Mary Halvorson, Orquesta Akokan, Danfis Prieto, Lina Allemano’s Titanium Riot, Greg Spero (with an illustrarion of 17/16 metre), Elio Villafranca, Renee Rosnes, Francois Moutin & Kavita Shaw, and Fred Hersch. All talked about in either the May and June, 2018 issues of Downbeat. I also talk a bit about the Downbeat Critics Poll and play something from the very first “Album of the Year”—from 1965.
Anybody who takes a major interest in jazz is probably familiar with Downbeat Magazine. I talk a little bit about its early days, then focus on the May, 2018 edition. I play some of the music referred to in this issue—at least the records that sound interesting to me. All part of the ‘discovery’ of jazz. Who will you hear in today’s episode? It ranges from Duke Ellington to Canadian percussionist, Nick Fraser. I also feature a piece of music played in one of the famous “Blindfold Tests”—–a part ...
Songwriter, pianist, and singer, Bob Dorough, died April 23, 2018 at age 94. He had become one of my favourite jazz artists, leaving a legacy of great tunes and great records. He was the musical presence and songwriter for Schoolhouse Rock, doing such seditious acts as setting the multiplication table to music. This series of short children’s cartoon entertained and instructed ‘unsuspecting children’ from 1973-85, then for another 5 years in the 90’s. He was also one of the only vocalists to hav...
Today’s podcast features eleven selections that I just felt like playing. Most of them are records, cd’s, or downloads that are pretty recent, the only exception being Hoagy Carmichael’s piano solo version of Stardust. The other piano solo on this program is something by recently deceased free jazz pianist and composer, Cecil Taylor. Two songs are played in two different versions. “Social Call” is a record from the mid 50’s from Betty Carter, and its also the title of a 2017 recording by Betty C...
This is a ‘travel guide’ to Peterborough’s International Jazz Day weekend, April 28-29. Even if you’re not from Peterborough and know you won’t be there that weekend—no problem. Listen to this program anyway. You’ll hear some great music by great artists. I take you first to one restaurant (Brio Gusto) where you can hear pianist Pete Woolidge and guitarist/composer Federico Pontani and enjoy an appetizer. I play a tune by the Sean Hully Jazz Group featuring (and written by) Federico called, iron...
Special guest for this program is Al Baggs, a jazz saxophonist who is equally fascinated by ‘classical’ or what is often termed ‘serious’ music. With his gems of information and droll British humour, you’ll get an idea of how classical and jazz cross pollinates or fertilizes each other. Using a number of different musical selections, we illustrate the similarities and differences. Al, although being mostly a jazz musician, has a real appreciation for ‘classical’ or ‘serious’ music of all kinds—a...
You’ll hear a couple of the jazz musicians recruited to play on Van Morrison’s classic “Astral Weeks” album. And a jazz saxophonist who played with both Carole King and The Doors. Zoot Sims and Teddy Wilson back Phoebe Snow. Branford Marsalis with Sting. Just a touch of Miles. A Warkworth resident who has won a Juno for his jazz piano—and also put out an ‘adult contemporary’ cd. And last, but not least, a jazz guitarist who became a member of Wilco.
This week’s podcast starts with a guitarist who played on a couple Monkees hits. I include a nice ‘smooth jazz’ recording by him. Also some ‘smooth jazz’ from Chet Baker (followed by his soloing on an Elvis Costello track) and Steely Dan. But that’s not all there is. A recording by Wayne Shorter that received a grammy nomination for best sax solo is also featured, and I don’t think anybody would accuse this as being ‘smooth’. Another jazz musician who played with Steely Dan is drummer Steve Gadd...
What do Herman’s Hermits and ‘Mahavishnu’ John McLauglin have in common? Listen and find out. This program introduces you to more jazz artists who have played on pop/rock, singer-songwriter, and even classical recordings. Some of the jazz artists featured today are Charles Mingus, John McLauglin, Wynton Marsalis, and Jaco Pastorius. And a couple tracks from Joni Mitchell as well employing the services of some of those artists. Ending off with The Beatles. Why? Again….you have to listen to find o...
This is part 1 a series of three, maybe four, programs featuring contributions made by jazz artists to non-jazz recordings—-mostly in the pop and rock genres. It may be a jazz musicians only success in becoming a ‘rock and roll star’. Although ‘star’ doesn’t fit because their contribution rarely gets mentioned. The program starts with The Byrds and So You want to be A Rock and Roll Star, with “the father of South African Jazz”, Hugh Masekela—who played trumpet in that original 1967 recording. A ...
New York comes to Peterborough April 29, when Brandi Disterheft (originally from Vancouver) and her quartet perform for International Jazz Day. This week’s Discovering Jazz program features her plus the three accomplished New York musicians she is bringing with her. You’ll hear pianist Alex Minasian, in this track accompanying Mark Murphy. Drummer Carmen Intorre does a spectacular job keeping guitarist Pat Martino in the groove as he performs Seven Come Eleven. Saxophonist Vincent Herring, who h...
To help celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8 here is a program on Women in Jazz. Yes…there are a lot of great female vocalists. The most heralded jazz singers are women: Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Sheila Jordan, Betty Carter, Nina Simone, and so many others. But you may not be familiar with some of the great female instrumentalists. Hopefully this episode will change that. Who are some of them? I could mention ones I’m familiar with such as Lil Harden (Armstrong), ...
The feature this week is a 1972 jam session–18 1/2 minutes long– of Dizzy Gillespie’s Night in Tunisia, featuring Dizzy, Stan Getz, Mary Lou Williams, Percy Heath, Kenny Burrell, Milt Jackson and others. Then you’ll hear two Ahmad Jamal tracks, with a 60 year gap between them. Jimmy McGriff performs a tune that a fine Vancouver jazz saxophonist (Tom Keenlyside) said was one of the most perfectly constructed jazz tunes ever written. And another highlight—Chelsea McBride’s Socialist Night School, ...
More interesting jazz arrangements of Beatles compositions. It begins with some very early jazz-fusion, and ends with some later jazz fusion. Inbetween…..two Latin jazz renditions of Yesterday, two tracks that feature the trumpet of Lee Morgan, and a simply gorgeous version of Across The Universe by some prominent Toronto musicians. And dont miss Kevin Turcottes trumpet solo. Youll also hear a duet of Eleanor Rigby with Chick Coreas piano and Gary Burton`s vibes, and some Bill Frisell and his tr...
Were The Beatles jazz artists? Of course not! But then neither were The Gershwins, or Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Rodgers & Hammerstein, etc. who wrote those great tunes that have become ‘jazz standards’. Jazz musicians have quite enjoyed adapting many of those Beatles songs to jazz….re-harmonizing them, changing rhythms, or adding new textures. In this program I play some of those adaptation. You’ll hear Chick Corea and Horomi, Shawn & The Wolf, Jaco Pastorious, Kim Dunn, Interactivo, H...
Great vocals can actually be some of the purest forms of jazz….despite what some jazz snobs might think. We all have some kind of voice …..and how we use it is a form of ‘improvisation’. Vocals can also serve as a translator of what the composer and the instrumental soloists want to communicate. For this program I discovered a few newer vocalists—such as Gregory Porter, John Boutte, Jazzmeia Horn, and Becca Stevens (with Snarky Puppy). Then there are the ‘veterans’—great singers that almost ever...
Many real ‘jazzies’ express a rather loud ‘indifference’ to the jazz ‘singer’. “Cheesy lounge singer”, “not needed”, “waters down the music”, “reduces the musician to role of ‘accompanist’: those are some of the comments I hear. Yet I love great jazz vocals…..and relish the creativity that many great players have in playing with the singer. Today and next week I present some of my favourite vocalists—some of whom most will agree are truly ‘jazz’, and others where some might question whether they...
I was asked to make a playlist of jazz songs for a non-jazz event—a ‘cabaret’ put on by Peterborough Podcasters, where podcasters are hilighted and their great work presented. So the challenge is to both challenge and appease….some familiar tunes, but also interesting enough to command some attention from this intelligent and creative group of people. So I start out with the best selling jazz record of all time: Take Five with the Dave Brubeck Quartet with Paul Desmond. Then from jazzes best sel...
Happy New Year to all of you! I appreciate knowing there are some listeners out there in podcast land. Comments, feedback, or questions is always welcome. I’m still making lots of ‘discoveries’ about jazz…..enjoying the fact that we all learn together. This week’s program includes a few selections from albums and jazz artists who sparked my curiosity because either Downbeat Magazine’s critics’ poll or CBC radio ranked them highly this year. You’ll hear the man who was named jazz artist of the ye...
This last program of 2017 includes lots of Christmas and winter holiday music. Some great renditions of familiar and not so familiar tunes. Also one for Ramadan, Hannukah, and Chalica (tune in to find out what the latter holiday is). You’ll hear: Charlie Parker, Bill Evans, Miles Davis with Bob Dorough, Ella Fitzgerald, John Eidsvoog, Shuffle Demons, Carri Coltrane, Salah Ragab and the Cairo Jazz Band, Kenny Ellis, Wesley Collett-Taylor, Dexter Gordon, Barbra Lica, The Darylectones, Mike Rud,, A...
Today’s program starts with B.B. King and Kenny Burrell playing together…..along with organist Jimmy Smith and a host of other great musicians. Then Emilie-Claire Barlow rhythmically transforms a Donovan tune into …what’s the time signature anyway? More vocals from Mel Torme, Tony Bennett, Diana Krall, Roberta Flack, and Bob Dorough. You just have to hear Dorough’s rendition (with bassist Bill Takas) of I’m Beginning to See The Light. Then I throw in some Thelonious Monk and Bill Evans just for ...
An illustration of how some people learn and learn about jazz. We hear the perspective of Peterborough jazz saxophonist, Sean Hully. Sean tracks the development of jazz, from King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins and Charlie Parker. He then moves on to how the playing of Wayne Shorter, Hank Mobley, and Joe Henderson inspired Sean. He gives us an inside look at his own improvisation process. We also hear about finding that balance between accessibility and creativity. Then there is the di...
Live from Trent Radio Studios (92.7 fm in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada), more 2nd hand vinyl records I bought this fall. You’ll hear some great vibes from a 1962 British film about jazz, Mel Torme with Janis Ian, an incredible trumpet blowout with Roy Eldridge and Dizzy Gillespie, the first black singer to sing regularly with a white band, some new age meets jazz-bluegrass-Roma-Caribbean, blues with Billy Eckstine and Dizzy, the mellowest tenor sax ever (guess who?), and a local jazz ensemble f...
Today….from a live feed from Trent Radio in Peterborough….I play some 2nd hand jazz lp’s I bought at a pawn shop recently just to see which ones I’ll put in with my collection and which ones I’ll give away. I’ll try out some Pat Martino, Mel Torme, Gene Roland w. Jimmy Knepper (great trombone!), George Benson, Buddy Spicher & Lenny Breau, Tete Montoliu, Manteca, and Chuck wayne & Joe Puma. Plus a couple cd’s inspired by an earlier program on Thelonious Monk…..one of studio recordings wit...
There is a great jazz instruction blog and podcast called LearnJazzStandards.com, hosted by a guitarist named Brent Vaarstra. One of his posts was called “92 Modern Jazz Albums You Need to Listen To”, with ‘modern’ being anything after the year 2000. I went through the first few, and also found (elsewhere) a couple Canadian jazz albums……and decided to play a track from a few of them. You’ll hear Anna Maria Jopek & Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Tarek Yamani, Larry Goldings and Peter Bernstein, Paul Novo...
Special guest for this episode is jazz bassist and ethnomusicologist, Michael Morse, talking about the great pianist and composer, Thelonious Monk, in honour of the 100th year of his birth. He addresses why people who don’t think he’s a great pianist are wrong. And explains the intricacies of some of his compositions in a way that even I can understand! And in the process we play a lot of his music….including an incredible vocal version of the most recorded jazz composition ever. (Guess who wrot...
We celebrate youth, and Peterborough’s youth jazz group, LMJC, because it is youth taking up the art of jazz who are going to keep it as a living and growing thing. And also because they are good musicians. We’ll hear jazz (and one classical piece that influenced the group). A couple Bill Evans recordings (one with bassist Scott Lafaro), Christian McBride, Peterborough guitarist Mike Graham, Canadian drummer Terry Clark (backing up super-guitarist Jim Hall), and Art Blakey.
This episode and the next one are about keeping alive this form of music that we love. Its about youth. I interview five of them from a Peterborough group of mostly high school age, asking them what sparked their interest in jazz. Then I play some of those sparks on the program. The goal is to reverse the downward movement in popularity that jazz has experienced over the years…….so that it once again becomes a young person’s genre…..as well as catering to us older, more experienced listeners. We...
Jarret Prescott talks more about Keith Jarret, and we play music associated with him…..including the last time he played electric piano, before he decided to carry on an anti-electric music crusade. We’ll hear him with bassist Charlie Haden…..and you can compare his version of Goodbye with Diana Krall’s…. using the same bassist. Ending off with the full Paris Concert 1988, which Jarret describes as Keith’s masterpiece–one of the “outer regions of jazz”: the “distillation of walking through Paris...
The first of two programs where Peterborough composer of works for the Piano-forté, Jarret Prescott, takes us on a journey exploring the works of pianist Keith Jarrett. I start out with a composition that Jarret says “sums up what I like to say about Jarrett being a conduit between Eastern and Western musical traditions, and also speaks to him as a bridge between jazz and the greater world itself”. Also a ‘blindfold test’ of a Keith Jarrett related recording that will surprise many listeners. An...
