passin’ Thru

• Thelonious Monk - Ba-Lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are

• Zaccai Curtis - Last Call

• John Donaldson - They Danced

• Dida Pelled - I Wish I Was A Single Girl Again

• Juju - Nia (Poem: Complete the Circle)

• Mose Allison - Your Molecular Structure

• Duke Pearson - Chili Peppers

• John Coltrane Quartet - Say It (Over and Over Again)

• Stan Getz - Captain Marvel

• Martin Taylor - Five-O

• Tyreek McDole - Think of You

• Coleman Hawkins - Speak Low

• Kenny Burrell - God Bless the Child

• Eddie Gale - Look At Teyonda

• Gene Ammons - Jungle Strut

  Blues Beach

If you missed Thursday’s Blues Beach, here’s another chance to listen. The playlist features Albert Collins, Hop Wilson, Ronnie Earl, Freddie King, Cream, Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan, Little Charlie & the Nightcats, Johnny Shines, Buddy Guy, Robert Johnson and Paul Butterfield. Play it on the beach, aboard your yacht (if applicable) or just around the house for a mellow good time!

• Albert Collins - Frosty

• Freddie King - Hide Away

• Hop Wilson & His Buddies - Chicken Stuff

• Paul Butterfield’s Better Days - New Walkin’ Blues

• Canned Heat - Sugar Bee

• Cream - I’m So Glad

• The Vaughan Brothers - Hard to Be

• Little Charlie & the Nightcats - Run Me Down

• King Curtis - Soul Twist

• Buddy Guy - My Time After Awhile

• Guitar Junior - Goin’ Crazy Baby

• Ted Taylor - (Love Is Like A) Ramblin’ Rose

• Robert Johnson - Me and the Devil Blues

• Johnny Shines - Dynaflow Blues

• Arthur ‘Big Boy’ Crudup - My Baby Left Me

• Johnnie Johnson Band - Real Good Woman

• Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters - Backstroke

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).