The Jazz Jam

On this week's episode we're going back to the peak of the Hard Bop era with The Sidewinder from Lee Morgan. An album that was widely popular amongst jazz enthusiasts as well as having more widespread popularity in pop music and culture. Our overall combined rating for the album is 9.4/10, make sure to take a listen to our thoughts and how we came up with that score! Feel free to reach out to us w...

On this week's episode we're getting down to the soul and spirit of Kenny Garrett and Pharaoh Sanders with the album Sketches of MD: Live at the Iridium. This is a fun and energetic live recording that brings together two jazz saxophone legends. Our overall combined rating for the album is 8.0/10, make sure to take a listen to our thoughts and how we came up with that score! Feel free to reach out...

On this week's episode we're bebopping our way through Jazz at Massey Hall with the founding fathers of bebop. Another history-piece of a recording that is plenty deserving of a deep dive. Our overall combined rating for the album is 9.3/10, make sure to take a listen to our thoughts and how we came up with that score! Feel free to reach out to us with any listener questions or album recommendatio...

On this week's episode we're jamming along to a jazz fusion super-group led by Chick Corea and John McLaughlin. This album won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Jazz Album and we get into some of the reasons why! Our overall combined rating for the album is 8.3/10, make sure to take a listen to our thoughts and how we came up with that score! Feel free to reach out to us with any listene...

On this week's episode we get in to one of the all-time great albums Somethin' Else by Cannonball Adderley. A jazz masterpiece front to back with an all star cast that includes the one and only Miles Davis. Our overall combined rating for the album is 9.7/10, make sure to take a listen to our thoughts and how we came up with that score! Feel free to reach out to us with any listener questions or a...

On this week's episode we focus on a 2015 release by Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah (now Chief Xian) entitled Stretch Music. This album features many young jazz musicians that have become mainstays in the current jazz landscape including Elena Pinderhughes, Braxton Cook, and Corey Fonville. Our overall combined rating for the album is 7.6/10, make sure to take a listen to our thoughts and how we ca...

On this week's episode we listen to a recording by great and under-appreciated saxophonist Ike Quebec entitled Blue and Sentimental. He joins forces with the fantastic Grant Green to create his signature work and they are a match made in heaven. Our overall combined rating for the album is 8.9/10, make sure to take a listen to our thoughts and how we came up with that score! Feel free to reach out...

On this week's episode we review a very recent release by veteran jazz drummer Terri Lyne Carrington entitled New Standards Vol. 1. This is a collection of jazz compositions written by female composers and there's a lot going on in this one.  Our overall combined rating for the album is 8.0/10, make sure to take a listen to our thoughts and how we came up with that score! Feel free to reach out to...

On this week's episode we get into one of the all-time great piano trio recordings in The Oscar Peterson Trio's album Night Train.  Our overall combined rating for the album is 9.5/10, make sure to take a listen to our thoughts and how we came up with that score! Feel free to reach out to us with any listener questions or album recommendations at thejazzjampodcast@gmail.com  Click here to visit ou...

On this week's episode we take a listen to the highly anticipated sophomore Blue Note release from Immanuel Wilkins entitled The 7th Hand. A group full of up and coming young jazz musicians highlight this seven track spiritual suite.  Our overall combined rating for the album is 5.4/10, make sure to take a listen to our thoughts and how we came up with that score! Feel free to reach out to us with...

On this week's episode we are faced by a trio of jazz giants in Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Stitt and Sonny Rollins. These three are all legends of the music for a reason and it's well represented in their playing on this album. Our overall combined rating for the album is 8.9/10, make sure to take a listen to our thoughts and how we came up with that score! Feel free to reach out to us with any listen...

On this week's episode we switch things up with a newer release by Richmond-based group Butcher Brown. This is a studio session that was recorded in 2018 that's sure to get your head boppin'. Our overall combined rating for the album is 7.7/10, make sure to take a listen to our thoughts and how we came up with that score! Feel free to reach out to us with any listener questions or album recommenda...

On this week's episode we get a jazz history lesson while listening to Louis Armstrong's live performance "Satchmo at Pasadena". The players on this album are foundational to the early roots of jazz. Featured styles include ragtime, stride, swing and some vocals as well. Our overall combined rating for the album is 8.3/10, make sure to take a listen to our thoughts and how we came up with that sco...

On this week's episode we remember the life and legacy of the late great organist Joey DeFrancesco by reviewing his album entitled "In the Key of the Universe". This album is a spiritual journey that swings and grooves as hard you would expect from Joey. He is joined by a fantastic cast that includes a reemergence of the free jazz virtuoso Pharaoh Sanders. Our overall combined rating for the album...

On this week's episode we listened to an album with a legendary jazz singer, Nancy Wilson. It's an excellent collaboration of Nancy Wilson's voice with Cannonball Adderley's alto sax from the early '60s. While this 1961 recording was the first time Wilson was with Adderley in the studio, it was not the first time they had worked together. Our overall combined rating for the album is 9.1/10, make s...

On this week's episode we analyze the newly released album "Two Continents One Groove" by drummer T.S. Monk. Monk is the son of jazz legend Thelonious Monk and he carries on his fathers' legacy well with this live recording which was actually pulled from two separate performances in 2014 and 2016. Our overall combined rating for the album is 8.0/10, make sure to take a listen to our thoughts and h...

On this week's episode we discuss an album hailed by jazz critics as one of Dexter Gordon's greatest ever, "Go!".  It was Dexter's third LP for Blue Note Records. It heralded a remarkable upturn in the tenor saxophonist’s career, which briefly bloomed in the late 40s before floundering during the next decade as a result of his battle with heroin addiction. Our overall combined rating for the album...

On this week's episode we take a look at the most recent album from South African jazz pianist Nduduzo Makhathini. He draws on Zulu and precolonial traditions and wide-ranging cosmological and intellectual curiosities. Our overall combined rating for the album is 7.8/10, make sure to take a listen to our thoughts and how we came up with that score! Feel free to reach out to us with any listener qu...

On this week's episode we dive deep into the classic album Soul Station from the saxophone great Hank Mobley. This 1960 album defined an era of Hard Bop in jazz and has one of the best rhythm sections that could ever be assembled. Our overall combined rating for the album is 9.3/10, make sure to take a listen to our thoughts and how we came up with that score! Feel free to reach out to us with any...