Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show

Korean born Youn Sun Nah’s latest CD, Same Girl , opens with as radical a re-interpreting of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “My Favorite Things” as I’ve heard since John Coltrane stood the jazz word on its collective ear four decades ago. Accompanying herself on kalimba, her vocal is ethereal and hypnotizing. She slows the tune down to a sleepy ballad, stretching out some phrases, clipping others. It’s...

The 2011 Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air Portland Jazz Festival Presented by U.S. Bank boasts over 125 shows and covering a 20 day period, is set to commence Friday, February 18 through Sunday, February 27 . This year's 8th annual festival has partnered with 21 multi-cultural venues all across the city in support of this year's theme: Bridges and Boundaries: Jewish & African Americans Playing Jazz. Th...

Romance is in the air. It's Valentine's Day, and hopefully you've made some soon to be memorable plans with that special someone. Rememebr, it's the thought that counts. What is romance without music? I shudder to think. And therefore, here's Podcast 207 to the rescue, with a one hour plus uninterrupted mixtape of romantic music to set the mood. I've gone for both the classic jazz (Miles Davis' "M...

Had he not been taken from us too soon by cancer, Bob Marley would have been 65 years old today. In a world where we bandy about the words "iconic" and "seminal" all too often, Bob Marley and his music were both. The son of a racially mixed marriage, he became not only the embodiment of reggae music for much of the world, but also a symbol for religious and political freedom. And his songs? They h...

Given Walt Disney's fondness for jazz music dating back to the late 1920s and early '30s, it's no surprise that many artists in subsequent decades recorded interpretations of popular songs associated with his film's soundtracks. Disney music fans over the years included, Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck ( Dave Digs Disney ), Miles Davis Some Day My Prince Will Come"), John Coltrane (“Chim-Chim-Cheree...

Feb 2nd is the accurate middle point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Technically, the coldest period of winter is now legitimately over. Technically that is. You could fool me as I look at the mounds of snow around the neighborhood. And how do we judge when winter will loosen its grip for good here in the USA ? We look to a rodent. If Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog resident o...

  When I spoke with bassist Reuben Rogers, he was staring out the window of his Virgin Islands home at the ocean. New England had been blessed with a foot of snow the previous day, and he was more than happy to be far away from the road that would being him to the northern US the next week,   Rogers has been the bassist of choice of for some of the top jazz musicians of the past twenty-five years,...

I try to begin each new year with a look back at the most memorable releases I had the pleasure to listen to over the previous twelve months. These are not necessarily the "best" of 2010, just a few of my favorite things, like: Notable Releases   Danilo Perez – Providencia. Jason Moran - Ten   Cassandra Wilson - Silver Pony Charles Lloyd Quartet -  Mirror Vijay Ayer - Solo   New Things from Old Fr...

Blind since an accident in his first few days of life, Raul Midon is a musician who refuses to be categorized. His guitar playing and sensibilities speak of jazz; his voice a mix of old school R&B and improvisational scat; his songwriting showing influences of any number of genres from around the world. His latest CD, Synthesis , is produced by bassist Larry Klein, who has worked with other "genre...

At the age of 29, alto saxophonist Jackie McLean had already recorded six albums for Blue Note Records, and been a key sideman on sessions for other Blue Note stalwarts like Freddie Redd, Donald Byrd, Tina Brooks, Jimmy Smith and Walter Davis. He had been onstage for the Living Theater’s famous play “The Connection”. He was a member of the late Fifties edition of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, and...

When someone looks for a top-notch drummer for their sessions, you can be sure that Kendrick Scott is on the short list. Besides anchoring Terence Blanchard's band for years, Scott has recorded and toured with the likes of The Crusaders, Lizz Wright, Dianne Reeves, Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, Joe Lovano and Kenny Garrett. He was the backbone of the 50th Annivesary Monterey Jazz All-Stars band, wh...

This week’s Podcast takes a look back to the dawn of jazz, courtesy of a conversation with author David Fulmer . Fulmer is the author of a series of novels set in Storyville, the sin capital of New Orleans in the early decades of the 20 th century. Fictional characters mingle with historical figures from the world of jazz, including Buddy Bolden, Jelly Roll Morton, and a barely out of short pants...

The term “master” gets bandied about too often today. However, it would not be exagerating to call Glen Velez a master percussionist. He is perhaps the greatest frame drummer in the world, and certainly one of the most in demand. His recording credits   show him working in modern classical music with Steve Reich, jazz with Pat Metheny and the Paul Winter Consort, pop with Suzanne Vega, and world m...

If you don’t live in the New York area, or are not hip to the jazz press, there is a chance you’ve never heard of Smalls, and the club’s entrepeneurial owner, Spike Wilner. If that’s you, then this podcast will be an eye-opener. If you already know that Smalls has become likely the most influentuial jazz club in America – if not the world – for the past ten years, then you’ll get some wonderful in...

For me, nothing matches "White Christmas" to get one in a holiday mood. I think it's the nostalgia and general good vibes that come from the wistful lyrics and memorable melody. It never fails to amaze me that this Christmas classic was written by a practicing Jew, Irving Berlin (as was "Easter Parade", as a matter of fact). Accounts vary as to when and where Berlin wrote the song. One story is th...

Enough of this cloying Christmas stuff – let’s get some Zappa at ya! The Grand Wazoo would have been 70 yras old today, so it seems appropriate to consider his music in this space from a jazz perspective.   Was Frank Zappa as much of a jazz musician as he was a rock or classical artist? Let’s let Ed Palermo, the noted trombonist, answer the question. Here’s a quote from his essay on FZ’s music: Fr...

This year's annual “Nuthin' But Christmas Music Podcast” gives you plenty of jazzy tunes to enjoy while you trim the tree, wrap the presents, or just relax and enjoy the season. Click here to listen to: The Swingle Singers - “Medley: Gloria In Excelsis Deo/ Oh Christmas Tree / Les Anges De Nos Campagnes” from Noels sans Passeport . Pony Poindexter – “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” from Jingle Bel...

Last year I posted comments on The Greatest Gift, a CD of unashamedly devotional Christmas music from Alexis Cole. In a season where "Christ" is left out of "Christmas" all too often, Ms. Cole keeps her eyes on the prize at all times. This year I present one of the tracks from that CD, her version of the 16th century French carol, "Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella", done as medley wiht her own co...

Dr. Lonnie Smith is an authentic master of the Hammond B3 organ and a leader in the genre of organ jazz for over five decades. For the week of December 28 through January 2, The Jazz Standard in New York will ring in the New Year right - Dr. Lonnie performing on their stage with three entirely different but equally exciting groups. The good doctor’s regular working group, a tightly knit trio with...

Today we have a deeply pensive version of “O Come All Ye Faithful,” as performed by the legendary trumpet player and singer, Chet Baker. Baker recorded the album Silent Nights (his only Christmas album) with a drummer-less quartet made up of himself, pianist Mike Pellara, saxophonist Christopher Mason, and bassist Jim Singleton in New Orleans in January 1986. Just two years later, the troubled mus...

In 1960, tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin (1928–2008) rose to new heights of musical mastery with The Big Soul Band (Riverside), his first large–band recording as a leader. This session featured an 11– piece group (with Clark Terry, Pat Patrick, Frank Strozier, and Charlie Persip among the personnel) and a soul–stirring repertoire including the African–American spirituals “Deep River,” “Wade In Th...

Saxophonist, flutist and composer James Moody died on December 9,2010 at his home in the San Diego area. He was 85 years old. Moody had been suffering from pancreatic cancer and had recently chosen to decline treatment by radiation or chemotherapy. Moody, who preferred to be called by his last name, was born in Savannah, Georgia on March 26, 1925. It is little known that Moody was born partially d...

Seventy years after his birth, and thirty years after his untimely death, we are still marveling at the talent, courage and music of John Lennon. Straight No Chaser honors him with an hour of jazz renditions of some of his greatest tunes. Click here for Podcast 196, which features: Dena DeRose - "Imagine" Barbara Dickson - "Across the Universe" Don Lataski - "Nowhere Man" Bill Frisell - "Beautiful...

Today we bring you a vibes-rich version of “A Holly Jolly Christmas” by Charles Xavier (no, not the comic-book doctor) from his CD Xmas Vibe . A jazz drummer since he was sixteen, Xavier was born and raised in New Bedford , Massachusetts , where the East Coast jazz scene shaped and defined his musical tastes. He studied arranging and composition at Berklee College of Music in Boston , and at the C...

I'm two days late with my wishes, but Woody Allen just celebrated his 75th birthday. Other than Clint Eastwood, filmmaker and musician Allen has done more for jazz music in film than any modern director. No Allen film seems complete without classic jazz tunes (many from his personal collection) playing in the background or being part of the plot line. Click h ere  for a wonderful article detailing...