Peter, Paul & Mary's long, legendary career was cut short with Mary Travers' tragic death in 2009, but their place in the cultural zeitgeist is eternal. Noel, a part-time Ojai resident, joins us to talk about his new album, "Fazz: Now & Then" and to reflect on the experience of collaborating with fellow musicians during the pandemic to create this nuanced, wide-ranging collection of 20 original songs with talented musicians such as Kent Palmer, Paul Winter, Paul Sullivan, David LaPlante and Edward Mottau.

Fazz, as Noel explains, was christened by Paul Desmond of the Dave Brubeck Quartet to explain Peter, Paul & Mary's distinct fusion of jazz and folk. Noel picks up the resident Ojai podcast guitar (be still, my heart) to explain the shadings of alternate chord structures that inform much of the color of the album, as illustrated by the A Major, and the A Major 7th, its "smoky, mysterious cousin."

Noel talks about writing "The Wedding Song: There is Love" - for Peter Yarrow's wedding, and his reluctance to perform it again until urged by Peter, and how it has made many, if not most, of the lists of most beautiful songs of all time, right up there with fellow Ojai resident Amanda McBroom's "The Rose." He also discusses his Christian faith and the epiphany he had at age 30 after a decade of fame, and the toll it took on his well-being. There’s relevant folk music news: Noel’s good friend John McCutcheon just released “Ukraine Now.”

We did not talk about Ron DeSantis' fading aspirations, the Buffalo Bills abysmal overtime record or the enduring mystery of who ordered the hit on Tupac Shakur.