Jazz Bastard Podcast

Arthur Blythe was Columbia's last major "out" signing, and he gets the full episode treatment now that he's playing with the angels. Horace Tapscott – THE GIANT HAS AWAKENED; Arthur Blythe –LENOX AVENUE BREAKDOWN, LIGHT BLUE; Roots - STABLEMATES. Plus, Pat misses by that much on all four selections of the Mike-citement meter.

After a quick rant / mission statement re: this very podcast to which you're listening, Mike and Pat discuss child prodigies, Bowie sidekicks, french violinists, and a cast of dozens more. Now put that harmonica down and step away from it slowly! Joey Alexander – MY FAVORITE THINGS; Bruno Vansina - THE MORNING FOREST (AKA NOSE UP BOTTOM DOWN); Donny McCaslin – BEYOND NOW; Scott Tixier – COSMIC ADVENTURE.

Mike and Pat let the snark fly as they take on three vocal albums and one hippity-hop effort with Yakuza connections (allegedly). Al Jarreau – LOOK TO THE RAINBOW; Somi – LAGOS MUSIC SALON; Robert Glasper – ART SCIENCE; Toshinori Kondo – KI-OKU. The show begins and ends with a heartfelt request for podcast topics from our listeners, so please chip in!

Lionel Richie got nothing on Sonny Rollins - as we learn from Newk's 15 minutes solos on the incredible (and sometimes exhausting) Complete Village Gate release, he sure can keep it going all night long. Branford M. solo and Dexter Gordon chip in to provide context and Pat rants about the movie Sing. Branford Marsalis – IN MY SOLITUDE; Dexter Gordon – BOTH SIDES OF MIDNIGHT; Sonny Rollins – COMPLETE LIVE AT THE VILLAGE GATE 1962

Mostly new stuff . . . mostly jazz. Like most of our podcasts, mostly great! Theo Croker – ESCAPE VELOCITY; Thundercat - DRUNK; Fred Hersch / Julian Lage – FREE FLYING; John Scofield – PAST PRESENT.

Collaboration is the name of the game, whether small groups mixing it up or big thinkers painting on bigger canvases. Pop matters is more expansive than usual, so any way you slice it, lots of bastardy to enjoy. Jason Moran – ALL RISE; Stanley Clarke – D STRINGS; THE BAD PLUS JOSHUA REDMAN; John Hollenbeck – SONGS I LIKE A LOT.

It's Mike's turn to rant as he complains about the state of ECM - the storied jazz label based in Germany - and then both boys dig into a buffet of recent releases, some more echo-y than others. Kenny Wheeler – SONGS FOR QUINTET; Keith Jarrett – CREATION; Jakob Bro – GEFIEN; Tim Berne – YOU'VE BEEN WATCHING ME.

Mike's picking all the selections tonight and Pat's picking fights with everyone in sight - Lutherans, banjoists, people who don't 'get' Stairway to Heaven . . . Looks like a caffine intervention may be the only way out. David Sanchez – OBSESION; Tord Gustavson – WHAT WAS SAID; David Sanborn – TIME AND THE RIVER; Chick Corea / Bela Fleck – TWO

Pat's been combing through the bins and another episode focusing on the black stuff results. Also, he almost convinces Mike that irreputable is a real word. Stone Alliance – STONE ALLIANCE; Jane Ira Bloom – MIGHTY LIGHTS; Hannibal Marvin Peterson – NAIMA; Jeff Parker – THE NEW BREED; Los Admiradores - BONGOS, FLUTES, GUITARS.

Third time's a charm - we've finally completed and posted the big-band podcast we attempted twice in ancient 2016. Here we discuss the final winners of the 2015 Downbeat critic's poll winners and the etiquette for podcast seances. Darcy James Argue – REAL ENEMIES; Maria Schneider – THE THOMPSON FIELDS; Michael Formanek – THE DISTANCE; Thelonious Monk - BIG BAND AND QUARTET LIVE

Mike and Pat catch up on a couple of quartets missed on the fourth anniversary show and a couple more poll winners from 2015. Their pledge - this year we make up our own stinkin' list of 2016 releases to cover (by stealing from other lists, naturally). Tom Harrell – FIRST IMPRESSIONS; Henry Threadgill – IN FOR A PENNY, IN FOR A POUND; Harold Land – PROMISED LAND; Plotz – EXTRAORDINARY RENDITIONS.

OK, this one's kind of weird. What if a band called Mostly Other People Do the Killing did a note for note remake of Kind of Blue? What if Pat and Mike pondered it for a fairly long time? What if postmodernism is kind of spent at this point? Tune in to find out. Miles David - KIND OF BLUE, Mostly Other People Do the Killing - BLUE.

Christmas cheer is in somewhat short supply as the boys consider five more holiday recordings (check out Ep. 54 for their previous plunge into the holiday well). Does Pat have a record-store masochism problem? You be the judge. Bing Crosby – MERRY CHRISTMAS, Diana Krall – CHRISTMAS SONGS, Kenny Burrell – HAVE YOURSELF A SOULFUL CHRISTMAS, Ramsey Lewis – SOUND OF CHRISTMAS, David Axelrod – ROCK MESSIAH.

Sometimes, when a computer and a piece of software just can't get along anymore, they have what's called a "malfunction." Who gets hurt the most? The podcasters, of course, After two valiant attempts at recording 105, the boys give up. At Mike's suggestion, then, a "make-up" cast starring Pat and only Pat on the joys of jazz and vinyl. Regular service resumes in two weeks - we promise. Artists discussed include John Coltrane, Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson and Brad Mehldau.

It's been four years, and Mike and Pat celebrate by discussing some out of the way quartet music - and trying to determine which jazz quartets were the greatest of all time. Throw in some political commentary and missed programming communication, and you've got an anniversary blowout! Hollywood Sax Quartet – JAZZ IN HOLLYWOOD; Bartosz Dworak – POLISHED; Clifford Jordan – GLASS BEAD GAMES; Anthony Braxton – QUARTET (COVENTRY); Rex Stewart and His Feetwarmers; James Blood Ulmer – LIVE AT BIRDLAND.

The boys look at two more poll winners, a recent jazz trio album, and a historic reissue of a white house concert. Fond memories of seventies' odes to automotive cleanliness ensue. Christine McBride – LIVE AT VILLAGE VANGUARD; Eri Yamamoto – LIFE ; Dave Brubeck and Tony Bennett– WHITE HOUSE SESSIONS – LIVE 1962; Steve Coleman – SYNOVIAL JOINTS.

Mike and Pat cover two albums from Down Beat's Critics Poll winners of 2015 and two albums that should win a poll for "most seventies ever." Charles Lloyd – I LONG TO SEE YOU, WILD MAN DANCE; Nat Adderley – SOUL ZODIAC; Cannonball Adderley – LOVE, SEX AND THE ZODIAC

Mike and Pat explore albums from a recent Jazz Times list of forgotten fusion gems. Unfortunately a bad sign influences the proceedings and Nat Adderley's Soul Zodiac has to be put off until next episode. Gary Burton – DUSTER, COUNTRY ROADS AND OTHER PLACES; Larry Coryell – INTRODUCING THE ELEVENTH HOUSE; Dave Liebman – LOOKOUT FARM.

It's all about the loneliness of the solo jazz man this time, as Mike and Pat take a listen to some solo recitals by unlikely instruments. Trombone? Alto Saxophone? Acoustic Bass? Drums (and things)? You get the idea. Anthony Braxton – FOR ALTO; Albert Mangelsdorff – TROMBONELINESS; Han Bennink – NERVE BEATS; Dave Holland – ONES ALL

The boys take a quick trip through the tragically short career of Thomas Chapin, an inside/outside sax and flute player whose flame burned brightly and briefly. Then Mike complains about Kate Bush for a while. Thomas Chapin – NEVER LET ME GO – DISC 2; THIRD FORCE; Peggy Stern – THE FUSCHIA; Holly Hofmann – LIVE AT BIRDLAND.