Jazz Bastard Podcast 132.5 - Suite!

Join our intrepid but grumpy explorers Mike and Pat and they continue their journey through the New York Times Top Ten list of Best Jazz Albums from 2023.  The boys look at three more albums off the list and once again have questions about the selections.  Then they discuss an album from 2023 not on the list, and, naturally, emit rainbows.  We don't recommend you make a game of drinking whenever one of them calls "category error" unless you have a high tolerance for alcohol - and bastardy.  Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah - BARK OUT THUNDER;  Enji – ULAAN; Ambrose Akinmusire - OWL SONG; Myra Melford – HEAR THE LIGHT SINGING. 

Humans love making lists, and it's likely this activity will continue until the cockroaches take over.  (Cockroaches mostly love hiding under cabinets).  Some humans on the New York Times made a list of the top 10 jazz albums of 2023.  Pat and Mike take about three selections from that list and one other interesting release from that recently past year. Do they take issue with some of the NYT's choices?  They wouldn't be bastards if they didn't.  Jaimie Branch – FLY OR DIE FLY OR DIE FLY OR DIE (WORLD WAR); Kassa Overall – ANIMALS; Zoh Amba – THE FLOWER SCHOOL; Lafayette Gilchrist – UNDAUNTED.

This episode's title is a wee bit misleading.  The boys don't meet Mr. Mahavishnu (John McLaughlin, of course) but rather Matt Phillips, long-time listener to the podcast who just happened to write a very good book on the famous fusion guitarist called "John McLaughlin - From Miles and Mahavishnu to the 4th Dimension."  The book covers the whole of McLaughlin's recorded career - not just his best known years with the Mahavishnu Orchestra - and our conversation is also wide-ranging.  And, no, Mike hasn't turned into a robot. He just sounds like one because recording zoom is trickier than it seems.

Few players have made the splash in the archival jazz game as Zev Feldman, who has discovered many lost jazz gems (and a little Fool's Gold) and shown how these issues can be events when packaged properly with good artwork and notes.  This fortnight's show looks at two of his recent productions and two historical albums in the Latin Idiom.  Did the jazz detective uncover more classics, or did his deductions go awry?  Tune in to find out.  Cal Tjader – CATCH THE GROVE; Wes Montgomery – MAXIMUM SWING; Ramsey Lewis – GOING LATIN; Grant Green -THE LATIN BIT.

Sometimes Mike's dreams do come true.  Take this all-tuba led episode, for instance.  He's always loved the big horn in jazz groups, and here we delve into five albums spanning the decades led by tuba players.  (Oddly, though, five of the featured leaders were all born within a five year span).  Will the boys come up with deep insights?  Please listen to ascertain.  Howard Johnson – GRAVITY!; Jim Self & John Chiodini – TOUCH AND GO; Dave Bargeron & Michel Godard – TUBA TUBA; Ray Draper – THE RAY DRAPER QUINTET FEATURING JOHN COLTRANE; Bob Stewart – THEN & NOW.

One of the bastards loves holiday music (Mike loves to flex his knowledge-of-obscure-Xmas-tunes-muscles) and so the holiday episode has become an annual tradition.  Luckily, every year at least a few jazz musicians put out a holiday album (if under duress) and archival and historical finds are always there to enjoy as well.  Various Artists – A JAZZ CHRISTMAS; Shorty Rogers – THE SWINGIN’ NUTCRACKER; Louis Armstrong – WISHES YOU A COOL YULE; George Burton – the YULE LOG    Ken Serio – A JAZZY YULETIDE.

At Mike's suggestion, we devote an episode to the recently departed European avant-garde powerhouse Peter Brotzmann.  The sound quality is a bit off.  Pat says he forgot to press "record."  Listeners know he was probably just cowering behind the couch.  Mike  shows us the breadth of the fire-breather's career, touching on a mid-size ensemble session, an electric gig with rock elements, a more introspective duet, and Brotzmann's uncompromising debut.  Pat whimpers.  Peter Brotzmann:  FOR ADOLPHE SAX; GOING ALL FANCY; Last Exit - THE NOISE OF TROUBLE - LIVE IN TOKYO; Chicago Tentet - STONE/WATER.

Jazz - mysterious, challenging, expressive . . . funny?  Rarely, one might think, but some artists display a sense of humor, even if it's subtle.  In this episode, the boys listen to five albums with at least some humorous aspects.  Things rarely get "funny ha ha" but hey, this isn't a Zappa podcast, now is it?  Karen Mantler – BUSINESS IS BAD; George Benson – WHITE RABBIT; Mostly Other People Do the Killing – THIS IS OUR MOOSIC; Horace Silver – JAZZ HAS A SENSE OF HUMOR; Ray Anderson – BLUES BRED IN THE BONE.

It's been a crazy few weeks with an extra order of cray cray on the side coming up, so we're running our first "classic" episode, this one a throw-back to 2013!  Come for the insights you missed, stay to appreciate the slightly more sophisticated editing you've been enjoying the last few years.  Covers are the order of the day as the bastards look at three albums that hew closely to earlier inspirations, with a special focus on Coltrane. John Coltrane – INTERSTELLAR SPACE; Greg Bendian – INTERSTELLAR SPACE REVISITED; Don Cherry – COMPLETE COMMUNION; Tom Varner – SECOND COMMUNION; John Coltrane – A LOVE SUPREME; Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra – A LOVE SUPREME.

We all know "smooth jazz" is a forbidden genre among hard-core jazzbos, but sometimes you run across albums that have no interest in pandering to the listener, but also don't display any rough edges or dirty elbows.  Call it "polished," "refined," "plush," or "mellow" - but don't file it next to Kenny G - or Albert Ayler, for that matter.  Noah Haidu – STANDARDS; Javier Nero – KEMET, THE BLACK LAND; Brad Turner – THE MAGNIFICENT; Matt Ulery – MANNERIST.