August 12 - Playlist

1) Eliane Elias - Desafinado (Plays Jobim)
2) Jim Pearce - Almost To Brazil (I'm In The Twilight Of A Mediocre Career)*

FEATURE ARTIST

3) Bob Brookmeyer Quintet - Louisiana (Traditionialism Revisited)
4) Bob Brookmeyer with Netherlands Metropole Orchestra - Out Of This World (Out Of This World)
5) Bob Brookmeyer/Stan Getz - Nice Work If You Can Get It (Recorded Fall 1961)
6) Thelonious Monk - Monk's Dream (Monk's Dream)
7) Brubeck Brothers Quartet - Cool On The Coast (Classified)
8) Dave Brubeck - I Want To Be Happy (Jazz Goes To College)
9) Michael Brecker Quindectet - Broadband (Wide Angles)
10) Eddie Costa Quartet - Adelaide (Guys And Dolls Like Vibes)
11) Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band - Watermelon Man (Act Your Age)

THE R & B CORNER

12) Average White Band - I Just Can't Give You Up (Live From New York Vol. 2)
13) Dave Hill - Soul Twister (New World)*
14) Michael McDonald - Baby Can I Change My Mind (Soul Speak)
15) Cannonball Adderley - 74 Miles Away (Cannonball Plays Zawinul)
16) Dee Dee Bridgewater - Shiny Stockings (Jazz Divas Gold)
17) Steve Tyrell - Just In Time (This Guy's In Love)
18) Joyce Cooling - What Are We waiting For? (Oasis Jazz Sampler)
19) Frank Sinatra/Antonio Carlos Jobim - Desafinado (Sinatra-Jobim)*

* indicates Recent Release

August 5 - Playlist

1) Chicago - Goody Goody (Night And Day: Big Band)
2) 8 Legged Monster - ...Or Something (Vol. 2)
3) Duke Ellington/Count Basie - Battle Royal (First Time!)

FEATURE ARTIST

4) Michael Franks - Scatsville (Rendezvous In Rio)
5) Michael Franks - Eggplant (A Backward Glance)
6) Michael Franks - Rendezvous In Rio (Rendezvous In Rio)
7) Paul Desmond - So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright (Bridge Over Troubled Waters)
8) Jacky Terrasson - Carry Me Away (Push)*
9) John Williams' Baritone Band - Waltz for CP (John Williams' Baritone Band)

10) Dave Brubeck Quartet with Bill Smith - The Twig (The Riddle)^
11) Stan Getz - Sweet Rain (Sweet Rain)
12) Bennie Moten - South (This Is The Big Band Era)^
13) Freddie Hubbard - Caravan (Priceless Jazz 4)
14) Miles Davis - Dr. Jackle (Milestones)

THE R & B CORNER

15) Ray Charles - Rockhouse (Blues + Jazz)
16) Jeff Lorber Fusion - Pixel (Now Is The Time)*
17) Memphis Horns with Etta James - Take Me To The River (The Memphis Horns)
18) Joel Vanderheyden - Gargoyles (Complete Life)
19) BeatleJazz - Come Together (A Bite Of The Apple)
20) Vince Guaraldi - Charlie Brown Theme (The Charlie Brown Suite)
21) Ann Hampton Callaway - At Last (At Last)
22) Manhattan Transfer - Free Samba (The Chick Corea Songbook)
23) Frank Sinatra - Goody Goody (The Complete Reprise)

* indicates Recent Release
^ indicates The Vinyl Archive

Jazz Ramblings & Other Idle Thoughts

Greetings!

I'm off the air for a few weeks (as I hope you have noticed), getting some R & R with the grandkids at the Jersey Shore (by the way, where we stay in Ocean City is nothing like the obnoxious TV series).

I spent some time yesterday evening watching Matt Garza's no-hitter, but listening to Koplant No. This is both a band name and the title of their new CD (they were my FEATURE ARTIST a few weeks ago). When I call their music interesting, I mean that in the very best sense. I've always been a fan of noir-ish films, movies with "texture," and to me, Koplant No is the audio equivalent of a film noir. They are not a conventional jazz group, but they certainly have jazz chops, especially saxophonist Joel Vanderheyden.

This is a real chicken and egg situation for me. I found out about Koplant No when they back up founding member Vanderheyden on his 2009 release Complete Life. On Koplant No, he's here as a player but not a composer. Those duties are split between trumpeter/keyboardist Brian Lewis Smith and bassist/french horn player Drew Morton. Rob Baner on drums and samples rounds out the quartet.

If I were a filmmaker, creating a science fiction detective movie (think Blade Runner), this album would be a great soundtrack. The playing is superb and they are telling stories outside of the box. I'd love to see how they handle a live crowd. (PS - a link to Joel's website is at the bottom of this page).


Another CD I'm fond of is The Sea, the sophomore effort from Corinne Bailey Rae. I remember the first time I saw her perform, on an episode of Aaron Sorkin's lamentably short-run TV show STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP. I was electrified then. The girl has presence, and she can write a tune, too. (Aaron Sorkin, by the way, is one of my very favorite TV/Screenwriters. I especially like how he incorporates cool music into his shows/movies. We'll have to get into that topic sometime later). Anyway, Corinne's been off the grid for a few years, recovering from the untimely passing of her husband. By all measures, The Sea is a great effort and well worth the wait. Her songwriting skills are undiminished (indeed, perhaps augmented) and both her voice and the production work are tip-top. We'll be hearing from her on future shows.

Stay cool!

July 15 - Playlist

1) Chet Baker - Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart (My Old Flame)
2) Lee Ritenour with Pat Martino - L.P. [For Les Paul] (Six String Theory)*
3) Duke Ellington - West Indian Stomp (Duke Ellington And His Famous Orchestra 1941)

FEATURE ARTIST

4) Wynton Marsalis - Sunflowers (The Marciac Suite)
5) Wynton Marsalis - Fire In The Night (Unforgivable Blackness)
6) Stan Getz - Blues For Mary Jane (East Of The Sun: The West Coast Sessions)
7) Terence Blanchard - The Water (A Tale Of God's Will)
8) Billy Cobham - Obliquely Speaking (Palindrome)*
9) Ramsey Lewis - Uptight (Finest Hour)
10) Dave Brubeck & Paul Desmond - At The Perfume Counter (Moods And Grooves)

THE R & B CORNER

11) Mark Egan - Frog Legs (Truth Be Told)*
12) Corinne Bailey Rae - Paris Nights/New York Mornings (The Sea)*
13) James Brown - Please, Please, Please (20 All Time Greatest Hits)
14) Roy Hargrove - Things We Did Last Summer (Approaching Standards)
15) Gerry Mulligan - Curtains (Lonesome Boulevard)
16) Bette Midler - Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (Experience The Divine)
17) Harry Connick, Jr. - A Moment With You (Come By Me)
18) Marilyn Scott - I Wished On The Moon (Nightcap)
19) Frank Sinatra - Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart (The Complete Reprise)

* indicates Recent Release

July 8 - Playlist

1) Woody Herman - I've Got You Under My Skin (An Anthology of Big Band Swing: 1930-1955)
2) Billy Strayhorn & The Duke Ellington Orchestra with Harry Carney - Sono (The Jazz Scene)
3) Lionel Hampton - Blue Lou (Ring Dem Vibes)

FEATURE ARTIST

4) Charlie Parker - Scrapple From The Apple (Ken Burns Jazz)
5) Charlie Parker - Star Eyes (Ken Burns Jazz)
6) Charlie Parker - Confirmation (Ken Burns Jazz)
7) Charlie Parker - Parker's Mood (Ken Burns Jazz)
8) John Coltrane - You're A Weaver Of Dreams (A Night Out With Verve)
9) Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - I Remember Clifford (A Night Out With Verve)
10) Michel Legrand - La Vie En Rose (A Night Out With Verve)
11) David Benoit - Linus And Lucy (GRP 10th Anniversary Collection)
12) Thelonious Monk - Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea (Straight, No Chaser)
13) Coleman Hawkins All Stars - The Sheik Of Araby (I'm Beginning To See The Light: Dance Hits From The Second World War)
14) Stan Getz - 6-Nix-Pix-Flix (Nobody Else But Me)
15) Dave Brubeck - Waltzing (Double Live From The U.S.A. And U.K.)

THE R & B CORNER

16) SMV: Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, Victor Wooten - Grits (Thunder)
17) Isaac Hayes - Never Can Say Goodbye (Stax 50th Anniversary Celebration)
18) Earth, Wind & Fire - Can't Hide Love (The Essential)
19) Dave Holland - The Leak (Critical Mass)
20) Benny Carter/Dizzy Gillespie - A Night In Tunisia (Carter, Gillespie, Inc.)
21) Tony Bennett - Boulevard Of Broken Dreams (Live)
22) Patti Austin/WDR Big Band - Funny Face (Avant Gershwin)
23) Manhattan Transfer - Good Enough To Keep (Swing)
24) Frank Sinatra - I've Got You Under My Skin (Live at the Meadowlands)

July 1 - Playlist

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY

1) Charlie Haden with Michael Brecker - America The Beautiful (American Dreams)
2) Frank Sinatra - The House I Live In (The Complete Reprise)
3) Stan Freberg - Yankee Doodle Go Home (The United States Of America)^

FEATURE ARTIST

4) Benny Goodman - American Patrol (The War)
5) Benny Goodman - The Darktown Strutters Ball (All The Cats Join In)
6) Benny Goodman - Sing, Sing, Sing (Sing, Sing, Sing)
7) Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane - Bye-Ya (At Carnegie Hall)
8) Dave Grusin - Peter Gunn (Two For The Road)
9) Bill Evans - These Things Called Changes (Empathy)
10) Stan Getz - What Is This Thing Called Love? (Anniversary)
11) Erroll Garner - It's All Right With Me ("Concert By The Sea")
12) Juliet Annerino - Let's Run Away Together (Crushed Velvet)#
13) Kathleen Gorman - Rialto (Brand New Day)#
14) Joani Taylor - Dance With Me (In My Own Voice)#

THE R & B CORNER

15) Curtis Haywood - Springtime (Curtis Haywood)
16) Gato Barbieri - I Want You (Late Night Sax)
17) Grover Washington, Jr. - Heat Index (Prime Cuts)
18) Dave Brubeck Trio & Gerry Mulligan - Mexican Jumping Bean (Live At The Berlin Philharmonie)
19) Charlie Parker - Now Is The Time (Ken Burns Jazz)
20) Manhattan Transfer - Birdland (Very Best Of)
21) Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong - I Got Plenty Of Nuttin' (Porgy & Bess)
22) Ray Charles - America The Beautiful (His Greatest Hits)

^ indicates the Vinyl Archive
# indicates Jazz Network Worldwide member (see link at bottom of this Blog)

June 24 - Playlist

1) Sonny Rollins - Some Enchanted Evening (Road Shows Vol. I)
2) Bobby Hutcherson - Montara (Untinted)

FEATURE ARTIST

3) Roberta Gambarini - Centerpiece (Easy To Love)
4) Roberta Gambarini & Hank Jones- Supper Time (You Are There)
5) Roberta Gambarini - Estaté (So In Love)
6) Joe Lovano - Deep Blue Sky (Viva Caruso)
7) Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band - Con Alma (Dizzy's Business)

"RAG TIME"

8) Canadian Brass - Bourbon Street Medley (Jazz Roots)
9) Preservation Hall Jazz Band - Tiger Rag (Best Of)
10) Stan Getz - Billie's Bounce (Live By The Sea)

THE LATIN QUARTER

11) Hilton Ruiz - Intrepid Fox (¡Con Mucho Ritmo!)
12) Michel Camilo - Caribe (One More Once0

13) Chico O'Farrill - Sin Titulo (Cuban Blues)
14) Dave Brubeck Quartet - I Hear A Rhapsody (Paper Moon)
15) Wayne Shorter - Footprints (Adam's Apple)
16) Ella Fitzgerald/Louis Armstrong - Isn't This A Lovely Day? (Ella And Louis)
17) Dianne Reeves - One For My Baby (Good Night, And Good Luck)
19) Frank Sinatra - Some Enchanted Evening (South Pacific)