If you are an amateur or professional jazz musician taking part in a jazz jam, or someone who enjoys listening to those jams, at some point someone will call out tunes like “Moment’s Notice”, or “Lazy Bird”. And, for sure, you’ll hear someone suggest they play “Blue Train”. One thing all those tunes have in common is that they were written by John Coltrane, and, they are also from the same album. The album was released in 1957 and was Coltrane’s only album on the famous Bluenote label. Blue Trai...
Apr 02, 2019•Season 1Ep. 62
In a documentary called “Brownie Speaks”, all about trumpeter Clifford Brown, one unidentified jazz personality states “I can’t say that Miles was intimidated by Cliff, but Miles wouldn’t play when Cliff was there”. Clifford Brown was known for his fat smooth tone and a unique melodic genius with a warm round sound, consistent across the full range of the instrument. He had the ability to articulate perfectly every note, even at the fastest tempos. He was clean living—no drugs, alcohol, or even ...
Mar 26, 2019•Season 1Ep. 61
So many jazz tunes have been written about the seasons—and Spring is a big one! We might even get one this year. This week’s program is nice and mellow….just to ease use gently into the new season. Even if spring will be a little late this year. Doesn’t that remind you of a song? You’ll also hear two jazz instruments you may never have heard before. One is called an E.V.I. The other is a teapot. I play some of the spring ‘standards’ like April in Paris (w. Ella and Louis), It Might As Well Be Sp...
Mar 19, 2019•Season 1Ep. 60
Some of these ‘standards’ are written by jazz artists. Others are from popular music written by film and Broadway composers. I’m finding them as I go through The Just Real Jazz Book and the infamous “The Real Book 6th edition”. These are also called ‘fake books’ as they have only the chords and the melody. As I go through these books from A to Z (I’m only to letter “B”), I listen to a few of them that aren’t so familiar to me. And I’m playing them on this program, even including a couple differe...
Mar 12, 2019•Season 1Ep. 59
This is the last episode of the Cuban Jazz series. And I’ve decided to feature a Juno award winning Cuban-Canadian group of women. I play music from both their albums, as well as spotlight some of the individual musicians in the group—including Yissy Garcia, Melvis Santa, Danae Alano, and, of course, Jane Bunnett herself. I also talk about former group member, Dayme Arocena, who has become an international star on her own. Jane Bunnett and Maqueque are on a world tour as we speak—and Peterboroug...
Mar 05, 2019•Season 1Ep. 58
This week’s episode starts by talking about how resilient Cuban jazz musicians were able to forge a brand new style of music. It was their way of making the best out of being told they weren’t allowed to play the music of “imperialist America”. It evolved into Iraquere, and formed the basis of what people today call ‘salsa’. The leader of Iraquere, Chucho Valdez, is still playing amazing piano—and you’ll hear two tracks from the latest cd where he collaborates with Arturo O’Farrill and other fam...
Feb 26, 2019•Season 1Ep. 57
Some great Cuban jazz! And a few interesting tidbits of information. You’ll hear music by David Amram (with Thad Jones, Pepper Adams, and others), Ray Barretto, Jane Bunnet, Harold Lopez-Nussa, Juan De Marcos and the Afro-Cuban All Stars,Rita Montaner, Ibrahim Ferrer, Interactivo, and Gonzalo Rubulcaba with Ron Carter and Alex Acuna. As for the ‘tidbits’? The possible origin of the clave—a pair of hardwood wooden sticks. Also you’ll hear about the man who was responsible for bringing back those ...
Feb 19, 2019•Season 1Ep. 56
In celebration of the coming of Maqueque—a group of five Cuban women plus flautist/soprano saxophonist Jane Bunnett–coming to Peterborough in April, I’m starting a three part series on Afro-Cuban Jazz. Today’s episode tracks its ‘modern’ history, from the 1920’s in New York. Yup! That was the birthplace of Afro-Cuban Jazz, not Havana or New Orleans. This episode starts off with a modern Afro-Cuban recording—the amazing Harold Lopez-Nussa. Then I backtrack. How did we get from there to here? Some...
Feb 12, 2019•Season 1Ep. 55
So many great jazz solos….wish I could play them all! I’m still trying to figure out what makes a great jazz solo, compared to one that isn’t so great. Listening to some of these is giving me some ‘intuitive’ sense—-but probably couldn’t give you a list of all the criteria. Sometimes it’s just some mysterious thing that comes from the ‘soul’. And sometimes not. For this program I play 5 solos that five famous musicians have described as being “essential solos” to which any aspiring jazz musician...
Feb 05, 2019•Season 1Ep. 54
In this episode you’ll hear more of the solos that jazz musicians and writers say are ‘essential solos’. You’ll also hear words and phrases like ‘architectonics’, ‘vertiginous’, ‘eking’, ‘narrative structure’, ‘directional energy’, ‘wrong side of the beat’. I don’t know what most of them mean, either, but real jazz aficionados seem to. You’ll hear -John Coltrane playing his greatest masterpiece. -Guido Basso playing a lovely fluegelhorn solo with Rob McConnell’s Boss Brass. -Cannonball Adderley’...
Jan 29, 2019•Season 1Ep. 53
The ‘improvised’ solo is the heart of jazz. This series of programs looks at what have been termed ‘essential solos’, using an article from Jazz Times magazine, where jazz writers and musicians described the solos that have been their favourites over the years. These are solos that they have been playing or humming to themselves over the years. And since these solos don’t exist in a void, I play all or most of the whole piece, but talk about why this solo resonates with so many jazz aficionados ...
Jan 22, 2019•Season 1Ep. 52
Recorded live from the studios of Trent Radio in Peterborough, Ontario, this is an assortment of tracks from jazz albums I blindly selected from the station’s extensive jazz library of vinyl. It includes some of the ‘usual suspects’—Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington & Ray Brown, and Keith Jarrett. You’ll also hear the very first version of In the Mood—and it wasn’t by the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Then I play some lesser known artists—Randy Bernsen, Ted Nash, and Skyline (a fusio...
Jan 15, 2019•Season 1Ep. 51
I play a track from eight different jazz albums—seven of them from 2018. They include five recordings that Downbeat Magazine, in their January 2019 issue, claim are the “Masterpiece Albums of 2018”. They may or may not coincide with your tastes (or mine). But part of the ‘discovery’ process is to hear out the ‘experts’—–and Downbeat reviewers listen to a lot of jazz. So they must know something, eh? At least one of those ‘masterpieces’ resonate with me—-I’m thinking of the Polish bassist/compose...
Jan 08, 2019•Season 1Ep. 50
Hello. I’m taking a break from Discovering Jazz programs for a few weeks—but I’ll see you in 2019. If you want something to tide you over until the next program, give my last year’s holiday special a listen. It was Episode 14. You’ll hear music for Christmas, for non-specified winter holidays, New years, Ramadan, Hannukah (Channukah), and one you’ve probably never heard of—-Chalica. Music by the likes of Charlie Parker, Bill Evans, Ella Fitzgerald, John Eidsvoog, Shuffle Demons, former Peterboro...
Dec 19, 2018
Part 2 of the formative recordings of jazz musician, fan, and organizer, Craig Paterson. You’ll hear some Miles, some Keith Jarrett, Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane, Liberation Music Orchestra, and Phil Dwyer. Great music! And some great stories—-especially Craig’s description of a piano workshop led by Keith Jarrett that he attended. And his delightful description of his mother’s reaction to Wayne Shorter’s rendition of Dindi.
Dec 04, 2018•Season 1Ep. 49
Jazz bassist and concert organizer Craig Paterson talks about some of the albums that formed his excitement about jazz. Craig also tells some great stories about those albums and the concerts those albums spawned. And I play a recommended track from each album.
Nov 27, 2018•Season 1Ep. 48
Contrafact refers to a new melody written over the chord sequence of an older tune. And there are a lot of very popular jazz tunes that have done just that! In this program I play a few of them. You’ll find out what old tune has had the most jazz tunes stealing its chord sequence. If you’re a jazz player, you probably know the answer! On this program you’ll hear Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Susie Arioli, Django Reinhardt, Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk w. Jon Hendricks, Don Shirley...
Nov 19, 2018•Season 1Ep. 47
Today was a day to catch up on some of my listening and play a few records, cd’s, and downloads that I came across over the last couple weeks. Then I learned about the death of one of my favourite trumpeter/fluegelhornists, Roy Hargrove. He was only 49. I start the program with him playing a lovely rendition of The Nearness of You. Then I listened to a download sent to me by Josh McLeod of a Montreal funk group (with nuggets of jazz) called The Brooks. Great funk-soul can rattle your bones, and ...
Nov 05, 2018•Season 1Ep. 46
The focus on today’s episode is the relationship between improvisation and spontaneity in life. It all involves a willingness to say yes . I start with a statement from Vancouver jazz writer, drummer, and choral director, Brian Tate, where he compares it to Theatre Sports. And also feature interviews with Paul L. Clark and James Seaborn, two members of a Peterborough group called The Smirky Waters Band. They talk about how saying ‘yes’ has assisted them in their collaboration. I feature three ex...
Oct 29, 2018•Season 1Ep. 45
I had another pre-recorded program I was going to air on my October 22 Trent Radio program—and then I discovered that it didn’t all record onto my flashdrive. So I had to run into the Trent Radio record library and quickly find some records to avoid several minutes of dead air. Here are some of the records I found. Some delightful discoveries! The two biggest surprises were both Canadian artists. Did you ever hear of a singer named Ivy Steel? Apparently she was born in Peterborough, and did one ...
Oct 23, 2018•Season 1Ep. 44
Today, I play a few jazz 78rpm records from my collection. 78’s were popular from the turn of the century up into the late 1950’s. One unique thing about 78’s is that you could eat them. Technically at least! As well as some great music, you’ll hear Alex Campagnolo, a researcher in Sustainability Studies–a man who focuses on the sustainability of recorded music—talk about why 78’s are good for the environment. As for the great music: I play three tracks by the father of cool and free jazz, Lenni...
Oct 16, 2018•Season 1Ep. 43
Lots of discoveries over the summer. Some of them records, some cd’s, and a lot of them being music posted by friends and friends of friends. And one discovery begats another….such as when Peterborough bassist Craig Paterson posted something by the great singer Cecile McLorin Salvant—-and it led me to discover her pianist and his trio—Aaron Diehl. Also two versions of Hi Lili Hi-Lo—described as a ‘trite’ song, but performed beautifully by Paul Desmond and also by Bill Evans. And its actually qui...
Oct 02, 2018•Season 1Ep. 42
The first part of this episode addresses the inroads female jazz artists have made over the years, as I start with a track by the amazing trio of Geri Allen, Teri Lyne Carrington, and Esperanza Spalding, followed by something from the new album by Molly Johnson. Then I play another Canadian: Vancouver born composer and bandleader, Darcy James Argue. His album “Real Enemies” addresses the vicious circle of conspiracy theories. Then 19 minutes of Sonny Rollins, who composed one of the earliest Civ...
Sep 20, 2018•Season 1Ep. 41
Jazz has always been political in some form. Right from its earliest beginnings, this African American music was taken over by the dominant American middle class ‘white’ culture with no credit going to the black originators. That’s political—since politics is about power differentials. Most of the money was made by white people taking over the music in the early years. Who was called the “King of Jazz? Paul Whiteman! And when an all white band made the first jazz recording (they called it ‘jass’...
Sep 04, 2018•Season 1Ep. 40
You’ll hear about the struggle of people of colour to be treated equally, as I start with music by Archie Shepp and Charles Mingus. Then you’ll hear Bessie Smith and the stance of economic independence black women were compelled to assume for their shear survival–even as early as 1923. And later in the program, Nina Simone turns a song from ThreePenny Opera into a black power anthem. Then the ‘politics’ of the drum, as Arturo O’Farrill talks about how the drum has been used both as an instrument...
Aug 21, 2018•Season 1Ep. 39
This is the beginning of a series illustrating the connection between jazz and social or political activism. On today’s episode I play and talk about the following: Oscar Peterson’s Hymn to Freedom, which has been embraced by people around the world as an anthem for the Civil Rights Movement. I also talk briefly about Peterson’s own experience with racial prejudice both in the U.S. and in Canada. Louis Armstrong as a world ambassador. His 1955 European tour at the height of the cold war did more...
Aug 06, 2018•Season 1Ep. 38
The mathematical mind of Bach shares similarities with the mindset of great jazz composers and improvisers. Peterborough Saxophonist Al Baggs talks about this—and also talks about music as ‘sonic energy’. He then speculates (tongue in cheek I assume) how this could relate to prison reform and a potential research grant that could explore that possibility. You’ll also hear music by The Swingle Singers, Modern Jazz Quartet, Oscar Peterson, Glenn Gould, Jethro Tull, Dimitri Naiditch, Italian Saxoph...
Jul 17, 2018•Season 1Ep. 37
Micah Barnes, Toronto jazz singer and voice teacher, talks about what makes a vocal a jazz vocal. Also the late Gene McDaniels demonstrates singing ‘inside the changes’. You’ll hear some of the singers who inspired Micah Barnes. Also a non jazz singer with a jazz singer’s authenticity. I also play a couple tracks from Micah Barnes “New York Stories” cd. And finally, one example of an opera singer attempting to sing the blues. Right!
Jul 02, 2018•Season 1Ep. 36
I start by featuring Lonnie Johnson—who played the first guitar solo ever on record, in 1927. And we hear him playing with a Toronto Dixieland band from 1965. Plus two very early recordings with his guitar. I also talk about pianist McCoy Tyner, and play three tracks from a double album—–with guests Arthur Blythe, Bobby Hutcherson, and Freddie Hubbard. I also play more Freddie Hubbard, Phil Woods, Count Basie, and the later vancouver Tenor saxophonist, Fraser McPherson. And one tune that’s becom...
Jun 25, 2018•Season 1Ep. 35
I’ve discovered some wonderful cd’s and individual downloads over the past spring and summer—-and I want to play you some of the highlights. My favourite cd I’ve bought is by a 19 piece Toronto big band—Chelsea McBride’s Socialist Night School. And one that is really growing on me is a very unusual Phil Woods record from 2009 where he set the poems of Winnie the Pooh author A.A. Milne to music–with vocals by Vickey Doney and Bob Dorough. Another cd by one of the finest new jazz singers is Jazzme...
Jun 14, 2018•Season 1Ep. 34
