Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show

It's been a while, but I'm pleased to say that Straight No Chaser is back in business! There is a lot of great content coming up, so please spread the word. We'll kick things off with my conversation with singer/songwriter/arranger Ann Hampton Callaway. Ann has a new album out on   Palmetto Records, and it's her tribute to one of her earliest music heroes, Peggy Lee. The recording come on the heel...

Looking for some new Christmas jazz tunes to brighten your hoilday spirit? Our annual consumer guide gives you a chance to hear a track or two from recent releases of holiday music. This year features "new" releases from Norah Jones and Vince Guaraldi (deluxe versions of previous albums) and a comprehensive collection from Louis Armstrong. There are also single/EP only tunes from Laila Biali, Sama...

We heard from promising young jazz singer Samara Joy in Podcast 943 last week, and today it's Tawanda's turn. When she tied for first place with Gabrielle Cavassa in the 9th Annual Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, the feat was all the more impressive given that Tawanda had performed her first full show just a year before. Raised in the deep south of New Mexico on the border with...

On Straight No Chaser this week, we feature two promising young female vocalists and their most recent releases. Both Samara Joy McLendon and Tawanda Suessbrich-Joaquim have professionally dropped their last names. Both were winners of the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Competition, in 2019 and 2021, respectively ( Tawanda's competition was originally slated to be held in 2020 but delayed due to...

Back in the early 70's, drummer Mike Clark and bassist Paul Jackson were best friends, living in East Oakland, playing flatbed gigs at Black Panther rallies and generally raising hell. Cooking was not their forte, so the barbecue joint next door became a hangout. Mrs. Jones (of Everett and Jones) asked them to write a song to promote the spot, and they came up with the first version of  'God Made...

Bobby Watson continues to carry the Hard Bop torch well into the 21st century. And he sounds as vibrant as ever on his latest release, Back Home in Kansas City (Smoke Sessions Records), which was released last month. He's joined by some familiar faces – his longtime rhythm section of bassist Curtis Lundy and drummer Victor Jones along with two stars in their own right - pianist Cyrus Chestnut and...

Marshall Gilkes keeps one foot firmly in the world of jazz, and another in the classical world. On any given night in New York, you might find the trombonist playing with the New York Philharmonic, filling in a Big Band brass section, or soloing with a salsa band. He is in demand as part of the Maria Schneider Orchestra and the WDR Big Band, as well as the Slide Monsters Trombone Quartet, and lead...

I enjoyed having author Sammy Stein on the podcast so much (check out Podcast 810 ), when I learned she had a new book out, I had to have her back. The Wonder of Jazz: Music That Changed the World is slim in size but not in scope, as she takes both the jazz newbie and the aficinado on a tour of jazz past, present and future. Backed with a long listening list, it represents the ideal read for those...

A pivotal member of New York's Jazz scene for 40 years, pianist Bruce Barth's inspired vision and generous accompaniment has always led to rich musical collaborations, none more so than with his working trio of many years with bassist Vicente Archer and drummer Montez Coleman. Their collective voice found its perfect setting, which makes the release of  Dedication  a profound and emotion-filled mo...

I must confess that any album that features Brazilian-born singer Luciana Souza is going to be on my radar immediately. A brilliant interpreter of both American and Brazilian pop and jazz classics, she collaborated brilliantly with Yellowjackets in 2018, and Vince Mendoza and the WDR Big Band Köln in 2020. Her latest collaboration is another smashing success. Grammy-winning Cuban-born drummer, com...

"Musically, I have the very clear feeling that my stretching out and being creative has a much better chance of happening organically, avoiding alienation and stiffness, when done in energetic connection with my roots – with the sensuality and groundedness of the hymns and the spirituals and the lullabies." – Tord Gustavsen   Piano players who record on ECM are in some heavy company. Many of the l...

Following the success of his digital showcase series of solo guitar tributes to giants like Monk, Powell, and Ellington, Pasquale Grasso has cast his musical net a bit wider. His latst album, a trio recording from the Sony Music Masterworks release called Be-Bop!, is an often dazzling tribute to be-bop pioneers like Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker.  Backed by his working trio of bassist Ari Rol...

Tomasz Stańko – one of Europe's most original and beloved jazz musicians – was born on July 11, 1942, in Rzeszów, Poland, and he passed away in Warsaw on July 29, 2018. In many ways, his life traced the course of modern jazz in Europe, beginning with his tenure – when barely into his twenties – in the band of the great Polish composer-pianist Krzysztof Komeda, through his association as a leader w...

After several weeks of bad news in the jazz world, driven by the untimely deaths of Jaimie Branch and Joey DeFrancesco , a little sunshine has appeared. After two years were spent reorienting to the pandemic with modified operations including livestreams, sidewalk concerts, and outdoor dining, Smoke Jazz Club made a long-awaited return as a world-renowned full-time destination earlier this month....

After an impressive foray on her debut album,  Azalea, rising star vibraphonist Sasha Berline r  has followed up with a vigorous, unabashedly avant-garde sophomore recording,  Onyx on JMI Recording. Her band is packed with familiar names who happen to be fellow students and friends of Sasha's, including Marcus Gilmore on drums, Burniss Travis II on upright and electric bass and James Francies on p...

After the deaths earlier this week of legendary producer-record label impresario Creed Taylor and brilliant young trumpeter jaimie branch, the jazz world had another shock on Friday, when the news spread that legendary organist Joe DeFrancesco had died suddenly at the age of 51. No cause of death was immediately released.  I had the pleasure to see Joey D several times, and to have two podcast int...

Brian Lynch is well known for his work in Latin, Afro-Carribean and other global sounds, as well as for a Hard Bop trumpet sound that never gets tired. His latest release, Songbook Vol. 2: Dance The Way U Want To finds him bringing new life to older Lynch compositions, backed by his crack band Spheres of Influence.  Spheres of Influence represents some of the best of the Miami jazz scene, with a c...

A conversation with keyboardist Geoffrey Keezer crossed another name off my list of top-notch artists I have not had the pleasure to meet. His career began with roles in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, and bands led by Ray Brown and Art Farmer, all before his 30th birthday. Since then, he has grown as a writer, performer, arranger and band leader, to say nothing of being a first call sideman for the...

Over the years, the drummer-less trio of Steve Cardenas (guitar), Ben Allison (bass) and Ted Nash (reeds) has recorded wonderful interpretive albums to celebrate their favorite composers. First came Quiet Revolution (2016),  drawing from the compositions of Jim Hall and Jimmy Giuffre and then Somewhere Else: West Side Story Songs reinterpreting the music of Leonard Bernstein.  Now we have Healing...

It's past the midpoint in summer in New England, so why not some summer themed music for what may still be lazy, hot days? Today is August 16th, the feast day of Saint Roch, the patron saint of Dogs, so why not celebrate the "Dog Days"? Plus, Saint Roch's name is to be invoked to avoid plagues, so need I say anything more? The Romans associated the hot weather with the star Sirius. They considered...

Podcast 926 completes my conversation with noted trombonist Steve Davis. Steve's latest album is a sextet release on the Smoke Sessions label called Bluesthetic , and it features Steve on trombone, Peter Bernstein on guitar, Steve Nelson on vibes, Christian McBride on bass, Geoffrey Keezer on keys and Willie Jones III on drums.  In Part Two of our conversation, Steve talks about his times with the...

Year in and year out, Steve Davis is at or near the top of the trombone category in all the important jazz polls. A veteran writer-performer-educator his career runs from the final version of the Jazz Messengers through runs backing the likes of Jackie McLean and Chick Corea. He has lead any number of bands under his own name, and co-leads the collective One For All. During my time as a member of...

Podcast 924 is the final part of my conversation with bass legend Jimmy Haslip. A founding member of Yellowjackets, he's been at the epicenter of bass playing for the past thirty years, with over 400 sessions and almost 200 productions under his belt.  His latest project is a trio record that came together during the pandemic shut-down period, when long-time friend Barry Coates, who plays a unique...

And now back to my conversation with ace bass player Jimmy Haslip! Having been the producer or co-producer on more than 190 recordings, and having recorded over 400 records, Haslip continues to thrive on the road and in the studio.  His latest project is a trio record that came together during the pandemic shut-down period, when long-time friend Barry Coates, who plays a unique synth guitar, share...

Simply put, Jimmy Haslip is one of the legends of the electric bass. Producing over 190 recordings, he also has himself recorded on over 400 records. Haslip is a founding member of the group Yellowjackets, and was a member for 34 years. He has 22 Grammy  nominations and 3 Grammy wins. Haslip has toured and recorded with over 180 artists and bands in 52 years, from jazz artists like Al Jarreau, Lee...