A Double Shot Of Jazz Underground

This edition of Notes From The Jazz Underground was culled from the June 17th  & June 24th broadcasts.

Ever since we launched Tomorrow's Verse, we've been playing catch-up with these NFTJU posts, so let's combine two of them into a huge Jazz Underground DOUBLE SHOT for your listening pleasure and get us up to date.

The 6/17 broadcast was a dedication to host Paul Abella's wife, Christina, with whom he was celebrating a big ten year anniversary that night.  Pretty much everything here had something to do with her, whether it was overt (Sonic Youth and Tortoise tunes... she's a big fan), or tunes that Paul has turned her on to (Karsh Kale, the RH Factor), or stuff that has a personal story behind it (the Bebel Gilberto cut came from a disc that both sides of the couple had while dating). 

So, was there any musical rhyme or reason to it?  Maybe not so much.  But does it all come from the place that all great music comes from, LOVE?  Absolutely.  Hopefully you dig it as much as Paul enjoyed did making it.

Programming note.  I many have shocked Paul by finding the DKV Trio stuff online (embedded below via bandcamp)... but for the June 24th broadcast we came awfully close to a first: an all Spotify available NFTJU.

There was really no theme to that one, just a bunch of great tunes, and a nod to TV faves Phish.  Here's some highlights:

  • Matt Jorgensen + 451 are stunningly good.  Here, they're able to take a mildly heady Coldplay tune and turn it into a really excellent jazz vehicle
  • Greg Spero is an excellent local pianist who has moved out to L.A.
  • Paul Wertico's disc, Impressions of a City, has more than a little hints of early 70's Pink Floyd.  
  • The two Metheny songs show off two of the great Methenyisms:  "Roofdogs" contains one of those moments where he rages just as hard as any rock star, and with Ornette, he completely gives himself over to what Coleman is doing and loses himself in it
  • The Theo Croker and Marcus Strickland are new releases that are right on the cutting edge of what's happening in modern jazz right now.
  • And of course, there are those two rather lengthy Phish jams smack dab in the middle of the show.  Abella was at both of these shows, though regrettably, we had to replace the Live Bait 11 "Stash" from a similar one from the same year.  Darn Spotify.

Full playlists are below.

 

Complete Playlist 6/17

Track Artist Album
Pastor "T"  The RH Factor  Hard Groove 
Culver City Park  Dave Douglas  Freak In 
Love  George Duke  Feel 
Rise Up  Karsh Kale  Broken English 
Tillana  Trilok Gurtu  Crazy Saints 
Apti  Rudresh Mahanthappa's Indo-Pak Coalition  Apti 
Superstar  Sonic Youth  If I Were A Carpenter 
High Class Slim Came Floatin' In  Tortoise  Beacons of Ancestorship 
Sem Contencao  Bebel Gilberto  Brasil 2Mil 
In 3's  Beastie Boys  The In Sound From Way Out 
East Broadway Run Down  DKV Trio  Trigonometry 
Green and Gold  Takuya Kuroda  Rising Son 
Sketches in Red, Yellow, Brown, Black and White  Roy Ayers Ubiquity  Live at Montreux 
38 1/2 Irakere  Grupo Irakere 
Elegua/Rumba Chevere  Chevere de Chicago  Secret Dream 
Our House  Fareed Haque  Deja Vu 

 

Complete Playlist 6/24

 
Track Artist Album
God Put A Smile Upon Your Face Matt Jorgensen + 451 Hope
March Eighteenth The Grassy Knoll The Grassy Knoll
Fly Greg Spero Electric
Let's Get Mashed Zony Mash Cold Spell
Arlmyn Trangent David Binney Balance
The Boss Needs To See You Paul Wertico Impressions of a City
Geometry of Murder Pelican Ephemeral
Roofdogs Pat Metheny The Unity Sessions
Song X Pat Metheny & Ornette Coleman Song X
Thank You, Boys Jane's Addiction Nothing's Shocking
Supera Julian Lage Arclight
The Divided Sky Phish Live Phish, Volume 12
Stash Phish Live Bait, Volume 11
Meditations Theo Croker Escape Velocity
Beeah Medeski, Martin and Wood It's A Jungle In Here
Alive Marcus Strickland Nihil Novi
Sissoko's Voyage Marcus Strickland Nihil Novi

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