Episode 48: Indie-Pop-Rock, Folks

Old habits, right? After skipping our "regular" indie session in episode 44, I have since come across a pool of recordings I just can't stop listening to, and am thus taking the exceptional coincidence of the 48th episode to share them with you.

If you're looking for a better rationale, that's the best you're going to get.

We start with the newest pop mega-buster from Phoenix, then some hard rock from Jack White, followed by long sets of dark-rather-than-sappy love songs, and finish with sweet obscurity.

Audio

Playlist

1. Phoenix - 1901 - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
2. MGMT - Kids - Oracular Spectacular
3. The Mountain Goats - Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton - All Hail West Texas
4. The White Stripes - Rag and Bone - Icky Thump
5. The Raconteurs - Salute Your Solution - Consolers of the Lonely
6. The White Strips - You Don't Know what Love is - Icky Thump
7. The Mountain Goats - Love Love Love - The Sunset Tree
8. David Bazan - Hard to Be - Curse the Branches
9. The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You - I and Love and You
10. William Shatner & Ben Folds - In Love - (iTunes only)
11. Andrew Bird - Fitz and the Dizzy Spells - Noble Beast
12. Amy Millan - I Will Follow You into the Dark - Masters of the Burial
13. The Moldy Peaches - Anyone Else But You - s/t

::WSRP:: Perhaps not destined to be a professional wedding DJ.

Episode 47:: What Are you Doing, Dave?

Considered by some to be among the most original, creative, and exciting musicians active in jazz today, trumpeter Dave Douglas is a man of many hats (but only 1 hair do: sorry Dave). Whether performing with the various iterations of his quartet/quintet, delving into special commissions for orchestra, dance, or cinema, or pairing up with other major movers and shakers of the vast musical world, Douglas is a unique voice as composer and performer, and a catalyst in a variety of prestigious settings. Add onto all this his work as an educator (Director, Banff Festival for Creative Music), talent scout (founder, Festival of New Trumpet Music), and record producer (owner, Greenleaf Music), and it's not hard to see that Dave Douglas is as involved in the practice and performance of modern jazz as he is in its continuing artistic development.

So why not spend an hour(ish) listening to what he has to "say?"

Audio

Playlist

1. Dave Douglas' Tiny Bell Trio - Taking Sides - Constellations (1995)
2. Dave Douglas Quintet - Painter's Way - Meaning & Mystery (2006)
3. Dave Douglas Sextet - The Persistence of Memory - In Our Lifetime (1995)
4. Dave Douglas Group - Prarie - El Trilogy (2001)
5. Dave Douglas Quintet - Crazy Games - The Infinite (2001)
6. Dave Douglas & Nomad - Twelve Degree Proof - Mountain Passages (2005)
7. Dave Douglas & Martial Solal - Elk's Club - Rue de Seine (2006)
8. SFJAZZ Collective - Criss Cross - Live 2007 Season (2007)
9. Dave Douglas & Keystone - Tragicomique - Keystone (2005)
10. Dave Douglas & Keystone - Kitten - Moonshine (2007)
11. Dave Douglas' Brass Ecstacy - Bowie - Spirit Moves (2009)

::WSRP:: Play that Funkodelic-ambiacountry-technoclassic-bebop, white boy.

Episode 46:: Trios + Plus

Nothing too special as a soggy New York summer turns into a grey New York Autumn, but even "just another day" at WSRP is sure to hold some wonderful jazz classics, and a few surprises as well. Open wide your audio portals, and consume.

Audio

Playlist

1. Oscar Peterson Trio - Let's Fall in Love - Exclusively for my Friends
2. Jerry Gonzalez & the Fort Apache Band - Rhumba Buhaina - Rhumba Buhaina
3. Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers - Along Came Betty - Moanin'
4. Anita O'Day - We'll be Together Again - Jazz 'Round Midnight
5. Coleman Hawkins & His Rhythm - Bah-Uh-Bah - ...in Paris
6. Coleman Hawkins & Ben Webster - You'd Be So Nice to Come Home to - Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster
7. Charles Mingus - Things Aren't What They use to be - Mingus Dynasty
8. Joe Henderson - Mamacita - The Kicker
9. Greg Osby - Big Foot - Banned in New York

::WSRP:: Perfect Jazz Trio = Listener + Programmer + Music

Episode 45:: (Jazz) Guitar Heroes

While the impending release of The Beatles: Rock Band has many of the Beatles generation confused and the post-Beatles generations giddy, let us consider briefly what *real* guitar heroes sound like in this the modern age.

Audio

Playlist

1. Gerry Gibbs & Thrasher Band - The Aberdoor - Faces Unknown
2. Justin Vasquez - Fields - Triptych
3. Chris Potter - Pop Tune #1 - Follow the Red Line
4. Bill Frisell - Struggle Pt.2 - History, Mystery
5. John Scofield - Wee - En Route
6. Pat Metheney / Brad Mehldau - A Night Away - Metheny Mehldau Quartet

::WSRP:: If you believe in web-radio-blogs, we need you to clap your hands, then leave a comment, then clap your hands again. If done out of order, you will slay countless innocent disembodied voices.

Episode 44:: This is BeBop

So much for tradition. After breaking my streak of 42 consecutive weekly broadcasts, I am now trouncing the "Indie-Fours" tradition I've kept up for episodes 4, 14, 24, 34, and my special #40 birthday edition. Now that I'm at episode 44, the grand epitome of all "Indie-Fours" I'm just skipping it altogether.

Take that expectations!

It's called Syncopation!

Improvisation!

Who-the-What-Where-itism!

And with that spirit in mind, we explore and celebrate the jazz movement of the mid-1940s called "BeBop" (or "Be-Bop," or just "Bop"). Launching out of the swing era on the wings of virtuosic talent and unprecedented melodic creativity, this small combo movement was spearheaded by such pillars of modern jazz as Charlie "Bird" Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Lester "Prez" Young, Bud Powell, Max Roach, and others.

This is a 1-hour primer: some quick musical introductions, a general BeBop audio definition, and a vague timeline of the development of the genre and the personalities that shaped it. It all seems too much to fit into any 60 minutes, and indeed it is. Enjoy this *extended* episode as one more proof that, indeed, Bird Lives.

Audio

Playlist

1. Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie - Koko - Diz'n'Bird at Carnegie Hall (1947)
2. Lester Young - Mop Mop - (1946)
3. Lester Young - Lester Leaps In - (1946)
4. Charlie Parker - Si Si - Swedish Schnaaps (1951)
5. Charlie Parker - Swedish Schnaaps - Swedish Schnaaps (1951)
6. Charlie Parker - Au Privave - Swedish Schnaaps (1951)
7. Dizzy Gillespie - Blue'n'Boogie - Groovin' High (1945)
8. Dizzy Gillespie - Oop Bop Sh'Bam - Groovin' High (1945)
9. Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie - Salt Peanuts - Groovin' High (1945)
10. Bud Powell trio - Tempus Fugit - Jazz Giant (1949)
11. Bud Powell w/ Fats Navarro & Sonny Rollins - Dance of the Infedels - Jazz Giant (1949)
12. Bud Powell trio - Un Poco Loco - The Amazing Bud Powell (1951)
13. Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus & Max Roach - Wee - Jazz at Massey Hall (1953)

::WSRP:: Wham-a-Scram-a-Ring-a-Ping-Pong

Week 43:: Back in the Saddle

After keeping up a weekly radio blog for 42 weeks - including holidays, finals, and a summer spent literally on the other side of the planet - I finally crashed, spectacularly, with this 4-week delay of the "week 43" program. And to be honest, it felt good. Real good.

So while WSRP will certainly continue, I can no longer make any guarantees of its weekly delivery, its precise topical commentary, or its rushed programming decisions. With 42+ hours of WSRP available, and likely not a single homosapien on the planet who has heard all of them, I'm taking a more relaxed tack on the creation of new audio gems. This one, I feel, is an especially fine specimen to recommend the new modus operandi.

Audio

Playlist

1. Ahmad Jamal - A Gal in Calico - Piano Scene of...
2. Roy Haynes - George's Reggae - The Island
3. Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Band - Charon's Ferry - Jazz is Universal
4. Milt Hinton - Milt to the Hilt (alt tk) - s/t
5. Benny Carter - Synthetic Love - 1933
6. Booker Ervin - Mojo - The Space Book
7. Fred Hersch Pocket Orchestra - Stuttering - Live at Jazz Standard
8. Art Farmer/Donald Byrd - Palm Court Alley - Trumpets All Out
9. Ravi Coltrane - Narcine - Blending Times

::WSRP:: for case "x", let "week" equal "episode" when "date" for "week" # "x-1" is greater than "date-7" for "week" # "x"