Roger Farbey

Yes, and of course he played with Soft Machine too! A true Canterburyan.

Saxophonist/Flautist Jimmy Hastings has died aged 85. For anyone unfamiliar with his work, he played an important role on the Progressive scene playing on early albums by Caravan and Hatfield And The North's The Rotters Club where he infused the albums with proper jazz solos thus inspiring a whole Prog rock generation to the joys of jazz. Jimmy was a fine and respected player on the British mainstream scene and had of course been a member of Humphrey Lyttelton's bands. RIP Jimmy.

Yes, Ichnos is given a double page spread in Labyrinth. I agree it really needs to be reissued just as Oxley's two albums for CBS were reissued on CD some years ago.

Not for nothing he won top place in the drummer section of the Melody Maker Jazz Polls for four years running (1969-1972). I witnessed him playing with Gordon Beck at the Barry Jazz Summer School. He was phenomenal and electrifying. IMO he was the best drummer the UK has produced. Apparently John McLaughlin employed him on Extrapolation because there wasn't another drummer available who could handle the complex time signatures. He will be sorely missed. RIP Tony.

A new magnus opus by Richard Morton Jack is published in January and looks a fantastic read for those interested in the "Golden Age" of British jazz. Labyrinth - British Jazz On Record 1960-75 more details from the elvinyl website here: www.elvinyl.com

Brian Godding passed on 26 November aged 78. His guitar work was crucial on Mike Westbrook's major albums, Citadel/Room 315, The Cortege and London Bridge Is Broken Down. He started his career playing in Blossom Toes and BB Blunder. He then backed Julie Driscoll followed by contributing to her husband Keith Tippett's Centipede album. He played on one of Westbrook's Solid Gold Cadillac albums, Brain Damage and then played with French prog band Magma and other bands including his long stint with Mike Westbrook. He was a very talented guitarist and will be greatly missed. R.I.P. Brian.

Obit in today's Guardian by John L. Walters... Carla Bley obituary - The Guardian

Thanks! That was so funny. Never seen it before. Humour was another vital element of her work.

Damn! One of my favourite musicians and composers. Her brilliant of EOTH is a masterpiece. But her many other timeless recorded works will live on too. R.I.P.

BBC Radio 3 Jazz Record Requests this Sunday, October 8, 2023, 16.00hrs GMT - tribute show to John Marshall. Also will be on BBC Sounds catch-up app.

Thank you! But I would add that John and Pete at Jazz In Britain were instrumental (no pun intended) in getting this 3rd edition out and so professionally too.

John Marshall, best known as drummer with Nucleus and Soft Machine has passed away aged 82. His last studio album Other Doors with Soft Machine was released earlier this year. His contribution to jazz was immense. He played on many significant records including those by Mike Gibbs, Mike Westbrook, John Surman, Graham Collier, Eberhard Weber and Jack Bruce, to name just a few. He will be sorely missed. RIP John.

Thanks! Probably the best purchase you'll ever make!!! 😊

Sorry for the delay in response Sidewinder but I can confirm that the 3rd edition is expanded, up-to-date and includes corrections to errors and omissions that occurred in the previous two editions. I can also say that I don't receive any income from sales of the book since, as with most if not all the JIB products, they are the result of a labour of love promoted by a not for profit organisation. So I can therefore advise that the (extremely good value!) 3rd edition is *definitely* worth forking out for. Plus of course the CD that's included with it. Hope that helps.

Just received this email from Mark at Confront… Yes, all the CDs are mastered in stereo. Some of the earlier tracks were in mono or almost mono, in which case that integrity has been maintained in our stereo master file. (So I’m ordering it forthwith!)

T.D. My findings may take some time as much as I love Skid’s work I’ll only consider purchasing this box if at least 50% is in stereo. I realise many folks actually revere mono but I don’t. Have contacted Confront Recordings re: this question but have not yet had a response.

Mjazzg are any of the six discs recorded in stereo?

Beautiful deconstruction; this less opaque but fascinating still…

Brad Mehldau's new album Your Mother Should Know wraps a collection of Beatles tunes (plus a Bowie number) into one album. Mehldau has been interpreting the Fabs' number for years but only sporadically. Here it is full-on and at times totally fascinating - I Am The Walrus for solo piano anyone. Definitely worth a listen.

Well I would go as far as to say 'great' but very underestimated. Larry is a really talented guitarist who can play superbly in a number of different contexts not just jazz rock and fusion. He played acoustic guitar duets and trios with McLaughlin and has recorded with people as diverse as Stephane Grappelli, Charles Mingus and Michael Mantler. He may not be as well known as McLaughlin and say, Allan Holdsworth, but he is a superb guitarist. One example is on a non-jazz album, just given a limited re-issue on CD, 'Playback' by Appletree Theatre. He plays electric guitar on this and although there are not many guitar solos when they do happen the whole thing just lights up. Jim Pepper used Coryell on Pepper's Pow Wow for much the same reasons I believe.

Nice to see a thread about a great British bass player. I agree that all the others mentioned are also great too and not forgetting that veterans like Jeff Clyne played with the likes of Tubby Hayes. As did Ron Mathewson for whom there is a benefit coming up shortly at the Bull's Head in Barnes.

can you point me towards some specific Nucleus albums to check out with Marshall and Jenkins on them? Thanks for the tip. I know who Nucleus is, but haven't really heard them much. Felser, yeh, the first three Nucleus album all have Marshall and Jenkins on; 'Elastic Rock', 'We'll Talk About it Later' and my personal favourite, 'Solar Plexus' which also features Kenny Wheeler and Harry Beckett amongst others. You can now buy these as two-fers and very good they are too. Check out the full details (discos etc) on the Nucleus website here: http://www.geocities.com/icnucleus/

This is the title of the new debut album by this young tenor saxophonist, which is remarkably good. There is a review of it on the Remember Tubbs website here: Introducing Simon Spillett - Review Simon is no Tubbs copyist though and there are four excellent tracks on the album written by himself. Although not released officially until January copies are available now directly from Simon at his gigs where by all accounts he seems to be shifting quite a few copies.

I went to the Ian Carr Tribute Concert at London's Guildhall School of Music on Tuesday and have posted a review of the concert on the Ian Carr and Nucleus Website here: Ian Carr and Nucleus Website

As part of the London Jazz Festival there will be a tribute concert to the great trumpeter, composer, writer and broadcaster Ian Carr, who has already received two major music awards this year (Parliamentary Jazz Awards and BBC Jazz Awards, both for Services to Jazz). Among those participating will be Julian Joseph who was one of Ian's pupils when Ian was an Associate Professor at the Guildhall School of Music. The concert will comprise of works by Ian Carr and will be held at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama on Tuesday 14th November. Tickets are available to purchase now from The Barbican Centre Box Office and priced at £15.