Jazz Warriors saxophonist Ray Carless has died

Seminal black British 1980s big band Jazz Warriors tenor saxophonist Ray Carless an old school friend of singer Cleveland Watkiss from his Hackney childhood and with whom he appeared on the 2022 release The Great Jamaican Songbook has died at the …

Published: 11 Aug 2022. Updated: 20 months.

Seminal black British 1980s big band Jazz Warriors tenor saxophonist Ray Carless an old school friend of singer Cleveland Watkiss from his Hackney childhood and with whom he appeared on the 2022 release The Great Jamaican Songbook has died at the age of 68 after a battle with cancer. Carless in recent years worked with the Skatalites and Cymande and with lovers rock great Carroll Thompson.

His career straddled funk and he also played with Beggar & Co and Light of The World and with reggae acts such as Black Slate and Janet Kay. With Jazz Warriors he appeared for instance on Out of Many One People the Warriors 1987 Antilles album on the tracks 'Minor Groove' and 'Many Pauses'. And before that he played soprano on Incognito's Jazz Funk 1981 debut album on 'Shine On' among other tracks. Carless was also on Courtney Pine's debut Journey to the Urge Within playing baritone saxophone on 'Miss Interpret' and 'When, Where, How and Why'. As a session player he worked on Adele's 21. BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Dotun Adebayo paid tribute to Carless on today's show.

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Kyoto Jazz Massive, Get Up feat. Roy Ayers Kaidi Tatham remix ****

We don't usually review remixes - the same principle applies to reviewing rubbings out on old articles - arcane, but only very occasionally interesting. But like everything there are exceptions, revel in the process and when you hear a master at …

Published: 10 Aug 2022. Updated: 20 months.

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We don't usually review remixes - the same principle applies to reviewing rubbings out on old articles - arcane, but only very occasionally interesting. But like everything there are exceptions, revel in the process and when you hear a master at work, Madlib, say, you certainly sit up.

And you bolt upright here. Catch up on the first class remixer Kaidi Tatham recently with Robert Mitchell. Here the main focus is like a 1980s vocal soul extravaganza. But the crucial bit is that the keys sound jazz and actually are. It is Kaztake Takeuchi at the board on 'Get Up' we believe. But you are waiting certainly, why would you not, for the vibes of Roy Ayers while enjoying the vocals of Vanessa Freeman. Ayers is super subtle which makes this very cool but probably not hip in terms of clubs nowadays in terms of frenetic beat patrolling and consoling certainly. That does not matter because what goes around comes around and 'Get Up' keeps it real. Gilles Peterson may well smile but he'd play it in the warm up only. There's nothing wrong with that. Answers on a postcard please. We await Gilles' big statement remixing Herbie Hancock and Lionel Loueke next year in all acceleration HH remixed. As another H -Superintendent Ted Hastings - intimated, it's been worth it: phew - in the hunt for still one further H, the arch nemesis - ''We've been round the houses, Steve, round the houses and down the bloody drains.''

Bow down to 'Everybody Loves the Sunshine' once again not only but also given the sweltering temperatures in the south of England at the moment. This KT treatment is in keeping with the spirit of LA vibes don El Roi - 82 this autumn - and still killin'.

Onwards Ted all said more reading to the jazz club owning 'tec-head Ridley, soon on ITV