Sandy Brown Jazz
What's New
September 2025
Alligator Gumbo ".... all the usual flavours you would expect from a Cajun Gumbo, but with Alligator added. The smoked sausage helps give that extra profile that you just can't get from anything else and throw in some shrimp .... (recipe). It is also the name adopted by a busy Leeds-based 7 piece band playing New Orleans Jazz and Blues often for a young audience: "a mix of foot-stomping rhythms and toe-tapping tunes." Here they are with Blue Drag - note the trombonist uses an ordinary plunger mute (see Tricky Sam article nelow). Their website s here with their upcoming gigs, more videos and their new album Beasts Of The Bacchanal was released in July.
Cows Love Jazz
In a BBC article in August, Will Jefford reports that there is now a TikTok trend for farmers to play jazz music to cows. "A Warwickshire farmer, Rob Hadley, was unsure if the cows would respond well to other genres of music. "They're very relaxed about the jazz, but probably they'd be up for anything - maybe a bit of Ozzy Osbourne," he said. "Truthfully, a bit of Ozzy Osbourne would scare the socks off them." Details, including a video, are here
Fergus McCreadie and Spike Lee's New Film
Award-winning Scottish pianist and bandleader Fergus McCreadie has composed and recorded music for Director Spike Lee's new film Highest 2 Lowest, out here in September. Fergus said: "Been sitting on this for a long time!! Absolutely crazy to have some of my music and playing featured on the soundtrack for the new Spike Lee film ‘Highest 2 Lowest’. Spike came to Edinburgh to meet us at Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival in 2024 and then we went over to NYC in November to record Stony Gate for the film, as well as a bunch of other cues for the film – what a ridiculous trip it was!" Fergus' music is not included in the trailer from Apple TV (here) but it is in the soundtrack (here). Further details are here.
Syncopated In Liverpool
Set on the docks of Liverpool, Syncopated tells the story of a chance meeting between a young musician (Him) and an inquisitive Scouser (Her). As the night deepens, the two conjure a story from history – the journey of The Southern Syncopated Orchestra, a real-life African American band who brought the jazz rhythms of New Orleans to post-WWI Britain. Syncopated resurrects the lives of two imagined members of this historic ensemble watching their romance unfold against the turbulence of 1919 with race riots and rising fascism. They see music as an escape and refuge. This play-within-a-play becomes a metaphorical and emotional journey using dialogue, letters and music as Him and Her rediscover purpose and try to reclaim their creative voices. Syncopated runs at the Liverpool Playhouse Studio from Tuesday 23rd September – Saturday 4th October 2025 as part of Talawa’s Black Joy season. More details here.
Parliamentary Jazz Awards 2025
The nominations for this year's Parliamentary Jazz Awards have been announced and the full list of nominees is here. The Awards will be presented at an event on Tuesday the 14th October. Chi Onwurah MP, Chair of APPJG, said: “These awards are a great opportunity to celebrate the talents and energies of the great musicians, educators, promoters, record labels, jazz organisations, blogs, jazz magazines and journalists who help keep jazz flourishing. These shortlists demonstrate the wealth of talent and commitment that exists in the British jazz scene. Now in its 20th year, the Parliamentary Jazz Awards honour the best of British jazz. MPs and Peers in the All Party Group are grateful to the Musicians’ Union and UK Music for supporting the event.”
Video Juke Box
Click on the pictures to watch the videos..... or take pot luck and click on the picture of the Juke Box and see what comes up.
The Iain Ballamy - Dániel Szabó Quartet with Misha Mullov-Abbado and Márton Juhász introduce their new album No Blues On The Danube with this video of Bossy Nova from Budapest Jazz Club. [See Recent Releases]
The Hot Club of Jupiter play I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me. The band have a new album coming out in October - more on that in due course. Their website is here.
Here is a video with the George Lewis Ragtime Jazz Band. It is a find from the San Francisco Bay Area TV-Archive. Recorded by CBS5 KPIX-TV in San Francisco in November 1953. It features Kid Howard, George Lewis, Jim Robinson, Alton Purnell, Lawrence Marrero, Alcide "Slow Drag" Pavageau and Joe Watkins.
Guitarist Denny Ilett is featured here playing John Scofield's A Go Go with percussionist Keith Fairburn's Osiyo at The Tap last year.
Checha & The Mortons are a band from Buenos Aries, Argentina who specialise in music from the 1920s. Vocalist Checha Naab with the band named after Jelly Roll Morton play There Ain't No Sweet Man Worth The Salt Of My Tears.
Here are Brigitte Beraha and guitarist Ant Law with A Kiss To Build A Dream On from their recent album Ensconced. Brigitte has a new album out with her band Lucid Dreamers - Teasing Reflections. [See article by Howard Lawes below]
Two Ears, Three Eyes
This summer has seen a variety of Jazz Festivals and Brian O'Connor LRPS from Images of Jazz took his camera to the festival in East Grinstead in August where he took this picture of saxophonist Dave O'Higgins and vocalist Jenny Green.
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After hosting her own jazz radio programme on Meridian FM, Jenny Green naturally transitioned into running a jazz club in East Grinstead. Originally held upstairs at the Dorset Arms, East Grinstead Jazz Club found a new home at the Chequermead Theatre when COVID restrictions required a change. Starting with a modest audience of around 10, the club now regularly welcomes 90+ devoted jazz fans and consistently sells out each month. Building on the club’s success, Jenny curated East Grinstead’s very first Jazz Festival last year with the invaluable support of David Kent and charity partner Being Neigbourly. The festival was such a triumph that it was repeated this year from August 14th to 17th. For the first time a Gospel workshop was featured with a chance for participants to join the choir in a performance held at St Swithun's Church.
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On Friday 15th August, pianist Adrian York introduced his new project, a show with his trio and special guest saxophonist Dave O'Higgins, ‘Conversations with Bill’, an exploration of and dialogue with the repertoire and recordings, compositions and piano style of one of the greatest and most distinctive of all jazz pianists, Bill Evans. To illustrate the variety of jazz that was produced in August the programme for this year's festival is here.
Rehearsal
Struggle Gives You Strength
NYO Jazz
The National Youth Orchestra : Jazz (NYO Jazz) of the USA was formed in 2018 and brings together young musicians ages 16–19 from across the US. Led by Artistic Director and trumpeter Sean Jones, the young musicians come together each summer to engage in a rigorous training residency with world-class jazz masters on the campus of Purchase College, State University of New York. In addition to the residency, NYO Jazz performs an annual concert at Carnegie Hall with a celebrated guest artist and embarks on a tour to some of the world’s great music capitals.
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This video is a rehearsal for the Carnegie Hall concert in 2019. They rehearse two numbers - Struggle Gives You Strength (Jiyhe Lee) and Mr. Jones & Co. (Ayn Inserto). Before the first number Sean Jones says: "Notice I'm always thinking about the whole picture. I want us all to think the same way." I think they achieve that. There is a fine solo from the young saxophonist who is unamed in the video.
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There is more about NYO Jazz here .
Take Two
Where we take two different jazz interpretations of a song
Wait 'Til You See Ma Cherie
The 1929 black and white movie Innocents of Paris was the first musical production by Paramount Pictures. It introduced to the screen a young actor-singer named Maurice Chevalier. The film featured four songs by Leo Robin and Richard A. Whiting; perhaps the best know was Louise ('Every little breeze seems to whisper Louise') which we shall return to at another time. The other that remained popular for less time was Wait Til You See Ma Cherie.
I just met a friend of mine upon a boulevard
He had fallen hard, fallen very hard
Every time a pretty little cutie passed us by
He would drop his eye, turn to me and sigh
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You see that girl across the street,
There's no use talking she's mighty neat
But if you think that she is neat
Wait 'til you see ma cherie
We can listen to Maurice Chevalier singing it here in his usual 'cheeky' style.
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Ben Pollack's Park Central Orchestra recorded it on the 1st March 1929 with 'vocal refrain' by 'Charles Roberts', a pseudonym for popular singer Smith Ballew. It is clearly a recording intended for dancing (a Fox Trot) and taken at an even slower pace than Chevalier, but what is surprising is the Orchestra personnel. The list is shown with the recording below but included Jimmy McPartland (cornet); Jack Teagarden (trombone); Benny Goodman (clarinet, alto sax) and Harry Goodman (brass bass) but there is little evidence of their jazz backgrounds. The recording ends with a few bars of syncopation that suggest 'what might have been'
See that girl right over there
I mean the one with the baby stare
But if you like a baby stare
Wait 'til you see Cherie
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Everyone, everywhere seems to envy me
Eyes of blue, golden hair
Wait 'til you see
Ma Cherie
A month and a half after the Ben Pollack recording, on the 17th April, Frankie (Tram) Trumbauer took his orchestra into the studio and recorded Louise and Wait 'Til You See Ma Cherie. His was a far different approach to that of Ben Pollack. Tram was under contract to Paul Whiteman at the time and apparently was obliged to use musicians from Whiteman's orchestra - not a great problem as the personnel were: Bix Beiderbecke and Andy Secrest (cornet); Bill Rank (trombone); Izzy Friedman (clarinet); Charles Strickfadden and Rube Crozier (alto sax); Frank Trumbauer (C-Melody Sax); Min Leibrook (bass sax); Matt Malneck (viola); Lennie Hayton (piano); Edward 'Snoozer' Quinn (guitar); Stan King (drums) and Smith Ballew (vocals) this time under his own name.
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Bix and Andy Secrest take turns after Smith Ballew's vocal, I would like to say Bix plays first, but my ear is not sharp enough to tell, others may kjnow? The recording is from the period when Bix had recently been convalescing from acute alcoholism.
Here's where she and I agree
We both are fond of a family
And will we raise a family?
Wait 'til you see Cherie.
Anagram
Brigitte Beraha
and Lucid Dreamers
Teasing Reflections
by Howard Lawes
Hearing the title song from the album Light As A Feather (1973) by Chick Corea’s Return To Forever band is cited by Brigitte Beraha as a turning point in her life in an article published in Jazzwise in August 2022. The song was sung by the Brazilian singer, Flora Purim who used her voice, not just to sing words, but as an instrument as well. Brigitte has developed her own style of vocalisation, influenced also by other singers such as Luciana Souza, Sidsel Endresen and Lauren Kinsella (who she sings with in an a cappella quartet called Facades), and has become one of the most versatile and exciting singers and respected educators on the UK jazz scene. Brigitte is releasing her latest album, Teasing Reflections with her band Lucid Dreamers. Here is a video taster of What Does It Mean (to be) from the album:
Brigitte talked to me via Zoom about her career and the new album.
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Brigitte Beraha’s admiration for Flora Purim was so great that as a student, when Flora’s Fourth World band had a two-week residency at Ronnie Scott’s, she went to hear her every night. Brigitte’s first album, recorded at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama while she was still studying there, is called It Could Happen To You (2002). The title track is a song by Johnny Burke and Jimmy van Heusen that had previously been recorded in very different styles by both Louie Ramirez and Sonny Rollins. Brigitte’s version is different again and perhaps inspired by Purim, she confidently vocalises a solo on the album. Accompanying Brigitte on the song is pianist Barry Green, a musical partnership that continues to this day, as witnessed by the release of a new album, together with saxophonist Alan Barnes, called Tea For Three , released in May 2025. Here is Brigitte with It Could Happen To You:
Lucid Dreamers first performed as a trio at the 2019 EFG London Jazz Festival in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, on London's South Bank - Brigitte on vocals, George Crowley on tenor saxophone and Tim Giles on drums and electronics. Brigitte and Tim are both members of Dave Manington’s Riff Raff, a band formed from members of the Loop Collective in London that performed at the LOOP Festival in 2009. A review in Jazzwise of their album Hullabaloo (2012) mentions Brigitte’s affinity with Flora Purim’s jazz/rock style. Brigitte and George first recorded together in Rick Simpson’s band on the strangely titled album Semi Wogan (2012) and as Brigitte notes “we live in the same musical world”.
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Following their initial performances Brigitte decided that the addition of a harmonic instrument would provide many more possibilities. With the conviction that every musician brings a unique dimension to a band Brigitte chose Alcyona Mick as the band’s pianist. Alcyona Mick has collaborated with classical, Egyptian and Turkish musicians as well as jazz and Brigitte had guested on the album Criss Cross (2018) by Alcyona and saxophonist Tori Freestone, both Loop Collective members.
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Unfortunately, Brigitte's 2020 album, Lucid Dreamers , was released during the pandemic which greatly reduced the number of live performances and sabotaged the planned launch tour. It wasn’t until the launch of the second album, Blink (2022) and tour, that material from the first album was widely performed. 'Lucid dreaming' is a phenomenon whereby a sleeper knows they are dreaming and can to some extent, control what happens, limited only by their own imagination. Coincidentally the artist Aphex Twin, known for electronic and ambient styles of music has referred to lucid dreaming and synasthesia as inspiration for his work. Blink was widely praised for its poetic rendering of emotions, imaginative use of voice, standout musicianship and subtle electronics to create a musical adventure that varied between dreamy soundscapes and enthralling jazz. Here is the title track from the album:
Teasing Reflections (2025) is the next instalment in the story but one that has a more serious and thought-provoking tone ........
Did You Know?
'Tricky Sam' Nanton
Joe Nanton was 22 years old when he joined the trombone section in Duke Ellington's Orchestra in 1926, replacing his friend Charlie Irvis. So, why was Joe called "Trick Sam"? Apparently Duke Ellington's saxophonist Otto Hardwick said it was because he would do: "anything to save himself trouble - he was tricky that way."
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But perhaps it was also because of the various effects he produced for Ellington's Orchestra. He was one of the great pioneers of the plunger mute and with Bubber Miley introduced the "wah wah" (wa wa) and "growl" effects of Ellington's "jungle" sound. "Nanton and Miley gave the Ellington Orchestra the reputation of being one of the "dirtiest" jazz groups. Many listeners were excited by the raunchy, earthy sounds of their growls and mutes. ..... Nanton's sound was all his own. He developed, in addition to other tricks in his bag, a "ya-ya" effect with a plunger, in combination with a Magosy & Buscher nonpareil trumpet straight mute. He kept the details of his technique a secret, even from his band mates, until his premature death. Some ingredients in Nanton's unique "ya-ya" sound, however, are known: inserting a trumpet straight mute into the bell, using a large plumber's plunger outside the bell, and "speaking" into the instrument while playing. This sort of speaking involved changing the cavity of the mouth while silently reproducing different vowel sounds without actually vibrating the vocal cords. His palette of near-vocal sounds was radical for its time ..."
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Tricky Sam stayed with Ellington until he died of a stroke in 1946 while on tour with the Orchestra. You can read more about him here and here is East St Louis Toodle-Oo from 1927:
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(Our thanks to trombonist Mel Henry for this suggestion)
Insight
Dear Alex
Alex Riel and Stefan Pasborg
On the 9th June, 2024, the music world lost legendary drummer Alex Riel - an icon in Danish music history. That Autumn, Stefan Pasborg - one of Denmark's most recognised and versatile drummers found a handwritten list of Alex's favourite songs in the now departed drummer's handwriting. The sight of it touched Stefan profoundly, inspiring him to invite his trio, consisting of two other top Danish musicians, pianist Carsten Dahl and tenor saxophonist Fredrik Lundin, into the studio to record their versions of some of these songs. The goal was to capture the immediacy and spontinaity that always characterised Alex's energy. The result is the album Dear Alex.
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Alex was Denmark's first call drummer for decades and left his mark on the music in an illustrious career spanning more than 70 years with his technique, energy, and unique musicality, playing with some of the world's greatest jazz musicians. Here he is playing Nardis in a video from Oslo in 1966 as the drummer for pianist Bill Evans' Trio and with Eddie Gomez on bass:
Stefan Pasborg is one of Denmark's top drummers and Alex Riel's godson. Alex was a steady and inspiring presence in Stefan's life for 50 years - with love, joy humour and music.
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In 2016, Alex and Stefan played a concert in The Faroe Islands. A 15 minute documentary was filmed of the visit (here). The band were: Alex Riel (drums); Stefan Pasborg (drums); Annisette (vocals); Palle Mikkelborg (trumpet), Niclas Knudsen (guitar) and Jeppe Tuxen (hammond organ).
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Stefan says: "Dear Alex - this album is from us to you. Alex was and will always be my mentor, my first and greatest drumming hero, and my best friend. He deserves all the praise in the world and then some. Both on the drums and offstage, he was the kind of guy you only meet once in a lifetime. Alex released his debut album in 1966 (Alex Riel Trio, Vibe Records). On it, he recorded an abstract unaccompanied solo improvisation entitled In A Way. I've selected five moments from that recording and integrated them into my own solo improvisation for him, which I call In Another Way. What you hear is actually Alex playing in those sequencies for a few seconds and me improvising around it. I love that some of the sounds he improvised almost 60 years ago are on this album."
"Dear Alex was recorded on the same drums Alex played on his debut release - his legendary Gretschen from the 1960s (in a hilarious moment many decades ago, he scratched 'en' on the Gretsch bass drum to give it a name). Thanks to Ane Riel for allowing me to borrow the kit for this session."
"And I must mention Alex's shed. He kept all his gear in a shed next to his house, accumulating quite a collectiion .... I spent countless hours there throughout my life .... After Alex passed away, we found the most beautiful old rusty bells in a cardboard box in the shed, which I'm happy to include on the album. Their presence speaks directly to the essence of our shared love for the endless timbres of metal and wood."
Here is the track Idaho from the album Dear Alex. Other tracks include Danny Boy; Somewhere Over The Rainbow; Smile; Moon River; Den Milde Dag Er Lys Og Lang; Moppin' and Boppin' and When You Wish Upon A Star .
The album Dear Alex is available on Stunt Records here.
Time Out Ten
Pick Up The Pieces
For this item you need to be able to stop for ten minutes.
We are often moving on to the next job, the next meeting, scrolling down social media, taking the next call ......'Time Out Ten' asks you to stop for ten minutes and listen to a particular piece of music; to find a time when you won't be interrupted, when you can put in/on your headphones and chill out. Ten minutes isn't long.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.
This children's nursery rhyme is thought to date back to the late eighteenth century, before there were paramedics. The meaning behind it is obscure - it was only later that Humpty was pictured as an egg. There are several suggestions to its origins - one is that "In 1648, Colchester was a walled town with a castle and several churches and was protected by the city wall. The story goes that a large cannon, which one website claimed was colloquially called 'Humpty Dumpty', was strategically placed on the wall. A shot from a Parliamentary cannon succeeded in damaging the wall beneath Humpty Dumpty, which caused the cannon to tumble to the ground. The Royalists (or Cavaliers, "all the King's men") attempted to raise Humpty Dumpty on to another part of the wall, but the cannon was so heavy that "All the King's horses and all the King's men couldn't put Humpty together again". However, versions of the rhyme appears in many countries - you can read more about it here.
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How many of us have had to pick up the pieces - we have left notes at home and had to improvise; the cat has knocked a valued vase from the shelf; someone knocked over the almost finished jigsaw puzle, etc. Still we dust ourselves off and start over.
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The Scottish Average White Band released the award-winning, uplifting instrumental Pick Up The Pieces in 1975. Several Jazz versions are available but for our Time Out Ten here is the Phil Collins Big Band. The video is actually around 22 minutes long so perhaps you can stretch your ten minutes or maybe watch it in two sessions? Either way, let's hope it picks you up.
Who Am I?
Did you know my father was Welsh and ran a golf course? But he was a gambler and drank heavily so my mother left with me and my brother Harry. Harry took piano lessons when he was about five or six and I started copying him and soon got quite good at sight reading. At high school I listened to classical music but also got to hear people like Earl Hines and Art Tatum on the radio. Eventually I started playing for a rehearsal band at weddings etc. and made contact with other musicians. With two musician friends I moved to New York. Called up to the Army I had a bad time and started taking drugs but after some time out I got back into playing jazz and formed my own trio. Oh, by the way, did you know I played on Miles Davis Kind Of Blue album? It was devestating when Scott from my trio was killed in a car crash. I picked up heroin again, but neverless I went on to a full and successful career as a pianist and composer. I died in 1980. They say the cause of my death was a combination of peptic ulcer, cirrhosis, bronchial pneumonia and untreated hepatitis. Apparently my friend Gene Lees called my called my struggle with drugs "the longest suicide in history".
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(Caricature courtesy of Jimmy Thomson)
The answer is HERE
The Story Is Told
Andy Secrest
"first rate hot man in the making"
In October 1927, cornetist Bix Beiderbecke and saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer joined the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, probably the most successful band of the time, but by 1928, Bix's alcohol dependancy was catching up with him. In December that year, Bix dropped out and entered a hospital in Long Island. He returned in January 1929, but he was far from well. At the end of January, Bix stayed in Cleveland in the care of a male nurse when the orchestra moved on to Detroit:
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'Whiteman (was) lacking a hot soloist in the trumpet section. At Min Leibrook's suggestion, the 'King Of Jazz' once again turned to Jean Goldkette for help. One of Goldkette's most promising young musicians was a cornetist named Andy Secrest ..... Not yet 22, Secrest had fallen hard under Bix's spell ..... Secrest, moreover, was a quick and sure reader, making him, for Whiteman's purposes, the ideal stand-in; capable of holding his own on the arrangements, yet able to simulate the sound and style of Bix in solo spots ....'
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From Cleveland, Bix returned home to Davenport where he stayed for the rest of February. Bix returned from Davenport on Monday, March 4. To Andy Secrest’s astonishment, Whiteman dropped not him, but Eddie Pinder, from the band. “I was completely floored,” he said, “I was nervous as anything, just sitting next to Bix. He was my idol. The master. At that time the Whiteman band was the band, and all the musicians would come to hear us. Consequently, the guys in the band were fighting for solo spots so the rest of the musicians, out in the audience, could see us being featured. We loved to show off, but when Bix came back he insisted that I take the solos. He seemed to get a kick out of hearing me play. He was a very gentle person, you know – so gentle that I really felt that if I didn’t take the solos he would personally feel hurt.”
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“With night after night of sitting next to him, I guess I absorbed his style. He so influenced me that I subconsciously was becoming another Bix-styled horn and playing ideas that I’d associate with him. But believe me, it was due to my worship of the guy, not trying to copy and cash in on his fame. Let’s face it – he was the master. I was just overawed at being next to him.”
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It’s easy to sympathize with Secrest’s plight. Perhaps more than any other white jazzman of his period, he has suffered the curse of living in another man’s shadow. Where Sterling Bose, Jimmy McPartland, Red Nichols and others who consciously modelled themselves after Bix nonetheless achieved a good measure of acclaim on their own merits, Secrest has for decades been one of jazz’s “unpersons.” It is almost as though he were being tacitly punished for the circumstances into which he found himself drawn when Whiteman took him on.
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The job was certainly a mixed blessing. To play with Paul Whiteman was honour enough, but to play alongside, and eventually replace, Bix Beiderbecke was dazzling for the 21-year-old Midwesterner. Such events soon forced him into a comparison unfair by any standard. He was young and relatively inexperienced, his style still in the formative stages. Yet he was being paid top money by the leader of the biggest dance band in the business to sound as much as possible like the man who had been his inspiration. Little surprise that Secrest’s solos on Whiteman and Trumbauer records of this period hardly stand critical comparison to Bix’s. Judged by any objective standard, most are perfectly acceptable; well executed and conceived, played with good tone and engaging lilt. Were it not for the shade of Bix hovering over them, determining even the role of the instrument within the arrangements, Secrest’s efforts might now be praised as those of a first-rate hot man in the making.
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Later, as an older, more experienced musician, Andy Secrest demonstrated an individual musical personality which, while owing much to Bix, was as much his own voice as were those of Bose, McPartland or Nichols. His solos on such Bing Crosby recordings as the 1937 Decca “Smarty,” with John Scott Trotter’s orchestra, are excellent jazz cornet playing by any standard.
But jazz history has taken little note of such developments. For most of the music’s public Andy Secrest has remained, unjustly, the man who was unable to assume instant immortality as a surrogate Bix Beiderbecke. That he should have been penalized for this over an entire career is, in an objective critical view, unpardonable.’
From Bix: Man And Legend by Richard M. Sudhalter and Philip R. Evans
The Jazz Quiz
Ten Instruments
In the quiz this month we show you ten pictures of instruments jazz musicians have used over the years. How many can you identify?? We have given you the first letters of the instruments to help.
The September Jazz Quiz is​
Lens America
Journalist/guitarist Filipe Freitas and photographer Clara Pereira run JazzTrail in New York City. They feature album and concert coverage, press releases and press kits, album covers and biographies and they are valued contacts for Sandy Brown Jazz. You can read Filipe's reviews of album releases here and see Clara's gallery of pictures here.
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Clara took this picture of Polish saxophonist Maciej Obara at Dizzy’s in New York City in June. Maciej came with his longtime collaborator, pianist Dominik Wania, and two well known American musicians, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Nasheet Waits. They were playing mainly music from Maciej's latest quartet album on the ECM label Frozen Silence.
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Filipe said: "The compositions, mostly rubato, don’t rely on swinging rhythms but rather on complex harmonic progressions and a constant in-and-out lyricism shaped with intricate intervallic designs .... “Frozen Silence”, gracefully poised on the tip of its toes, offered one of the night’s most beautiful moments. At the end, Obara confessed he had fulfilled a dream by performing with these American giants, expressing gratitude to the Festival, the venue, and his peers for a memorable night of modern creative jazz." Listen to Frozen Silence here.
Forum
Ask AI?
Hans Eekhoff sent us a message: "No, it's not Baby Dodds but Bill Johnson who shouts "Oh play that thing" on King Oliver's recording of Dippermouth Blues." It seemed an odd message as we had never suggested Baby Dodds had shouted out the well known call, so I agreed with Hans, who replied: "It's just a little footnote in jazz of course. The reason why I brought this up is because, when I Googled the question, AI told me that, according to Sandy Brown, it's Baby Dodds." So I looked into where Google found that information! It seemed to refer to an article here which discusses the matter but does not attribute the shout to Baby Dodds. Hans says: "What this does tell us is that AI is not always up to date, and not actually all that "intelligent" at all of course, as it cannot think but merely filters and interprets what it sees on the internet - we can do that too but it only takes longer." AI therefore is not so much "intelligent" - it's merely very fast, and often mistaken."
Then And (Almost) Now
Brian O'Connor from imagesofjazz.com has been taking photographs of jazz musicians for many years. Brian writes to tell us that he has now been able to publish a book showing his photographs 'Then And (Almost) Now ' in which he includes early photographs of musicians beside more precent pictures. Only a limited number of copies are available, but you can flip through the book of images here.​ There are two more larger A3 size books that Brian has put together: The RGB Years and The Monochrome Years (click on the links and you can flip through them too). Copies including postage are available but Brian says the price of copies from Photobox changes, and can be quite expensive, but to email him through his website if anyone wants to know more.
Toots Jazz Club, Brussels
Peter Maguire from Jazz Clubs Worldwide tells that 'Toots', a new jazz club in Brussels, is thriving. "After making a name for itself by reviving a jazz club in the south of the city, the Toots Live association brought its unique atmosphere and high-level programming to Brussels’ Grand-Place, thanks to the support of ULB, the Centre d’Action Laïque, and the City of Brussels. Concerts and jam sessions fill its centuries-old walls five nights a week, "welcoming passersby and chess players alike" into a warm, unmistakably Brussels ambiance." Peter also sends us this cartoon:
The Jubilee Jazz Band
Barry Elson writes: "Thank you so much for including the Don Coe article on the Jubilee Band (here). Always nice for me to see the faces and names I knew from so long ago."
[I hope the article brought back memories for others - Ed]
Departure Lounge
Information has arrived about the following musicians or people connected to jazz who have passed through the 'Departure Lounge' since our last update.
When this page first started, links to newspaper obituaries were free. Then increasingly advertisements were added and now many newspapers ask for a subscription to read a full obituary. Where possible, we initially link to a Wikipedia page which is still free of charge, but we also give links to newspaper obituaries in case you want to read them.
Roger Baycock
Thanks to saxophonist Trish Elphinstone who tells us of the passing of Roger Baycock, UK saxophonist and owner of the Allegro music shop in Oxford, renowned for his knowledge in the business of musical instruments and support for musicians. The company Allegro Oxford Ltd was registered as dissolved in October 2024; founded in 1992, it had a run of more than 20 years. Roger passed through the Departure Lounge on Friday, July 4th aged 88. Obituaries: Oxford Mail : Roger made the news in 2001 when he bought Ronnie Scott's saxophone at an auction and kept it on display in his shop - details here.
Sheila Jordan
American vocalist born in Michigan in 1928. She pioneered a bebop and scat style with an upright bass as accompaniment and Charlie Parker often introduced her as "the lady with the million dollar ears". In 2012, Sheila received the NEA Jazz Masters Award and her biography, Jazz Child: A Portrait of Sheila Jordan, written by vocalist and educator Ellen Johnson, was published in 2014. Sheila passed through the Departure Lounge on the 11th August. Obituaries: Wikipedia : New York Times : A video of Sheila singing Dat Dere in 2021 is here.
Eddie Palmieri
Puerto Rican pianist and bandleader born in 1936 and younger brother of bandleader Charlie Palmieri. Influenced by McCoy Tyner and Thelonious Monk he developed his own sound in Latin Jazz with his bands La Perfecta, La Perfecta II, and Harlem River Drive. Eddie passed through the Departure Lounge on 6th August 2025. Obituaries: Wikipedia : New York Times : An NPR video of Eddie in 2016 is here.
Recent Releases
A few words about recent releases / reviews:
Apart from where they are included in articles on this website, I don't have a 'Reviews' section for a number of reasons:
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I receive so many requests to review recordings it is impossible to include them all.
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Unlike some publications/blogs, Sandy Brown Jazz is not a funded website and it is not possible to pay reviewers.
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Reviews tend to be personal opinions, something a reviewer likes might not suit you, or vice versa.
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It is difficult to capture music in words, so much better to be able to listen and see whether the music interests you.
For these reasons in particular I just include a selection of recent recordings below where I share the notes issued by the musician(s) as an introduction and links to samples so you can 'taste' the music for yourselves. For those who like to read reviews, these, of course, can be checked out on other sites.
Some Recent Releases
UK
Brigitte Beraha & Lucid Dreamers - Teasing Reflections
Tim Boniface - Psalter : Themes For Peace
John Butcher & John Edwards - This Is Not Speculation