Discovering Jazz

More of some of my favourite Canadian Jazz albums released this year. You'll hear the following recordings:

Note: Jacob Do will be special guest on next week's episode, talking about this wonderful new album, how he discovered jazz, and his upcoming Canadian tour.

I've been listening to a lot of new releases over the past year, many of them by Canadian artists. It inspired me to put together a two part series of some of my favourites. For part 1, here are the recordings from which I've played a track.

JOSH COHEN: WE ARE HOME

Always interested in hearing which of these albums, or the tracks I'm playing, resonate with you.

You'll hear the music and some of the stories about the creation of this music inspired by love. Here is what I play on this episode:

I'm playing recordings where 'love' inspired the particular composition or album. It includes love for a partner, a child or infant, musical companions, love that came from a spiritual awakening, love for a pet, and in one instance for a generation of family members subjected to hardships born by racial discrimination.

And in the middle of it all I make a very short detour by playing an old 78rpm record of an old time fiddle tune----a detour that eventually takes us back to Wayne Shorter. Sort of.

Addendum: SONG LIST

Here we go again. Up the slide. Down the slide!

Here's the song list of nursery rhymes, children's songs, and adult songs children will enjoy....all performed by jazz artists and mostly in a style that jazz fans will appreciate. (Well, maybe not always!).

Here's the set list:

You wouldn't normally think of Pop Goes The Weasel, Old MacDonald Had a Farm, Hickory Dickory Dock, or The Mickey Mouse March as being jazz, would you? Well Wynton Marsalis, John Coltrane, Chick Webb w Ella Fitzgerald, Julie London, Bob Dorough, Cory Weeds, Anthony Newley, Medeski Martin & Wood, Jackie McLean, and Vancouver's Jennifer Scott recreate these and other children's tunes in a new way turning them into jazz. And Slim Gaillard gets into the picture too creating his own song.

Part 1 of a 2-part series on Jazzy Nursery Rhymes and Children's Songs.

Celebrating this podcast's 10th Anniversary, I play the old intro I used, and look at some of my favourite episodes from 2017 to today.--with 'today' being some random picks of the thousands of new jazz albums released in 2026. And do a bit of bragging (sorry about that) explaining how an award winning Trent Radio program got turned into a podcast. And throw in a couple quotes from some reviews.

Which reminds me....if you like this podcast, would you be willing to rate it (on itunes, apple music, or wherever you get your podcasts)? I'd love to know who is out there enjoying the podcast and hear some ideas that might make it better.

This podcast has moved from Peterborough, Ontario to Victoria, B.C., and now comes from Edmonton, Alberta.

Here is what I play on this episode:

Discovering Jazz started out as a community radio program broadcast on CFFF (Trent Community Radio) in Peterborough, Ontario in 2016. In 2017 it was selected by The National Campus and Community Radio Assocation (NCRA) as the best music program in Canada. (Since then the music categories have been divided into various genres). That's when I decided to turn it into a podcast---September of 2017.

Here it is 10 years later, having moved first to Victoria, B.C., and now Edmonton, Alberta.

For this episode I play tracks from a few albums that I selected as one of my favourites of the various years.

You'll hear music by artists ranging from Fats Waller to Poland's Wojtek Mazolewski. That also includes bob Dorough, Sons of Kemet, Kenny Washington, Jeremy Ledbetter Trio, Jane Bunnett and Maqueque, Allen Lowe & the Constant Sorrow Orchestra, Fergus McCreadie, Ellas Kapell, and Susan Alcorn.

Then next week I'll focus on some of my favourite episodes of the past 10 years.

Here's what you'll hear in this episode.

This selection of new albums---many of them featuring female vocalists--continues a theme of 'old meets new'.

The first two tracks are particularly spectacular. Starting with an avant-garde treatmen of Thelonious Monk's Round About Midnight, as performed by te Armaroli-Schiaffini 6tet with singer Giulia Cianca. In fact the whole album is quite fascinating.

I follow it with one of the most dramatic readings of Send In The Clowns, by Cecil McLorin Salvant from her incredible new album called Every Breath I Take. With breath taking orchestrations by Vancouver born Darcy James Argue.

The rest of the episode contains a variety of interesting and very listenable tracks by Immanuel Wilkins, Elina Duni & Rob Luft, the Ben Rosenblum Nebula Project (jazz accordion!), Fergus McCreadie, Catherine Russell, Gabrielle Cavassa, Emie R. Roussel Trio, and Dave Holland with the London Vocal Project.

Here is a full track list.