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Saturday 15th March, 5:00 PM – House of Hard Bop. In part 1 of a triptych, you will hear a live recording of Jimmy Raney from 1976: The Complete Jimmy Raney in Tokyo (Xanadu). In the concert hall, a concentrated and enthusiastic Japanese audience. Raney enjoyed the positive atmosphere and the hospitable environment. He also considered this performance to be one of his very best. Most of the pieces have a trio line-up, with bassist Sam Jones and drummer Leroy Williams. In two pieces, the trio is expanded with altoist Charles McPherson and pianist Barry Harris. The second broadcast will be dedicated to his son Doug Raney (1956-2016), with recordings for the Steeplechase label. And in the third episode we hear them together: Stolen Moments on Steeple Chase and Raney ’81 on Criss Cross. The New York Times described Jimmy Raney (1927-1995) as “one of the most gifted and influential postwar jazz guitarists of the world.” Raney was certainly no beginner in 1976. In the 1950s he played with Red Norvo and Stan Getz. His music was recorded on dozens of records, many of them under his own name. In the late 1960s he declined somewhat, but then came back strongly. He started working with his son Doug, also a guitarist. With the rise of fusion and rock, difficult times dawned for bop-oriented jazz, but Japan remained stabley jazz-minded during that period. Americans were received with great enthusiasm and respect. Live in Tokyo was a three-artist concert series. Pianist Barry Harris, altoist Charles McPherson and Raney were the frontliners, bassist Jones and drummer Williams the regular accompanists. Jimmy Raney had written quite a few pieces himself, but here he chose standards from the Great American Songbook, perhaps to accommodate the Japanese – and his accompanists. He also limited the playing time per piece, to a maximum of five minutes. His concentration is on the long melody lines – chord work is minimal. 1 How about You 2 Darn that Dream 3 Anthropology 4 Watch what Happens *) 5 Just Friends 6 Autumn Leaves 7 Stella by Starlight (Raney solo)) 8 Here’s that Rainy Day 9 Groovin’ High 10 Blue ’n’ Boogie The last two pieces increase the dynamics: altoist Charles McPherson and pianist Barry Harris join the trio. House of Hard Bop – Eric Ineke *) Watch what Happens (in French: Recit de Cassard) falls somewhat outside the standard list. It is a composition by Michel Legrand, from the French film Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (1964). The special and unique thing about this film, starring twenty-year-old Catherine Deneuve: everything is sung, no spoken word. Recommended!

Saturday March 1, 20:00 CET – Behind the Dikes. This broadcast is dedicated to the long career of drummer Eric Ineke. His hard-hitting jazz life is still in full bloom. In this hour you will hear music from the last 25 years of his now 60-year career: two formations with David Liebman; a trio with saxophonist Doug Webb and bassist Marius Beets; a group with vibraphonist Steve Nelson and bassist Joris Teepe, and music by his own band Eric Ineke JazzXpress.

22 Feb 2025, 16:00 CET – The Great American Songbook. The name Dave Brubeck immediately generates a few associations: his quartet with Paul Desmond, the altoist with the unique, velvety sound; Take Five, “the highest-selling jazz single of all time” and a few other pieces in irregular time signatures – Blue Rondo à la Turk, Unsquare Dance. Those time signatures, 5/4, 7/4, were a novelty in jazz. But Brubeck’s composition book contains more than two hundred titles! His wife, Iola, also wrote lyrics for some of his compositions.

Saturday 15th February, 17:00 – House of Hard Bop. You will hear two remaining pieces from Speak Like a Child.*) Then the complete album The Prisoner, from 1969. This concept album, dedicated to Martin Luther King who was assassinated in 1968, goes a few steps further than its predecessor, Speak Like a Child. The horn section has been expanded, and is not limited to an ensemble on the sidelines of the pieces. The arrangements are more complex, and some horns make themselves heard individually in boiling solo work. In The Prisoner – his last recording for Blue Note Records – Hancock has raised his ambitions to great heights, and given them shape. He calls this work a “social statement written in music.” The cycle opens in a calm tempo with I have a Dream. The title is a well-known quote from a speech by Martin Luther King. After the intro, the wind ensemble is given plenty of space. Solos by piano and flugelhorn follow. Bass and drums provide intensive accompaniment. The third solo, by tenorist Henderson, further increases the tension created. The final panel is a broadly fanned-out ensemble. The tension rises, and the atmosphere bends towards negatively charged emotion in The Prisoner. The repeated, dissonant wind chords bore in compellingly. Another form of repetition sounds in the bass – a short ostinato motif in five-quarter time. Various, broadly developed episodes alternate, without loss of intensity. The axis Williams (bass) and Heath (drums) whip things up considerably. Bassist Buster Williams is the composer of Firewater. Hancock arranged it. In terms of theme, tension and form, this piece is somewhat calmer, but the successive solos – sax, flugelhorn, trombone, piano, bass – raise the temperature. He Who Lives in Fear musically matches the title, and, via the ensembles at the beginning and end, recaptures the atmosphere of Prisoner. The central section is a long solo by Hancock in trio formation. Promise Of the Sun has a similar form. The music of these two concept albums by Herbie Hancock would be called, in the language of classical music, ‘programme music’. The composer’s main idea is an extra-musical element . This concerns instrumental music, without text: The Four Seasons by Vivaldi, the Pastoral Symphony by Beethoven, Dante Sonata by Franz Liszt, Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss, Finlandia by Sibelius. A characteristic of good programme music is that it remains good music, even if the title or the program is unknown, or the listener doesn’t care much. And, does Herbie Hancock’s music stand up straight if we ignore the program/titles, that whole M.L. King story? Speak Like a Child 1.Goodbye to Childhood 2.The Sorcerer The Prisoner 3.I Have a Dream 4.The Prisoner 5.Firewater 6.He Who Lives in Fear 7.Promise of the Sun The Prisoner line-up Johnny Coles – flugelhorn. Garnett Brown – trombone. Joe Henderson – tenor sax, alto flute. Tony Studd and Jack Jeffers – bass trombone. Hubert Laws – flute. Jerome Richardson – bass clarinet, flute. Romeo Penque – bass clarinet. Buster Williams – bass. Tootie Heath – drums. *) *) Click for the news item about the Herbie Hancock Sextet (1) *) Click for the broadcast of Herbie Hancock Sextet (1) House of Hard Bop – Eric Ineke Feedback sturen