Ella Fitzgerald representing jazz fusion? You have to be kidding! Well, just give a listen to the opening track of this episode where Los Angeles jazz/soul singer Cliff Beach introduces to a later 'funky' Ella! Somone said that if Ella Fitzgerald and Stevie Wonder had a love child, it would be Cliff! You can hear this influence on his latest album …

Cliff Beach's latest album is called You Showed Me The Way. He credits Ella Fitzgerald with showing him the way through traditional sgin and bebop and through the path of modern jazz. On this episode we play some Ella, as well as an outstanding track from Cliff's latest album. Then Cliff talks about how the more traditional swing, bebop, and blues …

The podcasts are back! Thanks to the assistance of Maxime at FeedPress. After posting three new episodes on what makes a great jazz solo (Episodes 269-271), I thought I'd go into the archives and also include the original ones I put together a few year ago. These were inspired by a Jazz Times article where a number of famous jazz musicians and writ…

I explore the controversies related to Tommy Flanagan's solo on Coltrane's Giant steps, plus Cannonball Adderley's solo in Milestones. One jazz writer stated "With Giant steps Coltrane supplanted Cherokee as the litmus test for aspiring improvisers, packing so many harmonic substitutions into one progression that at first blush, consummate pianist …

You just finished listening to Part 4, 5, and 6 of The Jazz Solo. Now as I take a bit of a break, let's go back five years and hear Parts 1, 2, and 3. In part 1 you'll learn why we don't all say 'so what' to Miles Davis's most highly renowned jazz solo. Or to the other great solos in that piece of work as well. Then there's Louis Armstrong's and Jo…

Lots of great music once again from Miles Davis McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock (with Freddie Hubbard), Dave Brubeck, Ellas Kapell (w. manne Skafvenstedt), Jeff Johnston Trio, Coleman Hawkins, and Hank Mobley.

This week I start with a solo by Charlie Parker---talking about what has been termed "the famous alto break". Then I move onto John Coltrane--and playing that sounds like its either "all composed or all improvised". The episode ends with Jaco Pastorius and his bass and percussion recording of Donna Lee, followed by a Sonny Stitt and Sonny Rollins '…

Part 4, you ask? But where are Parts 1, 2, and 3? Answer: Way back five years to Episodes 52 to 54. The goal? To get a greater sense of the difference between a jazz solo that is considered 'great' versus solos that are just 'good'...and sometimes not even that. I reach out to 'experts to get some opinions. And I play some of tha tmusic with those …

I start by talking about and playing a great track by Wes Montgomery and Wynton Kelly--fraom newly discovered recordings released last year. And I finish with the great Rashaan Roland Kirk--focusing on hs amazing resilience as he kept playing despite a debilitating stroke. Another amazingly resilient musicians who arried on despited physical diffic…

One ended up being murdered on the bandstand. Others simply disappeared. But most important is the great music they made.

I've heard and read many stories of jazz artists who have left us due to drugs, violence, and sudden accidents. The next 3 episodes talk about some of them. But rather than just focusing on their deaths, I talk about how they lived and how they inspired us. And most importantly, I play their music! The first episodes starts off with later-life John…

Re-releases, remastered recordings, or newly discovered vintage recordings released in 2023. From Bill Evans Trio to Nina Simone. Also features a live Dave Brubeck Quartet track recorded four months before the legendary Time Out album. You'll also hear Ahmad Jamal, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Geri Allen & Kurt Rosenwinkel, Don Thompson and Rob Piltch,…

You'll hear a track from John Zorn: Homenaje A Remedios Varo, just one of 14 releases Zorn put out in 2023. And something from pianist Noah Haidu's Standards album. He has another Standards album coming out in 2024. Benny Benack II, trumpeter and singer's 3rd album called Third Time's The Charm. Audrey Ochoa, Edmonton trombonist, and Head of a Mous…

This is Part 6 of my 8 part series of the Best of 2023 according to jazz aficionados. And I take the liberty for this episode of playing tracks from 9 of my own personal favourites. And it turns out that one of the albums is even a 2024 grammy winner. Who’d have thought? I’m interested in hearing how any of them resonate with you, the listener. I a…

Last week I played tracks from the albums that were chosen for the ‘best of 2023’ lists by the most reviewers. This week I’ve picked few albums chosen by only one or two reviewers. But they are ones that were definitely worth my time and energy!I talk about and play a track from the following great jazz albums: -Thunder by Stephan Micus =The Senato…

For this 4th episode of the Best of 2023 According to Experts, I’m posting the titles of 27 albums that were selected by the most reviewers as part of their top albums of last year. And I’ll do a countdown of sorts—finishing with the album that was selected by the greatest number of reviewers. If you want to be surprised, don’t read the rest of thi…

This is Part 3 of some of the jazz albums that critics and reviewers believe are worth our attention. And I do too—for the ones I’m choosing to spotlight on this series of podcasts. You’ll hear a track from the latest recordings of the following great artists: Shakti (w. John McLaughlin) Billy Valentine Joshua Redman with Gabrielle CavassaAline Hom…

One skill we can develop when putting together radio shows, podcasts, or ‘mix-tapes’ is a way of allowing the energy to build. I think that, just like a great jazz solo, this episode seems to have a nice ‘arc’. It starts fairly low key and builds up in speed and intensity….ending with a sort of sweet sadness. Here are ten albums that have been on t…

It was a busy December! I searched for all the ‘best jazz of 2023’ articles online and tried to listen to at least part of many of the albums. And there were lots! In fact, so far, I’ve found 85 different lists. And a total of 573 albums. And that doesn’t even include the historical albums and re-releases. I picked and chose which ones to listen to…

This is a podcast I put together in 2020 when living in Victoria. It’s NOT Christmas music (although it starts with one of my favourite Christmas songs). It celebrates a few winter holidays: Kwanzaa, Diwali, Channukah, Winter Solstice, New Years, Lohri, Mardi-Gras, and Posada. Lots of very interesting music—different from what you’d normally hear i…

And I really do mean the greats! There are the ones you all know like Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Diana Krall, Dave Brubeck, Oscar Peterson, Sarah Vaughan Artie Shaw, Phil Woods, Earl Hines, and Tony Bennett. But I also include Toronto pianist Robi Botos, and the wonderful jazz couple of singer Jennifer Scott and bassist Rene Worst.…

This week the recordings I play with awesome intros are: -Nardis, by the 1980 version of the Bill Evans Trio, recorded shortly before Evans died. -Jeanine by the Dave Young Terry Promane Octet out of Toronto. -All The Things You Are, where I play a version that uses BOTH the Rachmaninoff inspired Charlie Parker intro and the original ‘verse’ introd…

We are approaching the end of one year and the beginning of a next. That’s a good time to talk about beginnings and endings of jazz recordings. I asked for ideas from a few jazz sites, and received great response from jazz fans and musicians from JAzzWorld and Canadian Jazz Recordings. In this episode I play some of their suggestions. Some have rem…

This week I play tracks from: =Bill Evans classic Sunday At the Village Vanguard. Two compositions by Scott Lafaro. -Jane Bunnett’s first album, In Dew Time—the title referring to the presence of the great tenor saxophonist, Dewey Redman. -Paul Winter Consort. The Icarus album. Ralph Towner’s Sunwheel. -The amazing accordionist, Art Van Damme. -a W…

Modern Jazz Quartet, Julie London, Teddy Wilson, Erroll Garner, Nina Simone, Nellie Lutcher, Lalo Schifrin, Paul Horn, Gene Bertoncini w. Michael Moore, Jim McHarg w. Lonnie Johnson. Those are records I dug from my storage locker: great albums I played for myself this week.. And I found at least one track from each I wanted to play for you! I also …

I haven’t had much chance over the past few years to play many of the lp records I have stored in my storage locker. This series of episodes remedies some of that. I’m listening to a few of them and digitalizing some favoured cuts so I can play them on this podcast. This week’s episodes starts and ends with Sarah Vaughan and some amazing vocals wit…

More on the Edmonton Jazz scene, including a call out to CKUA radio. Also more on the thriving Yardbird Suite jazz club, including Marc Vasey’s story of how he discovered and secured their current venue. Great music too! You’ll hear Rubim de Toledo, J.J. Johnson, Pepper Adams Quartet, Bill Frisell, Doug Organ, Audrey Ochoa, Sheila Jordan, and John …

It’s located at the gateway to Northern Alberta, Canada—the city of Edmonton. And it’s been billed as Canada’s longest running volunteer-run jazz club, having first started in 1957. This episode explores its history, and features recordings by some of the great artists who have played there. Along with interviews with Marc Vasey, Todd Crawshaw, and…

I really love listening to this podcast—even if I did put it together myself. I went through a few of the albums currently (as of Oct 12, 2023) on the Jazz Week Charts. Those charts reflect albums on the playlists of various jazz radio stations in North America. And I played a track from some of the albums that personally stood out for me. One of t…

Having just heard the news of the passing of one of my favourite jazz musicians, pianist and composer Carla Bley, I thought I’d re-visit a past podcast from 2021.

Last week I talked about modes used in jazz. Modes are really nothing more than a scale. This week I’ll talk about some other scales, and play tunes that illustrate that scale. I talk about the bebop scale, diminished scale, various minor scales, the blues scale, and the whole tone scale. And play tunes by Cannonball Adderley, Horace Silver with Bi…

I usually try to avoid talking about jazz theory in this podcast. That’s partly because of it’s complexity, as well as my own limited knowledge. I do believe its possible to love a piece of jazz without understanding the theory behind it. At the same time, if we have a sense of some of the different scales or ‘modes’ used, it can enhance our abilit…

“Tis Autumn! There have been some wonderful jazz, big band, broadway, and even ‘folk’ oriented tunes written about the Fall season. In this episode I play a version of ten of my favourites. They range from Paul Bley to Frank Sinatra—and I even throw in something by early Joni Mitchell. You’ll also hear Woody Herman, Ahmad Jamal, Bob Dorough, Hartma…

Still lots of cd’s I need to listen to and file, discard, or listen to again. I played a few last week….and this week I have a few more. Some are old some are new. Some of the compact discs I’m playing and from which I’ll include a track on this podcast are: Charles Lloyd: Lift Every voice (double album) Monk’estra Plays John Beasley Ivan Lins: My …

Time to listen to and sort out some of the cd’s that are surrounding me right now. And I’ll play some tracks from the most enjoyable—or at least the most interesting–ones.

How did North America’s first International Jazz festival get established in Edmonton, Alberta? Why Edmonton? And who is the Kansas City Bluesman, Big Miller, after whom a park in this city has been named? And lastly…what famous jazz musician left town in the middle of his concert, absconding with his band’s pay? More from an interview with Jazz Ci…

It’s been claimed to be North America’s first International Jazz Festival. In a city of only half a million. Festival founder Marc Vasey talks about how Edmonton, Alberta, Canada became known as ‘jazz city’. And he talks about some of the challenges and inspiring moments from those early years of 1980 to 1983. Some of the stories include: -How Chet…

This is the last of my 4 part series on folk songs ‘jazzified’. I also introduce you to some Western Swing—which combines so many different genres. I play jazz recordings by The Stanley Clarke Trio with Hiromi, John Coltrane, Vince Guaraldi, Big Miller with Jon Hendricks, Seattle’s Floyd Standifer, and the wonderful Icelandic pianist Sunna Gunnlaug…

The first 12 minutes of this podcast takes you to Sweden. Three tracks with Swedish jazz musicians playing folk music from Russia, U,S,A,, and Hungary.That’s followed by Django Reinhardt playing a traditional Russian tune. Then we have more jazz interpretations of Spirituals by Nina Simone, Bevely-Glenn Copeland, Ramsay Lewis, Don Shirley, and Albe…

Did you know that Sonny Rollins didn’t actually write “St. Thomas”. And that Randy Weston recorded this traditional folk song before Rollins, but under the name of “Fire Down There”?And another piece of information: Thelonious Monk’s “Japanese Folk Song” wasn’t really a folk song—as the writer was known. But it has entered an oral tradition within …

A lot of folk songs—and I’m talking mostly about traditional tunes—have been adapted into jazz. And in a lot of cases the results have been spectacular! Right from the earliest years of jazz when Louis Armstrong with Earl Hines had the 1929 hit of St. James Infirmary. And today, 94 years later, we have the Daniel Hersog Orchestra from Vancouver and…

I’m back with new episodes after a three week break. There have been many well-deserved tributes to Tony Bennett, who we lost July 21st of this year. Here is another one, focusing mostly on his ‘jazz’ side. A number of great jazz musicians played with and respected Tony Bennett, and I feature a few of what I think are the best recordings. The playe…

This program, originally posted January of 2019, features tracks from 2018 albums that Downbeat Magazine reviewers–and a few others–raved about. You’ll hear: -singer Stacey Kent -Polish bassist Wojtek Masolewski and his Quintet – Canadian trumpet player Ingrid Jensen -More trumpet from Ambrose Akinmusire -Downbeat Hall of Fame pianist Kenny Barron …

More from my archives of old programs while I take a bit of a summer break. IMPORTANT NOTE: Because this program had been recorded directly off a feed from Trent Radio, the sound quality isn’t up to my usual Discovering Jazz podcast standards. But the music’s great…and I hope you’ll find some of the information enlightening. Forgive the slight buzz…

This is the Trent Radio program that spawned the Discovering Jazz podcast. In February 2016 my partner and I had recently moved to Peterborough, Ontario and I decided I wanted to do a program on Trent Radio, Call letters CFFF-the community and university radio station. Since they didn’t have a jazz program and I was interested in learning more abou…

Some more New Discoveries from The Real Book. Some are songs written by jazz musicians, others are Broadway ‘standards. I play music by artists as diverse as Bing Crosby and Roland Kirk. I also try to look at what exactly is a “Charlie Parker Blues”. And for many of those tunes, I play an original version, then a later one. But I think that even pe…

As I go through this ‘jazz bible’ for students and jammers, I keep discovering new tunes. This leads me to listen to some versions of them. And this week and next I’m sharing some of my ‘discoveries’. I start the podcast with two different versions of Wayne Shorter’s Beauty and The Beast (including a great vocal interpretation)_ You’ll also hear tw…

The last of my series on the upcoming Edmonton Jazz Festival. This week I explore some history—touching on the fore-runner of this festival, Jazz City. That festival became Canada’s first Internationally renowned Jazz Festival….beginning in 1980. I also explore the attempt being made to attract youth to this festival. Many of the artists are young,…

Today’s podcast starts with an amazing ‘jam’ led by pianist Emmet Cohen. Other jazz artists featured this week are The Leon Phal Quartet from France, flautist Naissam Jalal, The Ostara Project of Canadian women ‘superstars’, Edmonton trombonist Audrey Ochoa, and Polish bassist Piotr Lemanczyk. And more on the ‘fringes’ of jazz, you’ll hear Nik West…

There are some great artists coming to the Edmonton Jazz Festival, June 28 to July 02nd. And many of them are touring and going to other festivals as well….so hopefully many of you will get a chance to hear and see them. This three part series features some of the players. I start out with one that I’m most excited about; that’s John Beasley’s MONK…