Discovering Jazz

There are some great artists coming to the Edmonton Jazz Festival, June 28 to July 02nd. And many of them are touring and going to other festivals as well….so hopefully many of you will get a chance to hear and see them. This three part series features some of the players. I start out with…Continue reading Episode 233: Coming To The Edmonton Jazz Fest, Part 1

I’m one of these people that like to touch and see whatever music I’m playing. So I prefer cd’s and lp’s to downloads. I especially like them when I order them by mail or browse through one of those rapidly dwindling cd and record stores. Others I like to be surprised when I find them…Continue reading Episode 232: Recently Acquired CD’s.

I’ve started listening to some of the new music that artists and publicists have been sending me, and have made some great discoveries. In this episode I share with you a few of them. The episode starts with a trumpet player from Vancouver (Daniel Hersog) and his 17 piece jazz orchestra. And it ends with…Continue reading Episode 231: New Releases from 2023

This is the final program of this four=part series where I play records that have been rated as being good ones to turn a jazz ‘newbie’ into a fan. This week you’ll hear a track from 8 albums. They are: Mingus Ah Um, where I also talk about why that’s such a clever title. Hank…Continue reading Episode 230: Albums to Seduce a Jazz Newbie, Part 4

The highlight of this week’s episode is the great pianist Bill Evans and his trio from the late 50’s. What is it about that trio and his playing that makes it stand out? I give a few hints….and you can hear it in the two tracks I play from that first trio album, Portrait in…Continue reading Episode 229:Recordings to Help Us Love Jazz–Part 3

Part 2 of essential jazz albums for those of us still in the beginner ‘discovery’ process. Which, I suspect, most of us are—considering the wealth of amazing jazz recordings out there! This week, I start off with a track from Dave Brubeck’s ‘Time Out’ album. And query whether The Beatles might have been listening to…Continue reading Episode 228: More Albums To Seduce a Jazz ‘Newbie’

What you’ll be hearing is tracks from great jazz albums. I’m continually being introduced to jazz, even though I’ve been doing this podcast for over five years. So, here I am again being a ‘newbie’ and listening to (or re-listening in some cases) to albums that jazz bloggers say are essential listening for beginners. This…Continue reading Episode 227: Albums That Can Introduce You to Jazz Part 1

Although most of my episodes of this podcast seem to have themes, sometimes I like the flexibility of not having any theme whatsoever. This week I’m playing a few recordings that have come into my consciousness recently. Most are new discoveries and a few aren’t. Some are cd’s, one came originally from an lp, and…Continue reading Episode 226: A Potpourri of Jazz

It’s often really difficult for a podcaster, interviewer, or mc to know how to pronounce a particular jazz artist’s name. Sometimes the artist themselves might even ‘change’ the pronunciation to accommodate the more ‘common’ pronunciations. I’ve done a lot of research on a few names. I’ve listened to interviews, concert videos (where they introduce themselves),…Continue reading Episode 225: Say it Right! Name Pronunciations, Pt. 2

This week’s and next week’s episode focuses on right and wrong ways to pronounce the names of certain jazz artists. I demonstrate lots of mis-pronunciations, then try to correct them. And it gives me an excuse to play some great music, by the likes of Paul Motian,Delfaeo Marsalis, Jackie McLean, Gerry Beaudoin (w. Duke Robillard…Continue reading Episode 224: Say it Right!

This is the last of my three part series on great new historical releases. I start off with a previously unreleased Miles Davis performance from the Montreal Jazz Festival, 1983. Then follow it with some Miles Davis alumni—Bill Evans and John Coltrane. The Coltrane track is a previously unissued take of Moments Notice: but, strangely…Continue reading Episode 223, Miles, Coltrane, Bill Evans, etc. More Historical Releases.

The recording quality of some of the live performances that have been recently unearthed, restored, and enhanced is incredible! Two of the best are from The Charles Mingus Lost Album from Ronnie Scott’s, and Dave Brubeck Trio (sans Paul Desmond) Live from Vienna 1967. Other new discoveries I feature in this episode are Chick Corea…Continue reading Episode 222: Great New Historical Albums Part 2

New Discoveries and re-releases are represented in this three part series. Some have been recently ‘unearthed’…and new technology used to make the tapes sound so good! Others have been reissued and remastered. For Part 1, you’ll hear -a recording by Art Blakey and The Jazz Messsengers (with an excerpt from an interview by Wayne Shorter…Continue reading Episode 221: Great New Historical Albums

We lost a true jazz great March 2nd: composer and saxophonist Wayne Shorter. In this episode I play music from his earliest to his latest years, with a few clips from fans, other musicians, and one from Mr. Shorter himself.

For this episode I play some music from some modern big bands: You’ll hear The Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra with John Pizzarelli, The Brian Setzer Orchestra, and Kansas Smitty’s. One somewhat older big band too–Maynard Ferguson Orchestra from 1964. Closing off with something really weird from Martin Kuchen’s Angles. I also talk about how, when…Continue reading Episode 219: More Bopless Jazz and Big Band/Swing Evolution. (Part 2)

What if Bebop never happened? And ‘swing’ evolved into something very different from the swing of the 30’s, 40’s, and even 50’s? That’s the question I asked of jazz musicians and aficionados who frequent the JazzWorld site on facebook. And I received some great responses! My favourite was a questioning of the question: “bit like…Continue reading Episode 218:Evolution of Swing, or Bopless Jazz.

Bebop, Part 2, tells you more about what it is, why it happened, and why it ‘took over’ jazz—despite it never really catching on with the public. I play older bebop recordings by Charlie Parker, Bob Dorough, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Theonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, and The Paul Bley Trio. Also a newer recording from…Continue reading Episode 217: More Bebop!

Bebop was the ‘modern jazz’ of the early to mid 1940’s. And it’s still considered ‘modern jazz’. It is a genre that has lasted! And developed….with most new recordings being described as ‘post bop’ or ‘hard bop’. When many people claim to dislike jazz, they are often referring to the complex harmonies and rhythms of…Continue reading Episode 216: Bebop–What Is It, Who Created it, and Why Did It Happen?

I’ve discovered a lot of great music over the past two months—thanks to those top 10 lists compiled by 97 reviewers and critics. A handful of those albums would probably go on my own Top 10 list, were I to make one. In this episode I play tracks from 9 great albums from the past…Continue reading Episode 215: My Own Favourites from 2022.

I’ve tabulated the results of 97 reviewers and their top 10 albums lists for 2022. Here are the albums followed by the number of votes each one received. Mary Halvorson: Amaryllis (also Belladonna…not quite so often) 31 Cecille McLorin Salvant: Ghost Songs 28 Immanuel Wilkins: Seventh Hand 26 Makaya McCraven: In these Times 23 Tyshawn…Continue reading Episode 214, Countdown: Top 10 Albums of 2022 (According to ‘experts’).