You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians

Latest Episodes:

Mothership Connection – Parliament May 11, 2026

Show notes

Could Parliament be the most important band of the 1970s? Jazz pianists Adam Maness and Peter Martin break down Parliament's 1975 masterpiece Mothership Connection track-by-track: Bootsy Collins bass lines that launched a thousand samples, grooves that lock you in and won't let go, and the New Orleans connection that George Clinton says started the whole thing. Plus: isolated bass and drums stems.

You'll never hear Parliament the same way again.

Chapters Legend:
🎧 Listening to a track 🎹 Music theory breakdown 🎵 Live studio jam

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Start your free Open Studio trial for ALLLLL your jazz lesson needs:
https://openstudiojazz.com/yhi

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About You'll Hear It:

In this popular music series, Adam and Peter break down the greatest albums of all time. Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Joni Mitchell, D'Angelo: Jazz is the foundation of the most GENIUS music in recent history. These seasoned jazz pianists bring their deep musical knowledge to every joyful episode to help you hear the hidden qualities that make music AMAZING. You'll never hear music the same way again.

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Sign up for the You'll Read It newsletter for little known stories about the artists you love:
https://youllhearit.com/newsletter

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00:00 Parliament's Mothership Connection (1975)
01:07 MASTERCLASS In Funk
02:44 Who Is Parliament?
07:59 🎧 "Mothership Connection"
10:15 🎧 BEST Moment of 1975
14:48 Isolated Stems On "Mothership Connection"
18:34 Influence Of Mothership Connection
20:15 🎧 "Unfunky UFO"
23:10 🎧 "Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication"
27:23 Mysticism and Meaning of Parliament
33:48 🎧 "Handcuffs"
35:54 🎧 "Give Up the Funk"
44:13 🎧 "Night Of the Thumpasorus Peoples"
46:44 Categories: Desert Island Tracks, Apex Moments, Spotify Playlist
48:13 Is This the Most Important Band Of the 70s
51:05 What to Listen to Next

WOAH: Angine de Poitrine Might Be It May 07, 2026

Show notes

Join Adam Maness as he delves into the best new music released in April 2026 (ish). This month we're featuring the incredible microtonal Angine de Poitrine and many more!

Genius + Soul = Jazz – Ray Charles May 04, 2026

Show notes

YHI + McBride = Ray Charles?! Christian McBride - bassist, Grammy winner and one of the greatest musical minds working today - joins Adam and Peter on You'll Hear It to share his desert island album.

If you know Christian, you know that his musical hero is James Brown. But Christian isn't bringing a James Brown pick. Instead, he's bringing one from his hero's hero ... Ray Charles.

This album was a risky move for Charles - unlike anything else he'd released at that time. At the peak of his power, he set aside the qualities that made him famous: his voice and his piano.

This one's a deep cut. But once you listen, you'll never hear Ray Charles the same way again.

Chapters Legend:
🎧 Listening to a track 🎹 Music theory breakdown 🎵 Live studio jam

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Start your free Open Studio trial for ALLLLL your jazz lesson needs:
https://openstudiojazz.com/yhi

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Jazz Organ LEGEND Reveals Favorite Tracks: https://youtu.be/MGMmJ1Jhx6U

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About You'll Hear It:

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Sign up for the You'll Read It newsletter for little known stories about the artists you love:
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00:00 Ray Charles - Genius + Soul = Jazz
01:05 Why James Brown Fans LOVE This Album
4:41 🎧 "From the Heart"
11:30 Funk Starts HERE
13:51 🎧 "I've Got News For You"
19:35 🎧 "Moanin'"
24:18 Roy Haynes LOVED This Album
26:46 🎧 "Let's Go"
31:03 🎧 "One Mint Julep"
34:30 The Quincy Jones-Ray Charles Factor
37:56 🎧 "I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town"
42:08 🎧 "Strike Up the Band"
44:53 Desert Island Tracks
47:40 What's With That Organ Sound?
52:30 The Best Moments on Genius + Soul = Jazz
53:28 What to Listen to Next
58:34 Better Than Kind of Blue?

Kid A – Radiohead Apr 27, 2026

Show notes

Check out Adam’s course for more on Kid A and the harmony of Radiohead: https://osjazz.link/radiohead

You've never heard Kid A like THIS. Jazz musicians Adam Maness and Peter Martin break down Radiohead's 2000 art rock MASTERPIECE track-by-track to uncover what's really happening in the music that makes this album so incredible.

Why do we love Radiohead's Kid A so much? Watch to find out.

PLUS - Jazz musicians play Radiohead's "Everything In Its Right Place". One shot, one take, no AI. FULL video: https://youtu.be/c5w9BHKe0rc

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About You'll Hear It:

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Hidden artifacts from the albums we love:
https://youllhearit.com/newsletter

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Chapters Legend:
🎧 Listening to a track 🎹 Music theory breakdown 🎵 Live studio jam

00:00 Radiohead - Kid A
00:58 This is Adam's Super Bowl
03:40 How Do They Get Away with This?!
05:39 🎧 Where Radiohead Started
08:29 🎧 OK Computer: Something's Happening Here
15:17 Yorke's Creative Crisis
18:09 🎧 "Everything In Its Right Place"
22:44 Isolated Stems on "Everything In Its Right Place"
24:53 Why Jazz Musicians Love Radiohead
27:35 The Genius Rhythm in "Everything"
30:00 Did Kid A Predict the Future?
31:04 🎧 "Kid A"
33:28 How Radiohead Cracked the Code
34:07 Bluegrass Cover of "Kid A"
35:27 🎧 "The National Anthem"
40:55 What Peter ACTUALLY Thinks of Kid A
46:19 🎧 "How To Disappear Completely"
52:09 🎧 "Treefingers"
55:10 What Genre Is This?
58:30 🎧 "Optimistic"
1:00:58 🎹 A Lesson in Modal Interchange
1:05:00 🎧 "In Limbo"
1:08:04 🎹 Adam Breaks Out the Keyboard
1:10:44 🎧 "Idioteque"
1:13:22 Isolated Stems on "Idioteque"
1:14:43 🎧 "Morning Bell"
1:16:35 🎹 The Chromatic Mediant in Kid A
1:19:50 🎧 "Motion Picture Soundtrack"
1:22:28 🎧 The Most BRILLIANT Album Ending
1:24:19 Best Moments on Kid A
1:32:21 What to Listen to Next
1:32:42 Better Than Voodoo?
1:33:49 🎵 "Everything In Its Right Place"

Cookin', Relaxin', Workin', and Steamin' – Miles Davis Quintet Apr 20, 2026

Show notes

Cookin', Relaxin', Workin', and Steamin' capture Miles Davis on one of music history's most remarkable upswings. He had recently become clean after a years-long heroin addiction that led to his exclusion from major record labels and clubs. And now, in 1956, he had a deal with Columbia - the Cadillac of record labels - and a band he loved: Red Garland on piano, Philly Joe Jones on drums, Paul Chambers on bass and John Coltrane playing the sax.

In this episode of You'll Hear It, jazz pianists Peter Martin and Adam Maness go through each album. They discuss the outsized influence of Ahmad Jamal, Red Garland's Red spread technique, the power of Miles's chatter on Relaxin' and whether this is the greatest rhythm section in the history of recorded music.

Whether this is your first introduction to Miles Davis, or you've been listening to these albums for years, you'll walk away from this episode with a new understanding of, and appreciation for, Miles and his first great quintet.

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Start your free Open Studio trial for ALLLLL your jazz lesson needs:
https://openstudiojazz.com/yhi

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Some Day My Prince Will Come: https://youtu.be/a_Ygq74SjvQ

Birth of the Cool: https://youtu.be/eEl9-z6G2tU

My Funny Valentine: https://youtu.be/-9mMbZMtyGs

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About You'll Hear It:

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Sign up for the You'll Read It newsletter for little known stories about the artists you love:
https://youllhearit.com/newsletter

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0:00 Miles Davis - Cookin', Relaxin', Workin' & Steamin'
0:47 The Comeback Story
5:17 Miles & Monk at Newport '55
8:54 "My Funny Valentine"
11:09 Miles to Red: 'Play Like Ahmad Jamal'
13:51 "Blues by Five"
17:39 BTS: Trane Comes Into His Own
21:06 Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet
22:40 "If I Were a Bell"
29:59 "You're My Everything"
32:54 The POWER of Miles's Intro Chatter
36:40 "Oleo"
38:15 "It Never Entered My Mind"
41:58 "Four"
46:44 Steamin' with the Miles Davis Quintet
48:25 "Surrey with the Fringe on Top"
53:22 "Salt Peanuts"
55:08 "Well You Needn't"
55:30 "When I Fall in Love"
56:27 "If I Were a Bell" Over the Years
58:03 Desert Island Tracks
58:36 Apex Moments

I Want You – Marvin Gaye Apr 13, 2026

Show notes

Marvin Gaye's I Want You could be one of his greatest albums, and he didn't even write it. Producer Leon Ware wrote most of the songs for himself. Marvin Gaye was only supposed to record the title track. But he heard Leon playing a demo of the album one night and stayed up listening until morning. The next day, he asked Ware if he could have the whole thing.

In this episode, Peter and Adam break down why the title track, "I Want You", might be one of his best songs, and whether the rest of the album can possibly live up to it.

This episode was recorded before the passing of James Gadson (June 17, 1939 – April 2, 2026), the drummer on I Want You. Gadson was one of the defining session drummers of 1970s soul. He was the drummer behind "Lean On Me," "I Will Survive," "Express Yourself", and the groove that powers this very album. Rest in peace, James.

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Start your free Open Studio trial for ALLLLL your jazz lesson needs:
https://openstudiojazz.com/yhi

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Adam and Peter break down Marvin Gaye's What's Going On: https://youtu.be/PHowrEiaInQ

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About You'll Hear It:

-------------------------------

Sign up for the You'll Read It newsletter for little known stories about the artists you love:
https://youllhearit.com/newsletter

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00:00 I Want You - Marvin Gaye
00:39 Welcome: You'll Hear It from Open Studio
01:53 Who is Leon Ware? The Man Behind the Music
07:23 "I Want You"
14:39 The Keys Are Back! Breaking Down "I Want You"
16:52 Isolated Stems on "I Want You"
20:53 Can the Rest of the Album Live Up to Track 1?
21:52 Kendrick Lamar's Interpolation
25:27 "Come Live With Me Angel"
28:20 "After the Dance"
31:11 "Feel All My Love Inside"
35:03 "I Wanna Be Where You Are"
38:18 "All the Way Around": The Best Moment On the Album?
40:07 "Since I Had You"
42:07 "Soon I'll Be Loving You Again"
43:40 "After the Dance"
45:16 "After the Dance (Vocal)"
46:41 Desert Island Tracks / Apex Moments / Bespoke Playlist Title
55:00 Snob-o-Meter / Better Than? / Accoutrements
58:00 Leon Ware Released HIS Version the Same Year
59:44 GALA + Thank You
1:01:23 Coda: "I Want You" feat. Brian Owens + James Gadson Tribute

Buena Vista Social Club Apr 06, 2026

Show notes

Buena Vista Social Club: The album so good it's life-affirming. And it almost didn't happen.

In 1996, an American musician landed in Cuba to record a music project with Malian musicians. But when they didn't show up, Ry Cooder and his producer, Juan de Marcos González, went looking for replacements.

That's when they found Compay Segundo, Ibrahim Ferrer and Rubén González, who had seen their musical prime decades earlier in the 40s and 50s. Compay was nearing his 90s, and some believed he had died, until he showed up on Buena Vista Social Club. Rubén hadn't played in years, and didn't even own a piano.

But together with a cast of all-star Cuban musicians, they created what would become the best-selling world music album of all time.

How did Buena Vista Social Club become a global phenomenon?

In this episode of You'll Hear It, Peter Martin and Adam Maness listen to the record track-by-track to understand what makes this album so magnetic, and how it holds up 30 years later. Plus - a FIRST in You'll Hear It history.

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Start your free Open Studio trial for ALLLLL your jazz lesson needs:
https://openstudiojazz.com/yhi

-------------------------------

About You'll Hear It:

-------------------------------

Sign up for the You'll Read It newsletter for little known stories about the artists you love:
https://youllhearit.com/newsletter

-------------------------------

00:00 - Buena Vista Social Club
00:55 - Why This Episode is NEXT LEVEL
06:59 - "Chan Chan"
10:24 - The Story of Buena Vista Social Club
14:34 - "De Camino a la Vereda"
16:27 - "El Cuarto de Tula"
20:09 - "Pueblo Nuevo (Danzón)"
24:26 - "Dos Gardenias"
26:12 - "Y Tú Qué Has Hecho?"
28:15 - "Veinte Años"
29:49 - Omara's On Stage Shout Out to Peter
31:09 - "El Carretero"
32:33 - "Candela"
34:38 - "Amor de Loca Juventud"
35:55 - "Orgullecida"
37:03 - "Murmullo"
39:48 - "Buena Vista Social Club (Title Track)"
44:38 - "La Bayamesa"
46:12 - Peter's BIG Reveal
47:40 - The BEST Moments on BVSC
49:33 - Categories: Bespoke Playlists, Quibble Bits and Snobometer
51:52 - What to Listen to Next
54:19 - Open Studio Plays "Chan Chan"

"Money Jungle" – Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Max Roach Mar 30, 2026

Show notes

What happens when you put three of jazz's biggest personalities in a studio for a day? You get Money Jungle: Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Max Roach. Can it work? Miles Davis hated it. Others revere it. And the story behind this album is WILD.

It's perhaps the most tense album we've ever listened to. And this episode of You'll Hear It is possibly the most we have ever disagreed about an album! Listen for the music, the hot takes, or just to see what all the fuss is about. No matter your reason for listening to this episode, you'll never hear Money Jungle the same way again.

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Start your free Open Studio trial for ALLLLL your jazz lesson needs:
https://openstudiojazz.com/yhi

-------------------------------

Related You'll Hear It episodes:

Mingus Ah Um: https://youtu.be/XYeRZ0Awui4

Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington: https://youtu.be/Z5YJr2iLG74

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About You'll Hear It:

-------------------------------

Sign up for the You'll Read It newsletter for little known stories about the artists you love:
https://youllhearit.com/newsletter

-------------------------------

00:00 - Money Jungle: Ellington, Mingus, Roach
01:00 - Can This Record Work?
05:06 - "Money Jungle": Mingus is Menacing!
09:15 - What Was Really Happening That Day
12:17 - Musical Context Leading Up to Money Jungle
14:15 - "Fleurette Africaine": Stunning Bass Work
17:00 - Must Great Artists Make Great Art? Not Always
20:18 - Why Money Jungle Keeps Showing Up on "Greatest" Lists
23:45 - "Very Special": Can This Song Win Over Peter?
27:07 - One Week Later: Duke Ellington & John Coltrane
29:32 - Adam's Hot Take: Duke's Magnificent Final Act
36:43 - "A Warm Valley": That Piano Sound!
39:35 - "Wig Wise": Sounding Like Monk. Can You Hear It?
42:59 - We Don't Talk About This Enough In Jazz
45:27 - "Caravan": Best Moment on Money Jungle
48:18 - Or Is THIS the Best Moment on Money Jungle?
52:25 - Want to Learn to Play Like Duke? Join Open Studio!
55:55 - "Solitude": A Musical F-You to End the Album
1:02:42 - Is This a "Emperor Has No Clothes" Situation?
1:03:40 - Desert Island Tracks + Bespoke Playlists
01:05:40 - Quibble Bits ... Do We Even Need to Ask?
01:08:48 - How Snobby Is This Album?
01:10:35 - What to Listen to Next
01:11:18 - Have We Ever Disagreed This Much? Wrap-Up

Best New Jazz Of March 2026 Mar 27, 2026

Show notes

We're looking at the best jazz releases of March 2026! Listen with pianist Adam Maness as he breaks down and reacts to these great tracks.

Start your free Open Studio trial for ALLLLL your jazz lesson needs:
https://osjazz.link/yhi

"Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington" – Thelonious Monk Mar 23, 2026

Show notes

Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington: The musicians on this album were already legends when it came out in 1955.

Each of them completely reinvented how people play their instruments. Drummer Kenny Clarke: the originator of so much of modern drumming language. Bass player Oscar Pettiford: possibly the greatest bass soloist in the history of the instrument. And then there's Monk, one of the singular greatest pianists of all time. And here they are playing the music of Duke Ellington: an untouchable legend.

The result is an album that brought Monk's genius to the masses. And it may just be one of his best. In this LIVE episode of You'll Hear It, jazz pianists Adam Maness and Peter Martin break down this remarkable moment in music history, playing Monk's interpretations next to Duke's originals.

If you've never really got Monk, this album is your gateway into his music. And if you're already a fan, you'll never hear this album the same way again.

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Start your free Open Studio trial for ALLLLL your jazz lesson needs:
https://openstudiojazz.com/yhi

-------------------------------

About You'll Hear It:

In this popular music series Adam and Peter break down the greatest albums of all time. Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Joni Mitchell, D'Angelo: Jazz is the foundation of the most GENIUS music in recent history. These seasoned jazz pianists bring their deep musical knowledge to every joyful episode to help you hear the hidden qualities that make music AMAZING. You'll never hear music the same way again.

-------------------------------

Sign up for the You'll Read It newsletter for little known stories about the artists you love:
https://youllhearit.com/newsletter

-------------------------------

0:00 - "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)"
2:07 - You'll Hear It Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center
6:02 - The Story of Thelonious Monk
8:24 - First Official Recording: Coleman Hawkins Quartet (1944)
10:21 - Keepnews Big Idea to Bring Monk to the Masses
14:46 - "It Don't Mean a Thing": Duke's original vs. Monk's version
20:40 - Bassist Oscar Pettiford's Sophisticated Musical Language
24:10 - Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald's Version
27:38 - "Sophisticated Lady"
31:44 - "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good"
35:08 - Bet You Can't Guess This Singer
39:10 - "Black and Tan Fantasy": Duke (1927) vs. Monk
42:30 - Oscar Pettiford Plays "Basso Profundo" with Duke Ellington
45:00 - "Tricotism" - Oscar Pettiford
45:55 - Kenny Clarke deep dive
47:48 - "Mood Indigo"
49:50 - "I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart": Duke's original vs. Monk's version
52:30 - "Solitude"
55:00 - "Caravan": Duke's original vs. Monk's version
58:35 - Categories: Desert Island, Apex Moments, Bespoke Playlists, Quibble Bits
59:50 - Drummer Kenny Clarke's Brush Master Class
1:04:00 - Is This Better than Kind of Blue?
1:04:55 - What to Listen to Next

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