The Late Brazilian jazz pianist and band leader Sergio Mendes, who passed away this month, was best known for fronting the Bossa Nova group Brazil 66 who had there first big hit with the Brazilian song Mais Que Nada sung in Portuguese it more or less translates as "Much of Nothing." It was great to see and hear all the tributes to Sergio Mendes and his music. But I was flummoxed that there was never any mention of his truly breakthrough group Brasil 65. Yes before Brasil 66 there was Brasil 65 and for me they were the most exciting and authentic musicians doing Brazilian jazz at that time.

This is a special episode of Return To Vinyls. Remembering Sergio Mendes. Before his breakout recordings with Brazil 66 there was Brazil 65 and it is every bit as good.

This episode is dedicated to James Green, audio artist and friend who also was a fan of Sergio Mendes. We saw Brasil 66 in concert together. My experiences with Jim have been a constant flow throughout much of this series of podcasts. Rest in peace brother.

You need to look no further than the album cover from a new release from British jazz musician Matthew Halsall to know that art and nature both play a critical part in his work. His LP An Ever Changing View has to be one of the most beautiful vinyl packages ever produced. The two record set doesn't stop there, it also contains some really interesting music as well. 

Along with art his other non-musical influence is the natural world. His music is a blend of jazz and deeply meditative influences that’s in tune with the natural world. In fact he wrote much of the album while staying in a house overlooking the North Sea in England.

There are artists and writers that create works about nature but there are also others who use nature as a jumping off point. But what about musicians? We can go back 300 years and see, how yes even then, nature played a part in the creation of music. And it still does today.

Do we need yet one more album of someone playing their favorite Beatles hits? When it is Brad Mehldau yes we do. One of the world's top jazz pianists — rated among the top five  on National Public Radio and winner of the Downbeat Magazine Reader's Poll eight times, has delved into a few Beatles songs in the past. But this time he jumps in with both feet and the results will surprise and impress you. So what is it about the Beatles and their songs anyway? We will find out from someone who was there. At least in front of the TV during their first American visit and in the stadium during a concert —  the only American Beatles concert to not sell out. They hated the town and said they would never come back! Let's look at Your Mother Should Know: Brad Mehldau Plays The Beatles.

Marvin Gaye is certainly a well known Motown star. You may know a bit about the tragic story of his life and death. But you probably do not know all the details and the struggles he went through. Nor the vast catalogue of his many hit records. Add to that all the changes Gaye’s music went through as American society changed in the 1960s and 1970s. 

And I bet you have never heard any of R&B singer David Porter’s albums on Stax records. Which is amazing because you no doubt do know his songs. But the man could do much more — he could turn bubble gum into soul! We look at exclusive releases of a classic David Porter from Vinyl Me Please and a new release of a complication of Marvin Gaye’s best sellers from Target

This episode looks at Time Outtakes‚ a Vinyl, CD and download from Brubeck Editions of just that - outtakes of the famous Dave Brubeck Quartet Time Out sessions. The album comes from an earlier recording session where they were still ironing out the details that would become Time Out and Take Five. It is a chance to look further at the process of building the album and explore and compare the original release with this release of alternative outtakes. It is an interesting dive into the creative process of four masterful musicians.

Color may not be the first thing you think of with music. But it is there hiding in plain site. Western music is based on the Chromatic Scale from the Greek, chrôma, meaning color. Think of a piano with white and black keys. If you follow through both the white and black keys (the flats and sharps) you get 12 equal pitches — that is the Chromatic Scale. The term Chromatic goes back to the Greeks and was refined in the Renaissance. 

Or the notion of color in music can be used in the sense that visual colors, like music, consists of a spectrum. Also in music the term timbre, referring to the quality of sound as opposed to its tone or strength, can also be referred to as "tone color." But what if color itself is a major motivator for a musician. Up and coming British jazz saxophonist Emma Rawicz is such a musician.

Rhythm and Blues, or R&B as it is normally referred to, emerged on the music scene in the early 1950s. By the early 1960s R&B, particularly that coming out of Detroit from Barry Gordy’s Tabla and Motown labels was popular across a broad spectrum of music. But as the Beatles and British invasion music begin to dominate the pop charts, R&B took a turn from the heavily orchestrated Motown sound of groups like the Supremes and Temptations to deeper soul music. Wilson Pickett was one of the singers who both rode that new wave and helped drive it. Pickett’s story tells us a lot about not just his career and R&B in general but American culture as well. So what is the story? We will find out and look at a new exclusive version of a Wilson Pickett classic LP and a new compilation of Pickett’s hits.

Updated newly edited version of the first episode with improved content.

The thing about a great work of art, a true masterpiece, be it music, visual art or literature is that the person or the people who created it generally had no idea that it would take on a life of its own. Creativity can be frustrating at times!

The song Take Five and the Dave Brubeck jazz album Time Out were both huge commercial hits. Released in December of 1959 Time Out was the number two selling album in the country in November 1961. Why the almost two year gap? That's what we are here to find out. It is a fascinating story.