In the Groove, Jazz and Beyond

Gil Scott-Heron tribute

This week's show begins with a tribute to Gil Scott-Heron, who sadly passed away yesterday. Gil was an innovator. His contribution to jazz came with the fusion of his music, spoken word and poetry. He is credited as having a major influence on the Hip-Hop genre. Perhaps the most famous of his writings The Revolution Will Not Be Televised is included in this podcast. Following that set we feature Steve Davis, Greg Abate and others.

Featured Album

Winter In America on amazon.com

Track ~ Artist ~ Album
The Bottle ~ Gil Scott-Heron ~ Winter In America
A Talk: Bluseology/Black History/The Revolution Will Not Be Televised ~ Gil Scott-Heron ~ Midnight Band: The First Minute of a New Day
Your Daddy Loves You ~ Gil Scott-Heron ~ Winter In America
Peace Be With You Brother ~ Gil Scott-Heron ~ Winter In America
Echo Park ~ Skye Steele ~ Late Bloomer
L.Z.C.M ~ Donny McCaslin ~ Perpetual Motion
Bird Lives ~ Steve Davis ~ Update
Grove's Groove ~ Steve Davis ~ Update
The Little Men ~ Greg Abate ~ Evoloution
Silveresque ~ Greg Abate ~ Wave Street Sessons
Messaien's Gumbo ~ John Pattitucci ~ Rememberance
Quickening ~ Noah Preminger ~ Before the Rain

The Groove

This show is dedicated to The Groove. Does anyone signify The Groove better than Tower of Power and James Brown? I don't think so. That is followed by a classic (but dated) sound of Jimmy McGriff. The rendition of All Blues here is one of the more soulful versions of the Miles Davis composition you'll hear. Next up is a set featuring Victor Wooten, a bassist that can can display pyrotechnic chops yet never losing that groove. From their we go to a Far Eastern influenced groove of Mynta, Fareed Haque, and Connecticut's own Noah Baerman. We keep it local with a Hartford area guitarist Frank Varela and Mystery Feet.

Featured Album
   
Palmystery on amazon.com        Book - The Music Lesson by Victor Wooten.

Track ~ Artist ~ Album
So I Got the Groove ~ Tower of Power ~ Soul Vaccination
Licking Stick ~ James Brown ~ Star Time
Canadian Sunset ~ Jimmy McGriff ~ Groove Grease
All Blues ~ Hank Crawford and Jimmy McGriff ~ Blues Groove
The Lesson ~ Victor Wooten ~ Palmystery
Left, Right and Center ~ Victor Wooten ~ Palmystery
The Grapevine ~ Prasanna ~ Be the Change
First Summer ~ Mynta ~ First Summer
The Chant ~ Fareed Haque + The Flat Planet Ensemble ~ Flat Planet
Satyagrahi ~ Noah Baerman ~ Soul Force
Ganja Groove ~ Mystery Feet ~ Upstream

Jazz Roots and more

I wouldn't say that this is a show about the roots of jazz, but I did play many selections from the Jazz Roots CD featured here. We start with a guitar set with Benson, Coryell, Scofield and Cory Christenson. Then we groove to Turrentine and Dirubbo. We follow that with some of the greatest female vocalists. Ella, Sarah, Aretha and Diana Reeves. The podcast ends with Ben Webster and Stan Getz. That is quite a collection of great jazz artists.

Featured Album

Jazz Roots: The Music of the Americas on amazon.com

Track ~ Artist ~ Album
Take 5 ~ George Benson ~ Jazz Roots: The Music of the Americas
Alone Together ~ Corey Christiansen Quartet ~ Awakening
Trinkle Trinkle ~ Larry Coryell ~ Monk, Trane, Miles and Me
Piggies ~ Beatle Jazz ~ With A Little Help From Our Friends
Sugar ~ Stanley Turrentine ~ Sugar
Minor Progress ~ Mike DiRubbo ~ Chronos
He's A Tramp ~ Dianne Reeves ~ Disney Jazz - Everybody Wants to be a Cat
Taking A Chance on Love ~ Ella Fitzgerald ~ Jazz Roots: The Music of the Americas
Black Coffee ~ Sarah Vaughan ~ Jazz Roots: The Music of the Americas
Muddy Water ~ Aretha Franklin ~ Jazz Roots: The Music of the Americas
Trav'lin Light ~ Ben Webster ~ Soulmates
Day Waves ~ Stan Getz ~ Captain Marvel

N'alwins Part 2

This podcast comes from the second half of a show recorded two weeks ago. It's another New Orleans based theme featuring Wynton Marsalis, Galactica, John Ellis, Skerik and more. We really cover a wide range of sounds and styles. Open your minds and ears and enjoy.

Featured Album

Ya-Ka-May on amazon.com

Track ~ Artist ~ Album
New Orleans (Tribute to Marsalis Family) ~ Chucho Valdez ~ Cucho's Steps
School Boy ~ Wynton Marsalis ~ He and She
Poem ~ Wynton Marsalis ~ He and She
The Rasor Rim ~ Wynton Marsalis ~ He and She
Fry His Ass ~ Skerik's Syncopated Taint Septet ~ Husky
Sprung Monkey ~ Garage A Trois ~ Emphasizer
Okra & Tomatoes ~ John Ellis & Double Wide ~ Puppet Mischief
Cineramascope ~ Galactic ~ Ya-Ka-May
Bacchus ~ Galactic ~ Ya-Ka-May
You Don't Know ~ Galactic ~ Ya-Ka-May
Breakdown ~ Walt Weiskopf Quartet ~ Live

Funkify the Groove

In the Groove gets down and funky in this set. I've been in this state of mind for a few weeks now, and we continue with a funky set featuring some low horns and a big brass sound. We start with Joshua Redman's Elastic band and then move into some heavy horns with Nomo, Bonerama and Dirty Dozen Brass Band. We then lay you on to some Akashic Record. A great New England based band that you will often hear in the Boston area featuring the Hammond B3, trombone and baritone sax. Then we will take you back to the 70's with a couple of tunes from War and Return To Forever.

Featured Album

Theosophy on amazon.com

Track ~ Artist ~ Album
Jazz Crimes ~ Joshua Redman ~ Elastic
Put It In Your Pocket ~ Joshua Redman Elastic Band ~ Momentum
We Do We Go ~ Nomo ~
Bayou Betty ~ Bonerama ~ Bringing It Home
Epistrophy ~ Bonerama ~ Bringing It Home
Dead Dog In the Street ~ The Dirty Dozen Brass Band ~ Buck Jump
Jammer Time ~ Akashic Record ~ New Dayz Ahead
3 A.M. Run ~ Akashic Record ~ theosophy
City, Country, City ~ War ~ The World is a Ghetto
The Shadow of Lo ~ Return to Forever ~ The Anthology

N'awlins review part 1

Back from N'awlins y'all. We had a great time diggin' the music scene down there. This podcast reflects the music we heard, and the musicians that were performing throughout the city and particularly in the clubs on Frenchman Street near the French Quarter. We start with the man that started it all, Louis Armstrong, and move into the big brass sound of The Dirty Dozen Brass Band. We caught trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis leading his own 15 piece band, so he is represented here though in a quintet setting. I picked up Pat Casey's and the New Sound's CD at his performance at the Spotted Cat Music Club. These young cats represent some of the fine musicians playing all kinds of jazz throughout the city, and keeping the jazz scene fresh in New Orleans. Here is a video I took of a fine street band on Jackson Square.

Featured Album

Buck Jump on amazon.com

Track ~ Artist ~ Album
Honeysuckle Rose ~ Louis Armstrong and His All-Stars ~ Satch Plays Fats
Unclean Waters ~ The Dirty Dozen Brass Band ~ Buck Jump
Inner City Blues ~ The Dirty Dozen Brass Band ~ Buck Jump
Brer Rabbit ~ Delfeayo Marsalis ~ Minions Dominion
Lost In The Crescent ~ Delfeayo Marsalis ~ Minions Dominion
New Orleans Stomp ~ McCoy Tyner ~ Illuminations
Canteloupe Island ~ Pat Casey & The New Sound
Israel ~ Pat Casey & The New Sound
Three Legged Tango in Jackson Square ~ John Ellis ~ Dance Like There is No Tomorrow
Summertime ~ Herbie Hancock ~ Gershwin's World
In Time of Need ~ Terence Blanchard ~ A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina)

Before the final four

The show title has nothing to do with the music, but this broadcast preceded the UCONN Huskies basketball team drive to the NCAA championship. OK, now that we have that out of the way, we hear from jazz's greatest artists. Trane, Miles, Holland, Chick. Throw in a recent release from Miles' alter ego Wallace Roney, Hartford's own Steve Davis covering Trane, and this is one hour plus of high quality jazz music. If you are a jazz fan, you HAVE to dig this set.

Featured Album

Pathways on amazon.com

Track ~ Artist ~ Album
Equinox ~ John Coltrane ~ Coltrane's Sound
26-2 ~ Steve Davis ~ The Jaunt
So What ~ Miles Davis ~ Live At The 1963 Monterey Jazz Festival
I Love What We Make Together ~ Wallace Roney ~ If Only For One Night
Shadow Dance ~ Dave Holland Octet ~ Pathways
Litha ~ Chick Corea ~ Inner Space

Rahsaan

This is a listener inspired podcast. From a Facebook wall post, I was turned on to a Roy Haynes album, Out of the Afternoon, featuring an early Rahsaan Roland Kirk appearance. This led to a RRK set as well. All that is sandwiched in between an intense opener with Trombone Shorty, Matt Wilson and Noah Preminger, and ends with a gorgeous mellow set of Larry Willis and Vijay Iyer.

Featured Album

The Return Of The 5,000 Lb Man on amazon.com

Track ~ Artist ~ Album
Where Y' At ~ Trombone Shorty ~ Backatown
Shooshabuster ~ Matt Wilson ~ That"s Gonna Leave A Mark
Two Bass Hit ~ Matt Wilson ~ That"s Gonna Leave A Mark
Abreaction ~ Noah Preminger ~ Before the Rain
Snap Crackle ~ Roy Haynes Quartet ~ Out of the Afternoon
If I Should Lose You ~ Roy Haynes Quartet ~ Out of the Afternoon
Theme for the Eulipians ~ Rahsaan Roland Kirk ~ The Return of the 5,000 lb Man
Giant Steps ~ Rahsaan Roland Kirk ~ The Return of the 5,000 lb Man
My One and Only Love ~ Rahsaan Roland Kirk ~ Compliments of the Mysterious Phantom
Ethiopia ~ Larry Willis ~ The Offering
Entropy and Time ~ Vijay Iyer ~ Tirtha