Jazz Bastard Podcast

In honor of Blue Note's new signing, Joel Ross, the boys devote a whole podcast to vibraphonist-led dates, ranging from the early sixties to right gosh darn now.  From the introverted to the at least somewhat less introverted, from pure acoustic to part electric, vibists are everywhere.  Eighties alt-western group Thin White Rope lassos up popmatters.  Walt Dickerson – TO MY QUEEN; Dave Pike – INFRA RED; Stefon Harris – GRAND UNIFICATION THEORY; Joel Ross – KINGMAKER.  

Clarinetist Sam Sadigursky is our special guest this episode, and we discuss his own career, his work with James Darcy Argue, and his thoughts on the difficulty of plighting one's troth to that "delicate lady," the clarinet.  He sticks around to discuss a new-ish album by bass clarinet specialist Jason Stein, and then the boys are on their own with two brand new releases...

A couple oldies, a couple newies - the boys sort out the third (THIRD!) Contemporary Jazz Quintet release they've discussed in the podcast's history, pay their propers to Jack DeJohnette's best ensemble of the eighties (realistically, of ever) and then look at an avant pop and an avant jazz album from 2019.  Kenny Cox – LOCATION ; Jack DeJohnette – SPECIAL EDITION; Dopolarians  - GARDEN PARTY; Nels Cline and Yuka C. Honda– SPINNING CREATURES.

You won't bee-lieve how hard it is to avoid apian puns in this podcast description, but we'll do our best after this sentence.  Mike and Pat dig into the Beehive catalog and pluck five albums out its sixteen-strong lineup.  Small independents like Beehive kept bebop alive during the dark days of fusion, and the boys find out how.  They also talk way too long about “In High Profile’s” unfortunate album cover...

William, oh William, it was really nothing - but an all-Bill all the time podcast!  At Mike's suggestion, this round's musicians are all named Bill.  Heck, half of them are white guys named Bill Evans who gigged with Miles Davis.  How's that for homogeneity?  Don't fret - the other Bills at this party bring heavy-gauge avant credentials to balance things out...

Every now and then when the holidays roll around, the boys celebrate by surveying some jazz-related Christmas releases.  This is one of those now and thens, and they've picked an eclectic bunch indeed.  After the tinsel talk winds down, Mike muses about Nick Cave (little known fact - Nick is Santa's favorite artist), tries to guess Pat's glam rock favorites, and gets an update on "world's angriest sunbeam" Nellie McKay...

The Bastards' Christmas present to you (should you listen to this episode the day it drops) is a seventh anniversary celebration featuring - you guessed it - septets.  And copper, sheep, speculation about the role a great title makes in creating a jazz classic, and all sorts of other goodies.  Unwrap and enjoy...