An artist I’ve always wanted to explore in more detail. This seemed like a good opportunity.

The general feel of the album is less reliance on jazz, as is the case with Soft Machine, but you still can’t escape that very English undercurrent of folk meets jazz, all mixed up with some pretty trippy drugs. His voice sounds an octave too low, but that doesn’t really matter with some of the crazy shit going off around it.

This sounded as though it was a lot of fun to record. Maybe it was an album more for the artist himself than for the audience. There’s still something that fascinates me about Kevin Ayers and I’d love to dig a lot deeper.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐

How can one man who looks like a dork be so soulful? This is classic Van. It’s a sound that he does so well. You start off underrated and then gradually build up the many moving parts that make up a Van Morrison song. In comes a crescendo and Van is in full Van mode. He then dials it down ever so slightly before the horns add to a rousing finish. If only he could dance.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

This kind of rambles on. Yeah sure, he’s proficient but at the time he was also a racist old git. Wonderful Tonight is just absolute overkill. I never want to hear that song ever again. The May You Never cover is uncessary. Some of the more Americana-themed tunes with the female vocals perhaps offer some saving grace, but given what else was happening around 1977 in the UK then this really is a load of steaming old turd.

⭐

GAWD. He doesn’t half make a racket but it’s a glorious racket. This is a return to form for Old Shaky. I’m not sure about the cover of Blowin' in the Wind' but it’s better than ripping off Bob’s version note for note. The album drags on but then again you don’t want a mini album from Neil Young. He needs a little time and space for those guitar solos to flesh themselves out and for his songs to tell the full story. Crazy Horse are a tight as fuck backing band.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Miles at Carnegie Hall. It’s a double CD, natch. Here we have almost two hours of a very young Miles Davis back in 1961 doing his thing at the Carnegie.

It’s a masterpiece in recording with some big players such as Gil Evans, Winton Kelly, and even Jimmy Cobb. I’ll take credit for that, very much.

The playing is just so understated. Miles knows exactly when to hit those high notes, but more than often he is just holding all together with some very gentle sounds coming out of his trumpet.

I listened to this from start to finish this afternoon on one of the hottest days of the year, laying back with a cup of tea in my hand and Miles to soothe me through the afternoon heat. It was bliss.

Inoffensive and ever so slightly whimsical. She’s got a decent voice and can write a catchy tune. Ultimately it’s just not for me. I’m afraid I’m not a middle-aged young mother and so it doesn’t quite speak to my world.

⭐ ⭐

This is such a light and airy album that oozes with positivity. I’m not sure why it’s got the Play The Blues title. It’s clearly uplifting jazz with a little bit of blues guitar balanced in. It’s the kind of record that gets you foot-tapping as Johnny and the Duke both face off to each other. It’s hard to imagine this is over 70 years old. It still sounds like some of the nu London jazz that is being released in 2026. A delightful album.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers with Moanin. This" arrived box fresh and sealed. I wasn’t expecting that.

I couldn’t resist buying this after it was album of the day early in the week. It sells for around £15 to £20. I managed to source a cheap-as-chips version, which makes the box fresh arrival all the more surprising.

I’m being drawn two ways musically right now. The Summer of Prog is still going on, but the jazz nerd within is starting to fight back. You could argue that prog and jazz are just distant cousins that contain something of the original gene.

That’s of course an oversimplification of the many different strands and genres of jazz. I love Art Blakey for the sheer energy and emotion that comes across. His band doesn’t hold back when it comes to either blowing or hitting things.

Moanin' is the perfect song for hazy summer days. It makes me want to sit in the garden and drink endless cups of tea. Art Blakey had the right idea.

Another Saturday morning, another lost album find by the always excellent Late Junction. My morning catch up from the night before led to Late Junction dropping a very laid-back soulful track. It felt very contemporary = think Kiwanuka, with the soulful vibe dialled down even further.

But wait! What’s this?

And so here we have Eugene McDaniels and the rather bonkers Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse album. Late Junction reliably tells me this dates back to 1971. It was something of a lost masterpiece until a recent re-release.

The story goes that Eugene was a minor pop star towards the late 60s. He then took something of a major left-field step and came up with the Headless Heroes Masterpiece.

Late Junction added that the album came under great scrutiny during the fevered days of early 1970s US Conservative politics. Fast forward 2026 and same as it ever was, etc.

There are early elements of funk here but soothing soul holds it all together. After a couple of listens it’s already a companion piece to the equally bonkers Aphrodite’s Child by 666, which I stumbled upon this summer.

Like I said I was born in the wrong decade.

The new album from Beth Orton is something to cherish. The Ground Above carries on from Weather Alive with a voice that feels like it might break down at any moment. She somehow manages to hold it all together. You’re through some of her shared pain along the way.

I really regret missing out on Beth over the past three decades or so. This is her ninth album. All those cliches of being the Comedown Wueen somehow passed me by. Truth be told and I never really came down during those tired and emotional days of living the party lifestyle.

The vocals on The Ground Above are so weathered. There’s some fine jazz musicianship on this album, but it’s the voice that breaks through and remains front of centre.

Somehow Beth Orton has managed to emerge as one of those unique and celebrated British female voices. Sure she’s never going to trouble the charts. This is non-commercial music that is still being allowed to be released and managed by the mainstream.

We should cherish her.