It's probably just as well that when I received the audio file of this week's show the bit at the beginning about having a cup of medicinal mushrooms to drink (chaga), was missing. Of course this was a source of much hilarity to Ross Allen, and nuff jokes abounded in the studio about Cosmic Jam/mushrooms/magic/hippies, which begs the question, am I? A hippy, that is... well I do drink medicinal mushrooms, am more or less vegan, love a bit of yoga/chi gong/meditation, however I don't wear tie-dye, smoke weed, or say "cosmic" much except in the context of the show. Hippies, if such a concept or subcultural group makes any sense in this day and age doubtless do come in many guises, and who's to say what kind of music they should like? In my experience a lot of those who ostensibly advocate the modern version of the "hippy" credo have pretty awful taste in music...psi-trance? Dodgy ambience with clichéd beats? It may be "cosmic", but it also lacks the soul and expansiveness that I search for in life and music. So what do I mean by cosmic? I've always thought of it as referencing Clinton's "Cosmic Slop"and the whole sic-fi, space obsessed vein that runs through music from Sun Ra to Earth Wind And Fire etc, that and the idea that the radio/airwaves/ether is a much more metaphysical space than the dance-floor, a space where music should necessarily and logically be more expansive. However my tastes also have a more terrestrial bent, I don't just spiral off into galactic reveries, at least not all the time!
I very much doubt that I'm the best judge of my radio shows, after all they're not really for me. Having said that if I'm not pleasing myself the whole thing would be a fairly pointless exercise, after all the time that I've been in the game, I'd like to declare that I'm not really "in the game"; I'm just doing my thing, and I hope in doing so it reaches a few sympathetic ears and touches the odd soul. All I can say is that for whatever reasons, this particular Cosmic Jam pleased me more than most, maybe it's the balance of the tunes, the way I felt, the fact that I'd noticed the first stirrings of Spring that day, who knows?
What I do know is that it kicks off with a cosmic nugget from Joe Claussell and Stefan Prescott's Spiritual Life which was undoubtedly one of my favourite labels during a period when I took much more interest in house music than I dip these days. The "Kuniyuki" remix of Slam Mode's "Pacifica" is certainly something of latter day hippy anthem, suitably expansive and a nice way to set up the show. Staying with newness for the first sequence there's more from The Rebirth, Rhonda Thomas, Native Dancer, and Ben Cox Band, all providing reasons to be cheerful and optimistic about the state of new music. Which is not something I'm feeling when I try to get with the latest crop electronic artists, but it's not for me to shout "emperor's new clothes"....
The point I was trying to make about Mark Murphy's interpretation of Michel Colombier and Paul Williams "We Could Be Flying", (Williams also penned the words to We've Only Just Begun, so one might surmise he was something of an optimist!). The tune, which I've always loved, can certainly sound bombastic in the wrong hands, but Murphy brings such fluidity and looseness to proceedings he avoids those traps, and by underplaying the message he possibly nails the quintessential version. Another vocal gem follows, the album produced by (Jamaican born) Esmond Edwards, a man whose career is not often celebrated but whose credentials would rank him way up there amongst the greatest, is by Gloria Lynne, a vocalist who's career again had an enormous span and range, this version of "Out Of This World" is funky, fun, soulful and impeccably arranged. Following glorious Gloria, more lush female vocals from Flora Purim who at this time in the mid eighties was sounding beyond wonderful, her innate Brazilian swing and sweetness embellished by a seasoned huskiness. "Jogral" was written by the incredible José Neto, a Hendrix-like guitar genius who featured heavily in Airto and Flora's bands around this period. I saw Neto perform alongside Airto and Flora with the band Fourth World several times, and his playing never ceased to amaze and inspire. Grupo Afro Cuba Havana, a progressive Cuban outfit licenced to a European label, come with the fusion tinged but authentically lovely "Maria", Kahil El Zabaar I say plenty about on the show, and the Bill English tune "7th Ave Bill" is the kind of Jazz that needs little in the way of explanation, proper.
The second hour kicks off with the Detroit Escalator Company's "Twilight Finding", a collaboration between DEC's Neil Ollivierra and Ayro, which may have been DEC's last release (2006), which is sad because Neil Ollivierra made some sumptuously gorgeous music under the DEC moniker.
Matthew Halsall never fails to establish a great atmosphere on his recordings, they are conceptually almost flawless, and his treatment of Alice Coltrane's "Journey In Satchidananda" weighs in with the acoustic bass wringing every last drop of heaviness from that timeless line, and follows through with some beautiful flute work, and trumpet from the man himself. Independent and beautifully odd jazz follows in the shape of Jerry Granelli's "Aslan", bass-line heavy once again, as is Lani Hall's version of Lesley Duncan's "Love Song". Keeping the bass but getting supremely analogue synth (you don't get any better than T.O.N.T.O) Malcolm Cecil produced some of Gil Scott Heron's best work bringing his brand of sonic expertise into play, and the combination of that mellifluous synth bass and Gil's redoubtably upbeat "Better Days Ahead" is truly lovely.
Last half hour veers between Latin tinged soulfulness and plain funkiness, the rare, the overlooked, the new and old all forming a fitting finale to a show which floated my boat. I hope it doesn't sink yours!!
Peace, love, and medicinal mushrooms..
P.x
1. Slam Mode - Pacifica (Kuniyuki Takahashi remix)
2. Native Dancer - Until Frida Speaks
3. Rhonda Thomas - Oh Yay
4. Ben Cox Band - Either Or
5. The Rebirth - Halfway
6. Mark Murphy - We Could Be Flying
7. Gloria Lynne - Out Of this World
8. Flora Purim & Airto - Jogral
9. Grupo Afro Cubana Havana - Maria
10. Kahil El Zabaar Quartet - What It Is
11. Bill English - 7th Ave Bill
12. Detroit Escalator Company - Twilight Finding
13. Matthew Halsall's Gondwana Orchestra - Journey In Satchidanada
14. Jerry Granelli -Aslan
15. Lani Hall - Love Song
16. Gil Scott-Heron - Better Days Ahead
17. Mario Castro Neves - Subtle Chemistry
18. Ondrea Duverney - You What It's Like
19. Pacific Eardrum - Man Of Mystery
20. Boris Gardner - Ghetto Funk
21. Chocolate Milk - Spread A Little Love
22. Bobby Humphrey - Sunset Burgundy
23. The Rebirth - Caterpillar
24. Foreign Exchange - Take Off The Blues (live)
