I’m taking a break for a week…..and posting a program of jazz oriented Christmas and other winter holiday tunes from three years ago. I wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Ramadan, Diwali, Epiphany (or Three Kings Day), New Year, Las Posadas, Mardi Gras, Lori, Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa, Chalica, or whatever holiday you want to celebrate. What is Chalica, you ask? Well, you’ll have to hear this podcast to find out. :), -Larry
Last week I had jazz for all the winter holidays. This week I focus on Christmas. You’ll hear traditional carols, songs written by jazz artisits that people like to play during this season, a couple old standards, and one brand new tune. I play some Oscar Peterson Trio, Joe Pass, Vince Guaraldi, Vince Guaraldi’s drummer (Jerry Granelli), Jacob Collier, Tony Bennett & Bill Evans, Jen Hodge All Stars, Dexter Gordon, Carri Coltrane with Ted Brancato, and Wynton Marsalis & Ted Nash with the ...
This is a podcast of music for the winter holidays: Christmas, New Year’s, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, Hanukkah (or Chanukkah), Las Posadas, Mardi Gras, Lohri, Diwalis, Epiphany, etc. Most of it is jazz or pretty close to jazz. If you’re looking for familiar Christmas music by which to decorate your tree, this probably isn’t the podcast for you. But next week’s might be. The highlight of the program? I think it’s saxophonist Samy Thiebault and his composition called ‘Diwali’. But there’s lots of o...
I explore some of the life and music of a few so-called ‘self-taught’ jazz musicians. None of them learned music in a ‘void’, any more than the formally trained musician is solely a product of the training. As well as hearing music by these well-known artists, you’ll hear pianist Ron Drotos (keyboardimprov.com) talk about a specific technique he used to teach himself, as a youth, to play pieces that were way beyond his level.
Lots of music today and not too much talk. From my online downloads you’ll hear Joe Henderson, Leslie Odom Jr., Wolff Clark Dorsey, and Gilson Perenzetta & Mauro Senise. Canadian groups are Victoria’s Naden Band featuring Roy Styffe, Chelsea McBride & Her Socialist Night School, and Jane Bunnett & Maqueque. Lastly, some random selections from my lp’s, where I play some Sarah Vaughan, Lenny Breau, and Earl Hines.
Last week I explored some of the ‘edges’ of the jazz genre. This week I unintentionally do the same simply by going through tunes I’ve downloaded into my mediamonkey music list and put in the ‘jazz’ category. Some are definitely more ‘jazzy’ than others. But it turns out to be a great show. Possibly because I have good taste in what I put in my huge list of songs. Or maybe I just got lucky with my random selections,.
Louis Armstrong once said that if you have to ask what jazz is, you’ll never know. But I wonder what he thought about some of the music that was categorized as ‘jazz’ today, or some of the artists headlining recent jazz festivals. For any category to be meaningful we have to have some idea as to what is not that category. Here I explore some of the characteristics of jazz. Wikipedia says it is “characterized by swing and blue notes, complex chords, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and impro...
I play selections from 9 of the top 10 albums on the October 26 JazzWeek chart, and talk a bit about them. Some great stuff!
This is the third episode where I play some top album’s on the current jazz charts as compiled by JazzWeek. I start out with Chick Corea playing Chopin, and describe how Chopin may have been a ‘forerunner’ of modern jazz. Other great artist’s from whose albums I play a track are The Jeff Hamilton Trio, Bobby Watson, Diego Figueredo, Jose Rizo’s Mongorama, Maceo Parker, and John Fedchock NY Quintet. And for some strange reason I also play a track from a 2016 recording by Toronto fusion group, Man...
I’ve always loved charts. As a kid I’d wake up every Saturday morning and listen and write out CJCA Edmonton’s Top 93. So I’m delighted to be exploring the current Jazz Charts—-even if it is for albums rather than singles. This is through Jazz Week….and they are, I believe, charts from U.S. radio stations. But there is lots of international music on it. On this episode, I look at the top 40 playlists from Oct 12, 2020……focusing on #’s 21 to 32, as well as a Canadian artist who is high on the itu...
Most of the jazz I play on this podcast tends to be the tried and true over the years. I’m changing that for the next four episodes and exploring the current jazz charts. These are albums on the playlists of U.S. jazz radio stations as listed through JazzWeek on their weekly top 100. For this episode I looked at the charts for the end of September, and played a track from the albums rated numbers 31 to 40. You’ll hear a great variety…..and it’s all ‘real jazz’. The highlight for me? Probably Art...
I found a list of the most recorded tunes, thanks to a website called Second Hand Songs. They’re almost all songs that jazz musicians like to play. In this podcast I examine the top 15 (not counting Christmas songs) and play you a version of 10 of them. You’ll hear recordings by: Sergio Mendes & Brazil 66, Charles Mingus, Steven Riley, Patricia Barber, Tony Bennett & Amy Winehouse, Gilson Peranzzetta & Mauro Senise, The Jolly Tars (from The Naden Band), Thelonious Monk, Herbie Hancoc...
At a record store in Nanaimo B.C. called Fascinating Rhythm I bought about 19 78rpm records. I’ll play 13 of them for you that are jazz, r’nb’ or gospel. The jazz records I play are by Coleman Hawkins, Woody Herman, Nellie Lutcher, Hazel Scott, Johnny Hodges, and Slam Stewart. And a jazz blues by Louis Jordan. I also play a very early record by the great soul singer, Jackie Wilson, with Billy Ward & The Dominos. Also the original version of Fever, as recorded by Little Willie John—–which lea...
For much of the summer there have been no live in-person music due to Covid. A lot of artists started posting concerts online, and this week I play some recordings of these concerts. While the performers have generously made these recordings available to anyone, it’s important to help musicians sustain their art. So I encourage you if you hear anything you really like to either, via their website, pay for a download by that artist, make a donation, or buy cd’s if they happen to be available. You...
Jelly Roll Morton claimed he invented jazz. Most other people claim he didn’t. But unlike some public figures who brag a lot, so many of the things he claimed he could do he actually did! And there’s no doubt that he did create a style of jazz, and was the first to combine so many influences that form the roots of today’s jazz into some kind of ordered system. Dave Brubeck once said, in the 1950’s, that you can’t call today’s jazz ‘progressive’ because Jelly Roll Morton was already doing it 30 y...
On this latest episode I play more records (78rpm’s and lp’s) and cd’s that I bought (or in one case picked up off the street) as I travelled around Vancouver Island. The jazz you’ll hear is by Benny Goodman, Lee Ritenour, Manhattan Transfer, Hazel Scott, Skywalk (a B.C. fusion band), Duke Ellington, Ron Davis & Drew Birston (Eric Satie meets Henry Mancini), Thelonious Monk and (I guess) Chuck Mangione. Also a bit of non-jazz with some jazz sensibility: The Nice (w. Keith Emerson) and a smid...
I stayed home mostly. But I did travel a bit up island and bought some records (including some 78rpm jazz records) and cd’s. On this episode, to introduce you to September and the new season, I’ll play some of the best ones for you. The Lp’s are by Billy Taylor and Steve Khan. The cd is by Toronto’s Ron Davis with Drew Birston. And the 78’s from Bop City Records in Courtenay feature Pete Johnson & Albert Ammons, Duke Ellington, The Hometowners (a Victoria group from 1952), The Kansas City Go...
Most of the time my the new episodes of my podcasts generate 300-400 hits. Not viral……but I’m happy with that. But there was one that never made it over 100 hits for some reason. It’s episode 33, part 2 of my programs talking about Downbeat jazz magazine and featuring music talked about in the May and June 2018 issue. I just listened to it and I thought it was a pretty good program with some very interesting music. Some of it might be a bit too ‘modern’ sounding for some people…..maybe a bit ‘fr...
On this program I play most of the entire Blue Train album of 1957 by John Coltrane. Why? well, most of those tunes are so often called out in jazz jams, and John Coltrane is certainly a jazz ‘legend’. As well as the fact that this is considered to be one of Coltrane’s most ‘accessible’ albums. Oh! And it’s great! (that’s another reason). I start by talking about Coltrane’s amazing solo on the first track, comparing it with a less inspiring solo he did on an alternate take of that same track. Yo...
Since Toronto singer Micah Barnes has been doing a ‘virtual tour’ of his new album, I thought this would be a good time to re-post a podcast of an interview I did with him in 2017—-where he talked about some of his favourite jazz singers. The topic was ‘what makes a vocal a jazz vocal. I also posted part of a conversation between my favourite singer, Gene (Eugene) McDaniels and pianist Tom Snow where Gene demonstrates jazz singing and talks about his own jazz roots. You’ll hear selections by Bes...
Dipping really early into the archives—an episode from three years ago, where jazz saxophonist, guitarist, and singer, Sean Hully, from Peterborough, Ontario talked about how he learned to play and appreciate jazz. We’ll also take you through a bit of jazz history. You’ll hear music by King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins, Susie Arioli, Weather Report, Hank Mobley, Joe Henderson, Glenn Miller, and Sean Hully himself. As well, Sean explains where those strange notes in be-bop and modern ...
Hi folks! I accidentally posted the wrong episode….and I repeated Episode 56 rather than 57. Sorry about that. But I’ve corrected it. So give a listen to Episode 57—from the archives. A great show! One more from the archives on Cuban jazz—-and this might be the best of the lot! You’ll hear how Castro’s disdain for anything American led him to ‘ban’ jazz, and how this led to a new and revolutionary form of music: timba. Chucho Valdes and Iraquere played quite a role in that development. I also pl...
Another summer re-run of some of my best Discovering Jazz Programs. I think the whole 4 part series on Cuban Jazz is well worth listening to, with lots of information and great music. Part 2 includes Geraldo Rubalcaba with Ron Carter, Ray Barretto, early diva Rita Montaner, David Amram, and many others. You’ll learn more about claves and clave rhythms. I play a fusion of jazz ‘Lucumi’ music—aka Yoruba or Santeria—thanks to Jane Bunnett with El Gato Gatel and Pancho Quinto. Then, staying with tri...
This is a ‘re-run’ of one of my favourite and in terms of the information presented, probably one of my most ‘dense’ episodes. Afro-Cuban Jazz, while the musicians were exported from Havana, actually began in New York. I’ll introduce you to some of the ‘founders’—-Mario Bauza, Chano Pozo, Dizzy Gillespie, flautist Alberto Soccoras, Nilo Menendez, Don Azpiazu, Antonio Machin, Rita Montaner, Xavier Cugat, and Machito’s Afro-Cubans. You’ll also see some evidence that Rock ‘n Roll was invented by Cu...
I just saw the list of jazz artists involved in this year’s Juno Awards for the best Canadian jazz albums of 2019, including the list of winners. I listened to some of each nominated record—and decided to play a track from some of them that resonated with me. Some of them weren’t even in the ‘jazz’ category—but I thought they were at least pretty close to jazz. You’ll hear selections by Dominique Fils-Aime, Bill McBirnie with Bernie Senensky, Ernesto Cervini’s Turboprop, Dave Young Trio, Monkey ...
I moved from Peterborough, Ontario to Victoria B.C. on May 1st, 2019, and was able to become a volunteer for the TD Victoria International Jazz Festival. If COVID19 hadn’t stopped it in its tracks, I would have been involved in this year’s festival as well. And the festival would have just ended this past weekend. Since I’ll be doing a lot of program re-runs this summer—shows from the archives—I thought I’d start with re-broadcasting the third program I put together last year on the Victoria Jaz...
Five more jazz standards today….with a few different versions of each and some interesting stories. Hilights? I’d give the #1 highlight to Mitchell Ruff Trio’s version of Gypsy in My Soul. What an under-rated group! Vancouver’s Karin Plato sings a nice version too. Then there’s that glorious contrast between that same time (which has the old ‘Heart and Soul’ chord sequence with Invitation—where each of the 12 tones of the scale is used at least once as the root of the chord. I play two great ver...
This week I play a couple different versions of five different jazz standards. The five are: I Want To Be Happy, Embraceable You, Milestones, God Bless the Child, and Impressions. One of those tunes came about after another tune by the same name was recorded by the same artist. Guess which one. Then there was the ‘happy’ lyricist who lived to the age of 101. You’ll hear a free jazz exponent play Gershwin. Then there’s the song that was written as a result of one of the writer’s being in a rage w...
It was Eldridge Cleaver who was best known for saying “You either have to be part of the solution, or you’re going to be part of the problem”. Jazz is music born of the African-American experience, and, in order to be part of the solutions, all of us who are involved in this music are ‘duty bound’ to recognize its origins. Jazz also has a long history of fighting oppression and violence against African Americans as well as other minorities, and have been (to quote Randall Cline, artistic directo...
This program features jazz artists who started playing their primary instrument relatively late in life. ‘Relatively’ might be anything later than early childhood (considering how many were child prodigies). Others started playing early but didn’t come into full bloom (whether in their careers or their skill) until later. Then there were a couple (Pat Martino, Frank Morgan) whose careers were interrupted for various reasons, then came back with a vengeance. Some of the names that came up were We...
