Jazz Bastard Podcast

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.

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.

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 – SOLO PIANO; Various Artists - A CAPITOL CHRISTMAS; Nora Jones – I DREAM OF CHRISTMAS.

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 that's a big wander.   Dave Mullen:  SOLACE. 

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 – OFF ABBEY ROAD; Don Cherry – ETERNAL RHYTHM.

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.  Which to pick up?  Just stay tuned.  Roy Hargrove & Mulgrew Miller – IN HARMONY; Roy Brooks – UNDERSTANDING; Stephanie Trick – LIVE; Monk – PALO ALTO.

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 find out.  Michael Stephenson MEETS THE ALEXANDER CLAFFY TRIO; Angela Wrigley – YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT LOVE IS ; Champian Fulton – LIVE FROM LOCKDOWN; Sasha Dobson – GIRL TALK.

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 TIME REIMAGINING DAVE BRUBECK; Dave Meder – UNAMUNO SONGS AND STORIES; Andy Farber – EARLY BLUE EVENING.

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.

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! 

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 released are his favorite in the format.  Don't worry - next time it's back to our regularly scheduled format.  Hank Mobley – POPPIN’; Kenny Dorham – TROMPETA TOCCATA; Donald Byrd – BYRD IN FLIGHT; John Scofield and Pat Metheny – I CAN SEE YOUR HOUSE FROM HERE; Lonnie Smith – ALL IN MY MIND; Charles Lloyd – TONE POEM.

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 PRAISE OF LIFE;  Altoizm – ALTOIZM; Rachel Eckroth – THE GARDEN; Walt Dickerson – IMPRESSIONS OF PATCH OF BLUE.

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 REALITY QUARTET; Bruce Harris – SOUNDVIEW; Mike Clark and Michael Zilber – MIKE DROP.

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.

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 Presley, and other towering examples of American masculinity dominate pop matters. 

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 FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM; Mark Whitfield – TRUE BLUE; Kenny Kirkland – KENNY KIRKLAND; Nicholas Payton – FROM THIS MOMENT 

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 – DARING MIND; Chien Chien Lu – THE PATH; Jalen Baker – THIS IS ME, THIS IS US.

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 FOR BUD;  Ethan Iverson – BUD POWELL IN THE 21ST CENTURY.

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. LOUIS BLUES; RAMBLING ROSE; WELCOME TO THE CLUB; AFTER MIDNIGHT.  

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 adult supervision and who can stop us?  Herbie Hancock – MAIDEN VOYAGE; Miles Davis – MY FUNNY VALENTINE / FOUR AND MORE; Elvin Jones – POLY CURRENTS; George Coleman – IN BALTIMORE.