Patrick Forge's Podcast

Ross Allen is something of a wanderer these days, which means that I get the call for extra duties on Mi-Soul on a Friday morning. If I wasn't such a "radio tart" this might be a bridge too far , but I not only love doing radio but I also love cycling to South London, though it must be said that the ride south early on a Friday morning is as different as my selections tend to be when I'm standing in for Ross.

Actually it could be even more different as I've contemplated digging out some hip-hop for one of Ross' shows, but it doesn't really get much further than pulling out a couple of tunes and deciding that I'm not really feeling it at the moment. Maybe because it would end up being like something of a lament for hip-hop's classic era, lost values etc etc.

Of course there's a dominant strain of vintage music on all my shows, but I tend to think of whatever I'm currently getting into as being just that....current!

So it's a relatively jazz-free zone, at least by my standards, there's the odd solo, harmonic twist , and vocal inflection that owes a debt to the tradition but by and large we swim in soulful waters.... of many hues.

From gentle beginnings to disco dramatics it's two hours of not quite The Cosmic Jam... and I hope you like it.

1. The Peddlers - On a Clear Day

3. Al Jarreau - Spirit

3. The Jackson Five - Ooh, I'd Love To Be With You

4. Junior Mendes - Via Aerea

5. Luther Vandross - A Lover's Change

6. Mario Castro-Neves - Summer Soft

7. Grady Tate - Moondance

8. Gloria Lynne - Out Of This World

9. Jayme Marques - Hooked On Green

10. Stephen Michael Schwartz - Get It Up For Love

11. The Players Association - Everything's Going To Be O.K.

12. Ernie McKone's Tropica - Rainbow Rising

13. Dave Valentin - Marcosinho

14. Letta Mbulu - Normalizo (Jonny Miller re-edit)

15. Jah Wobble, The Edge, Holger Czukay - Hold On To Your Dreams

16. The Lijadu Sisiters - Orere Elejigbo (Jonny Miller re-edit)

17. Fela Kuti - Let's Start

18. Da Lata ft Vanessa Freeman - Free

19. Kimiko Kasai - I Thought It Was You

20. Venus Dodson - Where Are We Headed?

21. The Brothers - Under The Skin

22. Carlos Franzetti - Rhumba Dreams

Horace Silver, an earthy man who made spiritual music and a spiritual man who made earthy music.

It's impossible to conceive of the Blue Note label without the contribution of Silver, he's pivotal, essential, inspirational; the lynchpin of the legacy, the godfather of the dynasty. From his pioneering hard-bop beginnings, through his definitive sixties soul-jazz masterpieces to his much misunderstood seventies output. Horace Silver is the tree, the jazz tree, the firm roots, the splaying branches, the foliage that changes with the seasons, he is the gateway, the conduit, the welcoming voice, the musician who exemplified all that was great about jazz, seeking, exploring and soulful, yet never alienating or obtuse, always humble and giving.

I swerved a couple of obvious choices in this selection, particularly the tune for which Horace is best known, the mighty, magnificent "Song For My Father". Not because I don't care for it, or that I've tired of it, on the contrary; in fact when my own father passed away I remember playing it at Dingwalls and shedding tears. However, when there was recent false alarm about Horace's passing I discovered probably the best version of the tune, which with the accompanying clip is as engaging a tribute to Horace and his most famous tune as anyone could wish for.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1CilMzT55M

The other tune that I omitted is not so well known generally, but amongst jazz-dance circles it's become an evergreen classic. From the album "The Tokyo Blues", "Sayonara Blues" is a great though subtle dance-floor journey that maintains an amazing pulse, and I've left it out for that very reason, it's better in a club!!! (And it's long!)

So this is not a comprehensive review of Horace's oeuvre, I've steered clear of his early hard-bop recordings and focussed mainly on tunes from the mid sixties through to the eighties, the music from his middle years, ignoring the youthful beginnings and the later mature work. It's just the stuff I love, the classic sixties stylings , the spiritual tunes with Andy Bey's vocals and some of his more fusion based excursions. Horace Silver for sure, but very much my version, because it's personal.

Horace the gateway, because so many have found a route into Jazz through his work, the accessible themes and the rhythmic drive of his left hand on the keyboard helped to create music that had an appeal that reached beyond the immediate jazz audience. Horace the conduit, because he channelled the history of Jazz through his playing and because he was always driven by a higher force. Horace the humble man who was inspired to dedicate his life to the exposition of a spiritual, holistic philosophy, and angered many purists and critics with his "United States Of Mind" series for Blue Note in the early seventies when he first started to explore these themes.

I can understand why so many found this change of direction upsetting, the approach was song-based, with far less emphasis on soloing. For an artist who had enthralled the jazz world with his dynamic quintet line-ups, introducing so many prodigiously talented horn players to then switch the focus to Andy Bey's (remarkable) voice, and furthermore to adopt the electric keyboard…. it was probably tough to take.

However when I first discovered the album "Total Response" I was completely blown away, the music still had the characteristic Silver pulse, but the lyrics and the philosophy they advocated made total sense to me, it became a firm favourite.

As i referred to on the show, seeing Horace Silver perform at Ronnie Scott's with Andy Bey during their second phase of collaboration in the late eighties was an unforgettable experience. I met him and in a star struck fashion tried to convey my appreciation of his music, I told him that Total Response was one of my favourite albums. I think he was a little shocked, but I hope he understood that for a new generation of Jazz fans, his "spiritual" music was perhaps even more relevant than the hard-bop and soul-jazz standards he was renowned for.

Joining heaven's pantheon of late great jazz stars, I hope Duke has thanked Horace for dedicating a tune to him and calling it The Sophisticated Hippie. I can imagine them having a chuckle about that.

1. The Jody Grind (1966)

2. Nica's Dream (1960)

3. Gods Of The Yoruba (1978)

4. The Cape Verdean Blues (1965)

5. Silver Treads Among My Soul (1964)

6. Old Mother Nature (1970)

7. Music To Ease Your Disease (1988)

8. Cause And Effect (1972)

9. Accepting Responsibility (1981)

10. I've Had A Little Talk (1970)

11. Summer in Central Park (1972)

12. Barbara (1975)

13. Peace (1970)

14. Senor Blues (vocal version) (1958)

15. Que Pasa (trio version) (1964)

16. The Sophisticated Hippie (1975)

17. Assimilation (1976)

18. In Pursuit Of The 27th Man (1972)

19. Nutville (1965)

Summer's hotting up, Wimbledon, The World Cup, festivals galore, it's the season for love, fun and music. So, despite my reservations concerning the political and social ramifications of The World Cup in Brazil, and despite the (inevitable) demise of Hodgson's England it would seem somewhat churlish if not downright rude to forsake the opportunity of celebrating a branch of the world's music tree that I've grown particularly fond of over the years. Though I have to say I'm more of an enthusiast than an export and this is a personal selection that barely scratches the surface of Brazil's rich and diverse music culture. Furthermore my focus is by and large on vintage music, the inspirational sound of Brazil in the classic era of MPB that continues to inspire a new generation of music makers who are now in the vanguard of the renaissance of those great traditions.

The first section is samba in slightly purer form without getting down into the deep folkloric nitty gritty, (which I could have done!!), there are bells and whistles and plenty of swinging energy. From there we take off into the boogie, the beach-bound sound of 2014 as far as I'm concerned, Brazilian music of this ilk, often sounds like Earth, Wind and Fire, ( It was very mush a two way exchange!) but swings like no there kind of funky dance music, because as I've always said when Brazilian musicians play other rhythms the feel is still samba , it's always there somewhere underneath.

Then we get deep into beauty and the harmonic lushness that is characteristic of so much Brazilian music; it's the influence of the European romantic tradition getting freaked out in the rain forest, it's the sound of conventional harmony with African looseness, it's the lineage that runs through Villa-Lobos and Jobim to a welter of disciples for whom melody and harmony is a key to unlocking the beauty inspired by the richness of nature.. or something like that.

Finally the tempo creeps up again, the bridge is Milton Nascimento, for any travellers wishing to explore Brazilaian music in any depth will surely be crossing over the majesty of his music.

I may be in danger of over-doing it on the purple prose front, so I'm going to reel myself in with the sobering thought that next week's show will be dedicated to the music of Horace Silver who recently passed away. Though of course that may well turn out to be another celebration too.

Enjoy ( the summer).

I'm at Southern Soul Festival in Montenegro this weekend…

http://www.southernsoulfestival.com

1.Verde & Amarelho - O Caminho De Samba

2. Sonzeira - Brasil Pandeiro

3. Cesar Mariano - Futebol De Bar

4. Brasil Selelection - Porque

5. Nega Atrevida - Samba O Portador Do Alegria

6. Sergio Mendes - Fanfarra

7. Os Originais - La Vem Salgueiro

8. Trio Mocoto - Swinga Sambaby

9. Marcos Valle - Estrelar

10. Sandra Sa - Terra Azul

11. Robson Jorge &Lincoln Olivetti - Ginga

12. Silvio Cesar - A Festa

13. Gilberto Gil - Palco

14. Jorge Ben - Oe Oe

15. Gal Costa - Bahia Da Todas As Contas

16. Cristina Camargo - Moral Tem Hora

17. Sergio Mendes - After Sunrise

18. Tamba Trio - Pregao

19. Dori Caymii - Gabriella's Song

20. Filo - Baiao Para A Sul

21. Orlando & Patricia - Num Dia Azul

22. Rosa Passos - Fossamba 70

23. Trama - Paciencia

24. Quintessencia - Cravo E Canela

25. Milton Nascimento - Club Da Esquinha No.2

26. Milton Nascimento - Fe Cega Faca Amolada

27. Ceu Da Boca - Bumba Meu Boi

28. Egberto Gismonti - Janela De Ouro

29. Dom Um Romao - The Angels

30. Marcelo - Algo No Ar

31. Da Lata - Ronco Da Cuica (Allstars Live Version)

A damp, dank and overcast Sunday in London, feeling that atmospheric pressure, a bit of a low, trying too keep my head above the clouds all the same. I was wondering what kind of Cosmic Jam I'd be assembling for later on when I get a phone call from If Music's Jean Claude Thompson, informing me that the legendary Wayne Henderson had passed away…. now I didn't want to get ensnared in a debacle like the recent misreporting of Horace Silver's demise. However it soon transpired that the news had come via Bobbi Humphrey's Facebook page and a kindred Texas musician was unlikely to be dealing with rumours, so it was true, another phenomenal talent had passed away. It strikes me as I write this once again that every time such a figure departs this mortal coil, we are all the more impoverished, gradually we're losing a generation of musicians who came through the travails of a very different America, steeped in the traditions of the Deep

South, in the music of the church, and in the pioneering spirit of jazz in the post bop years, it was a unique pedigree that the likes of Wayne Henderson brought to bear on the world of music, both as a player and as a producer.

So there are no words that can express the sense of loss, when you consider Henderson's legacy, it's just too staggeringly immense, from the young Jazz Crusader playing righteous hard bop for Dick Bock's Pacific Jazz label (the flip side to the clichéd image of West Coast "cool jazz") to the producer of so many great albums for his At-Home Productions stable, Wayne Henderson is definitely up there in the pantheon of the greats, a gargantuan contribution to the history of Black music.

Perhaps his decision to leave the Crusaders at the height of their success was telling, though Henderson had definitely made his mark as a composer and player, being a part of a group with two other writers was maybe too limited and the challenges and rewards of the producer's role definitely lured Henderson down a different path. I think his phenomenal success in that respect during a golden period in the latter half of the seventies is testimony to the man's spirit, nobody makes such great music without the love, his obvious ability to nurture younger musicians and to harness the right energy in the studio is born out by the results, a peerless string of albums that sums up the period perhaps better than any other body of work. From the funky jams of Pleasure through fusion and jazz-funk to the soulful shades of Side Effect and others, the sound of At-Home productions, always brimming with fine arrangements and great playing pivoting on rhythm tracks that are second to none. So many of those rhythm tracks were laid down by the core of Pleasure, with Bruce Carter and Nathaniel Phillips' phenomenal bass and drums underpinning proceedings, it was just one of those things that was meant to be. However even the productions that don't feature that particular dream team still feature some serious depth in the foundations, Henderson knew how to build a tune, and the importance of groove.

So his career kind of nose dived in the eighties, which I think in time will prove providential for his reputation, the At-Home production sound was never polluted by the changes to the sonic aesthetic that came to the fore in that decade. When one picks up an album that bears the legend of the At-Home moniker there's a guarantee of a warm analogue sound and a rich soulfulness, I can't think of a better epithet to sum up his legacy.

Of course Henderson was a brilliant player, and a composer of some great "down home" tunes, and even that aspect of his work would rank as a phenomenal achievement, however his productions spin the legacy skyward and beyond, the man was stellar.

1. Wayne Henderson & Freedom Sounds - Behold The Day

2, The Jazz Crusaders - The Young Rabbits

3. The Crusaders - Alekesam

4. The Jazz Crusaders - Sunset in Mountains

5. Wayne Henderson - Lady Bug

6. Monk Montgomery - Fuselage pt 2

7. Pleasure - Straight Ahead

8. Bobby Lyle - The Genie

9. Gabor Szabo - Misty Malarky Yin Yang

10.The Jazz Crusaders - Time Has No Ending

11. Gabor Szabo - Gloomy Day

12. Chico Hamilton - Mysterious Maiden

13. Father's Children - Hollywood Dreaming

14. The Crusaders - Keep That Same Old Feeling

15. Allspice - Hungry Fore Your Love

16. Wayne Henderson - Dancin' Love Affair

17. Smoke - What Goes Around Comes Around

18. Side Effect - Always There

19. Esther Phillips - S.O.S.

20. Roy Ayers & Wayne Henderson - For Real

So we are definitely feeling the coming of Spring, the greening of the Earth now easily visible, the blossom on the trees, the energy builds, the coming of new life, the breath of the universe. Well this is the Cosmic Jam, what do you expect, a treatise on the benefits big pharma? No we're dedicated to a more holistic approach in case you hadn't realised. I for one am certainly feeling the benefits of a change of diet recently and adopting an even healthier lifestyle, not that I was wallowing in a trough of fast food and bad habits before!! Does this have an effect on The Cosmic Jam… well I hope a beneficial one if any. Positivity abounds at Forge towers of late, and we're enjoying the music more than ever, I suppose if anything I've had a bit of soulful renaissance, in that it's the SOUL that's tipping my balance, but JAZZ is still there in abundance, perhaps in the not too dim and distant I'll do a dedicated Jazz Jam just to renew my faith.

Not that Jazz doesn't gets look in in this week's selection far from it, in fact I programmed a distinctly jazztastic left turn early on in proceedings as I didn't want to get caught up in House music, though I really did want to play the Kyodai remix of Shuya Okino's "Still In Love" which kicks things off after a little acapella affirmation from The Peech Boys. So after that blast of jazz infused club energy, we get the rugged tenor of Bob Berg, the smooth but textured vibes of The Expansions and the invigoratingly fresh Agora Ensemble to complete a first section that definitely holds up the jazz content of this week's show.

Brazilian music is so close to my heart and most of the qualities that I admire are present in the Ivan Lins tune "Quadros De Roda" the swing of the Samba is all pervasive, just listen to Lins' piano and imagine how difficult it is to play like that, it's not complicated but the feel, and that word again, swing, are sublime. Melody is also paramount and I love the vocal chorus. So We gets little funkier with a Gal Costa tune from her much ignored but undeniably brilliant eighties period. I had a little exchange with Rainer Truby about these tunes during the week so I was very happy to expand my collection with a copy of her Minha Voz album acquired for a fairly nominal sum, and I soon zoomed in on Musa Cabocla with it's slightly Steely Dan-esque horns and rippling rhythm section. In a world where AOR/ Yacht Rock has suddenly become a hip new sound, (some would say scraping the barrel in search of rare grooves) such Brazilian lushness as this Gal tune is vastly preferable to my ears than some of the obscure bits that are currently changing hands for silly sums.

However I have lately developed a penchant for Hawaiian rare groove/soul/ folk-funk, call it what you will there's a distinct flavour to the island's music that I've picked up through my love of Seawind, the band that justifiably crossed over into the US mainstream and various CD reissues that I've picked up in Japan. Seawind, led by the drummer and prolific songwriter Bob Wilson with his wife Pauline on vocals, coupled with the musical wherewithal of Larry Williams and that killer horn section, are definitely way up there in my estimation and not just for their bona fide jazz-dance classics "He Loves You" and "Free", though "Devil Is A Liar" is attune that's always had plays and props from the London cognoscenti, it ticks all the boxes and then some for that Hawaiian sound, like a boogie tune infused with gospel and folk vibes played by a killer jazz-funk ensemble, so good to hear that again. The Nohelani Cypriano tune that follows was a highlight of the recent Floating Points/Love On The Run session at Plastic People, every time I hear that intro I just melt!!

Tavares are a band I've studiously ignored through the years, however that all changed when I heard "Ridin High" recently, reminiscent of The Natural Four, it's pedigree vocal harmony business. The Mighty Clouds Of Joy's album was something I bought on spec recently instinctively knowing it would have the kind of gospel-boogie that "Glow Love" turned out to be. Tarika Blue's classic "Truth Is The Key" closes the first hour, just remembering the joy when I first got my grubby mitts on a copy of that album raises a smile now!! I was so obsessed with James Mason's Rhythm Of Life album when I heard about (kind of related) Tarika Blue I went nuts until I eventually connected with a copy! Memories… but the music still sounds great.

Some new Jazz worthy of the Cosmic Jam's high standards, and you know I wouldn't kick off the second half of the show with any old rubbish, takes us off into that mesmeric territory that in many ways was first mapped out by the great Sun Ra. Nick Woodmansey aka Emanative who produced Collocutor's "Archaic Morning" is a huge Sun Ra fan and space-jazz evangelist, and for my money he's getting closer and closer to a sound that genuinely embodies that incredible heritage whilst also having a contemporary twist. Archaic Morning is properly tranced out, a good way to drop into another great track from Melanie De Biasio's excellent No Deal, The Flow is deeper than deep, so much so we had to brighten up after that darkening of the mood. And Greetje Kaufeld's version of the devotional "Day By Day" from the gospel rock opera Godspell is one that I adore with it's bonkers big band arrangement . Michael Gregory Jackson's albums are just the kind of left footed soulful music that always fell between the cracks of most tastes back in the day, (as did so much great music, I can remember throwing way Rotary Connection and Lou Bond albums when I worked for Reckless Records in the late eighties because they's been reduced all the way down to 50p and still no takers!) These days these kind of artists are better appreciated for the way in which they threw together so many influences, I love the MGJ's Heart ANd Center album and "Lovin You" just gets better for me, kind of like an East Coast Shuggie Otis. Had to pull out the Dave Valentin album The Hawk, to touch down on "We'll Make Love" with Angela Bofill on vocals, the pair had worked together since being involved in Ricardo Marrero's groups, and you can't mess with the production values of the GRP label, the sound is impeccable, and of course the players Dave Grusin brought through from the jamaica Queens posse, Marcus Miller, Dennis Chambers, Don Blackman, Bernard Wright, wow , what a stable!! Esther Marrow's "Ask Me To Dance" is another fine tune, written and arranged by Bobby Scott whose credits are as impressive as anyone's in the history of popular music. This is the man who wrote " A Taste Of Honey" and "He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother" , ooof!

So by way of a finale I had to start with a tune that I've had lurking around for a while, but not found a way to play, as it's not the kind of thing that sits easily in most types of Cosmic Jam sequence. However Pat Williams "Joy Joy" is a beautifully bonkers piece of orchestrated funk that definitely deserved an airing, so I goaded myself into it by posting a picture of the cover on Instagram beforehand!! Following on with a bona fide rare groove classic from 9th Creation, and a favourite from Caldera, the ever impressive "Sky Islands", before we land on "Do You Want To Dance" from Jim Messina's rather wonderful Oasis album which also takes me back to early days of The Cosmic Jam, I've only just re-acquired this on vinyl, it's proper West Coast, Steely Dan at the disco business… time to go before I get carried away. Hope you enjoy the music.

May I remind you about a little session well worth investigating….

https://www.facebook.com/events/609272492453291/

1. NYC Peech Boys - Life Is Something Special (Acapella)

2. Shuya Okino ft Navasha Deya - Still In Love (Kyodai Remix)

3. Bob Berg - Shapes

4. The Expansions - Lavender

5. Agora Ensemble - Vila Madalena

6. Ivan Lins - Quadras De Roda

7. Gal Costa - Musa Cabocla

8. Seawind - The Devil is a Liar

9. Nohelani Cypriano - Lihue

10. Tavares - Ridin High

11. Mighty Clouds Of Joy - Glow Love

12. Tarika Blue - Truth Is the Key

13. Collocutor - Archaic Morning

14. Melanie De Biasio - The Flow

15. Greetje Kaufeld - Day By Day

16. Michael Gregory Jackson - Lovin' You

17. Esther Marrow - Ask Me To Dance

18. Pat Williams - Joy Joy

19. 9th Creation - Much Too Much

20. Caldera- Sky Islands

21. Jim Messina - Do You Want To Dance

22. MUV - Torte De Chocolate

By popular demand.

No more nostalgia!!

All killer no filler!!

Big love

P.

Eddie Kendricks - My People Hold On

Moodymann - The Thief That Stole My Sad Days - Ya Blessin’ Me

Alison David - Dreams Come True

Louie Vega ft. Raul Midon - Cerca De Mi

Freil - West Of Motebe (restless soul sonic mix)

Sylvia St. James - Motherland

New Sector Movements - Feel The Spirit (Afro History pt.2)

Reel People - Second Guess

Donald Byrd - Wind Parade

Steely Dan - Peg

Billie Holiday - You’ve Changed

Herbie Hancock - Tell Me A Bedtime Story

Raphael Saadiq - Skyy, Can You Feel Me?

Kamaal The Abstract - Even If It Is So

Marvin Gaye - Where Are We Going?

Mos Def - Umi Says

Maze - Twilight

Larry Heard - Missing You

J- Live - Them That’s Not

Roni Size - Daylight

Kaidi Tatham ft Carleen Anderson - Rideaway Getaway

Stevie Wonder - Too High

The Jackson 5 - It’s Great To Be Here

Thanks to the vagaries of jet-lag, I'm penning this little missive from Okinawa where it's hotter than July and I'm spending time with my daughter which fills me with glee.

It's been a very hectic few days/weeks and I'm glad to be having a break from music for at least a wee while, but of course I'm coming back to London via Tokyo and I'm relishing the opportunity to be playing at my favourite club once again. I'm a fan of Shibuya's The Room not just because the proprietor, Shuya Okino, is a great friend, but because it really is the best little club in the world, with little being the operative word!

So before bailing out for a break I managed to gather my resources for a tribute to George Duke, who sadly passed away on August 5th. I contemplated for a while whether this selection should take up the whole two hours, or just be a section of the show. However on reflection George Duke has touched me so deeply with some of his music over the years that really it was a no-brainer; yet a tribute to George could easily have been two hours of fusion and synth solos with little to distinguish between one track and the next. So hopefully I've avoided that trap whilst still dishing up plenty of Duke flying free on his ARP Odyssey!

George Duke was perhaps a reluctant fusioneer, and if it wasn't for the influence of the likes of Frank Zappa and Flora Purim he might never have embraced electronic keyboards with such gusto. In fact he once recounted how he was horrified on one occasion in his early career when he turned up for a gig with Jean Luc Ponty to find there was no real piano just a Fender Rhodes. It was an important gig, with many influential peers in attendance, suffice to say that his performance on electric piano on that occasion set him off on that "electric jazz" road, and he barely paused to look back until the latter days of his recording career when his prowess on the piano once again came to the fore.

However as a fully fledged member of a coterie of musicians who really defined the sound of fusion in the early seventies, Duke was a vital force in those experimental, pioneering days and it could easily be argued,(indeed I might even insist!) that his work with Flora Purim and AIrto during this period produced some of the most definitive and enduring music of the era. The fluidity of the Brazilian rhythmic feel and the participation of the likes of Joe Henderson in those recordings stopped the music from keeling over into the kind of hollow bombast that is sometimes the trademark of the kind of fusion which might also be described as Jazz-Rock. To anyone who really listens to Duke's playing they'll know that it is something of a misnomer to apply a term like Jazz-Rock to his work, as his roots are definitely deep within the blues and gospel traditions that informed most jazzers growing up in the sixties, and overall his music is just too soulful to fit such an epithet. However I've heard it said of Duke and really it's just lazy journalism and ignorance that informs such opinions.

George Duke met Airto and Flora Purim whilst with Cannonbal Adderley's band, and was inspired by a trip to Brazil with that ensemble. The resulting album "The Happy People",produced by David Axelrod, is a major disappointment , awful sonically and pretty incoherent musically it's an important record only in that it marks the inception of their relationship that would go on to bloom on albums like Flora's "Stories To Tell", "Moon Dreams" and "That's What She Said", and in turn Flora and Airto would guest on Duke's early solo recordings and be a vital part of his homage "A Brazilian Love Affair", when Duke eventually returned to Brazil to make his own record there and record with the artist whose music had so affected him on his first visit, Milton Nascimento. However that Brazilian influence kept bubbling through Duke's music over the years and though he admitted to also being influenced by Earth Wind and Fire in the late seventies, they themselves had also taken on that same influence. So in some ways it's better to picture their trajectories in parallel as they both found great ways to translate the harmonic and rhythmic wellspring of Brazil into their music. Perhaps there's some poetic justice in the fact that eventually George Duke would produce tunes written by Earth Wind And Fire's keyboard maestro Larry Dunn, (Dee Dee Bridgewater's version of "Tequila Mockingbird" and Dianne Reeves "Sky Islands") such are the similarities between them.

Ironically Duke's biggest hit with Afro American audiences, "Dukey Stick" was the kind of funk workout his consummate band were more than capable of with the mighty Ndugu behind the kit, but it had none of the harmonic sophistication or soulful splendour that is the essence of his music. So here's two hours of George Duke that delves deeply into his lyrical piano playing and his distinctive voice on solo synthesiser as well as his role as producer, arranger and collaborator, a composer of rare power and a musician of infinite grace.

1. George Duke - My Soul

2. The Third Wave - Maiden Voyage

3. George Duke - Jeanine

4. Flora Purim - Casa Forte

5. George Duke - Diamonds

6. Miles Davis - Backyard Ritual

7. George Duke - Let Your Love Shine

8. George Duke - Say That You Will

9. George Duke - Malibu

10. George Duke - Brazilian Sugar

11. George Duke - The Way I Feel

12. George Duke - Dream Weaver

13. George Duke - Feels So Good

14 George Duke - Stones Of Orion

15. George Duke - Feel

16. George Duke - Someday

17. George Duke - Omi (Fresh Water)

18. Dianne Reeves - Sky Islands

19. George Duke - Brazilian Love Affair

20. George Duke - I Want You For Myself

In the wake of the great jazz trumpeter's death I'd been a little dismayed that Donald Byrd was being celebrated by my Facebook friends mainly for the his 70's recordings with the Mizell Brothers. Of course these are all amazing tunes, and I love them as intensely as anyone. Way back in the 90s I was asked by Blue Note Japan to choose an album from the catalogue for re-release in Japan, and I chose Places ANd Spaces, at a time when the Mizell Brothers recordings had not yet gained the formidable reputation they deservedly have today. However Donald Byrd had already enjoyed a prodigous career that went back to 1955, almost twenty years before he stepped in the studio with the fusion pioneers. So it was my intent to play a greater breadth of Byrd's works on the show whilst not ignoring his later crossover material. I'd even lined up "Lovin' You" and "Love Has Come Around" for the closing sequence. However I arrived at the studio and launched into my selection following the usual bit of banter with messrs Allen and Hale of The Wildstyle, only to discover about twenty minutes in, that not only had I left those two anthemic twelves back in Kentish Town but that also my back-up cd on which I thought I'd burned some more of his classics was actually blank! So if you hear a note of panic in my voice round about "Elijah", that's why!

No worries, I had plenty of original Byrd vinyl and a bunch of CDs to cover my losses, however what my "space cadet" forgetfulness meant was that the show became just a bit more "hardcore", in fact I ended up playing hardly any of Byrd's most celebrated works, and that I regard as being providential! Everything happens for a reason.

My only regret was that without those two tunes for the last half hour I wasn't able to naturally plug this Saturday's If Music session at Plastic People, "Love Is In The Air,And In The Titles". But there you go If Music presents a post Valentine's celebration of "love" records, strictly vinyl featuring Myself , If's Jean Claude Thompson and Budgie from Honest Jons, Saturday 16th, Plastic People!!

So two hours of Byrd which focusses on the jazz musician and composer ( though he didn't actually write any of the tunes he's best known for), and I talk a bit about his role as an educator and perpetual student. Definitely something of a polymath, Donald Byrd was one of the last few jazzers who connects with that post-bop tradition, there's only the likes of Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter and Ahmad Jamal left and maybe a few more but a rapidly dwindling coterie of jazz legends. However his career, and the choices he made, stand as a testament to a a great man who had an ability to reach out communicate, educate and involve way beyond his role as a jazz musician.

Spanning from his 57 recording with Gigi Gryce through to a lovely tribute tune from 95, Ahmad Jamal's "Big Byrd", basically a dialogue betwwen two of my favourite ever players, this Is Donald Byrd.

R.I.P.

1.Donald Byrd&Johnny Cole with The Duke Pearson Quintet - Sudel

2.Onward Tl Morning

3.Fancy Free

4 Elijah

5.Donald Byrd and Gigi Gryce - Elgy

6.Ghana

7.Shangri-La

8.Fufu

9.Cristo Redentor

10.Ahmad Jamal ft. Donald Byrd - Big Byrd

11.I Love The GIrl

12 Flight Time

13.The Blackbyrds - The Baby

14.Donald Byrd&Booker Little -Wee Tina

15.Solomon Ilori- Gbogbo Omo Ibile (Going Home)