DESERT ISLAND DISCS — Spike Wells

Becalmed musicians on social media are daily selecting (or nominating others to select) on social media their favourite albums.

On this website I thought I would go for the old-fashioned – Roy Plumley era -Desert Island Discs “choice” of “eight gramophone records” to take with me into permanent isolation (a chilling thought right now) on a mythical island.

Well I guess it would originally have been 78s, of which I have a few from the stash which Chris Barber brought back from the States and which were sold by Ray Smith from his shop. Savoy and DeeGee originals from the 40s and early 50s! But I’ve got nothing to play them on these days.

So let’s make it individual LP tracks:

(1) LOODLELOT from Walter Davis jnr’s DAVIS CUP

This is the most artfully constructed 28-bar composition by Davis himself, with beautiful melody and harmonies. It captivated me on first hearing.

(2 )MANTECA from DIZZY AT NEWPORT.

Dizzy’s late 50s big band at its most exciting. I almost picked COOL BREEZE, the roaring closer with Billy Mitchell on tenor but MANTECA edges it , from the opening chant of I’ll never go back to Georgia to Charlie Persip’s electrifying drumming to Dizzy’s soaring trumpet.

(3 )HONEYSUCKLE ROSE from Benny Goodman’s 1938 Carnegie Hall concert.

It’s a big band jam and my man Lester Young kicks off with two superlative choruses. There follows a long procession of other soloists but, if you are patient enough to listen all through, Lester takes a magnificent middle eight on the last chorus as well!

(4 )SMILE, STACEY from Stanley Turrentine’s THAT’S WHERE IT’S AT.

Les McCann is on piano. I am well aware that Les lacks much pianistic technique or harmonic sophistication but I’ve always dug the early 60s soul jazz fad and he certainly swings. Mark Edwards, a highly skilled pianist, loves this tune too and we have played it together. I ordered the record as an import from the States in 1962 when I was a 16 year old schoolboy. It took about two months to come, probably by clapped-out freighter across the Atalntic, but when I finally opened the package and played the first track, it was well worth the wait!

(5) AFRO-CHARLIE MEETS THE WHITE RABBIT from ALICE IN JAZZLAND by the Stan Tracey big band.

Almost entirely chosen for Bobby Wellins’s hip and sardonic solo which I know by heart but I also love Stan’s writing and voicings.

(6) JUST IN TIME from Keith Jarrett’s STANDARDS IN NORWAY.

I find Jarrett’s groaning and writhing as irritating as the next man but this trio doesn’t half swing as a well-oiled unit and what I love about this particular impromptu performance are the seemingly endless tags round and round at the end of the last theme statement. Jack De Johnette ups the ante and stokes Jarrett’s fire at this point as things really take off.

(7) LOVER MAN from SONNY MEETS HAWK

This is a bold and utterly successful experiment: Sonny Rollins in his post-“The Bridge”- Mohawk- haircut early 60s style pitted with the old master Coleman Hawkins. The excellent rhythm section is led by the avant-garde Paul Bley. On Lover Man, Bean plays the theme and solos with his unique beauty and authority. Sonny contributes overtones in outer space which fit perfectly. A weird masterpiece.

(8) ORNITHOLOGY a live club recording in New York on May 17th 1950 by Charlie Parker, Fats Navarro and Bud Powell.

probably at Birdland, but never mind eh?

Probably at Birdland, some say at Café Society. Whatever the venue, for me this version of Bird’s take on How high the moon is pure be-bop at its very finest. With powerhouse backing from Curly Russell and Art Blakey, first Bird, then Fats, then Bud solo. To my ears, Fats sounds amazingly creative when you consider that he would die of tuberculosis within a month. But I give the prize for the best solo to Bud Powell who is “all over it”. There follow fours between alto and trumpet in which Bird takes your breath away with his boundless imagination.

SO THERE WE ARE THEN - although choices are random and comparisons invidious - any other day I could easily pick 8 others out of a hat (and I may try again in this slot at a future date).

But on to the last part of the ritual. You are allowed to take the Bible, Shakespeare and a luxury item.

I remember well listening to Ronnie Scott embarrass the Reithian BBC figure of Roy Plumley by declining the Bible or Shakespeare and asking for a life-size inflatable Faye Dunaway doll instead.

Personally I would take the Bible (well I would, wouldn’t I?) but instead of the works of Shakespeare, I’d like a collection of all DASHIELL HAMMETT’s short stories. And as a luxury item - if the laws of nature can be suspended - an inexhaustible supply of well-kept HARVEYS best bitter on hand pump…………………