Jazz Corner - Jazz Samples In 90s Hip Hop

This side by side jazz / hip hop mix was the result of an afternoon spent on the excellent whosampled.com website, looking up favourite artists. My main concern was the quality and variety of the jazz on show here, although I think the hip hop list has turned out pretty well too (I'm certainly no expert). If the sample used by the hip hop producers isn't immediately obvious, I've provided timings at the end of the notes on each track.

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1. John Coltrane - Acknowledgement (Coltrane) (from the album 'A Love Supreme') - Coltrane (ts); McCoy Tyner (p); Jimmy Garrison (b); Elvin Jones (d). Impulse!. 12/64.

A Love Supreme was the first Coltrane album I heard. In playing the record to death, I sometimes used to listen to each musician in turn. Elvin Jones' contribution fascinated me, perhaps because it took me so far from the classical music I knew and loved (there's a trick you can try here - turn your stereo balance all the way to the right to focus on the drums, and move Coltrane into the background). It seems a shame Da Nuthouse replaced Jones with a slap-in-the-face snare, although it might have proved tricky to rap over that subtle polyrhythmic wizardry.

1. Da Nuthouse - A Love Supream (Da Nuthouse / Jahee / DJ Active) Fondle 'Em. 98.

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2. McCoy Tyner - Impressions (Coltrane) (from the album 'Trident') - Tyner (p); Ron Carter (b); Elvin Jones (d). Original Jazz Classics. 2/75.

Two former Coltrane sidemen revisiting a piece they must have played hundreds of times before. Coltrane's own versions tended to be more epic than this concise account - try this favourite recording from the 1963 Newport Festival. The Newport record has a very different feel from the classic quartet albums, thanks to the lighter, springier touch of Roy Haynes, sitting in for Elvin Jones. (The sample is a clever grab of a short phrase from Ron Carter's bass solo (3'03"). If you've heard the Black Sheep song, it leaps out).

2. Black Sheep - The Choice Is Yours (revisited) (McLean / Titus) (from the album 'A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing') Mercury. 91.

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3. Eric Dolphy & Booker Little - Mrs. Parker of K.C. (Bird's Mother) (Byard) (from the album 'Far Cry') - Dolphy (bclt); Little (t); Jaki Byard (p); Ron Carter (b); Roy Haynes (d). Original Jazz Classics. 12/60.

A fruity, knotty tribute to Charlie Parker's Mum. Jaki Byard: 'The song came out of my meeting her once. She's a very pleasant woman, and I began to think about how differently Bird turned out from the way she must have expected and hoped for when he was a boy.' Out To Lunch is the best-known Eric Dolphy album, thanks in part to that famous Reid Miles cover, familiar from the walls of bars and record shops that wouldn't dream of putting it on. I probably play Far Cry more often, largely because I'm a huge fan of Booker Little. Little plays a great solo here: beautifully put-together and (seemingly) effortlessly technically immaculate. Dolphy's solo still provokes and surprises, 45 years on. (The sample is another smart borrowing from a Ron Carter solo - bowed this time - 6'12").

3. Del The Funky Homosapien - Catch A Bad One (Del The Funky Homosapien / Casual) (from the album 'No Need For Alarm') Elektra. 94.

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4. Charles Mingus - Fables Of Faubus (Mingus) (from the album 'Mingus Ah Um') - Mingus (b); Willie Dennis, Jimmy Knepper (tbn); John Handy (as); Booker Ervin, Shafi Hadi (ts); Pepper Adams (bs); Horace Parlan (p); Dannie Richmond (d). Columbia. 5/59.

A portrait of the racist former governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, who did his very best to prevent the desegregation of schools in Little Rock, Arkansas, defying a federal court order (more here). In 1960, Mingus recorded another version, Original Faubus Fables, which has sung and spoken lyrics. According to the liner notes for this Candid release, Columbia wouldn't let Mingus record the words.

4. T-Love - What's My Name? (T-Love / This Kid Named Miles) (from the EP 'Return Of The B-Girl) Pickininny Records. 98.

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5. Clifford Brown - Yesterdays (Kern) (from the album 'Clifford Brown With Strings') - Brown (t); Richie Powell (p); Barry Galbraith (g); George Morrow (b); Max Roach (d); strings. Verve. 1/55.

I'm not a massive fan of Neal Hefti's soupy string arrangements on this record, but I'll listen to Clifford Brown play anything. A friend once gave me a minidisc of Brown practising, and even that is pretty compelling. For more of Clifford Brown in ballad mode, try the marvellous record with Sarah Vaughan), set down a few months before With Strings.

5. KRS-One - MCs Act Like They Don't Know (KRS-One / DJ Premier) (from the album 'KRS-One') Jive. 95.

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6. Ornette Coleman - Lonely Woman (Coleman) (from the album 'The Shape Of Jazz To Come') - Coleman (as); Don Cherry (pkt-t); Charlie Haden (b); Billy Higgins (d). Atlantic. 10/59.

Coleman's name still strikes fear into the hearts of some, although The Shape Of Jazz To Come is nowhere near as forbidding as they might suspect. Of course, it's the idea of 'free jazz' that puts people off, but, at this stage (1959!), the freer elements are housed within a sequence of often lyrical compositions, and the solos are concise and beautifully constructed. (This is one of the best bits of hip hop sampling I've heard. Combined with a more hip hop friendly beat, taken from Rusty Bryant's Fire Eater - 8'21", Haden and Higgins play their part in a great rolling groove).

6. Aceyalone - Human Language (Aceyalone / Mumbles) (from the album 'A Book Of Human Language') Project Blowed Records. 98.

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7. Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Stretching (Williams) (from the album 'Reflections In Blue') - Blakey (d); Valerie Ponomarev (t); Bobby Watson (as); David Schnitter (ts); James Williams (p); Dennis Irwin (b). Timeless. 12/78.

Art Blakey's distinguished jazz finishing school ran from the mid 50s until the late 80s - the list of alumni is pretty staggering. The Jazz Messengers stuck to a tried and tested musical formula, offering hot, hot solos driven by Blakey's volcanic drumming. This later effort maybe lacks some of the energy of the great 50s/60s Messengers records; even Blakey himself is relatively restrained, while the slick recorded drum sound doesn't really suit. Still, every Jazz Messengers record is worth hearing. I particularly enjoyed altoist Bobby Watson, who, like so many other Messengers, went on to make his own fine records (here's the opening track from his 1990 album Post-Motown Bop).

7. De La Soul - Oodles Of Os (Prince Paul / De La Soul) (from the album 'De La Soul Is Dead') Tommy Boy. 91.

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8. Miles Davis - Miles Runs The Voodoo Down (Davis) (from the album 'Bitches Brew') - Davis (t); Wayne Shorter (ss); Bennie Maupin (bclt); Chick Corea, Larry Young (el p); John McLaughlin (g); Harvey Brooks, Dave Holland (b); Charles Alias, Jack DeJohnette, Lenny White (d); Jim Riley (perc). Columbia. 8/69.

In 1969, Miles Davis took a large band into the studio, and recorded hours of improvised music. Davis and producer Teo Macero then assembled Bitches Brew by cutting and splicing until they had what they needed. The final product still fills two CDs, though you can now buy a four CD set containing much of the music that was discarded. For me, Voodoo is one of the more successful tracks - a classic slow funk groove, that was bound to be plundered by hip hop producers at some point. If you've got 14 minutes, it's well worth listening to the whole thing, just to check out what these musicians could do.

8. Lootpack - Frenz vs. Endz (J. Brown / R. Jimenez / Otis Jackson Jr.) (from the album 'Soundpieces: Da Antidote!) Stones Throw. 99.

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9. Charlie Parker - A Night In Tunisia (Gillespie / Paparelli) (from the album 'Bird Symbols') - Parker (as); Miles Davis (t); Lucky Thompson (ts); Dodo Marmarosa (p); Arvin Garrison (g); Vic McMillan (b); Roy Porter (d). Rhapsody. 3/46.

A Night In Tunisia is one of Dizzy Gillespie's lasting contributions to the repertoire. Here, from 1953, is a classic, much longer version, featuring Gillespie himself (compare and contrast with the young Miles Davis). These Tunisias sent me to the shelves for a couple of favourite versions by other artists on this playlist. Here is the 1960 edition of the Jazz Messengers, and here is an inspired Clifford Brown at a music shop jam session in 1956. The outrageous Messengers version features a superhumanly pumped up Art Blakey, and includes wild closing cadenzas from Lee Morgan (Blakey: 'Get mad!') and Wayne Shorter.

9. Gang Starr - Manifest (Gang Starr) (from the album 'No More Mr. Nice Guy') Wild Pitch. 89.

Xhosa Cole Trio - Derby Museum & Art Gallery - 22/2/25

Xhosa Cole (tenor sax); Josh Vadiveloo (bass); Tim Giles (drums)

Xhosa Cole's latest record, On A Modern Genius Vol. 1, came out in January. Save for a Duke Ellington coda, all of the compositions are by Thelonious Monk, whose 72 timeless tunes continue to fascinate musicians of all kinds. Recorded on a single night in Cole's hometown of Birmingham, it captures a touring band in full flow, fizzing with energy and ideas. The sax/guitar/bass/drums line-up is augmented by tap dancer Liberty Styles, whose contribution adds an extra rhythmic layer to the music. In a recent interview*, Cole, who has a background in dance, reflects on the sometimes neglected tradition of dance in modern jazz, pointing out that drummers Jack DeJohnette and Roy Haynes were also tap dancers, and that Monk himself would often get up and dance at his gigs (which sometimes accounts for the pianoless minutes on those live records). Styles is brilliantly accommodated and cajoled by drummer Tim Giles; together they succeed in making the music a vital, bodily experience, even for those of us with two left feet. 

On his current tour, Cole is continuing his investigation into Monk's music, although, if what we heard in Derby is typical, he's trying a different path. Stripped back to sax, bass and drums, the band gave us a series of long, almost dreamlike suites, bringing in another theme only when they'd had a thorough play with the previous one. Cole's soloing tended towards this exhaustive approach - he would worry away at an idea, looking at it from all sides. Freed of the obligations of playing with a guitarist and a dancer, drummer and bassist spent a lot less time spelling out the pulse in the music - straight swing was the exception rather than the rule. That it still worked well suggests a group with a lot of musical trust, as well as one that has absorbed the Monk-like knowledge of when to do more and when to do less. 

While the removal of the pulse and harmony instrument guardrails creates interesting freedoms for the performers, it can also make life harder for the listener determined to stay engaged. On the night, it took me a little while to find my feet, or, perhaps, to find the dance - sometimes I had to make it myself, with a little nodding and swaying. The absence of piano or guitar seemed to open up the space in front of the drums and bass, inviting me to step in, and to examine more closely the ways they improvised and interacted. As time went on, I was able to pull in and out of focus, moving between the delicious detail and the overall effect - a rich, absorbing experience.

(Since the gig, I've gone back to some of the great sax/bass/drums records of the past, starting with Sonny Rollins' A Night At The Village Vanguard (1957), a template for the pianoless trio. From there, I've delved into music by Lee Konitz, Ornette Coleman and Albert Ayler, moving on to Greg Osby, David Murray, Kenny Garrett, Bennie Maupin, Branford Marsalis, Steve Lehman, Gary Smulyan and Joe Lovano, as well as a couple of UK favourites, by Julians Siegel and Argüelles.**) 

* Jazzwise, February 2025

** Maybe I'll put together a playlist...

John McCabe (1939-2015) - Cloudcatcher Fells for brass band (1985)

For brass band musicians, a fair amount of the musical year is given over to preparing for contests. Sometimes, bands are invited to put together a programme of their own choosing, but, more commonly, all the bands in a particular section (they are graded like football teams) perform the same test piece, and adjudicators pick a winning performance. While this makes for a strange spectacle for the neutral, the commissioning of challenging test pieces helps to keep standards high, and has resulted in much of the best music in the repertoire. Cloudcatcher Fells was commissioned for the 1985 National Finals. It was an instant hit with bands and audiences, and has gone on to become the composer’s most performed and recorded piece. 

A couple of years earlier, McCabe had a more bruising encounter with the brass band world, when the top-level bands were assigned his Images as the test piece for the regional rounds of the 1983 National Championships.  The piece went down badly in the often musically conservative band world. The negative reaction surprised the composer, who had never thought of himself as a troublemaker: “It was highly amusing, having been regarded for years by the concert classical world as a bit reactionary (unfairly I think!), it was very entertaining suddenly to be cast in the role of revolutionary criminal.” (1) Listening again now, there is nothing in Images that would alarm anyone familiar with a smattering of early 20th century classical music, although it is certainly a tougher nut than Cloudcatcher Fells, which is generally less dissonant throughout. McCabe was adamant this change of tack had nothing to do with the reception of Images: “None of this had any impact at all as far as Cloudcatcher was concerned. I simply wrote the piece I wanted to write.”

Cloudcatcher Fells is a celebration of the Patterdale area of the Lake District, a part of the world which meant a great deal to the composer. As a small child, McCabe was badly burned in an accident at home, and, as a result, he was frequently ill. On medical advice, the McCabes spent the Summer of 1949 in a Lake District cottage, giving the young John some much-needed fresh air and exercise. A walk up to Angle Tarn made an especially strong impression. McCabe would go on to describe Angle Tarn as his “favourite place in all the world” (2), and his musical impression of this stunning mountain lake would later form the “slow movement” of Cloudcatcher Fells. Ten years after that first visit to the Lakes, when McCabe was a student in Manchester, he returned to the same cottage with his Mum. It was during this time that he sketched the short score of his first violin concerto, a piece which would receive a run-through by the Hallé Orchestra, and set him on the path to becoming a professional composer.

The title Cloudcatcher Fells comes from a poem by David Wright, Cockermouth. McCabe's piece lasts between around 15 and 18 minutes, and falls into four clear “movements” (broadly slow/fast/slow/fast). Great Gable, Grasmoor and Grisedale Tarn form the opening section, before a more jagged, unpredictable, scherzo-like passage (Haystacks/Catchedicam) leads to a powerful climax. In its wake comes the magical Angle Tarn, before a “finale” which tracks a challenging walk up to the mighty peak of Helvellyn, via Striding Edge.

Cloudcatcher Fells was my introduction to McCabe’s music. It was a piece which fascinated me from an early age, and was quite unlike anything I’d heard before. Over the years, I’ve taken time to get to know a lot more of his music, and now, re-listening to Cloudcatcher, I hear many of his familiar musical fingerprints. The gorgeous added-note harmonies are always apparent, as are the “sustain pedal” textures, built from short, overlapping phrases, often underpinned by slower-moving bass lines.  There are also, as always, beautiful, distinctive melodies, such as the lovely, lilting dance of Grisedale Tarn, or the winding themes which emerge from the bitonal mist above Angle Tarn.

Beneath the busy, Tippettian surface, McCabe’s music is always tightly organised. He had a fascination with variation and ground bass forms, which he traced back to his unusual early years:  “The first piece of musical repertoire I heard which made a big impact was the Brahms St Antoni Chorale Variations, which they were playing on the record player one night; I was sitting on the stairs, listening, when I should have been asleep. It only occurred to me recently that my fascination with passacaglias goes back to that experience, because it was the passacaglia above all else that fascinated me." (3) McCabe once spoke of his “delight in exploring to the utmost a small group of motifs” (4), a habit he suggests came from Alan Rawsthorne, a composer he greatly admired. This joy in working with the raw materials of music is evident throughout Cloudcatcher, where so much stems from the opening nine-note theme, baldly stated on the three tenor horns. McCabe describes the piece as a series of free variations on this theme, as well as the harmonies associated with it. Some reapparances of this material are obvious, as with the reshaped glances back to the opening in Angle Tarn, or the awesome, primary colour statement at the summit of Helvellyn. Other presentations are subtler, sometimes buried in those teeming textures, waiting to be discovered.

McCabe’s approach to scoring for brass band is refreshingly thoughtful. Writing in his programme note for Cloudcatcher, he points to a desire to “try and avoid the constant massed sound of the band which, with repetition, can become wearying, to my ears at least.” (5)  This goes for performers too: anyone who has played in brass or wind bands will be familiar with the kind of thickly scored music which can make concerts a hard, ungrateful slog. McCabe instead treats the band as “several instrumental choirs”, which is perhaps what helps him to find the often ignored subtle colour contrasts between the similar but different instruments that make up the band. He gives each instrument a separate part, and keeps the four tubas (called “basses” in brass bands) unusually busy, which adds to the strength and depth of those passages where fast-moving ideas bubble up from the bottom to the top of the band. McCabe expressed frustration with the brass band’s “lack of a real top register”, which perhaps accounts for the many divisi passages for the cornet choir. It may also explain his fondness for perilous Eb soprano cornet parts - Cloudcatcher puts everyone through their paces, but the soprano player is really tested, especially in that final, effortful ascent to the peak of Helvellyn.

The Black Dyke Mills performance above is something of a brass band classic. It’s a superb account, by a band at its 80s peak. My favourite recorded performance, however, is by the Britannia Building Society Band, under former London Symphony Orchestra principal trumpet, Howard Snell (Snell directed two bands in the 1985 national finals). It’s a slightly swifter performance than Black Dyke’s, with a more modern, “orchestral” band sound (particularly when it comes to the more sparing use of vibrato). It also features some stunning soprano cornet playing by Tracey Redfern, now a trumpet professor at the Royal Northern College of Music. The Britannia disc has the added advantage of an all-McCabe programme, including all of his wonderfully varied band music up to that point (1995).

There would be one final piece for brass band, The Maunsell Forts, commissioned for the 2002 British Open Championships. It was inspired by a visit to the strange, imposing anti-aircraft forts situated in the Thames Estuary (see here). McCabe had not expected to write any more works for band, "partly out of disillusion with the brass band world, which has certainly gone back 30 years in depth of musical appreciation", but something about the combination of message and medium clicked, and he persisted. He did so knowing the piece he wanted to write would go down badly with bands: "I warned them all that (a) it would begin and end quietly and slowly and (b) as a result, all the bands would hate it. Well, not all the bands did hate it and it got some good performances (not all of which were placed by the adjudicators!) but most people did hate it. But it was a piece that I had to write and I'm not somebody who wants just to churn out yet another loud, fast collection of thousands of notes." It's another terrific piece, and a touching tribute to those who manned the forts. There is a fine 2010 performance by the Cory Band on the NMC disc War Memorials, and another, prize-winning Cory performance here.

(1) From an excellent interview on the brass band website, 4 Bars Rest. All quotes from here unless stated.

(2) Britannia Building Society Band CD liner note.

(3) Toccata Classics website.

(4) Chamber Music For Strings chapter (Guy Rickards) in Landscapes Of The Mind - The Music of John McCabe, ed. George Odam.

(5) McCabe's website.

Jazz Corner - A Later Ellington Mix (1956 - 1971)

The Ellington back catalogue is enormous. A lot of the 3-minute, 78 r.p.m. classics are very well-known (think of Mood Indigo, It Don’t Mean A Thing, Sophisticated Lady, Caravan, Cotton Tail, In A Mellotone, Take The ‘A’ Train, Perdido and The 'C’ Jam Blues, to name but ten). If you're after a good, cheap set of this earlier music, I recommend the nicely annotated set from Proper Records, although you should really supplement that with the complete Blanton-Webster Band on RCA Bluebird - you'd never regret it. Ellington continued to produce masterpieces into the LP era, although these records are less familiar to most. Here is an attempt at an introductory playlist.


All tracks by Duke Ellington & His Orchestra unless otherwise specified:


1. Tourist Point Of View (Ellington / Strayhorn) (from the album ‘Far East Suite’) Ellington (p); Cat Anderson, Mercer Ellington, Herbie Jones, Cootie Williams (t); Lawrence Brown, Chuck Connors, Buster Cooper (tbn); Harry Carney, Paul Gonsalves, Jimmy Hamilton, Johnny Hodges, Russell Procope (reeds); John Lamb (b); Rufus Jones (d). 12/66. Bluebird.

The arrival of the LP allowed Ellington to devise several extended suites, some of which were inspired by US State Department excursions. The 'Far East Suite' sessions followed the band’s world tour in 1963. Breathy tenor by Paul Gonsalves, screaming trumpet by Cat Anderson, beautifully limber bass by John Lamb.

2. Portrait Of Wellman Braud (Ellington) (from the album ‘New Orleans Suite’) Ellington (p); Cootie Williams, Money Johnson, Al Rubin, Fred Stone (t); Booty Wood, Julian Priester, Chuck Connors (tbn); Dave Taylor (btb); Johnny Hodges, Russell Procope, Norris Turney, Harry Carney, Paul Gonsalves (reeds); Joe Benjamin (b); Rufus Jones (d). 4-5/70. Atlantic.

Ingenious, speaker-rattling tribute to a bass player who was with Ellington in the late 20s/early 30s. Johnny Hodges died during the recording of the New Orleans Suite, having been with Duke almost constantly since 1928. The fact that many of Ellington’s band members stayed with him for decades is often remarked upon. In a 1958 interview with Humphrey Lyttelton, he made light of their loyalty: ‘Well, you’ve got to have a gimmick, Humphrey. The one I use is to give them money.’

3. Chinoiserie (Ellington) (from the album ‘The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse’) Ellington (p); Mercer Ellington, Money Johnson, Eddie Preston, Cootie Williams (t); Chuck Connors, Malcolm Taylor, Booty Wood (tbn); Russell Procope (clt/as); Norris Turney (as); Harold Ashby, Paul Gonsalves (ts); Harry Carney (bs); Joe Benjamin (b); Rufus Jones (d). 71. Original Jazz Classics.

This late suite is a happy fusion of jazz and world musics. Crucial to its success is a terrific array of improvising soloists, able to cope well with the sometimes slower-moving harmony. Here, Harold Ashby plays a masterful long solo while Duke pulls the strings behind him. Admiring conversation from the session - Carney: ‘Ol’ Ash was carrying on there!’ Gonsalves: ‘Yeah, he’s ready for the show now.’

4. Bonga (Ellington) (from the album ‘Afro-Bossa’) Ellington (p); Cat Anderson, Roy Burrowes, Cootie Williams (t); Ray Nance (cornet/vln); Lawrence Brown, Buster Cooper, Chuck Connors (tbn); Russell Procope (as/clt); Johnny Hodges (as); Jimmy Hamilton (ts/clt); Paul Gonsalves (ts); Harry Carney (bs/clt/bass clt); Billy Strayhorn (p); Ernie Shepherd (b); Sam Woodyard (d); Cat Anderson, Roy Burrowes, Cootie Williams, Billy Strayhorn (auxiliary perc). 63. Warner.

5. Eque (Ellington) (from the album ‘Latin-American Suite’) Ellington (p); Lawrence Brown, Buster Cooper (tbn); Johnny Hodges (as); Paul Gonsalves (ts); Harry Carney (bs); only soloists identified. 70. Original Jazz Classics.

A couple of catchy Latin miniatures. Distinctly Ducal scoring, though - the plunger-muted brass and virtuoso Crescent City clarinet on ‘Bonga’ are unmistakable.

6. Perdido (Ellington) (from the album 'The Great Paris Concert') Ellington (p); Cat Anderson, Roy Burrowes, Cootie Williams (t); Ray Nance (cornet); Lawrence Brown, Chuck Connors, Buster Cooper (tbn); Russell Procope, Johnny Hodges, Jimmy Hamilton, Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney (reeds); Ernie Shepard (b); Sam Woodyard (d). 63. Atlantic.

7. Up Jump (Ellington) (from the album ‘The Jaywalker’) Ellington (p); Cat Anderson, Cootie Williams, Herbie Jones, Mercer Ellington (t); Lawrence Brown, Chuck Connors, Buster Cooper (tbn); Jimmy Hamilton (clt/ts); Russell Procope (as/clt); Johnny Hodges (as); Paul Gonsalves (ts); Harry Carney (bs/clt/bass clt); John Lamb (b); Rufus Jones (d); Emmanuel Abdul-Rahim (perc). 66-67. Storyville.

8. Duke Ellington / Count Basie - Jumpin’ At The Woodside (Basie) (from the album ‘1st Time!’) Ellington, Basie (p); Cat Anderson, Thad Jones, Willie Cook, Sonny Cohn (t); Ray Nance (cornet); Quentin Jackson, Louis Blackburn, Lawrence Brown (tbn); Frank Foster, Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney, Frank Wess, Johnny Hodges, Jimmy Hamilton (reeds); Freddie Green (g); Eddie Jones, Aaron Bell (b); Sam Woodyard, Sonny Payne (d). 7/61. Columbia.

Three reminders that Ellington still ran one of the most exciting big bands out there. First up, a superb Perdido from Paris (arrangement by Gerald Wilson, I believe). Paul Gonsalves was the unexpected star of the band's appearance at the 1956 Newport Festival, a set that was widely credited with reviving Ellington’s fortunes at a difficult time for all big bands (Diminuendo In Blue was the track that caused all the fuss). Up Jump provides a fairly uncomplicated opportunity for Gonsalves to showcase his skills. On Jumpin' At The Woodside, Duke’s Gonsalves (right channel) spars with Count’s Frank Foster (left), in a spicy re-imagining of the Basie favourite.

9. Ella Fitzgerald with Duke Ellington & His Orchestra - I Got It Bad (And That Ain’t Good) (Ellington / Webster) (from the album ‘Ella Sings The Duke Ellington Songbook’) Ellington (p); Fitzgerald (v); Cat Anderson, Willie Cook, Ray Nance, Clark Terry (t); Quentin Jackson, John Sanders, Britt Woodman (tbn); Jimmy Hamilton (ts/clt); Russell Procope (as/clt); Johnny Hodges (as); Paul Gonsalves (ts); Harry Carney (bs/bass clt); Jimmy Woode (b); Sam Woodyard (d). 6/57. Verve.

Between 1956 and 1964, Ella Fitzgerald recorded 16 CDs worth of ‘Songbook’ material: over 200 songs, by the likes of the Gershwins, Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hart and Jerome Kern. During most of these recordings, she was accompanied by well-drilled, well-behaved bands. The Ellington sessions, however, appear to have been much less disciplined: there are accounts of Ella crying, while Ellington, longtime collaborator Billy Strayhorn and loyal copyist Tom Whaley wrote arrangements on the hoof. Ella sounds fine, though, and the arrangements are excellent.

10. Duke Ellington / Charlie Mingus / Max Roach - Wig Wise (Ellington) (from the album ‘Money Jungle’) Ellington (p); Mingus (b); Roach (d). 9/62. Blue Note.

Labels were keen to record Ellington alongside the stars of the next generation (see also tracks 9 and 12). This is a good chance to hear more of Duke’s piano style - during later big band sessions, he sometimes liked to retire to the control room.

11. Half The Fun (A.K.A. Lately) (Ellington / Strayhorn) (from the album ‘Such Sweet Thunder’) Ellington (p); Cat Anderson, Willie Cook, Ray Nance, Clark Terry (t); Quentin Jackson, John Sanders, Britt Woodman (tbn); Johnny Hodges, Russell Procope (as); Paul Gonsalves, Jimmy Hamilton (ts); Harry Carney (bs); Jimmy Woode (b); Sam Woodyard (d). 8/56-5/57. Columbia.

From the excellent Shakespeare-inspired record. According to Sam Woodyard, Duke wrote no drum part, providing instead a description of the scene depicted: ‘Imagine this great golden barge floating down the Nile River: beautiful dancing girls, mounds of food and drink, elephants, ostrich feather fans, a hundred slaves rowing the barge and Cleopatra is lying on a satin bed.’ Perfectly judged alto solo by Johnny Hodges.

12. Duke Ellington / John Coltrane - In A Sentimental Mood (Ellington) (from the album ‘Duke Ellington And John Coltrane’) Ellington (p); Coltrane (ts); Aaron Bell (b); Elvin Jones (d). 9/62. Impulse!

Stark contrast in saxophone tone-colour: Coltrane’s straight, hard-won sound vs. the sweeter approach of Ellington’s reed players, especially Hodges (try the Ella Fitzgerald track at 3’25” for a good example of his ultra emotional, heart-on-sleeve mode).

13. Duke Ellington & His Orchestra featuring Mahalia Jackson - Come Sunday (Ellington) (from the album ‘Black, Brown And Beige’) Ellington (p); Jackson (v); Cat Anderson, Harold Shorty Baker, Clark Terry (t); Ray Nance (t/vln); Quentin Jackson, John Sanders, Britt Woodman (tbn); Jimmy Hamilton (clt); Bill Graham (as); Russell Procope (clt/as); Paul Gonsalves (ts); Harry Carney (bs); Jimmy Woode (b); Sam Woodyard (d). 2/58. Columbia.

‘Black, Brown and Beige’ was composed for a Carnegie Hall concert in 1943, although this abridged recording was made as late as 1958. Come Sunday was originally a Johnny Hodges solo - persuading legendary gospel singer Mahalia Jackson to perform on the remake was a masterstroke.

Samuel Barber - Mutations from Bach for brass ensemble and timpani (1967)

This late work is a skilful arrangement of a series of treatments of the chorale melody "O Christ, du Lamm Gottes", a German version of the Agnus Dei. This was music (and a message) that meant a great deal to Barber; Bach's chorale harmonisation and chorale prelude on this theme were among the music he requested for his funeral. The brass ensemble piece was written in the same year as another Barber Agnus Dei, his choral arrangement of the famous Adagio.

Mutations doesn't begin with Bach, but with an earlier setting of the chorale melody by the Hamburg organist Joachim Decker (c.1575-1611). One minute in (timings refer to this performance), at the first entrance of the trumpets, we hear Bach's richer, busier harmonisation, more fully scored than the Decker. From 1'35" onwards, there is a stirring version of the short chorale prelude mentioned above (BWV 619, from the Orgelbüchlein - listen here). This time, the original chorale melody appears in canon, shared between the 1st/2nd trombones and the 1st/2nd trumpets. The rest of the group become bells, weaving ascending and descending scales in and out of the slow-moving chorale. This section folds easily into a brief reprise of the final phrase of Bach's chorale (2'25"), first on horns and tuba, then on trumpets and trombones. 

At this point (2'52"), Barber borrows a particularly beautiful recitative from one of Bach's cantatas, "Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn" (BWV 23* - complete performance here). The solo goes to the 1st horn, accompanied by the trombones (original at 7'14" in the video above). Meanwhile, the chorale melody can be found floating high above, in a testing passage for a cup-muted 1st trumpet. Coming full circle, the piece ends with a final, gentle reminder of the Decker chorale, this time on muted horns.

Recently, I've returned to this piece quite frequently, either as a short break from a hectic day, or as a musical palate cleanser - after hearing performers pushed towards their limits, to listen to the simple speech of Barber's beautifully blended brass choir can be a tonic. The recording in the YouTube video is by the 90s edition of the London Symphony Orchestra Brass. It is, of course, very fine, but my favourite remains the performance by the London Gabrieli Brass Ensemble, as part of an excellent programme of US brass music. There's not much in it, but I prefer the slightly more spacious tempo, and the slightly more spacious acoustic (All Hallows, Gospel Oak vs. Barbican). The LGBE record, "From the Steeples and the Mountains" is on the Hyperion label. The third disc in the photo is Volume 6 of the Naxos box of Barber's orchestral music, which I recommend highly to anyone looking for a cheap way to explore beyond the violin concerto and the Adagio. 

* The Bach chorale harmonisation used by Barber can also be found in this cantata, lavishly decorated by the orchestra (13'57").

Jazz Corner - Tuba Tuba Tuba

I've been looking back over some mixtapes I made years ago. This one features a varied selection of favourite jazz tracks (60s - more recent), all of which make room for a tuba. Enjoy.

1. Jack DeJohnette’s Special Edition - Ahmad The Terrible (DeJohnette) (from the album ‘Album Album’) - (Howard Johnson - tuba) 6/84. 

Johnson on tuba and baritone sax, DeJohnette on drums and piano.

2. Sahib Shihab & The Danish Radio Jazz Group - Mai Ding (Shihab) (from the album ‘Sahib Shihab & The Danish Radio Jazz Group) - (Poul Kjaeldgård - tuba) 8/65. 

Shihab on baritone (and cowbell). Top-notch Danish rhythm team of Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (bass) and Alex Riel (drums). 

3. Sons Of Kemet - All Will Surely Burn (Hutchings) (from the album ‘Burn’) - (Oren Marshall - tuba) 2013. 

Theon Cross is now in the SOK tuba chair. Double drums (Seb Rochford and Tom Skinner), Shabaka Hutchings on sax.

4. The New Jazz Orchestra - Nardis (Davis arr. Ardley) (from the album ‘Le Déjeuner Sur L’herbe) - (George Smith - tuba) 9/68. 

British jazz classic. Other solos: Ian Carr (flugelhorn), Jack Bruce (bass).

5. Arthur Blythe - Odessa (Blythe) (from the album ‘Lenox Avenue Breakdown’) - (Bob Stewart - tuba) 1979. 

One of Blythe’s greatest solos. This 2-CD set is very highly recommended. Jack DeJohnette on drums again.

6. Henry Threadgill - Little Pocket Size Demons (Threadgill) (from the album ‘Too Much Sugar For A Dime’) - (Edwin Rodriguez, Marcus Rojas - tubas) 1993. 

Threadgill’s Very Very Circus line-up: alto sax, french horn, 2 guitars, 2 tubas, drums. Only recently discovered that there's a nice Vijay Iyer trio version of this tune.

7. The Sonny Criss Orchestra - Daughter Of Cochise (Tapscott) (from the album ‘Sonny’s Dream (Birth Of The New Cool)) - (Ray Draper - tuba) 5/68. 

From a disc of compositions and arrangements by the West Coast giant, Horace Tapscott. Sonny Criss backed by a high-class nonet.

8. Steve Lehman Octet - Chimera/Luchini (Lehman / Smith/Randolph/Spencer/Wilds/Willis/Wallace) - (Jose Davila - tuba) 

From 2014′s ‘Mise en Abîme’ (Pi Recordings).  Original version of Luchini here (90s hip hop favourite). There's also an excellent big band version of Chimera, with the Orchestre National de Jazz.

9. Daniel Herskedal - Kurd, Bayat, Nahawand To Kurd (Herskedal) 

From the North African-flavoured ‘The Roc’ (Edition).  

10. McCoy Tyner Big Band - Fly With The Wind (Tyner) - (Howard Johnson - tuba) 

Scaled-up version of a 70s Tyner tune.

Holiday Listening - Kit Downes, Laura Cannell, Garth Knox

Although I took plenty of music on holiday, three records kept making their way to the top of the pile.

Kit Downes is best known as a brilliant jazz pianist, happy in a wide range of settings. On Obsidian (ECM), he renews his acquaintance with the pipe organ, which he used to play as a younger man. We hear three instruments on the disc, starting with the largest, at Union Chapel in London, and ending with the smallest, a single manual organ at St. Edmund's, Bromeswell, in Suffolk. Kings is a cool, slowly evolving study for the London instrument, which makes use of its considerable resources, without needing to shout. The Gift, a touching hymn tune by Downes' father, is beautifully suited to the slightly wheezy Bromeswell instrument. Like the others, this organ is closely recorded, bringing out the lovely, percussive "chiff" on the start of each note.

The third organ, at the Church of St. John's, Snape (also Suffolk), sits somewhere between the other two, in terms of size and power. Downes used this instrument to record the improvisations which make up Rings Of Saturn, a marvellous track inspired by W.G. Sebald's novel, set on the same Suffolk coast. Here, Downes experiments with pulling out the stops to varying degrees, playing with the air going through the pipes, and creating an astonishing range of other-worldly effects. 

Laura Cannell's Simultaneous Flight Movement (Brawl Records) consists of a series of shortish solo pieces (improvisations?) for fiddle and recorder(s), set down in Southwold Lighthouse (Suffolk again). Here, as on some of her subsequent records, the richly resonant recording venue plays a full part in the music, becoming a duet partner of sorts. In the fiddle pieces (here's Three Stones), there are passages where Cannell moves forward steadily, repeating and clarifying, giving the lighthouse time to respond to her subtle changes of articulation and tone colour. Elsewhere, she hurries her collaborator, overloading the space with information, and creating a glorious pile-up of sound.* The recorder pieces, if naturally more limited, are no less beautiful - try Interrelation Of Diverse Emotions for double recorders.

On D'Amore (ECM), the added resonance comes not just from the recording venue (Propstei St. Gerold in Austria), but also from Garth Knox's viola d'amore, an instrument equipped with an extra set of strings, which vibrate in sympathy with the seven bowed strings. Knox's programme is an intriguing mix of old and new, with recentish pieces by Roland Moser and Klaus Huber sitting alongside the Prima Lezione by 18th century viola d'amore virtuoso Attilio Ariosti, as well as borrowings from the viola da gamba repertoire. There's also folk music, which works well, the sympathetic strings adding a sweetness that contrasts with Cannell's more astringent earthiness. In his own piece, Malor Me Bat, based on a song attributed to Ockeghem, Knox succeeds in bringing together these varied musical strands. This semi-improvised duet with cellist Agnès Vesterman is a sometimes wild, elaborate fantasy. Knox brings the old song in and out of focus, while often coaxing a huge sound from his instrument - with the added cello, it can easily feel like a quartet. Stunning playing.

Back at home. One more listen, then on to something new (or old)...

*EDIT: I recently came across this excellent interview with Laura Cannell, in which she talks about the deconstructed bow she uses to play several strings simultaneously. A bit more explanation here.