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Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show

Jeffrey Siegel

The Award-winning jazz podcast, hosted by Jeffrey Siegel.

music performing arts

All Episodes

30:02

Podcast 958: A Conversation with Sean Mendelson

Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show ·

2023/11/20

For the first time ever, the complete Vince Guaraldi soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, the timeless 10th animated Peanuts special, from writer and creator Charles Schulz, director Bill Melendez and Phil Roman and producers Melendez and Lee Mendelson. Originally airing on November 20, 1973 on CBS-TV, the special has been broadcast or streamed every year for the last 50 years. But the soundtrack album has remained elusively out of reach. Now we have the original recordings that comprise

26:45

Podcast 957: A Conversation with Michael Dease and...

Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show ·

2023/11/18

Perennial DownBeat Critics Poll winner trombonist Michael Dease has embraced his role as a torchbearer for his mentors and the great jazz ancestors over his 15 deeply-swinging, state-of-the-art mainstream recordings. For The Other Shoe (Origin Records), Dease teams with the formidable composer Gregg Hill, expanding his rhythmic & harmonic palette with a flexible, in-the-moment perspective while remaining true to the sensibilities at his musical core. With the prodigiously talented pianist

31:48

Podcast 956: A Conversation with Jon Cowherd

Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show ·

2023/11/17

Keyboardist Jon Cowherd has been on my list of interview subjects for a long time, and after an unconscionable delay, Podcast 956 features him and his latest release, a trio album on the Le Coq Records imprint called "Pride and Joy." And what a trio it is - Cowherd joined by long-time friend and musical running partner Brian Blade on drums, and the sensational John Patitucci on bass. Add guest spots by Chris Potter on saxophone and Alex Acuna on percussion, and you have a killer lineup for a

22:27

Podcast 955: A Conversation with Douyé

Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show ·

2023/10/10

As a fan of the Great American Songbook (and really, who isn't?) I'm always looking for new and different approaches to these storied songs. Enter the Nigerian born singer Douyé, whose latest release The Golden Sèkèrè, is a wonderful meld of polyrhythms, swing and soul. Having grwon up listening to American torch singers as well as Afrobeat, it was inevitable that Douyé, would tackle tunes by Ray Noble, Cole Porter and Richard Rodgers. Her Nigerian-steeped support team features arrangers Bada Ken

29:34

Podcast 954: A Conversation with Joe Alterman about...

Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show ·

2023/10/09

Pianists Joe Alterman and Les McCann make something of an odd couple. The pair are separated in age by more than half a century; McCann is confined to a medical rehab facility in Los Angeles, while Alterman left New York City to return to his native Atlanta, Georgia six years ago. But since their paths first crossed back in 2012, according to Alterman, “barely a day has passed that we haven't chatted.” So it's only natural that Alterman's trio would evenually tackle the McCann songbook, and now we

36:36

Podcast 953: A Conversation with Omer Klein

Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show ·

2023/06/15

Listeners to Straight No Chaser know I have great fondness for the music of the piano trio, an art I consider one of the highest forms of jazz in terms of improvisation and collaboration. The music these groups make grows richer over time, so those groups that stay together can often take their sound to another level as they mature. Pianist Omer Klein has made some of the most intriguing piano trio music of the recent past. His latest album Life & Fire marks an anniversary – Klein and his trio

33:15

Podcast 952: A Conversation with Eric Reed

Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show ·

2023/06/13

"I'm freer than I've ever been in my personal life, and I'm freer than I've ever been in my music. I'm accepting who I am. I love who I am. And as I continue to evolve – my artistry, my sexuality, and my overall humanity – my music will continue to become more and more personal” - Eric Reed Pianist Eric Reed has been a key component in memorable bands led by Wynton Marsalis, Joe Henderson and Freddie Hubbard, but I've founds the recordings he has made as a leader in his own right the most

23:53

Podcast 951: A Conversation with Wayne Escoffery

Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show ·

2023/06/11

Wayne Escoffery was riding high the morning I spoke with him. And why not? Just that weekend he had become the first person of color to conduct a performance of Charles Mingus' epic "Epitaph.," a piece he had played before under the direction of Gunther Schuller. His latest album, Like Minds, ws just out on Smoke Sessions Records, and featured top notch guests like Gregory Porter, Tom Harrell, and Mike Moreno joining Escoffery’s quartet of David Kikoski, Ugonna Okegwo, and Mark Whitfield, Jr

26:11

Podcast 950: A Conversation with Tomer Cohen

Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show ·

2023/06/09

A new face on the New York jazz scene, 25-year-old guitarist-composer Tomer Cohen made his debut as a leader earlier this year with the release of Not the Same River, an album that shows how painting with sound and silence can create often striking musical moods. Accompanied by the highly interactive rhythm tandem of drummer Obed Calvaire (a ubiquitous figure on the NYC scene and currently a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis) and stalwart bassist Matt

33:38

Podcast 949: A Conversation with Joe McCarthy

Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show ·

2023/06/07

If you think Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s remarkable, 1960 interpretation of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s 1892 ballet, The Nutcracker, is the final jazz word on the popular orchestral work, think again. Performed by drummer/leader Joe McCarthy’s New York Afro Bop Alliance Big Band, The Pan American Nutcracker Suite is a distinctly different take on the famous score, integrating the polyrhythms and distinctive percussion from across the world, most notably McCarthy’s playground of choice, Latin

43:38

Podcast 948: Previewing the Freihofer's Saratoga Jazz...

Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show ·

2023/06/05

If it’s June, then jazz festival season must be underway. As always, the early highlight for me is Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival, held in lovely Saratoga Springs’ Performing Arts Center June 24-25. Impressario Danny Melnick has a strong lineup for the festival this year, with acts performing on two stages, along with juried crafts, food and drink. The line-ups for Saturday, June 24 include Snarky Puppy, Angelique Kidjp, Tower of Power, Chucho Valdes, Cory Wong and the Cindy Blackman Santana

29:03

Podcast 947: A Conversation with Ann Hampton Callaway

Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show ·

2023/06/01

It’s been a while, but I’m pleased to say that Straight No Chaser is back in business! There is a lot of great content coming up, so please spread the word. We’ll kick things off with my conversation with singer/songwriter/arranger Ann Hampton Callaway. Ann has a new album out on Palmetto Records, and it’s her tribute to one of her earliest music heroes, Peggy Lee. The recording come on the heels of Callaway’s show, Fever: The Peggy Lee Century, a 100th birthday celebration of the singer at the

54:50

Podcast 946: Christmas Jazz: New for 2022

Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show ·

2022/12/12

Looking for some new Christmas jazz tunes to brighten your hoilday spirit? Our annual consumer guide gives you a chance to hear a track or two from recent releases of holiday music. This year features "new" releases from Norah Jones and Vince Guaraldi (deluxe versions of previous albums) and a comprehensive collection from Louis Armstrong. There are also single/EP only tunes from Laila Biali, Samara Joy, and Matt Wilson. I'm featuring two tracks from Andy James' Bells Are Ringing (Le Coq Records)

28:36

Podcast 944: A Conversation with Tawanda

Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show ·

2022/12/07

We heard from promising young jazz singer Samara Joy in Podcast 943 last week, and today it’s Tawanda’s turn. When she tied for first place with Gabrielle Cavassa in the 9th Annual Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, the feat was all the more impressive given that Tawanda had performed her first full show just a year before. Raised in the deep south of New Mexico on the border with Texas, she is proudly a first generation American with a mother from Germany and a father from

25:14

Podcast 943: A Conversation with Samara Joy

Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show ·

2022/11/29

On Straight No Chaser this week, we feature two promising young female vocalists and their most recent releases. Both Samara Joy McLendon and Tawanda Suessbrich-Joaquim have professionally dropped their last names. Both were winners of the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Competition, in 2019 and 2021, respectively ( Tawanda’s competition was originally slated to be held in 2020 but delayed due to COVID). Both are following well-worn paths of singing standards and modern pop songs with small group

32:21

Podcast 942: The Return of The Headhunters - A...

Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show ·

2022/11/13

Back in the early 70’s, drummer Mike Clark and bassist Paul Jackson were best friends, living in East Oakland, playing flatbed gigs at Black Panther rallies and generally raising hell. Cooking was not their forte, so the barbecue joint next door became a hangout. Mrs. Jones (of Everett and Jones) asked them to write a song to promote the spot, and they came up with the first version of ‘God Made Me Funky.’ Bill Summers worked with Jackson at the local record store, and he jumped at an opportunity

31:15

Podcast 941: A Conversation with Bobby Watson

Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show ·

2022/11/12

Bobby Watson continues to carry the Hard Bop torch well into the 21st century. And he sounds as vibrant as ever on his latest release, Back Home in Kansas City (Smoke Sessions Records), which was released last month. He’s joined by some familiar faces – his longtime rhythm section of bassist Curtis Lundy and drummer Victor Jones along with two stars in their own right - pianist Cyrus Chestnut and trumpeter Jeremy Pelt. The album is made up of Watson tunes old and new, as he finally got around to

22:56

Podcast 940: A Conversation with Marshall Gilkes

Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show ·

2022/11/07

Marshall Gilkes keeps one foot firmly in the world of jazz, and another in the classical world. On any given night in New York, you might find the trombonist playing with the New York Philharmonic, filling in a Big Band brass section, or soloing with a salsa band. He is in demand as part of the Maria Schneider Orchestra and the WDR Big Band, as well as the Slide Monsters Trombone Quartet, and leading his own projects This has led to his producing six critically acclaimed albums, along with his

19:24

Podcast 939: A Conversation with Sammy Stein

Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show ·

2022/10/24

I enjoyed having author Sammy Stein on the podcast so much (check out Podcast 810), when I learned she had a new book out, I had to have her back. The Wonder of Jazz: Music That Changed the World is slim in size but not in scope, as she takes both the jazz newbie and the aficinado on a tour of jazz past, present and future. Backed with a long listening list, it represents the ideal read for those looking to get deeper into this great music. Early Christmas present anyone? Her previous book, All

25:16

Podcast 938: A Conversation with Bruce Barth

Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show ·

2022/10/14

A pivotal member of New York's Jazz scene for 40 years, pianist Bruce Barth's inspired vision and generous accompaniment has always led to rich musical collaborations, none more so than with his working trio of many years with bassist Vicente Archer and drummer Montez Coleman. Their collective voice found its perfect setting, which makes the release of Dedication a profound and emotion-filled moment, as Montez passed away 5 months after the recording session at the age of 48. Celebrating the joy and

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