Streetwise entertainment agent and producer who worked with stars such as Shirley Bassey, Judy Garland and Joan Collins The leading entertainment agent and producer Peter Charlesworth, who has died aged 93, was both an aide to, and confidant of, some of the biggest names in British show business since the second world war: Shirley Bassey, Barbara Windsor, Joan Collins, Benny Hill and Frankie Howerd, to name but a few. Always impeccably groomed and suited, with an innate twinkle about him and a pronounced south London accent that he tried to disguise (but never did), Charlesworth belonged to th ..read more

Her spacey jazz-disco almost made her a huge star in the mid-1970s. Now having an overdue renaissance, the singer reflects on working with Ornette Coleman, helping shape a music style – and inspiring young south Asian artists In February 1971, Asha Puthli was sitting with Andy Warhol and friends at Max’s Kansas City, a New York club nightclub and restaurant, when the DJ played her new single. It was a cover of Marvin Gaye’s Motown classic Ain’t That Peculiar with Peter Ivers Group. Excited by what he heard, Warhol asked the singer who was going to do the cover art for the group’s forthcoming a ..read more

From the turquoise waters of Bernese Oberland to toothsome Ticino and musical Montreux, Switzerland caters for every taste Europe’s best crossroads city, Basel, is a short tram ride from both Germany and France. Every person who stays in a hotel or guest house here gets free public travel – from the moment you arrive, your reservation counts as your ticket from the airport. Basel isn’t just brilliant for transport nerds, it’s also an art-filled, leisure-focused haven, especially in the summer months. Locals can swim home after work, or more likely drift thanks to the current of the Rhine, keep ..read more

(Gondwana) Drummer Tom Sunney and keyboardist Filip Sowa trade grooves and plaintive melodies to create satisfyingly complex mood music Manchester-based label Gondwana Records has championed a distinct style of cinematic jazz since its founding in 2008. Blending sweeping melodies with downtempo rhythms, artists such as Portico Quartet and Mammal Hands have developed imaginative improvisations that are as likely to include handpans and synths as saxophone or piano. London duo Kessoncoda are the label’s latest signing, and their debut album, Outerstate, adds to its catalogue of mood music. Acros ..read more

Following our rundown of the best albums in the first half of the year, you responded with your own suggestions, from Kali Malone to Kim Gordon Is it dream pop? Shoegaze? Grunge? No idea, but I adore it. It’s so immediate. The first time I played it, it was as if I’d been listening to it all of my life. It brought back memories of being a lovestruck teenager from more than four decades ago. I can just play it and float back to my youth – the good bits, fortunately – although it also soothed away some of the more traumatic episodes. I managed to catch them live, and it was glorious. David High ..read more

Inspired by visual art, producer Jasper Attlee’s jazz-house project has a huge streaming audience that's about to get bigger “If Matisse made house music” sounds like an over-earnest tagline for Jasper Attlee’s jazz-house project, Berlioz. Yet it’s not entirely serious. Berlioz is named after a character in 70s Disney animation The Aristocats, not the French composer, and the line captures important things about the English producer currently having a moment, with a streaming audience so huge he’s by some metrics the UK’s most-listened to jazz act. One of those things is the importance of visu ..read more

Readers respond to Adrian Chiles’s article on the mysterious power of the genre I am similar to Adrian Chiles (I may not understand jazz – but I know enough to know it’s wonderful, 26 June). I only have a rudimentary understanding of the theory and structures of jazz; like Adrian, I am blown away by the musicality of a jazz band, the balance between individual expression and group cohesion, and the often familiar tune warped and moulded into something unique. There is nothing musically to compare with a jazz musician soaring off into some cosmic place (Jack Kerouac describes this brilliantly i ..read more

(ECM)The esteemed vocalist and prolific pianist weave their sounds together in an album of exquisite songs and extraordinary empathy Four and a half decades separate the birthdays of UK vocalist and lyricist Norma Winstone and pianist Kit Downes, but they converse as if they were contemporaries – which in a sense they are, sharing a language separately built from all the inspirations of the jazz tradition. Winstone is a legend for her vocal agility, quiet power, harmonic sophistication and sensitivity to both lyrics and wordless narratives. And, at 82, she has found her work reaching millions ..read more

(Blue Note) This three-movement album from pianist and shaman Nduduzo Makhathini’s trio combines blues, bop and folk song to transcendental effect The title of this third Blue Note release from South African pianist Nduduzo Makhathini is the name of a Zulu goddess, “a regulator of nature, light and fertility”. It’s a name that isn’t evoked lightly – Makhathini, aside from being a startlingly original pianist, is a fully initiated sangoma, a shaman and healer, and his quest is spiritual. His previous two albums, since landing on Blue Note in 2020, have been horn-heavy, suffused with the ecstati ..read more

Gentle jazzPiano manPolitical pledgesTory leafletsLabour toast Adrian Chiles’s choice of Keith Jarrett’s Köln Concert to impress a date would have been a big ask for anyone new to jazz (I may not understand jazz – but I know enough to know it’s wonderful, 26 June). He would have had better luck with Jarrett’s The Melody at Night, With You album. This is gentle jazz, easy on the ear, and contains his classic treatment of many well-known songs. Much more suitable for a romantic evening. Robin John Sonning Common, Oxfordshire • To describe the great Keith Jarrett’s piano playing as “bloody plink ..read more