Dunnin by Heavy Lifting.

[Serial_Apologist]

Sat 30 Apr
5pm - J to Z
Kevin LeGendre with new and classic jazz. Plus guests, today with UK saxophonist Trish Clowes playing music from her latest album A View with a Room.

Looks as if Trish has been casing us for ideas for punning titles!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0016rfg

10pm - New Music Show

Starts off with The Moon Has Become Unnamed, performed by jazz ensemble? Or maybe the Unnamed Jazz Ensemble? Either consult the french frank pedantics guide for recommendations on comma placements - or, check the programme website below . BTW the other interesting-looking works include one by Toby Young - surely not the right-wing sh... sorry, "political commentator"?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0016rfl

12midnight - Freeness
South African drummer, activist and cultural worker Asher Gamedze talks about his latest release, and Heavy Lifting and Graham Dunnin present an improvised collaboration of free electronic hedonism, layering fractals of textured sound and melodies. Plus, a re-release of adventurous 1970s era recordings from Japanese guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi. Presented by Corey Mwamba.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0016rfn

Sun 1 May
4pm - Jazz Record Requests

http://www.alynshipton.co.uk/blog

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0016rgt

This looks possibly to be of interest:

Mayday Bank Holiday
10.45pm - The Essay: New Generation Thinkers 2021
A Brazilian Soprano in Jazz-Age Paris
Adjoa Osei traces Brazilian singer Elsie Houston's (1902-43) connections with surrealist artists and writers, and looks at how she used her mixed heritage to navigate her way through society and speak out for African-inspired arts.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0016rjv

Meanwhile, on the Box:

Sat 30 Apr - BBC2
10pm - Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
The work of jazz pioneer Miles Davis continues to have huge influence today. The restless determination to break boundaries and live life on his own terms made him a star, but it also created a person who was notoriously difficult to live with. In music and in life, Davis broke with tradition - and when he thought his work had come to represent a new convention, he changed again. It was this constant thirst for new experiences that made him such an inspiring collaborator. Archive footage and studio out-takes help illustrate the life of a singular talent.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000ggdf

And two repeats:

Fri 6 May - BBC4
9pm - Nina Simone and Me with Laura Mvula

9.30pm - Billie: in Search of Billie Holiday.

As they say in Yorkshire: that'll do.

[Joseph K]

Not sure I've ever seen the Birth of the Cool documentary. I'll have to record it.

[Serial_Apologist]

Not sure I've ever seen the Birth of the Cool documentary. I'll have to record it.

I was expecting a flood of postings on this, I thought, superb documentary. There will be those who say too much was conceded by way of explaining away Miles's bad side, but there was a lot of contextualising that made what sense there was to be made of it. Was that Mile's actual voice talking about his strengths and weaknesses or a posthumous voiceover/episodes from his autobiography (which I have not read)/ someone else's constructions? I missed the beginning credits. The women in Miles's life once again came across amazingly strongly, as was the case in the Mike Dibb/Ian Carr documentary.

[Joseph K]

Stupidly, I forgot to record it.

It is possible that I've seen it, a long time ago perhaps.

P.S His autobiography is great.

[Serial_Apologist]

Stupidly, I forgot to record it.

It is possible that I've seen it, a long time ago perhaps.

P.S His autobiography is great.

I've provided the official link to it above, and it'll be available for a few weeks.

[Jazzrook]

Stupidly, I forgot to record it.

It is possible that I've seen it, a long time ago perhaps.

P.S His autobiography is great.

The Miles Davis 'Birth of the Cool' documentary was first broadcast on BBC2 on 14/3/2020.
Luckily, I did remember to record it then.

JR

[Joseph K]

The Miles Davis 'Birth of the Cool' documentary was first broadcast on BBC2 on 14/3/2020.
Luckily, I did remember to record it then.

JR

Ah ok. I've most likely seen it, then.

[Serial_Apologist]

Ah ok. I've most likely seen it, then.

I must have been "otherwise engaged"!

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

I was expecting a flood of postings on this, I thought, superb documentary. There will be those who say too much was conceded by way of explaining away Miles's bad side, but there was a lot of contextualising that made what sense there was to be made of it. Was that Mile's actual voice talking about his strengths and weaknesses or a posthumous voiceover/episodes from his autobiography (which I have not read)/ someone else's constructions? I missed the beginning credits. The women in Miles's life once again came across amazingly strongly, as was the case in the Mike Dibb/Ian Carr documentary.

" An opening title card states that the music heard is Davis’s, except where noted, and that the text of the voice-over narration (performed by Carl Lumbly) is entirely by Davis "

[Serial_Apologist]

" An opening title card states that the music heard is Davis’s, except where noted, and that the text of the voice-over narration (performed by Carl Lumbly) is entirely by Davis "

Ok Thanks, Bluesie!

[Serial_Apologist]

Interesting, that comment by Jessica Williams to Alyn regarding British audience responses to her, based on the gentleman of sceptical demeanour with arms folded waiting for something spectacular to be delivered - not really part of her "bag", and a difference of expectation from what she was used to back home. It tends to back up my memories of audiences who had paid a bit more for the visitor at Ronnie's. I can remember occasions when Ronnie's band would open before backing the guest, and Ronnie and Tubby would play their a*ses off for an hour to indifferent applause, and then the visitor would be cheered and clapped to the rafters for delivering at way below their best. I can also remember occasions when everything would be held back until the last number of the night: one in particular being David Murray's appearance at a Bristol pub which had been hyped as extra special for weeks preceding. The usual entry charge of £6, upped to £20, would have raised expectations unduly for what turned out a very middling performance... until the end of the evening, when whistles and the expected cries for "more" were greeted by Andy Sheppard joining Murray and the resident band for a couple of standards, Andy really upping the ante and forcing Murray to come up to the mark.

Addendum
Can't find Jack Gold's Living Jazz in its entirety anywhere, following Alyn's closing suggestion today, but here's a terrible quality clip from it showing Bruce Turner's Jump Band in 1961. Note the jiving couple in the foreground - this was a year before the Twist was introduced: flailing skirts had gone out of fashion by that point. The trombonist John Mumford was argiably the best on the British scene at that time - a modernist who would join pianist John Burch's Octet alongside Dick Heckstall-Smith a year on, with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zN0Mi64szE

Interesting comments below from 11-13 years ago - one wonders how many of those reminiscing are still going...

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Jessica Williams track was great. And for me the John Lewis/Bill Perkins which I never get tired off. And the Joe Wilder, one of a range of trumpet players in that "idiom" who rarely get a look in.
Another enjoyable program.

[Serial_Apologist]

Jessica Williams track was great. And for me the John Lewis/Bill Perkins which I never get tired off. And the Joe Wilder, one of a range of trumpet players in that "idiom" who rarely get a look in.
Another enjoyable program.

Bill Perkins is one of the few true post-Lester tenorists of the next generation and as such, I guess, tends to have been marginalised in favour of Getz who seemed to tower over the rest, including Zoot Sims; another was Paul Quinichette, who I only know through my EP of Sarah Vaughan's famous 1953 "September Song"/"Lullaby of Birdland".

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Paul was very good, a shame he got the Vice President tag. Heresy, I think his playing was often a hell of lot better than Lester in the 50s. He also made a Prestige album with Coltrane in the 50s ('57?) where he really holds his own, very different style obviously, but no slouch.

There were quite a few "West Coast" tenors who get overlooked, Bill Perkins, Bill Holman, Bob Cooper, etc, all of whom evolved away from the Lester source.

[Ian Thumwood]

I saw Jessica Williams in the unlikely setting of The Maltings in Farnham. I am not sure this venue puts on jazz any more but in the early 1990s they had a run of really interesting gigs. I was pretty under-whelmed by her at the time but I think I would be more impressed these days. She was getting a lot of critical attention as the time and I wish I had been more attentive to her work. The celebrated British jazz critic Max Jones as at the same gig and was enthusiastic about her playing and I overheard him make a comment about her being "the best pianist in jazz."

I think it is interesting to look back to the 1990s and before piano trios came in to vogue. At that time, I was more interested in players like Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, John Taylor and Paul Bley. The likes of Jessica Williams seemed more traditional to my ears. It was an ok gig but am not sure a large concert hall is really the best venue for solo piano. I also saw George Russell, Martin Taylor, Colin Towns and Wayne Horvitz at this venue. I suppose it is about 40 miles from me and on a good road. Farnham Maltings is easier for me to get to than somewhere like Poole which involved a journey across the Forest on A27 which is never a great experience last thing at night. The jazz at The Anvil in Basingstoke also seemed to have dried up pre-pandemic but there are no gigs listed on their website. You can forget about jazz in Winchester albeit I am hoping the jazz festival might get resurrected.

The website for Vienne is extremelt disappointing and I am probably not going to bother this year as i am sweating on getting a ticket for the World Cup Finals in Qatar. Given that I am investigating going on an ecotourism trip to Philippines next year, I will probably give 2023 miss too. I have not been to listen to any jazz for the best part of 2 1/2years and would rather spend my leisure time either following the football or the cricket these days.