This episode is part 1 of a three part series on bass players in the world of jazz. I begin with the tuba—which, along with the bass saxophone, was the primary bass instrument in turn of the century New Orleans Jazz. They couldn’t use a string bass because you couldn’t hear it….as there were no microphones. But there was an exception! I play a recording by a group led by a string bassist who had been playing it as early as 1900. You’ll also hear Walter Page, Toronto’s Steve Wallace, Norman Bates...
Feb 15, 2022•Season 1Ep. 180
Twelve more recordings voted by jazz critics and radio stations as being the best of 2021. I start with Los Angeles pianist Cameron Graves and end with Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga. And between those selections are a variety of straight-ahead and ‘out there’ jazz. From New York, there’s drummer/percussionist Ches Smith and The We All Break. I play a few great collaborations, such as clarinetist Ben Goldberg with guitarist Mary Halvorson. Then there’s Whiterock B.C. native Amanda Tosoff collabora...
Feb 08, 2022•Season 1Ep. 179
From perusing a number of ‘best of’ lists, filled with choices of top albums of 2021 by jazz fans and critics, I present tracks from 9 more albums. Some of it is more ‘modern’ sounding–such as Wadada Leo Smith, Floating Points, Kurt Elling’s new album, BadBadNotGood, Patricia Brennan, and Kenny Garrett. Then there’s a few more ‘traditional’ sounding jazz albums by Antonio Adolfo, Brandi Disterherft, and Vincent Herring. But it’s all high quality music.
Feb 01, 2022•Season 1Ep. 178
This week I play two versions of the tune that students and professional jazz players say is a ‘must learn’ if you’re going to any kind of a jazz jam. I also list other tunes that people from the Jazz World site mentioned when I asked them what tunes one must know. And you’ll hear great recordings of some of these tunes by the likes of Miles Davis, Joe Henderson and Kenny Dorham, Oliver Jones, Charlie Parker, Pat Coil, Gene McDaniels, Wynton Kelly, and Emilie Claire-Barlow, And for me, the highl...
Jan 25, 2022•Season 1Ep. 177
You’ve been invited to an informal jam session and you want to make sure you are familiar with the tunes likely to be played or ‘called out’. Which ones do you need to know? I asked this question on a facebook site (The Jazz World) populated by jazz musicians and students. The #1 thing they said you need to know are what is called ‘rhythm changes’. Just as important are the three different kinds of blues progressions. They also chose a number of different tunes that are ‘must learns’. On this ep...
Jan 18, 2022•Season 1Ep. 176
Various websites and magazines put out their ‘best of’ lists for 2021. I chose the first six that came up on Google, and also looked at the summary of the albums most played by jazz radio stations (mostly American) for the year. I listened to a bit of everything, then chose a few that interested me. And I’m presenting tracks from those albums in this 4-part series. This week you’ll hear the Chick Corea Akoustic Band, Allan Harris, George Cables, The Baylor Project, James Brandon Lewis, Julian La...
Jan 11, 2022•Season 1Ep. 175
When I searched for ‘the best jazz albums of 2021’ in mid December, I found six sites that listed or ranked their favourites. Some of them were compilations of different critics or fans responses; others I don’t know how they compiled them. But what I noticed is that all the lists were dramatically different from each other—very few repetitions. I also looked at the ‘running 52 week jazz chart’ from Jazz Week, which ranked them according to number of plays on various jazz radio stations—mostly i...
Jan 04, 2022•Season 1Ep. 174
A great variety of interesting and excellent music that I’ve downloaded sometime between 2017 and now. Some of it is what we all know as ‘jazz’, including Karryn Allison, Bill Evans Trio, Kenny Washington, Kelly Eisenhour, Billy Childs, Cunliffe Patitucci & Colaiuta. There are also two great Victoria jazz artists, singer Angela Verbrugge and trumpeter Patrick Boyle. Then there’s New Orleans r’n’b singer and pianist, the late Dr. John. You’ll also hear a bit of fusion jazz to start off the ep...
Dec 28, 2021•Season 1Ep. 173
This week I play Christmas and winter holiday music by some of the greatest jazz players and singers of all time. You’ll hear Oscar Peterson, Sarah Vaughan, Arti Shaw, Toronto’s Robi Botos, Diana Krall, Dave Brubeck, Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Phil Woods, Tony Bennett, and Earl Hines. One very unusual highlight is the legendary pianist Bill Evans singing. Vancouver’s Jennifer Scott and Rene Worst top off this Christmas special with two tunes recorded live in their home....
Dec 21, 2021•Season 1Ep. 172
A jazz fan, Peter Waddell, who says he is not a musician. He once again selects some amazing records and talks about why these particular tracks give him joy. Lots of modern recordings and two historical gems. Since he has commended me for playing on these podcasts “global giants and local joys”, I present him with a ‘local joy’—an obscure but now defunct jazz-fusion group from the Canadian Okanagan called “The Mammals”. You probably won’t find any of their recordings online. Thanks to Peter, I ...
Dec 14, 2021•Season 1Ep. 171
A reviewer wrote about my podcast: “Larry shares the findings of his ongoing journey with enthusiasm: …..innovators and perfectors from a century of creative expression; global giants and local joys’ the old and the new’ influences on and influences by; the easy and the challenging” Wow! I love that description. This Discovering Jazz fan lives in Ulster in Northern Ireland, and I invited him to share some of his favourite discoveries and to talk about them. Some wonderful recordings, and I thank...
Dec 07, 2021•Season 1Ep. 170
After Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue took the jazz world by storm, jazz musicians and fans expressed much excitement about what has been termed ‘modal jazz’. This is a sub-genre that uses long passages of unchanging harmony based on different scales rather than a series of chords. In this podcast I talk about the history of modal jazz, including some of the music that influenced Miles Davis in putting together this amazing recording. Some say it goes back to 1936—with Juan Tizol’s Caravan. And drumme...
Nov 30, 2021•Season 1Ep. 169
This episode was inspired by finding three jazz magazines in a Little Library outside of jazz singer Susannah Adam’s home in Victoria, B.C. There were a bunch of articles on jazz vocalists, including one where Luciana Souza chose some recordings with ‘wordless vocals’. Some amazing stuff by the likes of Milton Nascimento, Toninho Horta, and Luciana herself,. Then another article involved The New York Voices being given a blindfold test of recordings by various singers. There was Bill Henderson w...
Nov 23, 2021•Season 1Ep. 168
Five songs and the stories behind them. I talk about and play different versions of Round Midnight (aka Round About Midnight), In a Mellow Tone (aka In a Mellotone), Night Train, My One and Only Love, and You Don’t Know What Love Is. And all five of these have interesting stories behind them.
Nov 16, 2021•Season 1Ep. 167
Hey! This week’s episode of selected downloads are even better than last week’s. At least it felt that way as I was listening to this latest episode. I start it off with a gorgeous version of Autumn Leaves with Laila Biali and a host of some of Toronto’s best players. And I finish it off with another pianist–Russian born Eldar Djangirov…who is described as “blisteringly electric one moment, tender and thoughtful the next”. Between those two you’ll hear Jeff Parker and The New Breed, Joe Pass &am...
Nov 09, 2021•Season 1Ep. 166
I’ ve already presented episodes playing some favourite lp’s, cd’s, and even some 78’s. Now its time for some downloads. Some are old recordings, some fairly new. I play Marlena Shaw, Chet Baker, Duke Ellington with Mingus and Roach, Roberto Fonseca and Faroumata Diawara, Melissa Aldana, Sting with Jo Lawry, The Brooks, Rowan Farintosh Quartet, Ori Dagan, the surf-jazz of Ben Rogers, and grammy nominated Pancho Sanchez.
Nov 02, 2021•Season 1Ep. 165
I’m picking out a few tunes from a few favourite cd’s. Lots of music, not too much talk for this episode. You’ll hear a few familiar favourites such as Tony Bennett and Bill Evans, Miles Davis, Dave McKenna and Buddy DeFranco, Stanley Clarke and Friends (with Billy Cobham and Najee), Bob Dorough. I also play a few artists with whom most of you probably aren’t familiar: Carri Coltrane, Eugene McDaniels, Bill Coon & Ron Peters, and Paul Novotny & Robi Botos. But I can assure you that every...
Oct 26, 2021•Season 1Ep. 164
Part two features some more of the musicians rated in the 69th Annual Jazz Poll from Downbeat Magazine. This week I start out with Kris Davis (with Nels Cline), and follow it with the vocal-less Nels Cline Singers. You’ll also hear Freddy Cole, Laila Biali, Sinne Eeg, Aaron Diehl, and Charles Lloyd and The Marvels. There are a few interesting combinations of great musicians. There is Redman,Meldhau,McBride,and Blade, and all four of them have individually been ranked high. And one of my favourit...
Oct 19, 2021•Season 1Ep. 163
The results of Downbeat’s 69th Annual Critics Poll inspired me to discover and listen to a few artists. And to re-listen to a few others. You’ll hear some of what I discovered on this episode. I start with some new members placed into the ‘hall of fame. This year it was Kenny Barron. And the jazz ‘veterans’ committee made another choice: somebody I’d never heard of, a trumpeter who died in 1961 at the age of 23. Anybody familiar with Booker Little? I also play selections from the Big Band catego...
Oct 12, 2021•Season 1Ep. 162
Carla Bley, at the age of 85, was just voted onto Downbeat Magazine’s Hall of Fame. There is an article in the August 2021 issue where she talks about having found her ‘voice’—a voice that has endured through all the twists and turns. In this episode we explore that voice, playing recordings from 1957 to 2020. She is a prolific composer and arranger, as well as a fine pianist. I play some of her compositions as interpreted by Canadian pianist Paull Bley, Gary Burton, The Liberation Music Orchest...
Oct 05, 2021•Season 1Ep. 161
This week I go to my cd collection and pick out a few with which I was familiar at one time, and give them another spin. The recordings span the years 1955 all the way to 2021. Included are three Canadian cd’s. One is by Dave McMurdo out of Toronto. The second is vibraphonist Peter Appleyard with some of the most famous jazz players ever. And last but not least, an amazing and obscure cd (you won’t find it anywhere online) by a Penticton/Kelowna B.C. jazz-funk groups called The Mammals. Going fr...
Sep 28, 2021•Season 1Ep. 160
To start off the 2021-2022 season of Discovering Jazz, I thought I’d play some familiar (and a few not so familiar) tunes from my lp collection. I play a few ‘regulars’ whose music has appeared on this program over the years: Don Shirley, Vince Guaraldi, Sounds Orchestral (Johnny Pearson), Fraser MacPherson, Peggy Lee, Tony Bennett & Bill Evans, and Bob Dorough. You’ll aso hear cuts from albums by Eddie Cano, Franco D’Andrea, Mel Torme with Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass, Buddy DeFranco an...
Sep 21, 2021•Season 1Ep. 159
This is an episode that is near and dear to my heart. Absolute Pitch (sometimes inaccurately called ‘perfect’ pitch) is something I had, then lost. And its something that people who don’t have it can never understand. When you have it, it seems as ‘normal’ as being able to identify the colour of your socks….and it’s a mystery why others aren’t able to do that. In this episode I talk about my own experience. But it’s mostly about various musicians who have or had it, and how it affected them. And...
Sep 14, 2021•Season 1Ep. 88
You go to a jazz jam session with students or amateurs. One of the most common musical guides that almost every player uses is The Real Book, 6th Edition, Volume 1. The original Real Book was put together in the mid 1970’s by some Berklee College of Music music students in Boston, partly as a way to make some money and probably also so they could have some standard melodies and chords to use during jazz jams. No royalties were paid. In 2004, Hal Leonard obtained the rights to most of the tunes i...
Sep 07, 2021•Season 1Ep. 91
This is an episode I posted November, 2019…..before my guest, Angela Verbrugge, won the listener’s poll in Jazz Times magazine for favourite female vocalist. Angela sent me (upon my request) some recordings from jazz singers I probably never heard of. These recordings are the subject of this week’s and next week’s podcast. I make it an exchange by presenting one or two to her that she’s probably never heard of. This week you and I will discover the delightful singing of Lucy Yeghizaryan, Gabriel...
Aug 31, 2021•Season 1Ep. 84
One of my favourite Discovering Jazz podcasts. I used to play French Horn and tried to play blues on it. Even used it in a rock-blues group, with questionable success. But there is quite the tradition of truly great jazz french hornists, and I’ve discovered a few of them. I play some of them on this program. It’s all great jazz…..I assure you.
Aug 24, 2021•Season 1Ep. 77
According to Wikipedia, Jan Randall, a Canadian composer, pianist, and arranger, has made a career of composing soundtracks for films, theatre, radio, and television. He combines playing by ear with his formal classical and jazz training. And he teaches jazz appreciation courses through UVic and is a faculty member of the Victoria Conservatory of Music. For this week’s program, Jan talks about a jazz appreciation course he has taught over the years. His objective is to help everybody expand thei...
Aug 17, 2021•Season 1Ep. 76
Shortly before I moved from Peterborough, Ontario to Victoria, B.C., I spoke with Peterborough jazz guitarist, Mike Graham. I asked him for his thoughts on the future of jazz. He had lots of interesting things to say….and on this episode I play part of that interview. What is the future of jazz? Will everything change when the Miles Davis generation dies out? Who will replace them? In this program, I discuss with Mike what jazz might look like in the future—-as well as what it won’t be. Of cours...
Aug 10, 2021•Season 1Ep. 63
While many of those jazz tunes jazz artists like to play are from films or Broadway, many are written by jazz musicians. For this episode, from 2019, I feature seven tunes that have become ‘standards’. Two of them were written for films, and the other five specifically to be played by jazz ensembles. I play tunes written by Horace Silver, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Bernie Miller (for Gerry Mulligan), and Wayne Shorter. And the two film tunes are from Alice in Wonderland and A Hole In The Hea...
Aug 03, 2021•Season 1Ep. 59
This is a program originally aired on Trent Radio and placed on my podcast site in November, 2017. Inspired by a jazz instruction blog & podcast , LearnJazzStandards.com, hosted by guitarist Brent Vaarstra, and his post called “92 Modern Jazz Albums You Need to Listen To”. ‘Modern’ was defined as 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. Vaarstra recommended album...
Jul 27, 2021•Season 1Ep. 9
