Jazz Bastard Podcast

2019's dropping hot with the boys examining four brand new releases (one still in the pipeline) by independent types (as opposed to, you know, those big corporate-sponsored names in jazz).  Mostly the music leans left, but the final selection is more mainstream and, unusually enough in the  jazz world, openly religious...

Happy birthday to us - sixth birthday, to be exact.  What better way to celebrate than digging into six sextets like they were delicious pieces of cake?  And if anyone has the complete run of John Zorn birthday cd's (all five-hundred of 'em), please let Mike or your therapist know...

We've lost a lot of great jazz men and women this year, but Roy Hargrove's passing came as a particular shock.  Pat and Mike explore the young lion's career, focusing mostly on acoustic releases but making time for a brief look at Roy's cameo on D'Angelo's ground-breaking Voodoo.  After that, Michael Buble bubbles up in the discussion...

It's our kind of town, so here's another episode devoted to Chicago jazzers, from scat master Kurt Elling (whose poetic sources for his vocalese Mike explains are impeccable) to tenor-slinger Von Freeman (whose views on intonation may disturb younger and more impressionable listeners).  A couple more experimental offerings round out the session, which ends with Pat wondering if he loves the Beatles quite enough...

You know it's going to be a good episode when Pat and Mike get to discuss Paul Anka taking on Nirvana in depth.  It only gets better as we explore contemporary work by an avant garde reedman and more approachable performances by a bass clarinet specialist.  Stay tuned for Mike's musings on supposed "Dad-rock" favorite R.E.M. - and why they were secretly a punk band...

A couple vinyl selections from "back in the day" and two brand new releases are on the docket this time, and the results are mostly good.  Mike faces his fusion fears and finds a happy ending with Pat Martino while Pat (the bastard, not the guitarist) likes Javon Jackson's latest more than he can adequately explain.  Like all good podcasts, this one ends with an in-depth look at whistling...

Jazz pianist and composer Randy Weston departed this earth earlier this year, so the boys devote an episode to his music (along with some discussion of arranger/trombonist Melba Liston, whose work was crucial to some of his best albums). Do we get too teleological? You be the judge. Randy Weston: UHURU AFRIKA; BLUE MOSES; SPIRIT OF OUR ANCESTORS (DISC TWO); SPIRIT: THE POWER OF MUSIC.

Crazy, daddy-o - it's an episode devoted to experimental music. The boys start things off by interviewing Sarah Bernstein, who discusses her career in music, her various ongoing groups. and her new album Crazy Lights Shining. Afterwards the boys plunge into some hard-core experimental instrumental music, to see just how whiny Pat can get (spoilers: very), and then finish by discussing a Rudy Royston release that has an odd front line but is still the most straight-ahead session on offer...

Fred Rogers never went to 'Nam - that's just one of the many insights we learn from interviewing the charming and talented Keri Johnsrud about her collaboration with pianist Kevin Bales based on songs written by the man we like to call "Cole Porter in a cardigan." After the interview, the boys discuss three other albums with at least a tangential relationship to children's music because, hey, that's a theme, people...

Is it chilly in here or is it just us? The bastards take on the coolest buffet of music yet on offer by this august podcast, so pry open that sweater drawer and grab a hot beverage. Pop matters also might xylophone the old neck bone, as Gillian Welch's "The Harrow and the Harvest" presents its own brand of folkie cool. The Necks – BODY: Evan Parker – MEMORY/VISION; Modern Jazz Quartet – COMPLETE PRESTIGE AND PABLO (disc one); Lee Konitz – TOOT SWEET.