Burning Ambulance Podcast

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Dave Burrell Apr 26, 2018

Show notes

Episode 15 features an interview with avant-garde jazz pianist Dave Burrell, who is being honored at the 2018 Vision Festival at Roulette in Brooklyn and who performed at Cecil Taylor's funeral on April 10, the day before this interview was recorded.

Dave Burrell has been a respected and admired figure on the free jazz scene since he arrived in New York in 1965. He was born in Ohio, but raised in Harlem before his parents moved to Hawaii for much of his childhood—he later studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston. In the late 1960s, he recorded as a leader and played on albums by Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, Marion Brown, Noah Howard, Sonny Sharrock, Sunny Murray, and many others. He moved to France in 1969 and played at the Pan-African Festival and recorded for the legendary BYG Actuel label. In this hour-long interview, he discusses his classic albums; his relationships with Cecil Taylor, Sunny Murray, Archie Shepp and others; his plans for the 2018 Vision Festival; and much more.

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Billy Cobham Apr 12, 2018

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Episode 14 of the Burning Ambulance podcast features an interview with drummer Billy Cobham, an absolute jazz legend. He first came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when he worked with Miles Davis on A Tribute to Jack Johnson, and then joined guitarist John McLaughlin's new project, a band called the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Cobham started making records under his own name in 1973, with albums like Spectrum, Crosswinds, Total Eclipse, Shabazz, and Inner Conflicts all establishing him as not just an amazing drummer but also a unique compositional voice in the realm of jazz fusion. At the same time, he was doing sessions for McCoy Tyner, Sonny Rollins, Stanley Turrentine and many other artists, particularly on the CTI label. He also played on the John McLaughlin/Carlos Santana album Love Devotion Surrender, worked with the Fania All-Stars on their Latin•Soul•Rock album and the concert that was released as Live at Yankee Stadium, and played on literally hundreds of other records. In this conversation, we discuss as many aspects of his career as we had time for, as well as his approach to drumming and to teaching, what he thinks of younger players, and much, much more. It’s a very interesting conversation, and I hope you enjoy it.

Meg Okura & Sam Newsome Mar 29, 2018

Show notes

The thirteenth episode of the Burning Ambulance podcast features a joint interview with violinist Meg Okura, who was born in Japan and recorded with David Bowie, and currently leads her own Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble, and her husband, soprano saxophonist Sam Newsome. Her newest album, Ima Ima, will be out in May. His latest, a solo record called Sopranoville, came out last year. They've also got an album with pianist Jean-Michel Pilc as the NPO Trio that's out now. In this conversation, we discuss their individual music, the work they do together, religion and spirituality, and much more.

Logan Richardson Mar 15, 2018

Show notes

The twelfth episode of the Burning Ambulance podcast features Logan Richardson, an alto saxophonist from Kansas City, Missouri who's played with Ambrose Akinmusire, Walter Smith III, Jason Moran, Pat Metheny, and has recorded four albums as a leader. His newest, Blues People, will be out in April on Ropeadope. In this conversation, we discuss his career to date, the story behind his 2016 album Shift, the state of jazz at the moment, why he chooses to live in Paris, and much more.

Azar Lawrence Mar 01, 2018

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The eleventh episode of the Burning Ambulance podcast features Azar Lawrence, a veteran saxophonist from Los Angeles who's played with McCoy Tyner, Miles Davis, Elvin Jones, Earth, Wind & Fire, and has made many albums under his own name since the 1970s. His latest album, Elementals, is out now on HighNote. In this conversation, we discuss his time with McCoy Tyner and Miles Davis, his debut album Bridge Into the New Age, working with Earth, Wind & Fire, and much more.

John Raymond Feb 16, 2018

Show notes

The tenth episode of the Burning Ambulance podcast features John Raymond, who leads the intriguing flugelhorn-guitar-drums trio Real Feels. (Raymond and Real Feels have been featured on BA several times.) The group’s second studio album and third album overall, Joy Ride, is out now on Sunnyside. In this conversation, we discuss his time studying with Jon Faddis and John McNeil, the gradual evolution of Real Feels, the pluses and minuses of trumpet versus flugelhorn, his teaching career and what he tries to pass on to younger musicians, and much more.

Stream or download the podcast below.

Orrin Evans Feb 02, 2018

Show notes

The ninth episode of the Burning Ambulance podcast features Orrin Evans, who’s been a solo artist for about 20 years, but is gaining a brand-new audience as the new pianist—replacing Ethan Iverson —in the long-running trio The Bad Plus. The group’s first album with Evans on piano, Never Stop II, was released two weeks ago, and they’re out on the road. I’ve interviewed Evans before, and reviewed many of his albums. In this conversation, taped in early January, we discuss his early career, his placement in the annual Thelonious Monk competition, his other collaborative trio Tarbaby, his plans for juggling his solo career with his work in The Bad Plus, and much more.

UK Jazz Roundtable Jan 19, 2018

Show notes

The eighth episode of the Burning Ambulance podcast is a special one. New York’s Winter Jazzfest brings artists from around the globe to the city every year, and packs out nightclubs with audiences excited to hear the best new music around. This year, the UK made a very strong showing, with multiple performers appearing individually and together. And since I had been impressed by the work of multiple British jazz artists last year, I decided to gather some of the best players around in one room at one time, for a conversation about the state of British jazz, their own work, and much more. This episode, I talked to clarinetist/saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings , who leads three groups— Sons of Kemet, The Comet is Coming, and Shabaka and the Ancestors—and who is on the cover of the current issue of The Wire; trumpeter Yazz Ahmed, whose second album La Saboteuse placed on multiple critics’ year-end lists, including mine; and saxophonist Nubya Garcia, who released her debut EP as a leader, the six-track Nubya’s 5ive, in 2017. Hutchings and Garcia are also heavily featured on the forthcoming UK jazz compilation We Out Here; he was the musical director of the project, and she plays on five of its nine tracks. This episode was a challenge to set up, juggling everyone’s schedules, but we met on a Thursday afternoon in a rehearsal room at the New School and talked for well over an hour about their individual careers, the state of British jazz generally, Brexit, and much more. Special thanks go out to Matt Merewitz for setting it up.

Tomeka Reid Jan 05, 2018

Show notes

The seventh episode of the Burning Ambulance podcast features an interview with cellist Tomeka Reid. She’s been on the avant-garde/free jazz scene since 2002, but has really begun to make her mark in the last few years. She’s got long-standing artistic relationships with flautist Nicole Mitchell, drummer Mike Reed, saxophonists Roscoe Mitchell and Anthony Braxton, and the AACM. She leads her own quartet with guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Jason Roebke and drummer Tomas Fujiwara; is a member of the string trio Hear In Now with violinist Mazz Swift and bassist Silvia Bolognesi; and recorded a duo album, Signaling, with saxophonist Nick Mazzarella in 2017. She also performed on trumpeter Jaimie Branch's Fly Or Die, two Nicole Mitchell albums, and Hear In Now's Not Living In Fear, and became a member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago. In our interview, Reid discusses her creative relationships, her recent recordings, and much more. It’s a really interesting conversation I’ve been wanting to have for quite a while—she was one of the first artists I approached about appearing on the podcast—and I hope you’ll enjoy it.

Stanley Cowell Dec 22, 2017

Show notes

The sixth episode of the Burning Ambulance podcast features an interview with pianist Stanley Cowell. He’s a jazz veteran who made his recorded debut in 1967, on Marion Brown's albums Now What? and Three for Shepp. He’s also worked with Max Roach, Gary Bartz, Bobby Hutcherson, and the Heath Brothers, among others, and he co-founded the Strata-East label with trumpeter Charles Tolliver in the 1970s. In recent years, he retired from teaching at Rutgers University, and has assumed a more active recording and performing role; in 2015, he put out a solo album, Juneteenth, and in 2017, he released a quartet disc, No Illusions.

In our interview, Cowell discusses his early career, his 1970s work as a solo artist and as part of the Piano Choir, his time as an educator, his fascination with electronic music and how he’s imported that interest into his own work, and much more. It’s a really interesting conversation I’ve been wanting to have for several years, and I hope you’ll enjoy it.

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