Radio & Podcasts
Tune in daily to hear the internet's top jazz programs including Mondo Jazz, Jazz Bastard, World of Jazz, The Third Story, One Man's Jazz, Jazz at 100, Neon Jazz, A Broad Spectrum, Liner Notes and more. View our program schedule and check out the most recent JazzWeek Radio Chart.
Ned Rothenberg: Solo Improvisation In Bizarre Times
by Lawrence Peryer
Today, The Tonearm's needle lands on composer and improviser Ned Rothenberg. Ned's first solo album in thirteen years, Looms & Legends (Pyroclastic Records), shows why he's been called America's most intimate composer and improviser. Ned's improvisations and compositions showcase his use of extended techniques such as circular breathing and multiphonics, while others tell stories through melody. He calls it music for an imaginary culture, sounds that feel indigenous to a place that doesn't exist yet. Ned ...
Continue ReadingBranford Marsalis, Eric Scott Reed, Artemis, Jeremy Pelt and more
by Benjamin Boddie
Today's Music--Right Now! Fantastic music by Branford Marsalis, Altin Sencalar, Reginald Cyntje, Marianne Solivan, Thomas Marriott, Mitch Towne, Paul Hecht, Lorraine Feather, Eric Scott Reed, Beatle Jazz, John Clayton, Ellie Martin, Jane Ira Bloom, Kandace Springs, Artemis, Posi-Tone Swingtet, Caili O'Doherty, Max Leake, Judy Wexler, Liz Cole, Jeremy Pelt, Darryl Yokley, Mason Razavi, Fred Hersch, Willie Morris, Tom Wakeling, Rick Roe, Jessica Jones, and more. Playlist Branford Marsalis Quartet “Long As You Know You're Living Yours" from Belonging ...
Continue ReadingImprovising the Classics: Roll Over Beethoven
by Larry Slater
Beethoven was a musical revolutionary. He transformed every musical form he used to create his body of music.The pianist and composer Jon Batiste said “Beethoven's work taps into a universal connective, magnetic truth in music." Beethoven was a master of motivic development, taking small musical ideas and expanding them into long and varied ideas, just like the art of improvisation.In 1998, Elvin Jones, the legendary drummer who anchored John Coltrane's quartet, was a guest artist at ...
Continue ReadingAnat Cohen’s Musical Evolution & 50th Birthday Celebration
by Steven Roby
In this episode of Backstage Bay Area, Steven Roby sits down with Grammy-nominated clarinetist and saxophonist Anat Cohen. Known for her expressive virtuosity and infectious charisma, Anat is bringing a massive milestone celebration to San Francisco.We discuss her intimate “Quartetinho" ensemble and her expansive 10-piece “Tentet." Anat opens up about growing up in a musical household in Tel Aviv, her “student for life" philosophy while pursuing a master's degree in Rio de Janeiro, and the creative visualization behind ...
Continue ReadingMakaya McCraven, Sam Ospovat, Johnathan Blake
by Ludovico Granvassu
Here is a playlist that gives the drummers some, actually more than some as it focuses exclusively on records released by remarkable modern drummers and composers/bandleaders like Makaya McCraven, Sam Ospovat, and Johnathan Blake.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Johnathan Blake “Last Breath" My Life Matters (Blue Note) 0:16 Host talks 7:12 Makaya McCraven “Venice" Off the Record: PopUp Shop (Nonesuch/International Anthem) 9:25 Makaya McCraven “News Feed" Off ...
Continue ReadingNew Music From Tillotson, Christelis, Eckemoff, Torres & More
by Bob Osborne
This episode includes recent studio releases, live recordings, and archival material spanning solo, trio, and large ensemble formats. The programme features work from Canada, the UK, the US, the Netherlands, and Israel, with contributions structured around ballad forms, extended improvisation, rhythmic studies, and ensemble arrangements. Albums range from self-released projects to material issued by independent jazz imprints.Playlist Aretha Tillotson “Lullaby To Those Before" from Kinda Out West (Bent River Records) 00:00 Harry Christelis “Explorations Of One's Self Inside ...
Continue ReadingCecile McLorin Salvant, Ines Velasco, and Roberto Magris
by Jerome Wilson
This episode features recent music by Cecile McLorin Salvant, Ines Velasco, and Roberto Magris, plus vintage work from Stan Getz and Maria Muldaur. Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) 00:00 Larry Coryell “Moment's Notice" from Moment's Notice (Jazz Door) 00:51 Larry Coryell & the Eleventh House “Joy Ride" from Improvisations (Best of the Vanguard Years) (Vanguard) 6:55 Host Speaks 12:59 ...
Continue ReadingMusic from the Branford Marsalis Quartet, Belgian trombonist Nabou Claerhout, Omar Sosa's latest
by Hobart Taylor
A Solstice Meditation with the Branford Marsalis Quartet Plus New Tunes from Nabou, Omar Sosa, the Kate Wyatt Trio and a Resurrected Live Performance from Freddie Hubbard. Playlist Host Speaks 00:00 Nabou “Flux Bloom" from Indigo (Edition) 00:20 Jakob Bro /Wadada Leo Smith/Marcus Gilmore “Imagine the Fire and Flames that Lights Up the Light World" from Murasaki (Loveland) 6:26 Host Speaks 14:48 Eva Novoa “From Left to Right" from Eva Novoa-Novoa /Kamaguchi/Cleaver Trio Volume 2 (577) 16:11 Branford ...
Continue ReadingSaha Gnawa, Makiko Hirabayashi, Louis Sclavis, Amir ElSaffar, Roberto Ottaviano
by Ludovico Granvassu
Another episode of Mondo Jazz, another constellation of global musical connections--spanning Morocco to India, Basque to Arabic traditions, and the space where classical and world influences meet.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Saha Gnawa feat. Donny McCaslin “Negshah" Saha Gnawa (Pique-nique) 0:16 Host talks 9:35 Makiko Hirabayashi Weavers “High Tide" Gifts (Enja/Yellowbird) 11:14 Host talks 17:01 Louis Sclavis “Long Train" India (Yolk) 18:32 Amir ElSaffar “10:23 AM" New ...
Continue ReadingMads Tolling: Nordic Folklore Meets American Jazz
by Steven Roby
This week on Backstage Bay Area, host Steve Roby welcomes two-time Grammy Award-winning violinist Mads Tolling. Known for his work with the Turtle Island Quartet, Stanley Clarke, and Bob Weir, Mads is shifting gears this season to share a piece of his Danish childhood in San Francisco. Mads takes us inside his project, Cool Yule: A Nordic Holiday Celebration, a “love letter" to his upbringing in Copenhagen. We explore the concept of “hygge," compare the structured traditions of ...
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