Jazz: From Dave Brubeck To Miles Davis

KXJZ To Present "Jazz: The '59 Sound" 06/10/09
(Repeated 06/22/09)


Don't know about jazz? Want to learn? The best way is to simply listen for awhile; you'll soon discover what you do and don't like. In the '60s, I got my start by tuning into WJZZ and WDET in Detroit after WABX started playing tracks from Miles Davis' seminal crossover LP, Bitches Brew, featuring the likes of John McLaughlin (Mahavishnu Orchestra), never mind Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter (the latter two being Weather Report co-founders).

Today, Sacramento's KXJZ has a great nightly jazz program, with their Gary Vercelli having introduced me to some great tracks I otherwise might never have heard. Examples include Hemispheres' awesome Orca Stroll (led by Ian Dogole and featuring {the group} Oregon's fabulous Paul McCandless) as well as Lea DeLaria's cover of Los Lobos' Kiko and the Lavender Moon.


From KXJZ yesterday morning:

Jazz is a living music that evolves and expands. Each generation of players brings in the sounds of their time and affect the course of its growth. June 10th at 9 pm (PDT) we'll explore this.

In 1959, jazz music got a kick start in many directions. Innovators like Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, and Dave Brubeck tried new approaches and concepts that are still being worked on today. Through albums such as Sketches of Spain, Mingus Ah Um, and Time Out, jazz was set on a new course that would change the musical landscape forever.

But I mean jazz...jazz is where it's at!

Traffic, Giving To You

In this one hour radio show, you will hear highlights from these classic records, as well as the inspiration and ideas behind the music created in 1959 from musicians Dave Brubeck and Carlos Santana, journalist Ben Ratliff, and composers and conductors Russell Gloyd and Maria Schneider, and family members and noted jazz historians Sue Mingus and Darius Brubeck.

Don't live in the Sacramento area? No problem—KXJZ streams its programming on the 'Net. Just remember that this special jazz program airs next Wednesday at 9 pm Pacific Daylight Time.

Bonus: Click here to sample each track from Hemispheres' Night Harvest CD, which you may purchase from Ian Dogole's website. You may also click here to play a video of the group's Nostalgia, recorded in 2003 at the best venue ever—142 Throckmorton Theater in Mill Valley, CA. This is where we had front row seats for Hemispheres' 2008 show.

What else was going in the world of jazz in 1959? Click here to find out.