From chaos order as the boys realize that a couple of Pat's random LP haul both have a connection with the sexiest country and the rest of the episode just falls into place. Come for Pat's mispronunciations, stay for Mike's penetrating analysis of white man dancing on Letterman. Michel LeGrand – LEGRAND JAZZ; Circle - LIVE IN PARIS; Coleman Hawkins - IN PARIS WITH BENNY CARTER AND DJANGO; John Coltrane – LIVE TRAIN: THE EUROPEAN TOURS – Disc 1; Chet Baker with Dick Twardzik – COMPLETE STUDIO REC...
Aug 08, 2018•1 hr 41 min•Season 6Ep. 146
Across the pond we go to look at work by four up'n'comin' UK artists/groups (yes, there are such things as jazz groups). The boys delve deep into the in-jokes behind Shatner's Bassoon and, to wrap things about, talk about Herbie Hancock's recent concert and film appearances. Shatner’s Bassoon – DISCO EROSION; Jason Rebello – HELD; Zoe Rahman Trio – LIVE; Sons of Kemet – LEST WE FORGET WHAT WE CAME HERE TO DO; Hedvig Mollestad Trio – BLACK STABAT MATER.
Jul 25, 2018•1 hr 28 min•Season 6Ep. 145
At Mike's suggestion we check out some lesser known - and lesser loved - projects by major jazz artists, from the MOR sellout of Bill Evans' "Plays VIPs" to Duke Ellington's fantasia on jazz history and domestic violence, "A Drum is a Woman." After the main event is over, stay tuned for half an hour of wide-ranging talk on the Lovecraftian rock opera "Dreams in the Witch House" - unless you fear for your SANITY. Thelonious Monk – MONK’S BLUES; Bill Evans - PLAYS THE THEME FROM V.I.P.'S AND OTHER...
Jul 11, 2018•1 hr 32 min•Season 6Ep. 144
Mike's been hustled down in Texas, so Pat's without adult supervision when he interviews Glenn Crytzer about his new big band project: "Ain't It Grand." Glenn talks about the challenges of playing vintage jazz authentically, writing in the style of the period, and leading a band in the post making-money-from-album-sales era. The episode concludes with a brief discussion of some of Glenn's favorite vintage jazz sides. Glenn Crytzer - AIN'T IT GRAND? Plus quick looks at tracks by Count Basie, Flet...
Jun 27, 2018•1 hr 27 min•Season 6Ep. 143
We're back from our extended look at Cecil Taylor's challenging music and ready for more accessible - if equally rewarding - work by various artists in the modern mainstream. There's a little bit about food, a little bit about Lovecraft, and a lot about four very fine albums that have nothing to do with either edibles or interdimensional monsters. Shamie Royston – BEAUTIFUL LIAR; Ted Sirota’s Rebel Souls - VS. THE FORCES OF EVIL; Christian Artmann – OUR STORY; Black Flower – ABYSSINIA AFTERLIFE....
Jun 13, 2018•1 hr 20 min•Season 6Ep. 142
Cecil Taylor has always stood somewhat uneasily outside the jazz tradition - at least from the point of view of jazz traditionalists. This episode, Mike and Pat explore his challenging, exhausting, and sometimes off-putting music - and we like to think we nailed it. Cecil Taylor – LOOKING AHEAD!; NEFERTITI THE BEAUTIFUL ONE HAS COME; NAILED; THE WILLISAU CONCERT.
May 30, 2018•1 hr 35 min•Season 6Ep. 141
After a serious discussion of where and where not a samosa should be put, the boys launch into examinations of two classic jazz releases and two much more recent efforts by the second wave of "young lions". Wes Montgomery – LIVE IN PARIS THE DEFINITIVE ORTF RECORDINGS; Alice Coltrane – MONASTIC TRIO; Jon Gordon – ALONG THE WAY; J. D. Allen – RADIO FLYER.
May 16, 2018•1 hr 26 min•Season 6Ep. 140
Rump-shakin' is the order of the day when the boys check out four examples of the "party jazz" genre, with influences from New Orleans to India. Stay tuned for Mike's adventures in a lead balloon. Preservation Hall Jazz Band – THAT’S IT; Red Baraat – SHRUGGY JI; Hypnotic Brass Ensemble – HYPNOTIC JOINTS; Craig Handy – CRAIG HANDY AND SECOND LINE SMITH.
May 02, 2018•1 hr 30 min•Season 6Ep. 139
More cherry pickin' from polls, as the boys discuss four 2017 releases that got good notices in the jazz press. All four of these releases give the fellows warm fuzzies - of one intensity or another. Yazz Ahmed – LA SABOTEUSE; Jaimie Branch – FLY OR DIE; Courtney Pine – BLACK NOTES FROM THE DEEP; Binker and Moses – JOURNEY TO THE MOUNTAIN OF FOREVER.
Apr 18, 2018•1 hr 8 min•Season 6Ep. 138
It's all female vocalists this time, and the conversations about sultriness get pretty deep - when they aren't painfully shallow. Rene Marie – VERTIGO; Sophie Milman – MAKE SOMEONE HAPPY; Monica Zetterlund with the Bill Evans Trio – WALTZ FOR DEBBIE; Cecile McLoren Salvant – DREAMS AND DAGGERS.
Apr 04, 2018•1 hr 25 min•Season 6Ep. 137
To put Louis Armstrong into context, Mike leads Pat kicking and screaming through recordings by five of Louis' contemporaries. Who can redeem the period's vocalizin'? Boswell Sisters to the rescue. Henry “Red” Allen – CHRONOLOGICA L CLASSICS 1929-1933; King Oliver - KING OLIVER AND HIS ORCHESTRA 1929-1930; Oscar “Papa” Celestin/Sam Morgan – THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS; Bunny Berigan – COMPLETE BRUNSWICK, PARLOPHONE & VOCALIN BUNNY BERIGAN SESSIONS (DISC ONE)
Mar 21, 2018•1 hr 40 min•Season 6Ep. 136
It's a whole episode dedicated to the great Louis Armstrong's 1930's Decca tracks in all their glory and strangeness. Skeletons in the closest will boogie before all's said and done, and Mike will flex his cultural studies chops more than once. Plus a look at some of the biggest pop stars of the last decade and Bryan Ferry. Louis Armstrong: THE COMPLETE DECCA MASTER TAKES 1935-1939.
Mar 07, 2018•1 hr 36 min•Season 6Ep. 135
Sometimes we get review copies - sometimes we talk about them. Four youngish artists with quite recentish releases go under the microscope. Then, pop matters is all about the fab four and the very un-fab Sgt. Peppers movie.
Feb 21, 2018•1 hr 21 min•Season 6Ep. 134
Together at last, the boys talk a random assortment of jazz releases and then get to the nitty-gritty: what did Mike think of Hamilton and what is going on in the apartment beneath him? Juli Wood – SYNKKA METSA; Alex Sipiagin – RETURNING; The Necks – SILVERWATER; Vienna Art Orchestra – DUKE ELLINGTON’S SOUND OF LOVE.
Feb 07, 2018•1 hr 21 min•Season 6Ep. 133
Mike's laid up sick, so Pat whips up a "bonus" episode on Duke Ellington's suites. Did Ellington write a twenty-minute, six-movement suite just to get into Queen Elizabeth II's royal knickers? No way of knowing, but it's fun to speculate. Duke Ellington – SUCH SWEET THUNDER, QUEEN’S SUITE, FAR EAST SUITE, NEW ORLEANS SUITE.
Jan 24, 2018•1 hr 4 min•Season 6Ep. 132
We depart from our usual format to offer an interview with saxophone player and composer Charles McPherson. Charles discusses an early encounter with Charlie Parker, lessons from Barry Harris, a wild first night employed by Charles Mingus, what bebop means to him, and several other topics. We don't focus on particular albums, but Charles recommends, among others, TODAY'S MAN, SIKU YA BIBI, and THE JOURNEY as places to begin to get to know his playing, if you don't already.
Jan 10, 2018•1 hr 41 min•Season 6Ep. 132
It's a podcast first - Pat votes to ban a jazz musician from further discussion. Who's the lucky winner? Plus, if you're patient enough, Mike talks hats and gropers. Gregory Porter – MEET ME IN THE ALLEY, NAT “KING” COLE & ME; Kamasi Washington – HARMONY OF DIFFERENCE; Matt Wilson – HONEY AND SALT.
Dec 27, 2017•1 hr 26 min•Season 6Ep. 131
It's the podcasts' fifth anniversary so the albums discussed feature quintets. Laughs, insights, and just a few sentimental moments as the boys contemplate this milestone. Oh, and they rant about Microsoft just a little bit. Ronald Shannon Jackson – SHANNON’S HOUSE; Oliver Lake – PROPHET; Jimmy Lyons – GIVE IT UP; Kenny Cox – INTRODUCING KENNY COX AND THE CONTEMPORARY JAZZ QUINTET.
Dec 13, 2017•1 hr 34 min•Season 5Ep. 130
Thelonious Sphere Monk turns one-hundred this year, which is approximately the number of albums based on his music released each year. Mike and Pat discuss the master's recently unearthed sound track to Dangerous Liaisons and three fairly recently tribute albums to his deathless music. Thelonious Monk - LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES; (Plays Monk) – PLAYS MONK; John Beasley – MONK’ESTRA VOL. 1; Dave Zoller – EVIDENCE: MUSIC OF THELONIOUS MONK.
Nov 29, 2017•1 hr 22 min•Season 5Ep. 129
Mike and Pat welcome special guest Eric Allen, co-author of 50 Years at the Village Vanguard – Thad Jones, Mel Lewis and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, and discuss the book along with early recordings by the band and a couple other seventies big bands. All three agree - ain't no way Pat's letting Maynard Ferguson into his blanket fort. Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Big Band – LIVE AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD, PRESENTING THE JAZZ ORCHESTRA; ALL OUR YESTERDAYS (disc 1); Maynard Ferguson – MF HORN; Toshiko Akiy...
Nov 15, 2017•1 hr 47 min•Season 5Ep. 128
In this banger, Ethan Iverson's "Do the Math" blog inspires Mike and Pat to explore the early years of pianist Geri Allen's career. Pat keeps confusing Ethan with Allen, while Mike illustrates Melanie Klein's "good bassist / bad bassist theory" in his discussion of Geri's appearance in two trio super-groups. Geri Allen - THE PRINTMAKERS, TWYLIGHT, THE LIFE OF A SONG; Charlie Haden - ETUDES.
Nov 01, 2017•1 hr 30 min•Season 5Ep. 127
Mike leads us back, back, back into the wilds of pre-LP jazz as we discuss Bud Powell, Mary Lou Williams, and Tadd Dameron. Then Pat goes and ruins it with a selection from Ferit Odman, who at least had the decency to keep it all-analog. Mary Lou Williams – ZODIAC SUITE; Tadd Dameron – COMPLETE CAPITOL AND BLUE NOTE RECORDINGS OF FATS NAVARRO AND TADD DAMERON, DISC ONE; Bud Powell – COMPLETE VERVE RECORDINGS, DISC ONE (JAZZ GIANT & THE GENIUS OF BUD POWELL); Ferit Odman – DAMERONIA WITH STRI...
Oct 18, 2017•1 hr 30 min•Season 5Ep. 126
In this follow-up to the epic "lite jazz" explorations of episode 63, the boys look at three whistle-stops on the Soul train line, and check out a foundational document of lite jazz by George "Pencil-Stash" Benson. Grover Washington Jr. – SOULBOX; Hank Crawford – DON’T YOU WORRY ‘BOUT A THING; George Benson – BREEZIN’; David Sanborn – VOYEUR.
Oct 04, 2017•1 hr 25 min•Season 5Ep. 125
Two avante garde guitars two generations apart are the focus this time, as Mike and Pat look at releases from Sonny Sharrock and Mary Halvorson. Plus, Mike unloads on Pat for his Beach Boys obsession. Sonny Sharrock – GUITAR, ASK THE AGES; Mary Halvorson – MELTFRAME; Tomeka Reid Quartet – SELF TITLED.
Sep 20, 2017•1 hr 7 min
You can make all sorts of connections among the four selections discussed in this episode, but Pat & Mike aren't about trying too hard. Listen as Ambrose Akinmusire (and Stan Getz) enter the ranks of artists "lucky" enough to be discussed three times on this venerable show. Stan Getz – SWEET RAIN; Ambrose Akinmusire – A RIFT IN DECORUM – LIVE AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD; Miles Davis – LIVE AT FILLMORE EAST MARCH 7, 1970; Count Basie / Lester Young – SAVORY COLLECTION VOLUME 2
Sep 06, 2017•1 hr 21 min
Peripatetic Pat is in a grumpy mood this episode and can only find a spot of warmth in his cold cold heart for one of the four vocal selections covered. Why can't he not worry and be and/or get happy? Mike has one word for him: Zundoko! Norah Jones – DAY BREAKS; Pink Martini – GET HAPPY; Bobby McFerrin – SPIRITYOUALL; Madeleine Peyroux – SECULAR HYMNS.
Aug 23, 2017•1 hr 6 min
Mike and Pat welcome special guest Brent Laidler to discuss his album No Matter Where Noir. Brent plays guitar on the album but he also wrote and arranged the pieces, many of which normal human beings can hum. Brent Laidler - NO MATTER WHERE NOIR; Yuji Ohno – LUPIN THE THIRD JAZZ
Aug 09, 2017•1 hr 11 min
Listener suggestions guide the boys this time, with jazz inflected rock and camp infected jazz filling the playlist. Bettye LaVette - INTERPRETATIONS: THE BRITISH ROCK SONGBOOK; Frank Zappa - MAKE A JAZZ NOISE HERE; Joni Mitchell – MINGUS; Ed Palermo Big Band - THE GREAT UNAMERICAN SONGBOOK
Jul 26, 2017•1 hr 38 min
The forecast for this cast is . . . well, we're doing a show about four alto sax players named Sonny. Make your own meteorological joke. Sonny Stitt – REARIN’ BACK/ TRIBUTE TO ELLINGTON; Sonny Fortune – SERENGETI MINSTREL; Sonny Criss – SONNY’S DREAM; Sonny Simmons – BURNING SPIRITS.
Jul 12, 2017•1 hr 24 min
What do John Pizzarelli, Sun Ra, Jack DeJohnette and Brandford Marsalis have in common? You tell us. We spread the joy and opprobrium in equal measure this time, with kudos for Marsalis, Elling and . . . Sting? and clipped wings for Pizzarelli's all-McCartney effort. John Pizzarelli – MIDNIGHT MCCARTNEY; Sun Ra – THE SINGLES (Evidence 2D); Jack DeJohnette – IN MOVEMENT; Branford Marsalis / Kurt Elling – UPWARD SPIRAL
Jun 28, 2017•1 hr 19 min
