Discovering Jazz

Why the waffling between five or six songs? Well, it has to do with a new song that was created out of a saxophone solo used in I’m In The Mood for Love. Is Moody Mood For Love a new tune or a variation of an old one? And those interpretations of I

This episode focuses on five great songs. I’ll play two or three different versions of each one. You’ll hear some stories about either the song or the performance of it, You’ll hear Tony Bennett (twice—once with Buddy Rich), Renee

This past week we lost a musical giant: one of the most eclectic pianists ever. Chick Corea. There have been many well deserved tributes online. This one will focus more on some of his great compositions. Most of them are played by Chick Corea himself, b

Have you ever noticed that sometimes meals taste even better the next day when they become ‘leftovers’? Here on what is actually Part 6 of my Best of 2020 Series According To Experts, I’m mostly playing selections that have been ‘

In this episode I play a few tracks from some of the Canadian albums selected by some ‘best of’ lists. You’ll hear some great music from artists whose origins span the length of the country—from Victoria to Nova Scotia! Artists fe

Added Note: The grammy’s were slated for Jan 31st but I was just advised that they have been put back to March 14 due to an added spike in COVID cases in Los Angeles. I’ve never been much for award shows—and rarely watch them. I probabl

This week’s podcast starts off with a 1 1/2 minute ditty meant to describe 2020. And he recorded it in January of that year. How did Dan Rosenboom know what was coming? I play a few tracks from albums that various critics think are the best of 2020

Today I play a few tracks from records that Scott Yanow, Downbeat Magazine, CBC, Stereogum, and Bandcamp say are among 2020’s best. The range of styles is pretty extreme! From the most basic New orleans style jazz to what youtube classifies as danc

Yes….you thought you’d escaped 2020. But despite it’s difficulties, you have to agree that some great recordings were made……maybe because musicians had time to stay home and create rather than do what they had to do to make

As we emerge into the dawn of 2021 we tearfully bid goodbye to 2020. (Just kidding). But I am presenting a summary of some of the past year’s podcasts, and playing a few favourite selections from them.

I’m taking a break for a week…..and posting a program of jazz oriented Christmas and other winter holiday tunes from three years ago. I wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Ramadan, Diwali, Epiphany (or Three Kings Day), New Year,

Last week I had jazz for all the winter holidays. This week I focus on Christmas. You’ll hear traditional carols, songs written by jazz artisits that people like to play during this season, a couple old standards, and one brand new tune. I play som

This is a podcast of music for the winter holidays: Christmas, New Year’s, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, Hanukkah (or Chanukkah), Las Posadas, Mardi Gras, Lohri, Diwalis, Epiphany, etc. Most of it is jazz or pretty close to jazz. If you’re lookin

I explore some of the life and music of a few so-called ‘self-taught’ jazz musicians. None of them learned music in a ‘void’, any more than the formally trained musician is solely a product of the training. As well as hearing musi

Lots of music today and not too much talk. From my online downloads you’ll hear Joe Henderson, Leslie Odom Jr., Wolff Clark Dorsey, and Gilson Perenzetta & Mauro Senise. Canadian groups are Victoria’s Naden Band featuring Roy Styffe, Chel

Last week I explored some of the ‘edges’ of the jazz genre. This week I unintentionally do the same simply by going through tunes I’ve downloaded into my mediamonkey music list and put in the ‘jazz’ category. Some are defini

Louis Armstrong once said that if you have to ask what jazz is, you’ll never know. But I wonder what he thought about some of the music that was categorized as ‘jazz’ today, or some of the artists headlining recent jazz festivals. For a

I play selections from 9 of the top 10 albums on the October 26 JazzWeek chart, and talk a bit about them. Some great stuff!

This is the third episode where I play some top album’s on the current jazz charts as compiled by JazzWeek. I start out with Chick Corea playing Chopin, and describe how Chopin may have been a ‘forerunner’ of modern jazz. Other great ar

I’ve always loved charts. As a kid I’d wake up every Saturday morning and listen and write out CJCA Edmonton’s Top 93. So I’m delighted to be exploring the current Jazz Charts—-even if it is for albums rather than singles. T

Most of the jazz I play on this podcast tends to be the tried and true over the years. I’m changing that for the next four episodes and exploring the current jazz charts. These are albums on the playlists of U.S. jazz radio stations as listed throu

I found a list of the most recorded tunes, thanks to a website called Second Hand Songs. They’re almost all songs that jazz musicians like to play. In this podcast I examine the top 15 (not counting Christmas songs) and play you a version of 10 of

At a record store in Nanaimo B.C. called Fascinating Rhythm I bought about 19 78rpm records. I’ll play 13 of them for you that are jazz, r’nb’ or gospel. The jazz records I play are by Coleman Hawkins, Woody Herman, Nellie Lutcher, Haze

For much of the summer there have been no live in-person music due to Covid. A lot of artists started posting concerts online, and this week I play some recordings of these concerts. While the performers have generously made these recordings available to

Jelly Roll Morton claimed he invented jazz. Most other people claim he didn’t. But unlike some public figures who brag a lot, so many of the things he claimed he could do he actually did! And there’s no doubt that he did create a style of jazz, and was t