bbc jjr and shafi hadi

Did anyone listen to Saturday’s (14 April 2018) Jazz Record Requests on BBC Radio 3?

A listener asked for a track by Hank Mobley and Shafi Hadi, apparently partly out of an interest in discovering what happened to the latter. Could this be a trending enquiry… whatever happened to Shafi Hadi (Curtis Porter)? I’d be interested to hear whether the great British jazz-listening public is able to provide a few nuggets of enlightenment. Hopefully there’ll be a follow up in due course.

The track played was a lovely and archetypical example of Hadi’s alto playing, written by him and titled “Mighty Moe and Joe.” Recorded on 23 June 1957, the track featured Bill Hardman (t) Shafi Hadi (as) Hank Mobley (ts) Sonny Clark (p) Paul Chambers (b) Art Taylor (d). From the Mosaic label album “Complete Blue Note Hank Mobley Fifties Sessions” the track was 6 minutes 57 seconds of pure honeyed-single-malt-and-asparagus delight.

That edition of Jazz Record Requests is available on BBC iPlayer and will be for the next few weeks. Thanks to Alyn Shipton for choosing that listener’s request. And if you know more about Shafi Hadi, please do email to let me know.

radio three jazz podcasts

Lagging behind as usual, I’ve finally stumbled over ‘Jazz Library,” a luscious series of over 100 podcasts produced by BBC Radio 3, most episodes featuring the output of individual musicians or a specific genre or area of jazz.

Each episode runs for about 30 minutes and the format is a narrative by the modestly-spoken Alyn Shipton interspersed with representative extracts of relevant music usually augmented by recorded interviews with the featured musician or by the sometimes lively comments of well-known jazz commentators (my favourite of whom is a sporadic contributor, Brian Priestly).

Apparently as these are podcasts they’re unable to play full tracks, although I’m not sure whether that’s because of intellectual rights or time restrictions, but that doesn’t matter because bear in mind the object (achieved brilliantly) is to whet the appetite with delicacies – and all vital recording details, including album titles, line-ups and dates, are cited during the podcast, and can also be found on the BBC Jazz’s website, so nobody need complain about not being able to track- down treasured pieces if wanting to hear more.

No infuriating adverts, pop-up or otherwise; no lengthy messages from sponsors – and it’s all free. Just download the BBC Radio iPlayer onto your computer or tablet, search for jazz, scroll down to ‘Jazz Library’ and browse through the listings to select your morsel of choice. Oysters and pearls, spring to mind.

Hot Air

A few weeks late again, but I’ve just caught up with the new look BBC Jazz Record Requests. The former presenter, the laconic and languid Geoffrey Smith, has been shuffled to a midnight slot. I’d like to listen to his new programme because I know I’ll enjoy it even more than JRR… but midnight? The last time I was up at midnight was because of a weak bladder. So until I can figure a way to record the programme, I’ll give it a miss.

Alyn Shipton is the new presenter of JRR and presumably he’s been brought in to bring about changes. I’ve always enjoyed change but only when it brings an improvement. As far as I can hear, nothing much has changed with the music. So where are the improvements?

In my opinion, Alyn Shipton does a fair enough job. Mr Smith had a certain special flair and panache, though. He could read the script and make it sound as if he was ad-libbing. And what I really liked about him is that he didn’t just understand jazz - he understood the jazz lover as well. At exactly the right time (i.e. after each track) he would tell us who performed on it and when it was recorded, absolutely essential information for all aficionados.

Now if I want to know, for example, the name of the bassist on Eric Dolphy’s ‘GW’I must go on line and look at the BBC Radio 3 JJR website. I resent that because often I don’t have access to the internet when I’m listening to the radio. The entire experience is therefore marred. I’m not alone in this. Others suffer a similar sense of discographical deprivation.

Personally I believe capital punishment should be the penalty for anyone using the phrase "I have an idea for improvements." Ideas for improvement are the root cause of every ill in the world. And whereas the new look JRR hardly ranks alongside civil war or the abolition of the 11+, the sceptic will be forgiven for feeling that nothing good will come of this 'improvement' to my favourite programme on radio. So unfurl the banner - bring back discographies shall be my mantra.