Week 25:: It Don't Mean a Thing...

Finally, we've made it to the heart of the beast - the Swing Era.

As not only a jazz fan, but also a social Swing Dancer (Lindy Hopper, thank you), I've got a lot of personal preferences and ahistorical connections to this music, which is one of the reasons I have so intentionally put it off thus far.

I love this music, in ways more visceral than I can describe.  It doesn't detract from the value I place on my adventurous/cerebral/modern jazz - I see them as extensions of the same system - but the fact that this music represents an overlap with one of my main social activities is a Huge source of conflicting biases.

I often chide my swing buddies about the odd (and usually small) slice of the Swing Era with which they are familiar.  Modern swing dancers have a certain canon, and it overlaps only in places with what many, in retrospect or contemporarily, looked back upon as the more valuable, or even popular, tunes, musicians, etc.

Ex: Slim Galliard.  Great player, but essentially a novelty R&B act, who doesn't make the top 100 of any standard Swing Era jazz discography.  But, thanks to a few choice cuts ("Slim's Jam" and "Potatoe Chips"), Slim Galliard is well known to certain circles of 20-somethings in 2009.

I'm not bemoaning this - in fact I think it's AMAZING that so many young(er) people care about this music outside the standard jazz fan base, but it is odd the way the two groups consider the other to have 'warped' views of the Swing Era.

As you can tell already, this is a topic I'm a bit too contemplative about for your own good.  Enjoy the show, and by all means, feel free to FF through my (micro) tirades.

Audio

Playlist*

1. Count Basie Orchestra - Jumpin' at the Woodside
2. Fletcher Henderson Orchestra - Christopher Columbus
3. Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra - For Dancers Only
4. Louis Armstron Orchestra - Satchel Mouth Swing
5. Chick Webb Orchestra - Jungle Mama
6. Ella Fitzgerald/Chick Webb Orchestra - Undecided
7. Benny Goodman Quartet - Smiles
8. Lionel Hampton Orchestra - Ring Dem Bells
9. Roy Eldridge & Gene Krupa Orchestra - Ball of Fire
10. Count Basie Orchestra - Swingin' The Blues
11. Andy Kirk & Mary Lou Williams - Mellow Bit of Rhythm
12. Jay McShann - Swingmatism
13. Charlie Barnet Orchestra - Pow-Wow
14. Earl "Fatha" Hines Orchestra - Second Balcony Jump
15. Harry James Orchestra - Boog-it
16. Duke Ellington - Cottontail

*because most of these were issued originally in the pre-album days, and are thus (widely) available on a variety of compilations, I won't bother with album titles this week.

::WSRP:: 80% Less Talking Than Orson Well's War of the Worlds.

Week 24:: WSRP Goes SXNY

This week, in honor of South By Southwest (SXSW), perhaps the largest semi-official indie rock fest in the world, we're hosting our own 1 hour of choice cuts and fresh beats, mostly new with a few old faves mixed in.  South By N-Y focuses on the hot little bands that are shaking things up in Austin and across underground radio waves nation wide.

Lace up (but don't tie) your converse, partially-zip your slightly-too-tight hoodie, and squeeze into those green thin leg jeans.  Now adjust your buddy holly glasses, and brush the frock of hair out of your eyes - No! do it again. This time with condescension!

Audio

Playlist

1. Beck - Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat - War Child presents Heroes, vol. 1
2. Beck - Girl (Bitrate Variation in B-Flat) - Gameboy Variations EP
3. Bishop Allen - The Ancient Common Sense of Things - Grrr...
4. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll - It's Blitz!
5. Peaches - Search & Destroy - War Child presents Heroes, vol. 1
6. Metric - Help, I'm Alive - Help, I'm Alive
7. Marnie Sterns - Ruler - This is It and I am It And...
8. Datarock - Fa Fa Fa - Datarock
9. The Fiery Furnaces - Bitter Tea - Bitter Tea
10. Radiohead - Weird Fishes - In Rainbows
11. Animal Collective - My Girls - Merriweather Post Pavilion
12. Animal Collective - Brother Sport - Merriweather Post Pavilion

::WSRP::  "Weird S**t Ryan Plays."  I like it.

Week 23:: Vitamin B3

For those of you with a long-standing curiosity about the Hammond B3 Organ, but not the will to wade through its enormous technical drivel, This week offers a chance to learn via a pair of (aural) organs all your own.

In no way comprehensive (apologies to Big John Patton, Larry Goldings, "Groove" Holmes, Don Patterson, Johnny "Hammond" Smith, Sam Yahel, "Papa" John DeFranchesco, John Medeski & Sun Ra), this is a rapid tear through the big names of the B3, not necessarily in chronological, priority, or any other order.  Take it as a small (frankly, odd) smattering of B3 giants, then proceed with your own exploration at your own pace, taste, and risk.

Audio

Playlist

1. Shirley Scott - Keep the Faith, Baby - Girl Talk
2. Jimmy Smith - The Duel - ...At the Organ, vol. 2
3. Jack McDuff - Blues and Tonic - The Honeydripper
4. Charles Earland - Black Talk - Black Talk
5. Jimmy McGriff - All About the Girl - I Want a Woman
6. Larry Young - Major Attraction - Contrasts
7. Dr. Lonnie Smith - Jungle Soul - Jungle Soul
8. Joey DeFranchesco - Down the Hatch - Organic Vibes

::WSRP:: How (weekly internet radio) Got it's Groove Back.

Week 22:: Easy Listening

Sometimes, you just want to enjoy the sound of music, and while that seems ridiculously simplistic, it is nonetheless equally true and just as often overlooked.  There is much to be said for music that makes you think, inspires creativity, and touches upon the hem of brilliance.  Still, there's something to be said for fluffy pop music as well.  

This week, we search for a happy medium, compositions and performances you can hum (or at least snap) along with, but retain that healthy, wholesome, goodness.

Audio

Playlist

1. Jacky Terrasson - Smile - Smile
2. Allison Miller - Miriam's Shuffle - 5 am Stroll
3. Ed Thigpen - Reets and I - Scantet #1
4. Tiny Grimes - Durn Tootin' - Prestige Jazz Classics
5. Grant Green - Ease Back - The Finest in Jazz
6. Dizzy Gillespie - Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac - Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac
7. Terry Gibbs - Wave - Feelin' Good: Live in Studio
8. Martial Solal - Slightly Bluesy - Longitude
9. Fly Trio - JJ - Fly

::WSRP:: Without (double) You, it's just SRP.

Week 21:: Not-Quite-Classics

There are in jazz those seminal works which transcend all qualifiers of style and chronology to survive and be celebrated as 'The Classics.'  A comprehensive listing is somewhat subjective, though a shorter list is almost irrefutable - Kind of Blue, A Love Supreme, Money Jungle, Ellington Uptown, Genius of Modern Music, Birth of the Cool, Bitches Brew, Afro-Blue, Ah-Um, ...His Mother Called Him Bill, Straight Life, etc.  you get the idea.

But for every one of these classics, there exist thousands of other jazz albums of note, hundreds of which rest in the catalogue of established jazz masters (the rest beholding to lesser-known figures of the jazz realm).  Rather than try to explore any of these in totality, this week we look at some of the significant - but decidedly not 'Classic' - contributions of jazz Masters.

Enjoy, and pardon the subjectivity.

Audio

Playlist

1. Miles Davis - There's No You - Blue Moods
2. John Coltrane - The Inch Worm - Coltrane (Impulse!)
3. Eric Dolphy - Miss Toni - Outward Bound
4. Bobby Hutcherson - Una Muy Bonita - Stick-up!!!
5. Herbie Hancock - King Cobra - My Point of View
6. Art Blakey - Backstage Sally - Buhaina's Delight
7. Horace Silver - The Outlaw - Further Explorations...
8. Wes Montgomery - 'Round Midnight - A Dynamic New Sound

::WSRP::  What You See Is What You Hear Is What You Get.