The boys take another walk down the "out" side of the street this episode, with looks at a little known outing from one of Charles Mingus' trumpet players to a twin-guitar / alto sax ensemble, to two rather challenging works on the Pyroclastic label. Mike's more patient with those efforts than Pat. Who's ready for some asbestos earmuffs? Pop matters delves into what Iggy Pop got up to with his buddy David Bowie during that infamous Berlin hang. Trevor Dunn – SEANCES; Nate Wooley – ANCIENT SONGS ...
Mar 01, 2023•1 hr 31 min•Season 11Ep. 261
The boys have been at this podcasting game for ten years now (plus a few "bonus" episodes) and celebrate with a tenth anniversary show dedicated to - what else? - tentets. And yes, spell-check, 'tentet' is a real word. We journey from the 1950's to the right-now's in quest of ensembles to big to be a combo, too little to be a "big" band, and generally like what we find. Gerry Mulligan – GENE NORMAL PRESENTS THE ORIGINAL GERRY MULLIGAN TENTET AND QUARTET; Uptown Jazz Tentet – WHAT’S NEXT; Anat Co...
Feb 15, 2023•1 hr 40 min•Season 10Ep. 260
After almost a decade of planning and putting it off, the boys finally face their greatest fear: group jazz singing. What happens when three or four hipsters harmonize? Is it safe to even try to find out? Mike's not sure about that, but we tried anyway, and came up with this insight: you can't keep a good Boswell down. In pop matters, Pat brags about having seen all three incarnations of the Bad Plus live, so stay tuned for that. Royal Bopsters- ANNIVERSARY EDITION; Boswell Sisters – A SAMPLER; ...
Feb 01, 2023•1 hr 31 min•Season 10Ep. 259
We look at three 2022 releases this time (albeit one recorded way back in 1972) along with the first harbinger of the new year. There's an electronic sounding long-playing debut by a pair of youtube wunderkinder (all played in real-time we promise), a straight-ahead tenor sax trio, another star-studded portfolio album from a rising sax star, and a sprawling live opus from the music's greatest bassist/composer. For a chase, a sprawl of pop matters that ranges from gospel tunes to stereo demonstra...
Jan 18, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Season 10Ep. 258
The robots are coming! The robots are coming! And they're after our jobs - as lounge singers. Skynet would not be amused. But we kind of are - at least, Mike says his first encounter with a vocaloid will be ever imprinted upon his brain. Don't worry - this episode isn't all about our electronic replacements qua masters. We look at music by flesh and blood performers too, one of which has a crush on Indianapolis native and renowned writer Kurt Vonnegut. Pop matters takes a quick walk on the wild ...
Jan 04, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Season 10Ep. 257
It's that holiday season once again, and Santa Mike insists we cover a slate of season-appropriate releases. Are they jazz appropriate as well? Not really, but two are jazz adjacent and one at least features an ex-Messenger, so there's that. There's also, er, Swamp Dogg. Pop matters travels from Sufjan Stephens to late eighties England to the soothing, ambient sounds of the Zamboni, nature's Andreas Vollenweider. Bobby Timmons – HOLIDAY SOUL; Swamp Dogg – AN AWFUL CHRISTMAS AND A LOUSY NEW YEAR;...
Dec 21, 2022•1 hr 22 min•Season 10Ep. 256
Ron Carter is one of the most recorded bassists in the world and anchored the second of Miles Davis' "great quintets" so he ain't no slouch. His leader work, however, isn't always given the respect it deserves. Exactly how much respect, you ask? Just sit down and listen to the bastards sift out that question as they look at four of Ron's best leader dates from four different decades of his far-reaching career. Ron Carter- UPTOWN CONVERSATION, ALL BLUES, WHEN SKIES ARE GREY, FOURSIGHT STOCKHOLM....
Dec 07, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Season 10Ep. 255
Some people accuse critics of being subjective, but when discussing music there's always one Platonic fact you can point to above and beyond the shifting tides of fashion and trend: does Mikey like it? In this case, yes, yes he does. He likes all four of this episode's albums. Pat, on the other hand? Still a bit bastardly. We kick the episode off with some reader comments and end it talking about 80s music and Joni Mitchell, so something for everyone. Michael Blake – COMBOBULATE; Jamie Branch – ...
Nov 23, 2022•1 hr 26 min•Season 10Ep. 254
Sometimes "tribute "can be a dirty word in jazz - a sign a project's only justification is a well-known name - a warning that reverence may have trumped inspiration on a record. But it doesn't have to be that way. This episode, the bastards look at four 2022 releases that each celebrate a towering figure from jazz's past without getting tangled up in its shadow. With dedicatees as varied as Johnny Hodges, Charles Mingus, Yusef Lateef, and Wes Montgomery, things never get in a rut. Bennie Maupin ...
Nov 09, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Season 10Ep. 253
From time to time the bastards do a show devoted to one artist, and this time, happenstance leads us to feted and prolific "out" trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith. His career stretches back to the seventies and he's worked with a murderer's row of avant garde musicians, but we're focusing on more recent work with him as a leader. Strap yourselves in for a challenging ride but don't worry - pop matters brings things firmly back to earth with looks at Van Halen's last album and more. Wadada Leo Smith: RO...
Oct 26, 2022•1 hr 19 min•Season 10Ep. 252
It's the shock of the new as the boys take on three 2022 releases that stretch our heads in various directions, including a solo guitar outing, a visit to a mythical cave, and a trumpet excursions that goes even stranger places. After that, a chill-out album from Blue Note is a welcome change of pace if nothing else. Pop matters delves into this year's edition of the Chicago Jazz Fest, so stay tuned. And watch out for those falling trees. Gordon Grdina – ODDLY ENOUGH THE MUSIC OF TIM BERNE; Tony...
Oct 12, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Season 10Ep. 251
Two fifty is as good an artificial milestone as any, so the boys decide it's time for a GOAT episode. First they wrestle a top-twenty artist list into shape, arguing that there's so much consensus out there little work remains to be done and still taking an hour doing it. Then it's on to the tricky bit - picking out 21 through 40. Totems will get tumbled, weird choices will get made, and hearts will get broken. Mostly Mike's. No pop matters this time as two hours of rampant opinion slinging shou...
Sep 28, 2022•2 hr 6 min•Season 10Ep. 250
It's an episode years in the making when Mike is finally able to track down guitarist, composer, and raconteur Duck Baker. We discovered Duck through his solo recording of Herbie Nichols' tunes, but Mike finds out that Duck has collaborated with such luminaries as John Zorn, Roswell Rudd, and Eugene Chadbourne while keeping up a stream of solo and group releases and composing dozens of tunes. Don't miss this discussion from one of the only finger-style guitarists as comfortable at playing folk t...
Sep 14, 2022•1 hr 39 min•Season 10Ep. 249
Mike drags Pat out of his blanket fort for close encounters with a couple heavy hitters of the avant-garde, a Chicago legend who doesn't believe in intonation, and a tribute to that legend that gets celestial from time to time. In pop matters Mikes talks about a little known jazz short film from the fifties and Pat gets totally tubular. Cecil Taylor – COMPLETE LEGENDARY LIVE RETURN CONCERT; Albert Ayler – HOLY GHOST: RARE AND UNRELEASED RECORDINGS; Michael Allemana – VONOLOGY; Von Freeman – THE ...
Aug 31, 2022•1 hr 33 min•Season 10Ep. 248
Mike's busy in Europe so Pat goes solo with a look at controversial jazz label CTI. A lynchpin of the early seventies, record buyers loved the artwork, high production values and impeccable musicianship, but hard-core jazzbos and critics were suspicious that owner Creed Taylor was putting too much sugar into the mixes, not to mention those sprinklings of Stravinsky! Freddie Hubbard – FIRST LIGHT; George Benson – WHITE RABBIT: Paul Desmond – FROM THE HOT AFTERNOON; Milt Jackson – SUNFLOWER; Grove...
Aug 17, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 10Ep. 247
The newest of the new. That's what our podcast brings you, sometimes, anyway, and this episode features four bangers from brand-spankin' 2022. Three of the four offer some "fusion" elements of one kind and another, and the other Mike keeps at arm's length because it edges him into the Jackie attack zone, and long-time listeners know that's not where he likes to be. Also, the boys threaten to eat Pandas, so there's that. Harish Raghaven – IN TENSE; Joy Lapps – GIRL IN THE YARD; Brian Landrus – RE...
Aug 03, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Season 10Ep. 247
Many moons ago on episode 95 we did an podcast devoted to Freddie Hubbard, so in honor of the new Complete at the Lighthouse release, we thought it was time to do one for Lee Morgan. But not to discuss Live at the Lighthouse because that's the way we roll. (Look me up on facebook if you have questions about that release). We survey the trumpet master's brutally truncated career and ponder what might have been while enjoying one of Blue Note's all time all stars. Lee Morgan: THE COOKER, THE SIDEW...
Jul 20, 2022•1 hr 28 min•Season 10Ep. 246
Ambition can be a great thing in jazz - emphasis on the "can." We look at a mixed bag of releases experimenting with third stream music, Bach, and other elements. The results, like the music itself, are mixed. Still, our guess is that you haven't heard about at least one of these artists yet, and maybe not all four. Jacques Loussier – PLAY BACH AT THE THEATRE CHAMPS-ÉLYSÉES; Sasha Berliner – ONYX; Rolf & Joachim Kuhn – IMPRESSIONS OF NEW YORK; Mike Holober – DON’T LET GO.
Jul 06, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Season 10Ep. 245
Big bands tempt the ambitious jazzer with their expansive possibilities for arrangements, the variegated colors they offer, and their sheer power. But, boy, those budgets! These days you need a generous label or a grant or two to make things work. We take a look at a very seventies example of the genre and then a brand new effort by a young woman barely old enough to drive. A guitar trio and a guitar solo fill out the episode, and they couldn't be at further ends of the in to out spectrum. In th...
Jun 22, 2022•1 hr 33 min•Season 10Ep. 244
We listen to three releases from 2022, two exploring some interesting corners of jazz repertoire and one bringing back a format that thrived in the '50s. Then, just for kicks, we get a message back from the future of 1987. Does label Cellar Music contractually oblige its artists to cover a certain Benny Golson tune? Listen to experience our hard-hitting investigation. In pop matters, Mike offers Adele a sandwich. It's a gesture of love and support, people. Mark Helias – THE CURRENT SET; Aaron Se...
Jun 08, 2022•1 hr 21 min•Season 10Ep. 243
It's time for a deep dive, listeners, and the subject this round is underappreciated West Coast keyboard wizard Hampton Hawes. Hawes did most of his best known recordings for Contemporary Jazz, and we'll look at a couple of releases on that storied (but also underappreciated) label, as well as a collaboration with Charles Mingus and a sample of Hampton's seventies output, when the sideburns got longer and the keyboards got plugged in. Hampton Hawes: BLUES FOR WALLS ; FOR REAL; FOUR! Charles Ming...
May 25, 2022•1 hr 23 min•Season 10Ep. 242
Drummers are the under-sung heroes of the jazz world. At their best, they lift up and enhance whatever the so-called front-liners are up to while being ready to step up and say their piece when called upon. But every now and then things get a bit . . . sticky. This episode explores four recordings where to varying degrees the drummer goes a little wild and oddity results. Charlie Parker - BIRD & DIZ; Dexter Gordon – ONE FLIGHT UP; Mostly Other People Do the Killing – DISASTERS VOLUME 1; Slid...
May 07, 2022•1 hr 23 min•Season 10Ep. 241
"Going Pop" can mean many different things where jazz musicians are concerned, from adding electricity (dang it, Miles, why you do that?), to covering pop songs, to actually experimenting with writing pop songs (not too many take this path and few emerge unscathed). And then there's rare jazzer combining jazz and pop songs, as you'll soon find out. This time out we look at approaches all over the spectrum, ending with a vocal album Mike has already pegged as an album of the year contender. Cecil...
Apr 27, 2022•1 hr 26 min•Season 10Ep. 240
A great big heapin' helping of a certain blind pianist's work provides the anchor for this time's outing, as we look at one disc from six of a new box set and then fan out to look at a little known second-hand disciple of the great man along with two other stylists further removed. Pop matters further reveals Mike's ongoing obsession with all things Buckley. Lennie Tristano - PERSONAL RECORDINGS, Disc three; Billy Lester - FROM SCRATCH ; Deanna Witkowski – FORCE OF NATURE; Roberto Occhipinti – T...
Apr 13, 2022•1 hr 36 min•Season 10Ep. 239
For all their excursions into the avant garde, fusion, post-bop, and other "edgy" forms of jazz, sometimes the boys just want to wallow right in the middle of the stream - the main part of it, you might say. This fortnight's feast includes two instrumental and two vocal albums all centered in the tradition and happy to be there. Mike is unmoved by the rising star this time, but who knows - her next outing may change his mind. Samara Joy – SAMARA JOY; Maxine Sullivan – CLOSE AS PAGES IN A BOOK; A...
Mar 30, 2022•1 hr 23 min•Season 10Ep. 238
Ornette Coleman and Blue Note - not exactly the chocolate and peanut butter of the jazz world, one might think, but for two productive years the avant garde avatar toiled in the vineyards of the hard bop powerhouse. The label recently released "Round Trip" - a box set re-issuing the fruits of this odd collaboration - and the boys take a deep dive. Except for the collaboration with Jackie McLean, because that gives Mike PTSD. Ornette Coleman: LIVE AT THE GOLDEN CIRCLE, VOLS 1 & 2; THE EMPTY F...
Mar 16, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 10Ep. 237
After last episode's extravaganza we decided to keep our focus on larger ensembles for this outing. It's a mix of historical issues (some better engineered than others) and two nearly brand new releases. What do they have in common? Ain't none of them trios. Pop matters gets historical as we contemplate Pitchfork's deathless mediations on the "oldness" of Steely Dan. Jazz Station Big Band – MOODS; Woody Herman – MOODY WOODY ; Dollar Brand – AFRICAN SPACE PROGRAM; Michael Leonhart – THE NORMYN SU...
Mar 02, 2022•1 hr 33 min•Season 10Ep. 236
We start off season ten with neither a bang nor a whimper, but rather the sound of exotic auxiliary percussion and the screams of excitable brass. It's a show devoted to "Latin" music in its many guises, both smooth and bumptious, with looks at a early innovator in the jazz field, a couple of main stream jazzers hoping to strike it rich with the bossa nova craze, and a towering figure in big band jazz who always approached "outside" influences in his own distinctive way. Chico O’Farrill – COMPLE...
Feb 16, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Season 10Ep. 235
We've made it nine years - four years more than Ziggy Stardust promised us, thank you very much - and to celebrate we're once again discussing ensembles the numerical size of which matches our anniversary. That means, my friends, nonets, and of course we'll start with the most famous jazz nonet of all, that one that birthed a hundred West-Coast groups. Miles Davis – BIRTH OF THE COOL; Lee Konitz – NONET; Andrew Hill – PASSING SHIPS; Rabih Abou-Khalil – THE SULTAN’S PICNIC.
Feb 02, 2022•1 hr 40 min•Season 9Ep. 234
Time to look at some of the best and brightest from 2021 - and the recent past. But, lo! Is that a controversy brewing off in the distance? Sounds like the bastards once again are skeptical of generally received wisdom, whether about funky puppies or critics' darlings. Snarky Puppy – CULCHA VULCHA; Eric Revis - SLIPKNOTS THROUGH A LOOKING GLASS; Pharoah Sanders / Floating Points – PROMISES; Henry Threadgill – POOF.
Jan 19, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Season 9Ep. 233
