Jazz Bastard Podcast Patrick Burnette

In the last (for a little while, at least) of our one-artist focused podcasts, the boys take a deep dive into bassist/composer/bandleader Ben Allison's latest four releases. Ben's an exact contemporary of our intrepid podcasters, if a bit better looking and more talented, and they followed his career from early days until a few years back when they stopped picked up releases for a hot minute. Anyway, here's all the news on two projects by Ben's new trio as well as two quartet pro...

The record store day madness continues as the boys take two Cannonball Adderley air-shots from France for a spin. Whether he's Poppin in Paris or Burning in Bordeaux, the listener can hear Adderley's group transitioning from the sixties to the seventies, even if things get bumpy from time to time. To put the great alto saxophone player's creativity into context, two of his more surprising releases on Capitol Records also get a look in. Once you've heard the man's stone class...

Where jazz drumming's concerned, sometimes Blakey makes ya shaky and Buddy's too thud-y. Where to turn? Go West, young man, and samples the wares of one Shelly Manne. Manne, a transplanted Easterner, made a career in California logging studio work, appearing on countless sessions, and leading his own group with varying personnel that was always know as Shelly Manne's men. Now, just in time for Record Store Day, Reel to Real is issuing live days by the Manne and, with ...

Sometimes podcast hosts just want to watch the world - or at least their co-host - burn. Hence the explanation for the inclusion of a pretty inexplicable pander-fest in this otherwise august and serious podcast. The other selections (all recent releases) incorporate humor in a couple of cases, and, well, don't in the most serious selection. Pat reports on a live concert by the more furrowed-browed of the alto saxophonists while Mike catches a few much needed zzzz's. G...

After a couple episodes away, we return to the New York Times list of best jazz albums of 2023 and finish it off. It's happier days for the most part. The boys acknowledge that these selections are all, more or less, actually jazz, and some are even pretty enjoyable. Jonathan Suazo – RICANO; Mendoza Hoff Revels – ECHOLOCATION; Micah Thomas – REVEAL; Matana Roberts - COIN COIN CHAPTER FIVE: IN THE GARDEN.

For some fans, the story of jazz saxophone begins with John Coltrane. This episode, the boys interview Owen Broder, who gives propers to Coltrane's old boss, Johnny Hodges. Mainstay of the Duke Ellington band and lover of lettuce and tomato sandwiches, the Rabbit (as he was known) possessed the most sumptuous sound ever heard from an alto saxophone and knew every microtone of the territory between each note of the scale. Owen talks about his Hodges Front and Center duo...