Articles by Patrick Burnette

Radio & Podcasts

The Olds Have it

by Patrick Burnette
September 27, 2026

Hewing to our promise made in oaths of blood and tears, the bastards talk about four more releases from this banner year of 2026. The bag, my friends, as you may well have guessed, is mixed. Mike and Pat have the same favorite from the episode (hint--the artist has been eligible for Social Security for decades) but after that, the feelings are as mixed as the bags. Playlist Discussion of Stefon Harris' album Legacy Dances (Motema) 2:43 Discussion ...

Radio & Podcasts

Taking the Temperature of Jazz in 2026

by Patrick Burnette
September 17, 2026

The boys are sticking to recent releases for the foreseeable future and this episode, inasmuch as it has a discernible theme, is about how different jazz musicians are trying to reach audiences in 2026. Feel free to listen, though, if you are against cerning in any form.Playlist Discussion of Tigran Hamasyan's album Manifeste (Naive) 6:37 Discussion of Lakecia Benjamin's album We Dream (Artwork) 21:57 Discussion of Ben Wolfe's album Any Time After Now (Resident Arts) 40:21 Discussion of ...

Radio & Podcasts

Chef’s K.I.S.S.

by Patrick Burnette
September 3, 2026

A nice, straight-forward jazz album caught Mike's ear, so he decided to do a podcast devoted to new releases that don't over egg the pudding, or as Google suggested, “go all around Robin Hood's barn?" (Google's been drinking again). Anyway, while he came up with two fine straight-ahead examples, Pat's offerings ended up a little thornier, if still on the right side of “academic brain-ouch inducer."Playlist Discussion of Jesse Davis' album The Complete Village Vanguard 1961 Recordings (Cellar ...

Radio & Podcasts

Boxes: Mass Market, Boutique, and Odd

by Patrick Burnette
August 20, 2026

Mike is swamped in Spain (with homework, not water), so Pat does an intermediary episode that is .5 by name, .5 by nature. He takes a look at five box sets in three completely made up categories and when he's done you'll still have time to go out for a nice dinner.Playlist Discussion of John Coltrane's album The Complete Village Vanguard 1961 Recordings (Impulse!) 4:00 Discussion of Charles Mingus' album Changes: The Complete 1970s Atlantic Studio Recordings (Atlantic) ...

Radio & Podcasts

Sonnymoon for Two Bastards (Part 2)

by Patrick Burnette
July 23, 2026

In this installment, the boys look at some albums by the great Sonny Rollins after the second and best-known of his several sabbaticals, when he spent hours honing his craft on the Williamsburg Bridge. (We talk about the iconic album named after that period on Episode 34.) Mike asks us to tackle these in reverse chronological order--tune in to see why. (How do you “tune" a podcast? You tell me.) .Playlist Discussion of Sonny Rollins' album The Solo ...

Radio & Podcasts

Sonnymoon for Two Bastards (Part 1)

by Patrick Burnette
July 9, 2026

The great Sonny Rollins left this dimension on May 25, 2026, and the boys find it only fitting to devote two episodes to the jazz colossus. This first installment looks at four albums from the magical 1950s, when every album Sonny released was an event and even John Coltrane was just an up and coming challenger.Playlist Discussion of Sonny Rollins' album Tenor Madness! (Prestige Records) 7:55 Discussion of Sonny Rollins' album Volume 2 (Blue Note) 30:27 Discussion of ...

Radio & Podcasts

Do You CTI What I CTI?

by Patrick Burnette
June 25, 2026

Back on Episode 247, Pat gave an overview of Creed Taylor's famous (infamous?) CTI label that bestrode the first half of the nineteen seventies like a jazz colossus. Now we've got both members of the 'cast weighing in on four of the label's better productions. So comb your sideburns (and your shag rugs) and settle in for a discussion of the best jazz-oriented baby-making label of the first half of the “me" decade. Playlist Discussion of Antonio Carlos ...

Radio & Podcasts

Frankly, Mr. Bastard

by Patrick Burnette
June 11, 2026

We've done vocalists before, but never devoted an episode to the Chairman of the Board. Now we have, so that's off the bucket list. Listen as the boys discuss five fantastic Mr. Frank's platters and opine on where newbies should get to know this cultural shibboleth. Playlist Discussion of Frank Sinatra's album Swing and Dance with Frank Sinatra (Columbia) 2:53 Discussion of Frank Sinatra's album In the Wee Small Hours (Capitol Records) 17:29 Discussion of Frank Sinatra's album ...

Radio & Podcasts

EC UMMM

by Patrick Burnette
June 4, 2026

A common canard about jazz is that the acoustic variety was unsaleable during the 1970s, and while there's a germ of truth in it, lots of exceptions prove that particular rule. This podcast looks at three releases from the early seventies and a little-known English gem from the late sixties. Two of the releases are tasty treats from Manfred Eicher's ECM label, though Mike has a more graphic way of putting it. Playlist Discussion of Paul Bley's album ...

Radio & Podcasts

More Sugar on the Frosted Flakes, Please

by Patrick Burnette
April 30, 2026

The boys take a peek at four releases from 2025 sprawling all over the map. If you ever wondered what would happen if Dave Brubeck met an African percussion ensemble, you're about to find out. You'll also find out why evocations of the “young lions" period gives Pat PTSD, how a vocalist / trumpeter's new release deals with actual trauma, and why putting more sugar on your frosted flakes still won't help you catch up with a mononym keyboard wonder-woman.