Discovering Jazz

I’ve discovered a lot of great music over the past two months—thanks to those top 10 lists compiled by 97 reviewers and critics. A handful of those albums would probably go on my own Top 10 list, were I to make one. In this episode I play tra

I’ve tabulated the results of 97 reviewers and their top 10 albums lists for 2022. Here are the albums followed by the number of votes each one received. Mary Halvorson: Amaryllis (also Belladonna…not quite so often) 31 Cecille McLorin Salvan

There have been a total of 480 albums that 97 reviewers placed on their top 10 lists. That’s a lot! Wish I could listen to them all. But here’s a few I did listen to—at least in part—and want to play for you. This way you and I ar

Part two of a five part series focusing on albums from 2022 that jazz reviewers and critics have put on their ‘top 10’ lists. This week you’ll hear two Canadian ensembles–one from Vancouver called the Cookers Quintet led by Bernie

Beginning a five part series talking about and playing some of last year’s recordings about which jazz aficionados are *raving*. I’m jotting down every record placed in any of the ‘top 10’ (or so) jazz albums of 2022 lists. Then p

No particular theme for this last podcast of 2022. But here are a few new and a couple older recordings that I’ve discovered recently—and am enjoying. In terms of newer recordings, You’ll hear Emmet Cohen, Billy Drummond and Freedom of

A lot of focus on how *playing* jazz (as well as listening to it) helps us. It starts with a short clip from Victoria musician Brian Tate about improvising as ‘saying yes’….sort of like a going with the flow. Lots of ‘flow’

The therapy might be in the lyrics, the music, or the inspiration from the player’s journey. I play recordings by Ben Webster, Nina Simone, Tony Kofi, Ruth Brown, Duke Ellington, and Charlie Parker. From France, you’ll hear trumpeter and sing

Here I play recordings I like that have been made very recently Lots of great Christmas and Winter tunes (both known and unknown). Played and sung by some of the best modern recording artists. My favourite? Ever hear Julie Christie’s “Hang Th

This episode features jazz tunes where there is some contention about who actually wrote it. For example, I put the writer of Nature Boy, Eden Ahbez on trial. Did he plagiarize the melody of Nature Boy from Herman Yablonskoff? He did end up paying Yablon

Since I just moved from Victoria B.C. to Edmonton Alberta—-in the midst of the wind and snow—I thought it would be a good idea to explore the Alberta jazz scene. I guarantee you’ll hear some great music in this episode! Some of them are

My own jazz roots are very different from that of most jazz fans. I explored them in Episode 100, This episode is a further exploration. Warning! The music isn’t all jazz. But they all have some connection with jazz…at least for me. Many of t

Still in the midst of moving to Edmonton—one or two more ‘archives’, then some more new episodes. But the good news is that the archived programs I’m posting are really good! This one includes six jazz tunes—or tunes often p

Birds and bird calls have been quite the inspiration for a lot of jazz as well as classical compositions. You’ll hear a few of those inspired recordings plus the calls of some of the birds who inspired them. Also a bit of Bird—the nickname fo

As I relocate my residence from Victoria to Edmonton, I need to take a few weeks off. So I have a few more episodes from the ‘archives’ before I start with some very interesting and entertaining new episodes. This is Part 2 of Jazz Drumming,

I’ve lived many places, but never came across a city with as many amazing musicians–especially jazz musicians—as I have here in Victoria, B.C. Much of it is thanks to Hermann’s Jazz Club, which began 40 years ago. It started becau

Hello! In this episode I’m playing a few favourite recordings—lp’s and cd’s mostly. They are mostly ones I purchased at used record stores and thrift stores, as well as online, this past summer. Here’s the ‘lineup&#821

Playing a few selected recordings of artists who were highly rated on the latest Downbeat Critics poll. It starts with three tracks from the latest entry into the Jazz Hall of Fame. It finishes with the ‘best historical album’. Between you&#8

More music from jazz musicians who I enoyed seeing and hearing live this past summer. I play four selections where pianist Sullivan Fortner is featured. The first one’s by Cecile McLorin-Salvant, the second from trumpeter Giveton Gelin, and the thi

I’ve had a great summer for music, mostly thanks to the Victoria Jazz Festival. For this first episode of the new season, I’m playing recordings by some of those artists I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing and who most inspired me. Eight

In this episode, Victoria B.C. jazz drummer, composer, and educator, Kelby McNayr talks about the role of percussion in jazz. His thesis that while drumming has changed, it hasn’t necessarily ‘evolved’ is an interesting one. He demonstr

I love hearing interesting stories about the history of certain songs, including how they became popular. In this episode I explore five different songs that have been performed frequently by jazz artists. The first one, Scotch and Soda, nobody knows who

For this episode one of the highlights is a John Coltrane tune that has been described as a sort of ‘training wheels’ for Giant Steps. I also play recordings by Freddie Hubbard, Ornette Coleman, a Wes Montgomery tune by Christian McBride&#821

This is part 3 of a 4 part series on some lesser played or heard tunes from the Real Book 6th Edition—a ‘bible’ for jazz students. This episode includes some obscure and some maybe not-so-obscure tunes from the point of view of the jazz

I had subscribed, from 1978 to 1983 to a series of 3-disk albums by Time Life Records called The Giants of Jazz”. A new one would be delivered to my door every month. They each contained a very detailed booklet including descriptions each recording