Episodes
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Every musician, it seems, does a holiday album sooner or later, and visions of residuals dance in their heads. But given the flood of releases each year, it's hard to stand out, and the canon of Christmas favorites is already pretty crowded. How to make your mark? You could try to do one or two distinctive things well. Or, you could try a little bit of everything. Listen as Mike and Pat dissect three brand new holiday offerings and a historic issue by one of jazz's most popular performers. Band of Other Brothers – THIS YEAR AT CHRISTMAS; Joy Lapps - THE CARRIBEAN CHRISTMAS MIX TAPE; Matt Wilson Christmas Tree-O – TREE JAZZ – THE SHAPE OF CHRISTMAS TO COME ; George Shearing – CHRISTMAS WITH THE GEORGE SHEARING QUINTET.
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A couple releases exploring older repertorie, a out-ish excursion that goes all over the map, a young woman singer with our time on her hands. Yep, it's a classic mixed bag courtesy of eclectic Mike, with the bastardy mostly courtesy of Pat. Melody Gardot – LIVE IN EUROPE: Micah Thomas – MOUNTAINS; Brian Landrus – PLAYS ELLINGTON & STRAYHORN; Warren Wolf – HISTORY OF THE VIBRAPHONE.
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Episodes manquant?
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Jazz has gone some pretty wacky places - Russia, South America, the White House - but believe it or not, sometimes it even invades that princess-industrial complex we know and love as the Disney corporation. Listen and learn as Mike leads us deep into this heart of darkness and we see how a rainbow of different jazz artists come to terms with the musical productions of that most profit-driven rodent of them all. Various Artists – JAZZ LOVES DISNEY; Various Artists – EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE A CAT; Dave Brubeck – DAVE DIGS DISNEY; Duke Ellington – PLAYS WITH THE ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SCORE MARRY POPPINS: Kat Edmonson – DREAMERS DO.
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Halloween's in the rear view mirror but the boys still have a mixed bag of treats on offer, including an album whose cover boasts the best costumes of the year. A piano playing Duke makes his appearance on the 'cast for the first time in roughly 300 episodes and we dig deep into a percussionist's tricky second album from 2006. Like a trick or treater, this episode is short and sweet. Joel Ross – NUBLUES; Duke Pearson – HONEYBUNS; Dafnis Prieto - ABSOLUTE QUINTET; Melinda Sullivan and Larry Goldings– BIG FOOT.
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Podcast 301 picks up where 300 left off, looking at albums from 1993, 2003, 2013, and 2023. Jazz trends get a little harder to pick out once the new millennium begins, but at least our 1990's selection is REALLY 1990's, right down to the haircut and clothes colors. In Pop Matters, Pat discusses seeing Ben Wendel live at the Jazz Kitchen. Look out - that saxophonist has effects pedals! Marcus Miller- THE SON DON’T LIE; Ted Nash – STILL EVOLVED; Jonathan Finlayson – MOMENT AND THE MESSAGE; Maddie Vogler – WHILE WE HAVE TIME.
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Three hundred podcasts is the kind of milestone worth of an echo chamber at the very least and a themed episode at the very, er, leaster. Pat had the bright idea (he thought) of reviewing albums from 1953, 1963. 1973, and 1983. Mike explained that was in fact a stupid idea and so they might as well make this celebration a two-parter with 301 covering 1993, 2003, 2013, 2023. The rules were simple - pick an artist we hadn't discussed to death already and accept that while the album might be characteristic of its time it cannot be expected to be the "best" of a given year in any way, shape, or form. Oscar Pettiford - THE NEW OSCAR PETTIFORD SEXTET;; Prince Lasha – THE CRY; Flora Purim – BUTTERFLY DREAMS; Microscopic Sextet – TAKE THE Z TRAIN (Koch 1983)
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Back in the saddle again, the boys look at three recent releases and one cute little two-year-old. Two of the recordings are lead by bassists and two by drummers, so you could say all four were led by a member of the rhythm section - if you liked saying things like that. They are mostly fairly easy-going albums as well, but, spoilers, Mike doesn't like them all equally. No further clues here - tune in to find out which ones make the grade. In pop matters, Mike once again offers Adele a sandwich to assuage her suffering while Pat waxes eloquent about the first two days of the Chicago Jazz Fest. Bruno Raberg – EVOLVER; Jake Leckie - PLANTER OF SEEDS; Ari Hoenig – GOLDEN TREASURES; Ivanna Cuesta – A LETTER TO EARTH.
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Never mind what your podcast feed may seem to imply - the bastards haven't recorded a podcast together in two months, and this one got completed by the skin of their teeth. In this episode we look at two alto sax players from two very different generations (and degrees of reverence for the "tradition") and a piano player few have heard of and fewer still can understand. Pop matters covers the gamut from Dylan to the Blue Man Group with a few hobbits tossed in for good measure. Eric Kloss - ONE, TWO FREE; Sarah Hanahan - AMONG GIANTS; Hasaan Ibn Ali - RETROSPECT IN RETIREMENT OF DELAY.
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Summer's winding down. How'd you spend yours? Pat spent his immersed in the music and life of Sonny Rollins, one of the greatest improvisers to grace the story of jazz. In this podcast, which is kind of an upcoming article in summary (and audio) form, Pat looks at the massive new biography of Sonny as well as four recent reissues of some of his best loved music, most of which involve trios. Aiden Levy - SAXOPHONE COLOSSUS - THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF SONNY ROLLINS (book); Sonny Rollins - FREEDOM SUITE; GO WEST! THE CONTEMPORARY RECORDS ALBUMS; COMPLETE LIVE AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD; FREEDOM WEAVER.
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Those crazy hazy lazy days of summer got us in their thrall and scheduling's been tough, so please enjoy this flashback to episode 81: Mike and Pat discuss Walk on the Wild Side; Shine On You Crazy Diamond; Aja; Waiting on a Friend; Baker Street; Just the Way You Are; Logical Song; Old and Wise; Still Crazy After All These Years; Man Eater; Modern Love; Your Latest Trick; Brass Monkey; Edge of Glory; Get It Right; Talk Dirty to Me; Problem.
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What's the most famous jazz album in the world? Don't say Duke Ellington Plays Mary Poppins unless you have a really good excuse, like you work for Disney. And please don't name some album by Kenny G even if that's sort of true. No, of course the most famous jazz album is Kind of Blue, and our special guest this episode wrote a book on the three geniuses who brought it into being. Please enjoy this interview with author James Kaplan and stay turned until the end when he reveals the subject of his next book. Miles Davis - KIND OF BLUE. Also, stay tuned to the end to see how many ways Pat avoids including clips from the most famous jazz album in the world.
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A lot of listeners worry that jazz has ossified in the last, say, fifty years or so, but Mike decides to do something about it, terminological speaking, anyway. So this fortnight's episode explores the difference between curating a tradition and trying to create something new within it. Our test subjects comprise three brand-new releases (two instrumental, one vocal) and a vocal album from the nineties paying tribute to the Prince of Darkness himself, Miles Davis. Curtis Taylor – TAYLOR MADE; Brandon Goldberg– LIVE AT DIZZY’S; April Varner – APRIL; Shirley Horn – I REMEMBER MILES.
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Jazz releases these days fight a game of inches. Almost everybody releasing music in the genre is technically accomplished and the rules have been laid out so long that almost everybody knows how to meet the listener's basic expectations. What makes an album stand out in the flood of new music unleashed every week? Sometimes it's as simple (and hard to define) as a sense of intensity, commitment, energy. These four 2024 releases all demonstrate that quality to one degree or another. Erik Friedlander – DIRTY BOXING: Deron Johnson – FREE TO DANCE; Michael Eaton – THE PHENOMINAL; Basher – MAY DAY.
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The boys warned you things were going to get eclectic, but they may have outdone themselves this time, as the selections run the gamut from a jazz trio reimagining Bach preludes to a cutting edge big band arranger/composer tipping the cap to Cab Calloway to a night it the Georgia woods and is what we're hearing even music? Plus, a thoughtful look at what happens when one of the better known ensembles of the eighties loses a pivotal member and expands its horizons past its signature format. Adam Birnbaum – PRELUDES; Marion Brown – AFTERNOON OF A GEORGIA FAUN; WSQ - METAMORPHOSIS; Darcy James Argue – DYNAMIC MAXIMUM TENSION. During the pop matters segment strap yourself in for a quick trip to Japan.
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In the last (for a little while, at least) of our one-artist focused podcasts, the boys take a deep dive into bassist/composer/bandleader Ben Allison's latest four releases. Ben's an exact contemporary of our intrepid podcasters, if a bit better looking and more talented, and they followed his career from early days until a few years back when they stopped picked up releases for a hot minute. Anyway, here's all the news on two projects by Ben's new trio as well as two quartet projects with slightly different line-ups. In pop-matters, Pat discusses some recent pick-ups from the seventies while Mike has made it all the way into the eighties. Ben Allison – LAYERS OF THE CITY, TELL THE BIRDS I SAID HELLO, HEALING POWER: THE MUSIC OF CARLA BLEY, MOMENTS INSIDE.
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The record store day madness continues as the boys take two Cannonball Adderley air-shots from France for a spin. Whether he's Poppin in Paris or Burning in Bordeaux, the listener can hear Adderley's group transitioning from the sixties to the seventies, even if things get bumpy from time to time. To put the great alto saxophone player's creativity into context, two of his more surprising releases on Capitol Records also get a look in. Once you've heard the man's stone classics, here's something else for you to try. Cannonball Adderley: ACCENT ON AFRICA; QUINTET WITH ORCHESTRA; BURNIN' IN BOURDEAUX; POPPIN' IN PARIS.
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Where jazz drumming's concerned, sometimes Blakey makes ya shaky and Buddy's too thud-y. Where to turn? Go West, young man, and samples the wares of one Shelly Manne. Manne, a transplanted Easterner, made a career in California logging studio work, appearing on countless sessions, and leading his own group with varying personnel that was always know as Shelly Manne's men. Now, just in time for Record Store Day, Reel to Real is issuing live days by the Manne and, with luck, bringing his artistry back into our consciousnesses. Stay cool, cats! Shelly Manne: MUSIC FROM MY FAIR LADY; 2,3,4; JAZZ FROM THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST; Sonny Rollins - WAY OUT WEST.
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Sometimes podcast hosts just want to watch the world - or at least their co-host - burn. Hence the explanation for the inclusion of a pretty inexplicable pander-fest in this otherwise august and serious podcast. The other selections (all recent releases) incorporate humor in a couple of cases, and, well, don't in the most serious selection. Pat reports on a live concert by the more furrowed-browed of the alto saxophonists while Mike catches a few much needed zzzz's. Grace Kelly with Strings – AT THE MOVIES; Moppa Elliot – JONESVILLE; DISASTERS VOL 2; Jennifer Wharton’s Bonegasm – GRIT & GRACE; Jim Snidero – FOR ALL WE KNOW.
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After a couple episodes away, we return to the New York Times list of best jazz albums of 2023 and finish it off. It's happier days for the most part. The boys acknowledge that these selections are all, more or less, actually jazz, and some are even pretty enjoyable. Jonathan Suazo – RICANO; Mendoza Hoff Revels – ECHOLOCATION; Micah Thomas – REVEAL; Matana Roberts - COIN COIN CHAPTER FIVE: IN THE GARDEN.
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For some fans, the story of jazz saxophone begins with John Coltrane. This episode, the boys interview Owen Broder, who gives propers to Coltrane's old boss, Johnny Hodges. Mainstay of the Duke Ellington band and lover of lettuce and tomato sandwiches, the Rabbit (as he was known) possessed the most sumptuous sound ever heard from an alto saxophone and knew every microtone of the territory between each note of the scale. Owen talks about his Hodges Front and Center duology, other projects in the pipeline and his influences on alto and baritone sax among other topics in this interview. Owen Broader: HODGES FRONT AND CENTER: VOLUMES 1 & 2.
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