Jazz Bastard Podcast

It's the start of a new year, so time to poke our noses into lists of last year's best releases.  This episode we've chosen four selections from the New York Times best-of, and are generally happy with the results - not that they care.  Henry Threadgill – DIRT AND MORE DIRT; Makaya McCraven – UNIVERSAL BEINGS; Walking Distance with Jason Moran - FREEBIRD; Andrew Cyrille – LEBROBA.

2019's dropping hot with the boys examining four brand new releases (one still in the pipeline) by independent types (as opposed to, you know, those big corporate-sponsored names in jazz).  Mostly the music leans left, but the final selection is more mainstream and, unusually enough in the  jazz world, openly religious.  Gabriel Zucker - WEIGHTING; Jason Stein’s Locksmith Isidore – AFTER CAROLINE; Daniel Carter/Federico Ughi/Hilliard Greene/Matthew Putman/Patrick Holmes - TELEPATIA LIQUIDA;  Jordan Pettay – FIRST FRUIT.  Stay tuned for Mike's deconstruction of Barbara Streisand's deconstruction of the Christmas album.

Happy birthday to us - sixth birthday, to be exact.  What better way to celebrate than digging into six sextets like they were delicious pieces of cake?  And if anyone has the complete run of John Zorn birthday cd's (all five-hundred of 'em), please let Mike or your therapist know.  Jeremy Pelt – INSIGHT; Jon Jang – TWO FLOWERS ON A STEM; Lester Young – SEXTET 1939; John Kirby – COMPLETE SEXTET RECORDINGS DISC ONE; Albert Ayler – NEW YORK EYE AND EAR CONTROL; Bar Kokhba Sextet – 50th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION VOL 11 DISC TWO.

We've lost a lot of great jazz men and women this year, but Roy Hargrove's passing came as a particular shock.  Pat and Mike explore the young lion's career, focusing mostly on acoustic releases but making time for a brief look at Roy's cameo on D'Angelo's ground-breaking Voodoo.  After that, Michael Buble bubbles up in the discussion.  Who said his name at a mirror three times?  Roy Hargrove – WITH THE TENORS OF OUR TIME, HABANA, NOTHING SERIOUS; Herbie Hancock – NEW DIRECTIONS IN MUSIC LIVE AT MASSEY HALL; D’Angelo – VOODOO. 

It's our kind of town, so here's another episode devoted to Chicago jazzers, from scat master Kurt Elling (whose poetic sources for his vocalese Mike explains are impeccable) to tenor-slinger Von Freeman (whose views on intonation may disturb younger and more impressionable listeners).  A couple more experimental offerings round out the session, which ends with Pat wondering if he loves the Beatles quite enough.  Kurt Elling – LIVE IN CHICAGO; Von Freeman – DOIN’ IT RIGHT NOW; Fred Anderson – MISSING LINK; Ed Wilkerson – FREQUENCY.

You know it's going to be a good episode when Pat and Mike get to discuss Paul Anka taking on Nirvana in depth.  It only gets better as we explore contemporary work by an avant garde reedman and more approachable performances by a bass clarinet specialist.  Stay tuned for Mike's musings on supposed "Dad-rock" favorite R.E.M. - and why they were secretly a punk band.  Steve Kuhn -  WATCH WHAT HAPPENS ; Andrew Lamb Trio – CASBAH OF LOVE; Paul Austerlitz WATER PRAYERS FOR BASS CLARINET; Paul Anka – ROCK SWINGS.

A couple vinyl selections from "back in the day" and two brand new releases are on the docket this time, and the results are mostly good.  Mike faces his fusion fears and finds a happy ending with Pat Martino while Pat (the bastard, not the guitarist) likes Javon Jackson's latest more than he can adequately explain.  Like all good podcasts, this one ends with an in-depth look at whistling.  Dave Liebman – QUEST; Pat Martino – STARBRIGHT; Bernie Dresel – BERN BERN BERN; Javon Jackson – FOR YOU.

Jazz pianist and composer Randy Weston departed this earth earlier this year, so the boys devote an episode to his music (along with some discussion of arranger/trombonist Melba Liston, whose work was crucial to some of his best albums). Do we get too teleological? You be the judge. Randy Weston: UHURU AFRIKA; BLUE MOSES; SPIRIT OF OUR ANCESTORS (DISC TWO); SPIRIT: THE POWER OF MUSIC.

Crazy, daddy-o - it's an episode devoted to experimental music. The boys start things off by interviewing Sarah Bernstein, who discusses her career in music, her various ongoing groups. and her new album Crazy Lights Shining. Afterwards the boys plunge into some hard-core experimental instrumental music, to see just how whiny Pat can get (spoilers: very), and then finish by discussing a Rudy Royston release that has an odd front line but is still the most straight-ahead session on offer. Sarah Bernstein – CRAZY LIGHTS SHINING; Rudy Royston – FLATBED BUGGY; Thrainn Hjalmarsson - THE INFLUENCE OF BUILDINGS ON MUSICAL TONE; Andrew Bernstein – AN EXPLODED VIEW OF TIME .

Fred Rogers never went to 'Nam - that's just one of the many insights we learn from interviewing the charming and talented Keri Johnsrud about her collaboration with pianist Kevin Bales based on songs written by the man we like to call "Cole Porter in a cardigan." After the interview, the boys discuss three other albums with at least a tangential relationship to children's music because, hey, that's a theme, people. Kevin Bales & Keri Johnsrud - BEYOND THE NEIGHBORHOOD; Jamie Cullum - TWENTYSOMETHING; Meredith d'Ambrosio - SLEEP WARM; Donna Leonhart - BEIN' GREEN.

Is it chilly in here or is it just us? The bastards take on the coolest buffet of music yet on offer by this august podcast, so pry open that sweater drawer and grab a hot beverage. Pop matters also might xylophone the old neck bone, as Gillian Welch's "The Harrow and the Harvest" presents its own brand of folkie cool. The Necks – BODY: Evan Parker – MEMORY/VISION; Modern Jazz Quartet – COMPLETE PRESTIGE AND PABLO (disc one); Lee Konitz – TOOT SWEET.

Even what sounds like a police raid in progress can't stop the bastards from discussing two brand new releases, along with a couple selections from the earlier 'aughts. Mike isn't happy about electric pianos, Pat finds a new Russian saxist to look out for, and the discussion's short (if not sweet) for a change. Sasha Mashin – OUTSIDE THE BOX; Hubert DuPont – SMART GRID; Ximo Tebar – CELEBRATING ERIK SATIE; Justin Morrell Quintet – PLAYS THE MUSIC OF STEELY DAN.

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 RECORDINGS

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.

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 OTHERS; Freddie Hubbard – SING ME A SONG OF SONGMY; Duke Ellington – A DRUM IS A WOMAN.

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, Fletcher Henderson, Eddie Lang, Charlie Christian, Jean Goldkette, and Sy Oliver.

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.

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.

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.

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.