In the Groove, Jazz and Beyond

Part two of our 2012 retrospective has a local connection. All of the music featured on this podcast is from jazz cats with roots in the Hartford area. Don't be fooled by the "local" moniker, this is some of the hottest jazz being produced today. Many of these albums deserve to be on anyones top 20 releases of 2012. If you haven't heard of these players, listen up. Most of these cats will burning it up in jazz clubs around the globe for years to come. Some already are.

2012 was a great year for new jazz releases. This show is only part 1 of some of the memorable jazz albums released this year. We lead off with Robert Glasper and Black Radio. A crossover album that hit the charts in both Jazz and R&B. Other notable releases were from Kenny Garrett, Branford Marsalis, Miguel Zenon, Billy Hart, Kris Allen, Greg Abate and more. One of my favorite CD's and concerts of the year was from Pat Metheny's Unity Band that I had the pleasure of seeing three times! Lot's more great albums were released, and I will play more in next week's podcast. Featured Album Four MFs Playin' Tunes - Branford Marsalis Quartet on iTunes Track ~ Artist ~ Album Afro Blue ~ Robert Glasper Experiment ~ Black Radio Welcome Earth Song ~ Kenny Garrett ~ Seeds From the Underground Teo Branford Marsalis ~ Branford Marsalis ~ Four MF's Playin' Tunes Foti and Liminitz ~ Kris Allen ~ Circle House Talita ~ Miguel Zenon and Laurent Coq ~ Rayuela Tolli's Dance ~ Billy Hart ~ All Our Reasons Realization ~ Greg Abate ~ Greg Abate Quintet featuring Phil Woods Heavenly Hours ~ Gary Smulyan ~ Smul's Paradise Come and See ~ Pat Metheny ~ Unity Band A Shifting Design ~ Kurt Rosenwinkel ~ Star of Jupiter

This show was broadcast just after attending the homegoing of Ana Marquez-Green, slain in the Newtown CT tragedy one week ago. The theme of the service and of this show is Love Wins. Ana's father Jimmy Greene is one of the most respected and revered members of the jazz community in Hartford, having been raised and schooled here. Jimmy and Nelba have shown tremendous strength, compassion and love in dealing with this tragedy. Love will heal us, love will be the impetus for change, love will keep Ana's memory alive. As always, Love Wins!

This is a somber episode of In the Groove in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook school tragedy. It is dedicated to the victims and the families of those affected by this terrible event. Joining me for this podcast is Dane Scozzari as we present some of his compositions and try to inject some holiday spirit into our heavy hearts. The tragedy especially hit home with the news that Hartford's own tenor sax great Jimmy Greene and his wife Nelba lost their beautiful young daughter Ana in this awful incident. Dane and I try to express our sadness over their loss. When words cannot express one's feelings, music seems to fill that void. Jimmy wrote a beautiful composition in honor of his daughter, so we play Ana Grace from his Mission Statement album. That is followed by another Jimmy Greene original, Anthem of Hope which is certainly relevant for today.

In this week's podcast we remember Dave Brubeck, who passed away on December 5 on day before his 92nd birthday. Dave was perhaps best known for his unique use of time in music and we explore that with both his own works, and some modern jazz artists that were influenced by Dave's playing. We begin with Dave Brubeck's most successful album Time Out and the track Blue Rondo A La Turk and then from Time Further Out. George Benson covers Brubeck's best known work, Take Five. We switch gears to modern day jazz artists such as Hiromi, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Sinan Bakir, Donny McCaslin, and Robert Glasper.

On this show, recorded post-Thanksgiving weekend, we feature all new releases, featuring Kurt Rosenwinkel's Star of Jupiter. We also play a couple from Brad Mehldau's latest as well as Donald Vega, Yaron Israel, Branford Marsalis, Kurt Eling, Bad Plus and Donny McCaslin.

For this Thanksgiving special, we feature some beautiful jazz compositions inspired by Giving Thanks. Included in the podcast is the audio of a Thanksgiving tribute from Wynton Marsalis that was aired on CBS This Morning. The video is below. Besides the holiday tunes we also get to hear new music from Kris Allen, Sinan Bakir, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Donny McCaslin, Brad Mehldau and others. I hope you all have a great deal to be thankful for on this holiday.

The fine guitarist Sinan Bakir comes to the WHUS studio to promote his new CD Tales & Stories. We talk to Sinan about the new album, his early life in Turkey and how that influenced his music. Sinan gets the Blindfold Test as well. Also heard on today's podcast is Scolohofo, Tony Williams Lifetime and John McLaughlin.

I had to skip this weeks radio broadcast to visit family in Rochester. So, for this podcast, we will revisit one that was published about a year ago that features some Rochester musicians. We bring you drummer Mike Melito and guitarist Bob Sneider, a couple of the central figures in the Rochester jazz scene. The next track is from The Westview Project, a jazz trio with the addition of Doug Stone on tenor sax. This podast also has some of the masters of the genre. We featured Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Kenny Garrett on tonight's show. Hope you enjoy.

We pay tribute to the post hurricane victims from last week and look towards the upcoming elections in this podcast. First a moving rendition of Trane's After the Rain by clarinetist Anat Cohen. We follow that with a mashup I created using Sonny Rollin's Freedom Suite with excerpts from President Obama's inaugural speech from January 2009. While that election was one of historic proportions, this one is just as important for setting the future direction of our nation. Please vote on Tuesday, November 6. It is your civic duty to do so, and it sure feels good to participate in our democracy. The rest of the podcast features some fine playing and composing by Noah Baerman. We finish out this podcast with Mingus' classic Fables of Faubus.

Some killin' MF's playing sax on this podcast including Branford Marsalis, Seamus Blake, John Coltrane, Jerry Bergonzi, Sonny Rollins and more. Besides featured sax players, also on this podcast is new music from the Le Boeuf Brothers to start the show and a vocal chorus led by Bobby McFerrin. Hartford is represented on Winard Harper's album (Jovan Alexandre, sax and Stephen King Porter, bass), and Karen Frisk's vocals finish out the show.

This podcast presents many fine jazz artists, but the gems of this show might be in the last two tracks from Kurt Elling. His new release 1619 Broadway is featured here. We start with the Burton-McPherson Quartet, and then get into brand new releases from drummers Winard Harper, Yaron Israel and Alto saxophonist Kris Allen. Featured Album 1619 Broadway ‒ Kurt Elling on iTunes Track ~ Artist ~ Album Dad ~ Abraham Burton-Eric McPherson Quartet ~ Cause and Effect Underground ~ New Jazz Workshop ~ Underground Coexist ~ Winard Harper and Jeli Posse ~ Coexist Jeli Posse ~ Winard Harper and Jeli Posse ~ Coexist Creepin' ~ Yaron Israel ~ Visions Compassion ~ Kris Allen ~ Circle House Shoppin' for Clothes ~ Kurt Elling ~ 1619 Broadway American Tune ~ Kurt Elling ~ 1619 Broadway

This show features Pat Metheny as a prelude to a live show at University of Connecticut that commenced following this broadcast. We start with a track from the original Pat Metheny Group from 1978 followed by a later iteration of the group 20 years later, and then from his latest group the Unity Band. We also hear from the band's saxophonist Chris Potter and his group Underground. Weather Report and Michael Brecker are included in the show, as well as newcomers Hammer Klavier Trio and Kris Allen.

This podcast showcases Dave Holland who turned 66 on October 1. Dave Holland is one of the greatest bassists and band leaders in jazz. He was in the influential Miles Davis' band that pioneered fusion jazz in the late 60's, early 70's. He was on the landmark albums In A Silent Way, and Bitches Brew. Prior to his performance at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival in Lennox, MA in September of 2009, I had the opportunity to interview jazz bassist Dave Holland. We spoke about the beginning of his career in jazz, working with Miles, his thoughts on composition and bass playing.

Our in-studio guest is alto sax artist Kris Allen, a fixture in the Hartford jazz scene as well as a jazz educator. We feature music from his premier release Circle House on Truth Revolution Records. Besides talking about his close association with Jackie McLean, we also give him an apparently easy Blindfold Test ala Downbeat. Also on this podcast is music off of Jen Allen's CD (Kris' wife) and the violin playing of Andrei Matorin.