Jazz mix for John Cumming

I've put together a mix featuring at least one artist I know John worked with, namely Robert Glasper, the rest being some of my own favourite jazz artists and a new discovery - Malcolm Strachan, trumpeter with the Haggis Horns.

Unlike John, I am not very knowledgeable about these people - I just like the music - so I have done a mix rather than a radio show. The most recent track is by Malcolm Strachan from his new release, About Time.

https://www.mixcloud.com/cmbertram/jazz-mix-for-john/

Horace Silver - Cryin' and Sighin'

Cannonball Adderley - Still Talkin' To Ya

Kenny Burrell - Scotch Blues

Dave Milligan - One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)

Scottish Guitar Quartet - After Hours

Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers - A Little Busy

Abdullah Ibrahim - Just A Song

Robert Glasper - Stella By Starlight

Thelonius Monk - Misterioso

Malcolm Strachan - Aline

Colin Steele Quintet - Goodnight John Boy

John Cumming 1948-2020

It is somewhat unreal to read a comment on Twitter from the great jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins about a member of your extended family, admittedly one who has just had his obituary printed in the Guardian newspaper. My mum's cousin John was, by all accounts, a giant in the world of jazz - a highly respected and much loved promoter and founder of the London Jazz Festival. There will be numerous tributes written about him by far better writers than me but I thought I'd write my own memories of the man who was simply cousin John.

John was about 16 years older than me, and like me had gone to school at the Edinburgh Academy. I saw little of him while growing up, unlike his parents who were like grandparents to my sister and I as three of our grandparents had died long before we came into the world. I have very fond memories of his father Robert who was a lovely man with a contagious laugh. But when John was spoken of by my parents there was something rather disapproving in their tone relating to the fact that John had left university and was working at the Traverse theatre. As is so often the case with young people who decide to try and earn a living in the Arts, such a move does often not go down well with their parents' generation. There are usually comments along the lines of, why doesn't he get a proper job and just do this theatre stuff as a hobby? 

Thankfully for the jazz world John ignored such comments and stuck with his love of theatre, subsequently moving down south to Bracknell and then on to London. On the day of his wedding to Ginnie I recall her coming up to me at the reception, which was held at their house in the country, and asking me who I was. From her delighted reaction I guessed that we had met sometime previously but I had changed somewhat since that time. The photos I have of John from those days are limited to their wedding and his mother's surprise 80th birthday party at a hotel somewhere in Wiltshire, this being where his parents moved to after his father had retired from the Health Service. 

I did on occasion stay with them at their house in north London which was always enjoyable though I recall one slightly fraught incident when John accidentally hit his young daughter Kate with a door which he was opening. The poor girl burst into tears and John had that exasperated look on his face that said, "I can't do anything right here." I remember looking in awe at all the cds he had piled up on a table though John was somewhat dismissive of them as he remarked that he would never be able to find the time to listen to them all. Little did I know that I would experience the same thing when I became involved in local radio. Promoters would at times swamp me with new releases that I would struggle to keep on top of but it was a nice problem to have.

John was generous when it came to offering free tickets to family members and on one occasion we met him at the Usher Hall on the Edinburgh date of a Wynton Marsalis tour. I went to the concert with my father who was mainly a fan of the Big Band Era and wasn't sure about many of the younger musicians who John worked with but he enjoyed the Marsalis gig as did I. And when John discovered that I was a fan of Richard Thompson he put me on the guest list for a couple of his gigs. 

It would have been nice to have talked with John more about jazz, especially our shared love of Blue Note Records, but as my wife observed, the times we saw him either at home or at family occasions he was in home mode and more interested in hearing our news or talking about our shared love of cats. But in the last email I received from him, while he was in hospital, he did comment on the fact that I'd recently downloaded a Dave Milligan album of solo piano pieces. He simply said, "Dave Milligan good.... very good."

I'm going to miss you cousin John as will Mr Rollins and countless others in the music world and beyond.

Radio show playlist 15 May

This show features a number of artists who took part in the CCC Festival organised by Ciaran Algar on the weekend of the 9th/10th May. Ciaran had been doing what I think were daily collaborations with other folk musicians in the weeks leading up to the festival and posting them on his Facebook page. 

Jenn Butterworth did a solo set but I've included a couple of tracks from the album she recorded with Laura-Beth Salter as Jenn mainly works with other people rather than as a solo artist. You should be able to find all the sets from the festival on Ciaran's YouTube page. Philip Henry and Hannah Martin are part of the Gigspanner Big Band but they played a set under their own band name of Edgelarks.

You can listen to the show on Mixcloud. 

I included part of Strange Little Girl at the end of the show in tribute to Dave Greenfield who died of Covid-19 recently. 

Jenn & Laura-Beth - Apple at the Crossroads + Elzwick's Farewell
Lukas Drinkwater - Blue Ridge Mountains
Gilmore & Roberts - She Doesn't Like Silence
James J Turner - Kalahari Rain
Katie Spencer - Hello Sun
Findlay Napier - Codliver Oil and the Orange Juice
Gigspanner Big Band - Last Broadcast
Luke Jackson - Eliza Holt
Greg Russell & Ciaran Algar - All Fall Down
Martin Stephenson - Blind Man's Blues
Jenn & Laura-Beth - Come To Jesus
Graham MacKenzie - Night At Glencoe Mills
The Stranglers - Strange Little Girl

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Radio show playlist 1 May

An all American / Canadian line-up on this week's show including two tracks from Cam Penner's excellent album Gypsy Summer. It was hearing a track from this album that put me in touch with his promoter, Geraint Jones, who then introduced me to numerous artists from North America who I would probably never have heard of including Tumbling Bones, Annabelle Chvostek and many, many more. Check out his website - G Promo PR. 

Cam Penner - Driftwood
Gillian Welch - Dark Turn of Mind
Norah Jones - Cold Cold Heart
Carly Dow - Not a Songbird
Kris Kristofferson - In The News
Annabelle Chvostek Ensemble - Some Kinda Love
The Resonant Rogues - Waiting For The Rain
Curtis Eller - Sweatshop Fire
Tumbling Bones - Just Because
Red Molly - 1952 Vincent Black Lightning
Locust Honey String Band - Time Goes So Slow
Steve Earle - Long Lonesome Highway Blues
Rosanne Cash - Tennessee Flat Top Box
Cam Penner - My Lover and I

https://www.mixcloud.com/cmbertram/off-the-beaten-tracks-1-may-2020/

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