Hello I'm Kirstie Young and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive.

For Wright's reasons, we've had to shorten the music.

The program was originally broadcast in 1984 and the presenter was Roy Plumlee. I cast away this week is a jazz man, baritone saxophonist, composer, leader of various jazz groups, it's John Sermon.

John, with what degree of dread would you face a desert island existence for a while?

Well, I think I might enjoy it for a while.

There could be something in the peace and quiet that would be a pleasure,

but I don't think I would take too fondly

to being away from society too much for too long anyway and one thing I can be sure of is I should

make definite attempts to escape there There's no question about that.

Right, you've got just eight discs. Do you think you would find those comforting or frustrating

because there was so few?

Hmm, that's a very interesting question. It certainly has been very difficult to choose and I think as a professional musician

We ought to be allowed at least one more

One of the problems has been of course my colleagues and so on it would be very difficult to leave them behind but I've decided really to just choose records of music that I've enjoyed listening to rather than music that I've made with other people or music of people who I've worked that I've enjoyed.

So I think I would enjoy having the music. I'm not someone who listens to music non-stop for morning tonight.

I used to do that, of course in my student days and learning to play.

It was a point of almost constant music, but now I'm rather more selective.

What's your first record? The first record is a record that features the late baritone player

Harry Carney who I suppose was at the beginning of my interest in the baritone saxophone

my greatest influence.

The music is written by Billy Strayhorn,

played by Duke Ellington's Orchestra, which contains all so many of the great names of jazz

...