Jazz Gumbo

Artist - Tune - Album
Buckshot Lefonque - Music Evolution - Music Evolution
Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Goodbye Pork Pie Hat - The Return of the 5000 lb. Man
Jamaaladeen Tacuma - Show Stopper - Show Stopper
Kevin Eubanks - Who Knows - Sundance
Airto Moreira - Parana - Fingers
Bennie Maupin - It Remains To Be Seen - Slow Traffic to the Right
Jill Scott - A Long Walk - Words & Music: Volume 1
Chick Corea - Quartet No. 2 - to John Coltrane - Three Quartets
Michel Camilo - Caribe - Michel Camilo
Baird Hersey - Lookin’ for that Groove - Lookin’ for that Groove
& The Year of the Ear
Osibisa - Adwoa - Happy Children
Horace Silver - Sanctimonious Sam - Sterling Silver
Billy Cobham-George Duke Band - Do What Cha Wanna - “Live” On Tour in Europe
Earth, Wind & Fire - You Can't Hide Love - Gratitude
Bill Frisell - Cadillac 1959 - Good Dog, Happy Man
John McLaughlin - Do You Hear the Voices that You Left Behind? - Electric Guitarist
Sweet Honey in the Rock - Good News - Good News
McCoy Tyner - For Tomorrow - Inner Voices
Gil Scott-Heron - The Revolution Will Not be Televised - Pieces of a Man
Crusaders - Put It Where You Want It - Crusaders 1


Jazz Gumbo just had a birthday. We launched almost exactly six years ago, in May of 2012. And the show and podcast have become one of the great joys of my life. I thank Adonis Huggins, the executive director at Radio Regent for suggesting a show to me. He knew that I’d been spinning vinyl once a week at the nearby jazz bar and restaurant, The Dominion on Queen (thanks to you also Sean Duranovich, for inviting me to that gig!), and said that they were interested in new programmers for Radio Regent!

Not only has this opportunity allowed me to introduce the music I love to listeners in more than 40 countries – many of whom I know are hearing much of it for the first time. It’s also pushed me to get more deeply into the music – Yes! The music I already knew and loved. Because I soon realized that I couldn’t just play my favorite tracks over and over. I began to listen more often and more closely to those flip sides of my favorite albums, and the albums I considered the lesser works of favorite artists, and to the albums of the supporting players to those artists. All of which reminded me of great work I’d loved but had forgotten, and got me listening with fresh ears to tunes I’d over-looked.


It also got me exploring again, something I hadn’t done in years the way I once had. I’m spending more time in used record shops again, listening to some of my fellow podcasters for classics and for new artists that had escaped me, I’m passing on exciting new talent I’m hearing on my local jazz station, Toronto’s Jazz FM, and I’m even getting out into the clubs a bit more often than I have in awhile.

And my hope is that this show is playing a role in keeping the jazz community vibrant, by keeping great, sometimes overlooked music in circulation, by reminding old members and newcomers alike of the great breadth and depth of this communal, improvisational, dynamic and all-embracing music. It’s a music that has never turned away a single cultural influence or source of inspiration. And that’s truly worthy of sharing.

So Thanks again for Being here on this listening journey with me. Enjoy this Set from 2012. And come back for another fresh Set in just few days!

Thrive!
Kirby

Artist - Tune - Album
Benny Goodman - Sing, Sing, Sing - Giants of Jazz – Benny Goodman
Stanley Clarke - More Hot Fun - Modern Man
Donald Byrd - Fly, Little Byrd - Harlem Blues
Betty Carter - What Is It? - Betty Carter Album
Keith Tippett - Thank You For The Smile - You Are Here…I Am There
Kenny Garrett - Doc Tone’s Short Speech - Standard Of Language
George Duke - Be Cool - Montreux Summit, Vol.2
Leszek Możdżer, Lars Danielsson, - Weeks/Shavuot - Polska
Zohar Fresco
Bennie Maupin - The Jewel In The Lotus - The Jewel In The Lotus
Ray Bryant - Blues in De Big Brass Bed - Solo Flight
Sade - The Moon & The Sky - Soldier Of Love
War - Slipping Into Darkness - All Day Music
Clara Ward - Just A Little While To Stay Here - We Gotta Shout!
& The Dukes of Dixieland
The Wood Brothers - River Takes The Town - One Drop Of Truth
Louis Armstrong - Stardust - Giants of Jazz – Louis Armstrong

The ode to musical styles past and present that introduces Jazz Gumbo is “Music Evolution” by Branford Marsalis and Buckshot Lefonque.

Playlists for all past Sets of Jazz Gumbo will be found at jazzgumbo.blogspot.ca


Some Highlights:

The Benny Goodman Orchestra’s “Sing, Sing, Sing” had become a band and audience favorite by the time they performed at Carnegie Hall in 1938, and they closed a very successful show with the version that opens this Set. Drummer Gene Krupa drives the 8-minute number, but it’s full of great horn flourishes and solos, by Goodman on clarinet, Babe Russin on tenor, Harry James on trumpet, more of Benny, then Jess Stacy of piano. It’s brilliant! What a show that must’ve been.

George Duke wrote and arranged “Be Cool” and leads a group of All-Stars for another rousing live performance, this time at Montreux. Many of these musicians had never performed together, and according to all accounts, the rehearsals were horrible. But the live show brought the magic. Solos by Duke and by flautists Hubert Laws and Bobbie Humphrey, with a rhythm section that includes Billy Cobham on drums, Alphonso Johnson on bass and with Bob James conducting.

Bennie Maupin’s “The Jewel in the Lotus” is one of those very special albums with a mood all its own, perfect for middle-of-the-night magic and mellowness. It features the most earthy of acoustic bassists in Buster Williams.

Thanks to my Polish family for the Możdżer, Danielsson & Fresco cd. I don’t know any of them. Their tune here is shimmering, sizzling & sweet. I’ll be re-visiting this album soon.

Ray Bryant delivers a rapturous solo piano performance.

Kenny Garrett is his usual driving, dynamic self.

And War, probably my favorite group from my teens, shows you why, with their natural, funk and roots sound.

That's not even the half of it! I could go on and on and on. But I’ll leave it with you.

Thrive!
Kirby

Artist - Tune - Album
Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Dorthaan’s Walk - Boogie-Woogie String Along For Real
Victor Wooten - Me & My Bass Guitar - A Show of Hands 15
Herbie Hancock - Cantaloupe Island - Empyrean Isles
Ashley Henry - Moving Forward - Easter – EP
Count Basie - Blues for Charlie Christian - Mostly Blues…and some others
Dee Dee Bridgewater - Lullaby of Birdland - Keeping Tradition
Howlin’ Wolf - Back Door Man - The Best of Chess Blues
Edwin Hawkins - Oh Happy Day - Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord
John Coltrane - Africa - Africa / Brass
Sly & the Family Stone - Stand! - Stand!
Carmen McRae - I’ve Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good - Carmen McRae
Klemens Marktl - Elveen - December
Lou Rawls - A Natural Man - Naturally
Courtney Pine - In The Garden Of Eden - Modern Day Jazz Stories
Chick Corea - Humpty Dumpty - The Mad Hatter

The ode to musical styles past and present that introduces Jazz Gumbo is “Music Evolution” by Branford Marsalis and Buckshot Lefonque.

Playlists for all past Sets of Jazz Gumbo will be found at jazzgumbo.blogspot.ca


Isn’t this a wonderful photo of Basie, lovingly working his magic?

Lots of beautiful magic in this Set, top to bottom.
The newest pieces are from Ashley Henry, Klemens Marktl and Victor Wooten.
(Just love Vic and his bass guitar!)

And oh, what a remarkable and varied set of oldies:
the old Masters Basie and Trane do their thing;
Dee Dee and Carmen elevate some standards;
We have brilliant, early chapters from the encyclopedic careers of Herbie and Chick.
And there’s some funk blues, a pulsing soul classic, and even a slice of stirring gospel.

I won’t try to categorize Courtney Pine’s “In the Garden of Eden”, but it’s one of my favorites.

Thrive!
Kirby

Artist - Tune - Album
Sarah Vaughan & Michel Legrand - The Summer Knows - Sarah Vaughan & Michel Legrand
Dave Holland - Conference of the Birds - Conference of the Birds
Russell Gunn - Neo-So - Krunk Jazz
Steps Ahead - Modern Times - Modern Times
Bill Evans - Gloria’s Step - Sunday at the Village Vanguard
Ella Fitzgerald - Some Of These Days - Live at Carnegie Hall, July 5, 1973
Phronesis - Charm Defensive - The Behemoth
Tom Waits - Down In The Hole - Big Time
Carlos Santana - Shere Khan, The Tiger - The Swing of Delight
Jay Clayton - Freedom Jazz Dance - In and Out of Love
Hilton Ruiz - Stolen Moments - Crosscurrents
Stevie Wonder - Love Having You Around - Music Of My Mind
Freddie Hubbard - Hub-Tones - Hub-Tones
Etienne Charles - Kaiso - Kaiso

The ode to musical styles past and present that introduces Jazz Gumbo is “Music Evolution” by Branford Marsalis and Buckshot Lefonque.

Playlists for all past Sets of Jazz Gumbo will be found at jazzgumbo.blogspot.ca


This Set serves as a gentle, invitational offering to Spring. As I listen back to it – a few weeks after it originally aired, unfortunately, but with Spring still struggling for full expression against a tenacious Winter – an opening doorway is evoked, and I’m more than ready to walk through.

A few of these musical offerings have overtones of Springtime for me: of fresh beginnings, corners turned, re-births…

- The liner notes to the Vaughan-Legrand album refer to the singer being introduced to a recording by the composer/conductor/arranger and deciding to devote the whole of her next album to his work.

- Stevie’s “Music Of My Mind” marked the beginning of an extraordinary period of volcanic creativity. Though it was his 14th album, he was only 22, and eager to break out of the Motown mold. And the album title is literal, in that Stevie composed, arranged and performed every note of it, except for the trombone solo on the featured cut and one other guest solo elsewhere.

- “Conference” was Dave Holland’s first album as leader, and I don’t think he’s stopped exploring since.

- And you’d hardly recognize Santana in the cut bearing his name, he remains so much within the ensemble of jazz greats he’s invited to play, in this foray beyond his wheelhouse.

I hope that there is a beautiful Spring sensibility available to you too, wherever you might be in the world.

Love & Peace
Kirby Obsidian

Artist - Tune - Album
Horace Silver - Calcutta Cutie - Song For My Father
Taj Mahal - Music Keeps Me Together - Music Keeps Me Together
BadBadNotGood - Kaleidoscope - III
Cleo Laine - Friendly Persuasion - I Am A Song
Miles Davis - Oleo - Relaxin’ with …
Russell Gunn - Skate King - Krunk Jazz
Luis Gasca - Little Mama - For Those Who Chant
Pat Metheny - Tell It All - First Circle
Phronesis - Zieding - Walking Dark
Jay Clayton - Beginner - Circle Dancing
McCoy Tyner - Desert Cry - Sama Layuca
Miles Davis - Nem Um Talvez - Live–Evil
James Blood Ulmer - Light-Eyed - Are You Glad To Be In America
Branford Marsalis - Blues For One - In My Solitude: Live at Grace Cathedral

The ode to musical styles past and present that introduces Jazz Gumbo in “Music Evolution” by Branford Marsalis and Buckshot Lefonque.

Playlists for all past Sets of Jazz Gumbo will be found at jazzgumbo.blogspot.ca


Thanks for Listening!

Thrive!
Kirby Obsidian

Artist - Tune - Album
Buckshot Lefonque - Music Evolution - Music Evolution
JoAnne Brackeen - Let Me Know - Keyed In
Norman Connors - Revelation - Love From the Sun
Sarah Vaughan - Stardust - The Complete Sarah Vaughan
Pharoah Sanders - You Got to have Freedom - Journey to the One
Anthony Braxton - BOR...H - Five Pieces – Fall 1975
Keith Jarrett - Great Bird - Death and the Flower
Dianne Reeves - Chan’s Song - Dianne Reeves
Chuck Mangione - Can’t We Do This All Night - Chase the Clouds Away
John Coltrane - Welcome - Kulu se Mama
Hugh Masakela - Night in Tunisia - I am Not Afraid
Lonnie Smith - Son of Ice Bag - Think!
Metalwood - The Hipster - The Recline
Jack DeJohnette - John McKee - Parallel Realities
Soundtrack Cast - America - West Side Story
Bobby McFerrin - Blackbird - Simple Pleasures
Sekoya - Fugitive Pieces - Sekoya
Miles Davis - Right Off - Jack Johnson
Steps Ahead - Safari - Modern Times


This as the very first Set of Jazz Gumbo, from almost 6 years ago.

The featured album back then was from Buckshot LeFonque’s “Music Evolution” album. I knew right away that the title track would be perfect for introducing the show every week.

The short-lived group was founded and led by Branford Marsalis, who has forever been a musical explorer, delving into all manner of instrumental groupings and genre-mixing. The composition speaks to the evolution of music over time. This how has always been intended to embrace the wide range of influences that generated jazz in the first place, as well as all the directions it has grown into. And it celebrates the musicians who have loved it and kept it nourished by all they bring to it.

The album cover this time around belongs to the group Sekoya. I happened to catch them on late night television about twenty years ago. Loved them immediately and to this day I’m amazed that they didn’t enjoy more success. Such are the ways of the industry and culture. Genius is everywhere, but doesn’t always get heard widely.

This show was an opportunity to feature music I love. Some of it I’ve been listening to since I was a child, and some of it is music I’ve discovered relatively recently. Most of it is from the greats, from those whose genius was heard widely. But much of it is from lesser knowns who deserve to be heard, as we deserve to hear them.

Most of this music is played from vinyl, because all my life, that’s what I’ve bought and listened to. Not exclusively, because most of the music I’ve come to love during the last two decades wasn’t marketed primarily on vinyl. But most of what I know well enough to share is older music, from what I think of as the age of original vinyl, which ended about 1991.

Sekoya is part of the newer generation. I’ve never seen their work on vinyl and don’t know if it’s available in that format. But I play what I Love, that I have.

I hope that you love the music too, and that you will support the artists who create it, as you are able.

Thrive!
Kirby Obsidian

p.s. And oh, one other thing: This show, being my very first, is packed with a lot of my very, very favorite music. It's a damn good Set. You're gonna Love it. If you're a regular listener, you've heard many of them over the years. Enjoy them again!

Artist - Tune - Album
Marquis Hill - King Legend - Modern Flows EP, Vol. 1
Julian Priester - 1239A - Keep Swingin’ & Spiritsville
Sonny Rollins - St. Thomas - Saxophone Colossus
Gerry Bryant - Take Five - Interpretations
Dee Dee Bridgewater - Angel Eyes - Keeping Tradition
Weather Report - 125th St. Congress - Sweetnighter
Mahavishnu Orchestra - Lila’s Dance - Visions of the Emerald Beyond
Contemporary Noise Sextet - Morning Ballet - Ghostwriter’s Joke
Jay Hoggard - Guataca - The Right Place
Esbjörn Svensson Trio (e.s.t.) - Tuesday Wonderland - Tuesday Wonderland

The ode to musical styles past and present that introduces Jazz Gumbo in “Music Evolution” by Branford Marsalis and Buckshot Lefonque.

Playlists for all past Sets of Jazz Gumbo will be found at jazzgumbo.blogspot.ca


The featured album cover is for the work of a dear old friend, Gerry Bryant. He’s an artist whose appreciation of jazz and of classical music have always run parallel, and this album features his interpretations of music from both genres. He also leads a band, Pocketwatch, which is referenced in the cover art.

This is a shorter Set, but with a nice blend of new and old. But, I did it again. The Marquis Hill piece was featured on the very last Jazz Gumbo. My gray cells are over-taxed.

Thanks for your listening ears. I hope the Set brings you the same pleasures it brought me.

Thrive!
Kirby Obsidian

Artist - Tune - Album
Cleveland Eaton - John’s Groove - Taurus
Baaba Maal - Soukanayo - Nomad Soul
Cassandra Wilson - Closer To You - Thunderbird
Herbie Hancock - Riot - Speak Like A Child
Marquis Hill - King Legend - Modern Flows EP, Vol. 1
Stanley Clarke, Jean-Luc Ponty, Biréli Lagrène - Paradigm Shift - D-Stringz
Gregory Porter & Lalah Hathaway - Insanity - Take Me To The Alley
Howard Johnson & Gravity - Yesterdays - Gravity!!!
Phronesis - Walking Dark - Walking Dark
Sarah Vaughan - Everyday I Have The Blues - Sassy Swings Again
Victor Wooten - Cupid - Trypnotyx
Horace Silver - Que Pasa - Song For My Father

The ode to musical styles past and present that introduces Jazz Gumbo in “Music Evolution” by Branford Marsalis and Buckshot Lefonque.

Playlists for all past Sets of Jazz Gumbo will be found at
jazzgumbo.blogspot.ca


Question: Didn't that cover of "Yesterdays" by Howard Johnson & Gravity just Blow You Away!?! Did you suspect that a Tuba could sound so sweet? Let alone 6 of them?!?

Thanks to Keith Coston in Detroit and his Podcast, Jazz Renaisance. He puts out great Sets, through which I’ve been introduced to a number of newer artists, including Marquis Hill and Phronesis who are included in this Set.

There’s such a wealth of great talent and great music out there, that friendly guides with similar tastes help us to the artists that will speak to us most deeply. So thanks to this community of sharing people, spreading the love.

Most importantly, Thanks to the Musicians! This is pure amateurism on my part – sharing incredible art because I love it. And I hope that this sharing benefits those who pour their entire lives into it, especially those lesser known music makers, like Cleveland Eaton and Howard Johnson, and the side-players, orchestras and choruses.

In this world of the 1% and the 99%, the arts world is imbalanced like any other. A precious few musicians live in luxury and renown, while the great multitudes of others – sometimes as great as the revered – share their gifts in obscurity, or lack the opportunity of even that. I’m thinking more these days about how the Arts benefit me, and about how I support Art, or whether I even do that, in its many forms.

Thrive!
Kirby Obsidian

ps - I seem to have become absent minded about what I've recently played. So yes, the Sarah Vaughan piece was played just two Sets ago.

Artist - Tune - Album
Eric Dolphy - Juggin’ Around - Eric Dolphy
Mike Nock, Bennie Maupin, - Double Split - Almanac
Cecil McBee, Eddie Marshall
Oscar Peterson - Ellington Medley - Digital at Montreux
Chaka Khan, Lenny White, Chick Corea, - All Of Me - Echoes Of An Era
Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Stanley Clarke
Jeff Beck - Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers - Blow By Blow
Julius Hemphill - Leora - Julius Hemphill Big Band
Pat Martino - Line Games - Joyous Lake
Oregon - The Rapids - Oregon
Hugh Masekela - In The Marketplace - I Am Not Afraid
The Heath Brothers - Mellowdrama - Passing Thru…
Joan Armatrading - The Weakness In Me - Walk Under Ladders
Branford Marsalis - Love Stone - Renaissance
Michal Urbaniak - Circular Road - Serenade For The City
Nina Simone - I Shall Be Released - To Love Somebody

The ode to musical styles past and present that introduces Jazz Gumbo in “Music Evolution” by Branford Marsalis and Buckshot Lefonque.

Playlists for all past Sets of Jazz Gumbo will be found at
jazzgumbo.blogspot.ca


This set was broadcast and recorded shortly after the passing of Hugh Masekela on January 23rd. I never got to see Masekela live, but enjoyed his music from the time of his big hit in the 60’s with “Grazing In The Grass”. The album I played from here, “I Am Not Afraid” has been a favorite for decades.

It was only after years of listening to his music, and that of his countryman Abdullah Ibrahim (formerly known as Dollar Brand), and later to Ladysmith Black Mambazo, that I came to recognize the particular South African-ness of this music. There’s a beautiful melancholy in it that evokes a depth of feeling. It’s music that – like the tune I played this night – can’t help but tell a story. It’s just so full of life and memory.

How many of the musicians who contributed to this Set have passed, I couldn’t say. Oscar Peterson passed not so many years ago, and in tonight’s offering he makes a dazzling tribute to Ellington, who passed long before him, and to Billy Strayhorn, who wrote “Lush Life”, one of the sweetest, most melancholy tunes ever written.

What a thing it must be to leave music behind, and to forever be able to touch hearts with melody and harmony and rhythm, as these great musicians have done. They spread joy, they spread love, and so remain deeply engaged with life.

Thrive!
Kirby Obsidian

Artist - Tune - Album
Courtney Pine - The 37th Chamber - Modern Day Jazz Stories
Michal Urbaniak - Y Note - Urban Express
The Cinematic Orchestra - All That You Can Give - Every Day
Nana Simopoulos - Wings and Air - Wings and Air
Nat King Cole - But Beautiful - The Very Thought Of You
Abdullah Ibrahim - The Perfumed Forest, Wet With Rain - Africa–Tears & Laughter
Jill Scott - A Long Walk - Who Is Jill Scott
Chico Freeman - Monk 2000 - The Pied Piper
Mandrill - Mango Meat - Just Outside Of Town
Marion Brown featuring Allen Murphy - Visions - Vista
Pharoah Sanders - Greetings to Idris - Journey To The One
Billy Joel - Just The Way You Are - The Stranger
Sarah Vaughan - Every Day I Have The Blues - Sassy Swings Again
Jamaaladeen Tacuma - The Next Stop - Renaissance Man
Quincy Jones - O Happy Day - Walking In Space

The ode to musical styles past and present that introduces Jazz Gumbo in “Music Evolution” by Branford Marsalis and Buckshot Lefonque.

Playlists for all past Sets of Jazz Gumbo will be found at
jazzgumbo.blogspot.ca


A pretty broad mix of things this week, and it remains me of the amazing diversity of human expression, of all the many ways we can be moved. And, as I approach six years of producing this Podcast, I delight in playing artists and individual cuts that I haven’t before, as well as favorites that I reintroduce now and again.

So I make note of the Courtney Pine piece, from a newly acquired album, to Nana Simopoulos, an artist entirely new to me, and to Billy Joel, who is not someone who normally comes to mind for inclusion, but whose gorgeous pop standard I find irresistible.

The Podomatic stats page tells me that I’m drawing listeners from more and more cities and countries. As always, I’d love to hear from any of you who care to share a word about the music, who have a request, a complaint or best of all, a recommendation of an amazing artist you think ought to be heard more widely, that I might share with your fellow listeners.

Thanks for your ears; I hope they enjoy this week’s flavors!

Thrive!
Kirby Obsidian