Discovering Jazz

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Episode 263: My Favourite Albums of 2023. Feb 06, 2024

Show notes

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 also invite those of you who enjoy this podcast to post a review on itunes, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Thank you!

-Larry

NOTE: Here are the albums that at this point are my favourites of 2023.

ELLAS KAPELL: For All We Know

BILLY CHILDS: Winds of Change

JOSHUA REDMAN W. GABRIELLE CAVASSA: WHERE ARE WE?

SUSAN ALCORN: Canto

ANTONIO ADOLFO: Bossa 65

EDMAR CASTENADA WORLD ENSEMBLE: Eclesiastes 9

JANE BUNNETT & MAQUEQUE: Feed the Fire

STEVE LEHMAN AND ORCHESTRE NATIONAL DE JAZZ: Ex Machina

and my favourite local album:

RUBIM DE TOLEDO: THE DRIP.

#Rubimdetoledo

Episode 262:Best of 2023 Part 5 Jan 30, 2024

Show notes

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 Senator: A Tribute to Tommy Banks by the Hutchinson/Andrew Trio (featuring Mallory Chipman)

-Bossa 65 by Antonio Adolfo

-Apertures by Rajna Swaminathan

-Cry Me a River by Hilario Duran

-Life and Umbrella by Javier Red’s Imagery Converter

-Rags and Ragas by Chara Suri

-Master Legacy Series #5 by Emmet Cohen and Houston Person

-Beboptical Illusion by the Gaz Hughes Trio

-Acrobats by Jo Lawry.

–

Episode 261: Ten 2023 Albums Critics Rave About! Jan 23, 2024

Show notes

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 this right now until you’ve heard the podcast.

The most selected album by far was the latest (and the last) recording by trumpeter Jaimie Branch.

Here they are–all the albums that got eight votes or more— listed in order of the numbers of reviewers selecting them. Most of them are new releases, but you’ll notice that two are newly discovered archives.

MOST SELECTED JAZZ ALBUMS BY REVIEWERS, MUSICIANS & RADIO STATIONS.

Jaimie Branch: Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die (World War) (29)

Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the Garden (20)

Cecile McLorin Salvant: Melusine 20

Meshell Ndegeocello: The Omnichord Real Book (19)

Irreversible Entanglements: Protect Your Light (17)

Yussef Dayes: Black Classical Music (17)

James Brandon Lewis & Red Lily Quartet: For Mahalia With Love (15)

Lakecia Benjamin: Phoenix (15)

MAPL Kris Davis: Diatom Ribbons, Live at the Village Vanguard (14)

Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, & Shahazad Ismaily: Love in Exile (14)

John Coltrane w. Eric Dolphy: Evenings at The Village Gate (14)

MAPL Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society:Dynamic Maximum Tension (13)

Steve Lehman & Orchestre National de Jazz: Ex Machina (12)

Johnathan Blake: Passage (11)

The Necks: Travel (10)

Fred Hersch & Esperanza Spalding: Alive at the Village Vanguard (10)

MAPL Artemis: In Real Time 10

Alfa Mist: Variables (9)

Henry Threadgill Ensemble: The Other One (9)

Brandee Younger: Brand New Life (9)

Fire! Orchestra: Echoes (8)

London Brew: London Brew (8)

Natural Information Society: Since Time is Gravity (8)

Brad Mehldau: Your Mother Should Know 8

Tyshawn Sorey: Continuing 8

Ahmad Jamal: Emerald City Nights Live at the Penthouse 1966-68 8

Chris Potter: Got the Keys To The Kingdom 8

Episode 260: Best of 2023 (Part 3) According to Jazz Lovers. Jan 16, 2024

Show notes

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 Cavassa
Aline Homzy

Joey Alexander

Espen Eriksen with Andy Sheppard

Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society

Arturo O’Farrill

Florian Arbenz w. Nils Wogram

Arbenz, Krijger, and Osby

Definitely an antidote to that oft stated complaint that only the old stuff is worth listening to.

Episode 259: Expert’s Choice of Best Jazz Albums of 2023 Part 2 Jan 09, 2024

Show notes

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 the ‘best of 2023″ lists of a number of reviewers. I play a track from the following albums (here stated in random order):

Fred Hersch & Esperenza Spalding: Alive at the Village Vanguard

Kris Davis and Diatom Ribbons: Live At the Village Vanguard

Jason Moran: From the Dancehall to the Battlefield

Johnathan Blake: Passage

Aaron Diehl and the Knights: Zodiac Suite (by Mary Lou Williams)

Allison Miller: Zodiac Suite

Noah Haidu: Standards

Laila Biali: Your Requests

Go Go Penguin: Everything is Going to Be Ok

This is the second of what will turn out to be eight episodes of selected records of last year that at least one critic chose.

Episode 258: Best of 2023 According to The Experts—Part 1 Jan 02, 2024

Show notes

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….and of those, picked a few that resonated with me. This series of 8 episodes will feature them….including one that ranks them in order of the number of critics and reviewers who chose them. And another will feature some of those re-issues and historical recordings.

This episode: I’ll play you a track from Ricky Lee Jones, Lakecia Benjamin, The Monika Roscher Big Band, and a vocal by Sy Smith. That’s just the women! The rest include Billy Childs; Colin Stetson; Orrin Evans; Yusef Dayes; Greg Foat & Gigi Masin; Sissoko,Segal,Pereani & Parisien; and the Canadian Jazz Collective.

Some truly wonderful recordings! If you are one of those many fans who believe that only the jazz masters of old are worth listening to, I can guarantee that listening to this series of podcasts will change your mind!

archives: Episode 128, Jazz For the Winter Holidays. Dec 26, 2023

Show notes

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 in this podcast, but maintains a jazz ‘consciousness’ throughout. Enjoy!

Archives: Ep.172, Jazz Greats Celebrate Christmas Dec 19, 2023

Show notes

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.

Christmas music at it’s best.

Next week since there are so many holidays to be celebrated as well as Christmas (and Christmas will be over) …I’ll be repeating a podcast where I play Winter holiday music. Some fascinating stuff.

Episode 257: Beginnings and Endings Part 2 Dec 12, 2023

Show notes

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’ introduction.

-East St. Louis Toodle-o by Duke Ellington with what was described as “the perfect mysterious sounding set-up, complete with cymbal crash, for Bubber Miley’s plunger mute entrance.

-A great ‘scat’ beginning of I Am What I Am by Veronica Swift.

-Steve Wallace’s extended bass intro on Fishers of Men by The David Braid Sextet.

In terms of extros:

-Cascades by Oliver Nelson, From Blues and the Abstract Truth.

-Aos Pes Da Cruz by Miles Davis and Gil Evans.

And with all of them I play the whole tune….not just the beginning and ending. That way you get an idea as to how the intro and/or extro ‘*fits* into the whole! As well as to enjoy some great music.

Episode 256: Beginnings And Endings, Part 1 Dec 05, 2023

Show notes

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 remarkable intros. Others have interesting extros. Some have both!

It starts with Louis Armstrong and ends with Phil Woods and Ritchie Cole. Inbetween are tracks by Bud Powell, Bill Evans, John Stetch, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Clifford Brown/Max Roach, Rob McConnell’s Big Brass Band, and David Occhipinti.

I play one very popular tune where the best known intro was originally the extro of a different recording. Guess which tune?

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