For our first podcast of 2022 we take a deep dive into the work of recently departed guitarist Pat Martino. From a live burner to an introspective duet to a fusion foray and an all-star showcase, Pat's recordings always delivered quality and kept his unique personality to the fore whatever the context. Pat Martino: LIVE!, JOYOUS LAKE, WE'LL BE TOGETHER AGAIN, BOTH SIDES NOW. Mike brings a bonanza to pop matters but Pat has only one little Nightmare.
Jan 05, 2022•1 hr 26 min•Season 9Ep. 232
Like musicians in every genre, jazzers can't resist the lure of making Christmas and/or holiday themed albums from time to time. Some of the efforts turn into timeless classics. But let's be real - most of 'em don't. We talk about two recent efforts, an oddity from the 'ninties, and one of Capitol records many repackaging of their back catalog for holiday commerce. Straps yourselves in, elves. Steven Feifke, Benny Benack III– SEASON’S SWINGIN’ GREETINGS; Johnny Costa – CHRISTMAS REFLECTIONS – SO...
Dec 22, 2021•1 hr 23 min•Season 9Ep. 231
After what seems like donkey's years the bastards have a new guest to interview, and we couldn't be happier than to spend an hour with saxophonist, composer, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk booster Dave Mullen. Dave talks about his new album, Solace, the personal and musical inspirations behind it, his love of multi-saxophonist and blind visionary Rahsaan Kirk, and a host of other topics. HGTV, release Saxophone Flippers, you cowards! Pop matters wanders drunkenly from the Beach Boys to the Clash - and ...
Dec 08, 2021•1 hr 26 min•Season 9Ep. 230
We don't pen up or force-feed our co-host. This podcast is proud to say we use only free-range Mike. And when Mike's in the driver's seat, you never know what odd alleyways you might go down. Today's 'cast looks at two generations of Cherry's, the third appearance on this show of Kemet's best-loved offspring . . . and an album-length cover of Abbey Road? Brace yourselves, partners. David Ornette Cherry – ORGANIC NATION LISTENING CLUB THE CONTINUAL; Sons of Kemet – BLACK TO FUTURE; Mike Westbrook...
Nov 24, 2021•1 hr 38 min•Season 9Ep. 229
Four live records turn up on the boys' plates - of which do they happily partake? The sessions range in recording dates from the late sixties to the 2010's, but three of the four came out in the last few months. We talk about a listener-suggested album of "modern" stride piano, a scorching modal date that left the tape in tatters, a recently discovered live appearance from the dean of off-kilter piano and a series of charming duets by two musicians of more recent vintage who left us far too soon...
Nov 10, 2021•1 hr 32 min•Season 9Ep. 228
The title gives it away - it's an all-vocalist episode, favoring the ladies (3 out of 4) and offering a mix of standards (everybody's at it) along with a little more adventurous programming from time to time. Will the weakest vocalist technically walk away with honors? Can Pat and Mike overcome their gender-trouble and dig what our sole male vocalist is laying down? Is Mike's S.O. always going to be mad at Pat because Mike knows how to shift (blame) better than an Indy 500 driver? Tune in to fin...
Oct 29, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Season 9Ep. 227
Trying out CDs by unfamiliar artists is a little like speed dating. You've got minutes to decide if you're compatible, if you're likely to be in a relationship for the long term, or if you're just ships passing in the night. Or something like that. Mike and Pat listen to four 2021 releases by unfamiliar artists and ask themselves who they'd like to take home. Stay tuned for a pop matters that sneaks in discussion of Indy Jazz Fest's final day. Brandon Goldberg – IN GOOD TIME; Mark Zaleski – OUR ...
Oct 13, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Season 9Ep. 226
Time, the bastards decided, for a historical podcast - and this time, the focus is on stride. Who started it? Who perfected it? Who blew it up? Who deconstructed it? Keep your left hand limber and the answers will follow. Pop matters includes a brief look at chanteuse of the day Billie Eilish. Fats Waller - COMPLETE VICTOR PIANO SOLOS – VOL 1; Art Tatum– SOLO MASTERPIECES VOL 1; Thelonious Monk - THELONIOUS HIMSELF; James P. Johnson - THE ORIGINAL JAMES P. JOHNSON 1942-1945 PIANO SOLOS....
Sep 29, 2021•1 hr 30 min•Season 9Ep. 225
This fortnight's spectacular focuses on two very different sets of music - two albums by modern jazz violinists and the two best-known recordings featuring elusive trumpeter Dupree Bolton (they are just about the ONLY recordings featuring him - stay tuned for the details). Pop matters range from St. Vincent to Sparks to Sade - and that's some ranging. Ali Bello – INHERITANCE; Tomoko Omura – BRANCHES VOL 2; Harold Land – THE FOX; Curtis Amy – KATANGA!
Sep 15, 2021•1 hr 28 min•Season 9Ep. 224
Mike's on the road and overwhelmed with work so it's up to Pat to come up with something to satiate the frothing demand for bastardly content. Back to the vinyl well he goes - first to talk about six Blue Note albums he discovered on his on-going record buying spree (enjoyable in whatever format you choose) and then to muse a little about how Blue Note is once again building a canon by selecting which albums get memorialized in all-analog vinyl and which albums of the hundred plus already releas...
Sep 01, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Season 9Ep. 223
The Bastards look at four albums taking paths less travelled, approaches rarely attempted, and pianos (in the case of Sun Ra at least) untuned. Three 2021 releases are featured and we go way back to 1966 for a movie tie-in album that went right for jazz fans and terribly wrong the the MGM employee writing the linear notes. Pop matters this time isn't pop at all but Mike's in-depth discussion of Charles McPherson's birthday concert, so stay tuned. Adi Meyerson – I WANT TO SING MY HEART OUT IN PRA...
Aug 18, 2021•1 hr 20 min•Season 9Ep. 223
Dry the pool, dry concrete, brown edged, And the pool was filled with water out of sunlight, And the lotos rose, quietly, quietly, and said shooby dooby doo - er, well, maybe not according to T. S. Eliot, but those aren't the four quartets we're talking about. Instead, we've got a mix of progressive and nostalgic takes on a jazz combo format as old as time and much, much hipper than "Cats." Horizons Quartet – HORIZONS QUARTET; Michael Marcus, Joe McPhee, Jay Rosen & Warren Smith - BLUE REALI...
Aug 04, 2021•1 hr 35 min•Season 9Ep. 222
We look at two lesser known vocalists tonight and two fairly obscure pianists, and things turn out pretty well if it wasn't for that darn echo. What's going on in the Riverside studios, anyway? At some point, the episode turns into a trivia show, but at the last minute, John Cale turns up to set things right and Pat gets a few words in edgewise about the Denver jazz scene. Mike Nock – CLIMBING; Harold Danko – MIRTH SONG; Abbey Lincoln – ABBEY IS BLUE; Peggy Lee – BLACK COFFEE.
Jul 21, 2021•1 hr 25 min•Season 9Ep. 221
Since the seventies, it's arguable that most jazz musicians work in 'old' idioms (even if they mix and match them in new ways), but this episode's artists each take on aspects of jazz's past that seem, well, more past than most. Sometimes the commitment to the older idiom is complete, sometimes it comes and goes, but either way the results are fascinating. Scott Hamilton – AFTER HOURS; Evan Arntzen – COUNTERMELODY; Charnett Moffett – NEW LOVE ; Keith Brown – AFRICAN RIPPLES. Isaac Hayes, Elvis P...
Jul 07, 2021•1 hr 26 min•Season 9Ep. 220
It had to happen. The bastards came of jazz-age in the eighties and nineties - an era when young lions roamed the earth (and the mall record bins) and, sooner or later, attention must be paid. What to say about this last gasp of mainstream, corporate approved jazz before the collapse of the majors? Oh, so very very much. So much in fact that some of the ranting had to be tagged on to the ending just to avoid sinking the ship. Pop matters? Old 97s and early Kraftwerk . . . Marcus Roberts - BLUES ...
Jun 23, 2021•1 hr 31 min•Season 9Ep. 219
Four recent releases by four artists new to the boys - two offering their debuts to the world. We've got a couple of vibe-meisters (is that instrument getting hot all of a sudden?), a disciple of Darcy James Argue, and a good old-fashioned small-group jazz album with a thematic thing going on. Oh yeah, and in a completely scientific poll of one listener, we beat out the brilliant classical minds on the Gramophone podcast, so there's that. Evgeny Ponomarev – CLOCKWISE, Jihye Lee Orchestra – DARIN...
Jun 09, 2021•1 hr 30 min•Season 9Ep. 218
We bring the old-ish and the brand-new this week, with two catalog items courtesy of Mike and two 2021 Bud Powell tributes courtesy of Kismet, I guess. One oldie os a middle of the road Blue Note basic, while the other is a third stream effort that is glancingly echoed in the more orchestrated of the two Bud tributes. And that's all you're getting out of me - you'll have to listen to the episode to find out more. Lou Donaldson – TIME IS RIGHT; Hubert Laws – RITE OF SPRING; Alex Conde - DESCARGA ...
May 26, 2021•1 hr 20 min•Season 9Ep. 217
The Bastards had hoped to host author Will Friedwald this episode to discuss his book on Nat King Cole, but like a ramblin' rose his path wandered from ours and we ended up high and lonesome, talking Nat's vocal albums on Capital by ourselves. Nat was one of the great Swing era piano players and led one of the first influential jazz piano trios, but we focus on the second half of his too-short career as mainstream vocalist and vowel-wrangler extraordinaire. Nat King Cole: LOVE IS THE THING; ST. ...
May 12, 2021•1 hr 34 min•Season 9Ep. 216
In honor of a Record Store Day release of "In Baltimore", we decide to devote an episode to tenor saxophonist George Coleman, who served tours of duty with Max Roach, Elvin Jones, and Miles Davis among others. The focus is on his mid-sixties to early seventies work as we ponder George's strengths and weaknesses and whether he's been given a fair shake in jazz history. Pop matters touches on several groups and then wanders over into a discussion of jazz clubs because we're on our own without adul...
Apr 28, 2021•1 hr 29 min•Season 9Ep. 215
Mike thinks "basserageous" is the stupidest title for the podcast yet, but is it, really? There's a lot of competition. Anyway, this fortnight's gem looks at ECM albums where the bass is large and in charge, which provides opportunities to talk about ECM's aesthetics, how technological changes in the seventies allowed bass players new prominence, and Pat Metheny's hair. Mostly Pat Metheny's hair. Eberhard Weber – SILENT FEET; Gary Peacock – GUAMBA; Pat Metheny – BRIGHT SIZE LIFE; Gary Burton – E...
Apr 14, 2021•1 hr 20 min•Season 9Ep. 214
Mike's on the road for this one, and he's the only one in the car who likes jazz, so things get a bit hairy as he listens to this week's selections. All were selected by Pat (safely at home) and all are by artists new to both, so there's some fumbling about as they listen to four 2021 releases and try to figure out why they annoy Mike's new cats so much. Paul Bedal - CERULIAN STARS; Roni Ben-Hur - STORIES; Jeff Coffin & Helen Gillet - LET IT SHINE; Colin Cannon - McGOLRICK.
Mar 31, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Season 9Ep. 213
The jazz world lost Chick Corea this February and we bastards miss him like everyone else. Well, maybe not like fans of electric-era Return to Forever, but we certainly miss him. In this episode, we focus on some of Chick's acoustic music, looking at some early works that show both his melodic and avant-garde sides, and his tribute to a predecessor with a considerably less sunny personality than Chick himself. Pop matters delves into strange tributaries as Mike works his way through his mother's...
Mar 17, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Season 9Ep. 212
Time for a traditional mixed-bag podcast ranging over the decades and through musical styles, though 2001 gets special treatment for whatever reason. Artists range from an Ornette Coleman-esque quartet from the sixties to an uplifting piano trio from right now, with an outward questing pianist and trumpeter in the middle of the sandwich. Pop matters dwells on some recent vinyl re-issues of old skool alternative rock classics and - good lord - is that some Thin Lizzy in there? Irene Schweizer – C...
Mar 03, 2021•1 hr 25 min•Season 9Ep. 211
Pat got a four-LP set from John Zorn’s Tzadik label and thought an episode catching up with recent events in the Zorniverse might be a good idea. Mike thought the title of this episode was a good idea. Brace yourselves. All four albums feature Zorn the composer, while only one features Zorn the alto saxophone player and only one features a demonically possessed Muppet on vocals. Pop matters reveals that Mike still doesn’t like Joanna Newsom and still has mixed feelings about Frank Zappa. John Zo...
Feb 17, 2021•1 hr 22 min•Season 9Ep. 210
A lot of 2020 was spent in the fetal position, so it's not surprising some interesting jazz releases passed us by. This episode the boys check out four Blue Note releases from that memorable year, all of which we like pretty gosh darn well. So at least there's something from 2020 we like. Pop matters wallows in eighties nostalgia, but what did you expect? Various Artists - BLUE NOTE RE:IMAGINED; Ron Miles – RAINBOW SIGN; Artemis – ARTEMIS: Joel Ross – WHO ARE YOU?
Feb 03, 2021•1 hr 19 min•Season 9Ep. 129
The New Year is here and even bastards need a break now and then. So while Mike crosses the nation and gets back to laboring in education, Pat takes the baton to talk about some jazz releases from last year's three-part Record Store Day extravaganza, and to muse on jazz vinyl in general. Hate the black stuff? Don't worry - next episode the boys will be back in the saddle doing what they do best. Don Cherry – CHERRY JAM; Marion Brown – PORTO NORVO; Jimmy Giuffre – 3&4 THE NEW YORK CONCERTS; J...
Jan 20, 2021•1 hr•Season 8Ep. 208
Hooray - we've made it alive through 2020 and through eight seasons of this podcast, too. To celebrate the big "eighth" (the internet claims it's bronze and pottery for that anniversary, should you want to send gifts) we talk about half that many jazz octets, and throw in an album named after a funky sea-creature as a bonus. In pop matters, Harry Nilsson's alternate takes and Italian prog get brief look-ins. Gianluigi Trovesi Octet- FROM G TO G; Alan Wakeman – THE OCTET BROADCASTS 1969 AND 1979;...
Jan 06, 2021•1 hr 40 min•Season 8Ep. 208
Mike loves him some holiday jazz specials,so in honor of Christ coming to earth, realizing it was a lost cause, and leaving before he even hit forty, we're looking at five Christmas-themed albums and EPs. Three of them appear on Telarc, and Pat has things to say about that. Pop matters is mostly stuck on Harry Nilsson, as we suspect it will be for some time. Lauren Henderson – CLASSIC CHRISTMAS; Warren Wolf – CHRISTMAS VIBES; Dave Brubeck - A DAVE BRUBECK CHRISTMAS; Mel Torme – CHRISTMAS SONGS; ...
Dec 23, 2020•1 hr 39 min•Season 8Ep. 207
We've been looking at various critic's and website's "best jazz of the 2010's" lists, but now the listeners get to weigh in. Their wide-ranging suggestions encompass a couple of fairly accessible albums and a couple more challenging discs, all featuring artists who have yet to appear as headliners on our show. This will conclude our sequence on the best of the decade, but don't worry - things won't get back to normal yet. Holiday and eighth anniversary episodes are in the chamber. Craig Taborn -...
Dec 09, 2020•1 hr 17 min•Season 8Ep. 206
We take a break from surveying the best of the 2010's to take a gander at five releases from the second half of this wunnerful year, 2020. Maybe everything else has gone to heck in a handcart this year but the music releases remain strong, as our survey attests. Three of the five releases are on up and coming label Outside In Music and all of them have something to recommend. Aaron Burnett - JUPITER CONJUNCT; Kasperi Sarikoski – 3 + 1; Júlia Karosi - WITHOUT DIMENSIONS; Chad McCullough – FORWARD...
Nov 25, 2020•1 hr 30 min•Season 8Ep. 205
