In the Groove, Jazz and Beyond

Sonny's Birthday

This week marks the 82nd birthday of legendary jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins, and we pay tribute to him with one of his most celebrated albums "The Bridge". While we love to honor our Jazz masters, what is most notable on this podcast are the great young players that are creating such wonderful jazz music today. In this show, we feature young artists like Jared Sims and The New Stablemates, Linda Oh, Noah Preminger, Marcus Roberts (with Bela Fleck) and Craig Hartley. Jane Ira Bloom has been composing and playing jazz for a long time, yet you may not have heard her. Her new album Wingwalker is amazing. Wayne Shorter, another jazz legend keeps writing music as if he were a new modern artist. They are all represented here in this podcast.

Featured Album

The New Stablemates on iTunes

Track ~ Artist ~ Album
Dive ~ The New Stablemates ~ The New Stablemates
Creatures of Habit ~ The New Stablemates ~ The New Stablemates
The Bridge ~ Sonny Rollins ~ The Bridge
God Bless the Child ~ Sonny Rollins ~ The Bridge
Freud's Convertible ~ Jane Ira Bloom ~ Wingwalker
Rooftops Speak Dreams ~ Jan ira Bllom ~ Wingwalker
Until the Real Thing Comes Along ~ Noah Preminger ~ Before the Rain
12th Century Carol ~ Wayne Shorter ~ Alegria
Somethings Coming/Les Cinq Dougts ~ Linda Oh ~ Initial Here
Dial 411 ~ Craig Hartley ~ Books on Tape Vol. 1
The Sunshine and the Moonlight ~ Bela Fleck ~ Across the Imaginary Divide

Metheny Covered

Pat Metheny, best know for his guitar prowess and as a band leader is also a great jazz composer. This podcast features compositions by Metheny that have been covered by other jazz artists. You will hear other artists performing their own interpretations of Pat Metheny compositions. Kurt Elling and Ruben Blades perform vocalizations of Pat's compositions. Some of these tracks have Metheny playing in bands led by others, like Gary Burton and the late Michael Brecker.

Featured Album

Time Is of the Essence - Michael Brecker on iTunes

Track ~ Artist ~ Album
Come and See ~ Pat Metheny ~ Unity Band
First Circle ~ Rubin Blades ~ Mundo
Minuano ~ Kurt Elling ~ Man in the Air
Timeline ~ Michael Brecker ~ Time is of the Essence
As I Am ~ Michael Brecker ~ Time is of the Essence
Question and Answer ~ Gary Burton ~ Like Minds
Elucidation ~ Gary Burton ~ Like Minds
James ~ Roy Haynes & the Fountain of Youth ~ Whereas
Travels ~ Gregoire Maret ~ Gregoire Maret
This is Not America ~ Charlie Haden ~ Not in Our Name

Shimrit

This podcast begins with a tribute to the late Shimrit Shoshan. This is a sad and tragic story of a gifted jazz artists who passed away suddenly due to illness at age 29. Shimrit was born and raised in Israel and currently was living in New York City pursuing a career in jazz music. She was a great pianist, composer and arranger. I had the pleasure of seeing her play, both in New York City and Hartford CT. She was a beautiful and extremely talented musician. Her passing is a great loss to the jazz community. We feature two tracks from her debut album, Keep it Movin'. Next I play a track from Linda Oh, another great young lady of jazz from her recent release as a leader, Initial Here. We then feature musicians with their roots in the Hartford area. All of these cats are creating a splash on the jazz scene in NY and around the world. These are names you will be hearing much more of as their jazz careers progress. Keep your eyes and ears open for Craig Hartley (p), Josh Evans (trumpet), and the Curtis Brothers, Zaccai (p) and Luques (b). The podcast concludes with some funk from Weather Report.

Featured Album.

Keep it Movin, Shimrit Shoshan on CD Baby

Track ~ Artist ~ Album
Secret Identity ~ Shimrit Shoshan ~ Keep it Movin'
Shwingin' ~ Shimrit Shoshan ~ Keep it Movin'
Ultimate Persona ~ Linda Oh ~ Initial Here
Why Not! ~ Craig Hartley ~ Books on Tape Vol 1
Dial 411 ~ Craig Hartley ~ Books on Tape Vol 1
Chronic Mistakes ~ Josh Evans ~ Portrait
The Wrath ~ Curtis Brothers ~ Completion of Proof
125th Street Congress ~ Weather Report ~ Sweetnighter

Hopscotch

This podcast features new music by artists you may not have heard of like Andrei Matorin and Kris Allen, as well as a creative new composition, Rayeula (Hopscotch) by Miguel Zenon and Laurent Coq. This exciting new music illustrates how dynamic and cutting edge modern jazz music is.

Featured Album

Rayuela on iTunes

Track ~ Artist ~ Album
Smile ~ Andrei Matorin ~ Opus
Song for Abdullah ~ Joel Frahm ~ We Used to Dance
Thoughts Not My Own ~ Curtis Brothers Quartet ~ Blood-Spirit-Land-Water-Freedom
Talita ~ Miguel Zenon and Laurent Coq ~ Rayuela
La Maga ~ Miguel Zenon and Laurent Coq ~ Rayuela
Passing ~ Kris Allen ~ Circle House

Litchfield Jazz

This week's playlist was made in anticipation of the Litchfield Jazz Festival which took place last weekend. It was my first time there and we had a great time. The show starts off with a couple of artists we heard in NYC recently, Kenny Garrett and the LeBoeuf Brothers. Then we get into the Litchfield set. I especially like the Miguel Zenon tracks posted here. Also Donny McCaslin shows off some killer tenor sax chops. We go back to the 1970's with flutist Hubert Laws. Dave Stryker gives us some fine guitar licks and the podcast finishes with vocalist Kevin Mahogany, who closed out this years Litchfield Jazz Festival. We will definitely return to the Litchfield festival next year.

Featured Album

Alma Adentro - The Puerto Rican Songbook - Miguel Zenón on iTunes

Track ~ Artist ~ Album
Boogety Boogety ~ Kenny Garrett ~ Seeds from the Underground
D2D ~ Le Boeuf Brothers ~ In Praise of Shadows
Claire ~ Donny McCaslin ~ Perpetual Motion
Moments Notice ~ Hubert Law ~ In the Beginning
Penta ~ Awake ~ Miguel Zenon
Tiemblas ~ Miguel Zenon ~ Alma Adentro: The Puerto Rican Songbook
It was a Very Good Year ~ Dave Stryker ~ Big City
Nature Boy ~ Kevin Mohagany ~ Another Time Another Place

The Day Lee Morgan Died

This podcast is a tribute to great trumpet player and jazz composer Lee Morgan. It features Billy Hart telling the tragic story of the day Lee Morgan died. While Billy was not a witness to this event, and his story is pieced together from second and third hand information, it is a fascinating insight into the dark side of the jazz scene in the early 1960's. The podcast begins with Ben Williams telling the story of the life and death of Lee Morgan through music and spoken word. Following is Lee Morgan's music and Billy Hart's words.

Featured Album

Infinity - Lee Morgan on iTunes

Track ~ Artist ~ Album
The Lee Morgan Story ~ Ben Williams ~ State of Art
Fire ~ Lee Morgan ~ Expoobident
Interview Pt 1 ~ Billy Hart ~ The Day Lee Morgan Died
Zip Code ~ Lee Morgan ~ Infinity
Interview Pt 2 ~ Billy Hart ~ The Day Lee Morgan Died
Sidewinder ~ Lee Morgan ~ The Sidewinder

Newport Jazz Festival Preview 2012

This is our Newport Jazz Festival Preview show for 2012. The festival takes place at Newport RI, Fort Adam State Park next weekend, August 4-5. On this show I outline the lineup for both days, and play some music from the artists we are likely to hear. We are covering the Festival for WHUS FM. We will be taking photos, conducting interviews and live tweeting from the events. Follow Digginjazz on Twitter for more information. If you are at the festival, look for me in my WHUS t-shirt and come over to say hello! Hope to see you there.

Newport Jazz Festival

www.newportjazzfest.net

Track ~ Artist ~ Album
Okra & Tomatoes ~ John Ellis & Double Wide ~ Puppet Mischief
Julia ~ Bill Frisell ~ All We Are Saying
Stick and Move ~ Christian McBride ~ Inside Straight
Salsa for Luisito ~ Jack Dejohnette ~ Sound Travels
The Sheik of Things to Come ~ Dave Douglas ~ Meaning and Mystery
My Friend Metatron ~ Bad Plus ~ Never Stop
Who's Minding the Store ~ Dianna Reeves ~ Good Night, and Good Luck
Roofdogs ~ Pat Metheny ~ Unity Band
Dancing On A Great Big Rainbow ~ Ryan Truesdell ~ Centennial Gill Evans
After the Love Has Gone ~ Kurt Elling ~ The Gate
Ahhh ~ Rudresh Mahanthappa ~ Samdhi
As Catch Can ~ Anat Cohen ~ Place and Time
Holding Back the Years ~ Gretchen Parlato ~ The Lost and Found
The Pretty Road ~ Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra ~ Sky Blue
Jaya ~ Ambrose Akinmusire ~ When the Heart Emerges Glistening
Footprints ~ Derek Trucks Band ~ The Derek Trucks Band

... and Beyond

This show exemplifies the "Jazz and Beyond" moniker as many of the tracks have influences well beyond traditional jazz forms. From jazz-rock fusion of Metheny to the classical influences of Dana Leong, Eastern musical forms of Mozumder's mandolin and the merging of jazz to the bluegrass by Bela Fleck and Marcus Roberts. Norway's Marius Neset has a modern jazz style with European influences as well as great jazz chops on tenor sax. This podcast covers a lot of musical and cultural ground.

Featured Album

Golden Xplosion - Marius Neset on iTunes

Track ~ Artist ~ Album
Breakdealer ~ Pat Metheny ~ Unity Band
Mother Nature Suite -Pt 2 Storm Warning ~ Dana Leong Quintet ~ Leaving New York
Angel of the North ~ Marius Neset ~ Golden Xplosion
Epilogue ~ Marius Neset ~ Golden Xplosion
Human Nature ~ Vijay Iyer Trio ~ Accelerando
Indimenco Blues ~ Snehasish Mozumder & SOM ~ Jazz and North Indian Stlles
Across the Imaginary Divide ~ Bela Fleck and Marcus Roberts ~ Across the Imaginary Divide
There's a Small Hotel ~ Dana Lauren ~ It's You or No One
In Nelba's Eyes ~ Jimmy Greene ~ Mission Statement