This Week: Old Favorites

This article is cross-posted from the Miles to Go Before I Sleep blog...

This week on Miles to Go Before I Sleep, I was joined in the studio by Will Quam, and together, we played some of our favorite jazz tunes from years gone by. The evening also saw a call-in from Take Five-member Nick Foster, who gave our show a shout-out and reminded everyone of the upcoming Take Five fall concert. Our setlist included several tracks from up-and-coming jazz artist Jamie Cullum (pictured left), who has quickly become one of my favorite new jazz cats. (You may remember his music from several weeks ago, when his cover of Rihanna's Don't Stop the Music was so popular with listeners that I was persuaded to play it a second time on the show.) Anywho, here's a rundown of what Will and I played this week:

1. Tom Sawyer - The Bad Plus
2. These are the Days - Jamie Cullum
3. So What - Miles Davis
4. Take Five - The Dave Brubeck Quartet
5. Coppin' the Bop - JJ Johnson
6. St. Thomas - Sonny Rollins
7. Autumn Leaves - The Bill Evans Trio
8. Stolen Moments - The Ahmad Jamal Trio
9. II B.S. - Charles Mingus
10. The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me) - Tom Waits
11. Singin' in the Rain - Jamie Cullum
12. Nutty - John Coltrane & Thelonious Monk
13. Chubb Sub - Medeski, Martin & Wood
14. Summertime - Miles Davis
15. Misty - Stan Getz & Dave Brubeck
16. Piano Solo [Live] - Yoko Kanno
17. Emily - Bill Evans
18. Windows - Chick Corea
19. IX Love - Charles Mingus
20. In a Sentimental Mood - Miles Davis, John Coltrane, & Duke Ellington

Talk-over music this week came courtesy of Medeski, Martin & Wood, Miles Davis, Yoko Kanno & The SeatBelts, and Booker T & the MG's. And just a quick reminder: Miles to Go will not be airing next Thursday, as it will be this DJ's favorite holiday, THANKSGIVING! So, enjoy your holiday feasts, keep your eyes peeled for snow, and look for Miles to Go in two weeks.

As per usual, for a rundown of the Miles to Go playlist each week, keep your browsers here, and for the best jazz et al. around, keep your radios (or your iTunes) tuned to WKCO 91.9 FM!

This Week: Under the Covers

This article is cross-posted from the Miles to Go Before I Sleep blog...

This week on Miles to Go Before I Sleep, I invited my listeners to join me under the covers - that is to say, I broadcast jazz covers of non-jazz songs, originally laid down by artists from Simon & Garfunkel to Nirvana to Rihanna. Several listeners called in requests, and I was joined in the studio by Rachel Walsh, who (after some coaxing) made her on-air debut. Also, I featured Paris Troika, an up-and-coming jazz trio which primarily covers rock songs in a rambunctious and infectious jazz style. I encourage everyone to check out their eponymous debut album. Here's a look at what tunes I played this week:

1. Don't Stop the Music - Jamie Cullum
2. Barracuda - The Bad Plus
3. Space Oddity - Paris Troika
4. Ziggy Stardust - Seu Jorge
5. Le Vieux Piano - Edith Piaf
6. Modal Mood - Dexter Gordon
7. White Christmas - Charlie Parker
8. Greensleeves - John Coltrane
9. Santa Claus is Coming to Town - Bill Evans
10. Layla - Paris Troika
11. Mrs. Robinson - Booker T. & The MG's
12. Somewhere - Tom Waits
13. Gone Daddy Gone - Gnarls Barkley
14. Smells Like Teen Spirit - The Bad Plus
15. Uptight (Everything's All Right) - Buddy Rich
16. In the Hall of the Mountain King - The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra
17. Pavanne - The Ahmad Jamal Trio
18. Hoe-Down - Oliver Nelson
19. Wind Cries Mary - Jamie Cullum
20. Purple Haze - Paris Troika
21. When You Wish Upon a Star - Bill Evans
22. Someday My Prince Will Come - The Bill Evans Trio
23. When I Fall in Love - Miles Davis

Talk-over music this week came courtesy of The Beatles, The Vince Guaraldi Trio, The Ahmad Jamal Trio, Curtis Mayfield, The Bad Plus, Booker T. & the MG's, Lee Konitz w/ The Gerry Mulligan Quartet, and Medeski, Martin & Wood.

As per usual, for a rundown of the Miles to Go playlist each week, keep your browsers here, and for the best jazz et al. around, keep your radios (or your iTunes) tuned to WKCO 91.9 FM!

This Week: Theme? We don't need no stinkin' theme!

This article is cross-posted from the Miles to Go Before I Sleep blog...

This week on Miles to Go Before I Sleep, I decided to ditch that trite, old convention of the theme (until next week) to just bring you a great assortment of jazz. Intern Dan Rasch joined me in the studio, and together we spun tunes from some of the greats.

We also paid homage to Clifford Brown this week, as he would've celebrated his 80th birthday on 30 October 2010. Brown, aka "Brownie," was an influential and highly rated American jazz trumpeter, and played with the likes of Max Roach, Horace Silver, and Sonny Rollins, among others. He died at the age of 25 in a tragic automobile accident, leaving behind only four years' worth of recordings. Even in such a short time, Clifford Brown made a name for himself as one of the greatest to ever pick up the horn, and is still regarded among the greats today.

We enjoyed a great listenership this week, many of whom wrote and called in to the show. We even featured a reading from the talented Paul Dougherty over the air, and I gave my regards to Kenyon (in Hindi) from one of my friends abroad. But enough of that - here's a look at what we played this week:

1. Cosmic Rays - Charlie Parker
2. Dream a Little Dream of Me - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
3. Don't Get Around Much Anymore - Duke Ellington
4. Lazybones - Leon Redbone
5. Mean to Me - Paul Desmond
6. Heart of Glass - The Bad Plus
7. Mètché Dershé - Mulatu Astatke
8. 21st-Century Schizoid Man - The Crimson Jazz Trio
9. Theme from M*A*S*H (Suicide is Painless) - Bill Evans
10. Lover, You Should've Come Over - Jamie Cullum
11. Eggs and Sausage (In a Cadillac with Susan Michaelson) - Tom Waits
12. Stardust - Clifford Brown & Max Roach
13. Butch & Butch - Oliver Nelson
14. Someone to Watch Over Me - Ella Fitzgerald
15. Aurora en Pekin - Marc Ribot y Los Cubanos Postizos
16. Rebel Rebel - Seu Jorge
17. Nuages - Django Reinhardt
18. Sing, Sing, Sing [Live] - Benny Goodman
19. Sweet Rain - Stan Getz
20. Milestones - Miles Davis

Talk-over music this week came courtesy of Booker T. & The MG's, The Crimson Jazz Trio, Paul Desmond, Yoko Kanno & The SeatBelts, Walter Wanderley Trio, Django Reinhardt, and Mark Soskin.

As per usual, for a rundown of the Miles to Go playlist each week, keep your browsers here, and for the best jazz et al. around, keep your radios (or your iTunes) tuned to WKCO 91.9 FM!

This Week: Great Jazz? You Betcha'!

This article is cross-posted from the Miles to Go Before I Sleep blog...

This week on Miles to Go Before I Sleep, the theme was...well, there was no theme - just great jazz. I took particular relish in featuring songs from artists new to my library, such as Clifford Brown, Haden & Rubalcaba, Art Blakey, and legendary pianist Horace Silver (pictured right). I was joined in the studio by my two interns - Sam and Daniel - and over the airwaves by the show's largest listenership thus far, and the lot of us bebopped and scatted to swingin' tunes through the night.  I also had the pleasure of debuting several liners produced by yours truly. Our selections this week were:

1. Excerpt: American Haikus - Jack Kerouac
2. Smells Like Teen Spirit - The Bad Plus
3. Yègellé Tezeta - Mulatu Astatke
4. What's New? - Clifford Brown & Max Roach
5. Windows - Chick Corea
6. Moonlight (Claro de Luna) - Charlie Haden & Gonzalo Rubalcaba
7. 'Til the Clouds Roll By - Paul Desmond
8. My Romance - The Ray Brown Trio
9. Come Rain or Shine - Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers
10. IX Love - Charles Mingus
11. Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis - Tom Waits
12. Rhapsody in Blue: A Medley - Eugen Cicero
13. In a Sentimental Mood - The Modern Jazz Quartet & Sonny Rollins
14. Stolen Moments - Oliver Nelson
15. The Lover - Medeski, Martin & Wood
16. Without You - Horace Silver
17. St. Thomas - Sonny Rollins
18. The Look of Love - The Ahmad Jamal Trio
19. The St. Vitus Dance - Horace Silver
20. Solar - Miles Davis

Talk-over music came courtesy of Mulatu Astatke, Paul Desmond, Yoko Kanno & The SeatBelts, David Holmes, The Gerry Mulligan Quartet, and Medeski, Martin & Wood.

As per usual, for a rundown of the Miles to Go playlist each week, keep your browsers here, and for the best jazz et al. around, keep your radios (or your iTunes) tuned to WKCO 91.9 FM!

This Week: What we're all about...

This article is cross-posted from the Miles to Go Before I Sleep blog...

Welcome, all you gone cats and hep kittens, to the companion blog for Miles to Go Before I Sleep on WKCO! If you tuned in for our premiere episode this evening, thanks for listening and calling/writing in with many great requests! If not, I suppose I can forgive you, but you don't know what you're missing. That said, here's a look at what I spun tonight:

1. Midnight Lullaby - Tom Waits
2. Chubb Sub - Medeski, Martin & Wood
3. Take Five [Live from Carnegie Hall] - The Dave Brubeck Quartet
4. Emily - Bill Evans
5. Use Me - Bill Withers
6. Summertime - Miles Davis
7. Bye Bye Blackbird - Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins
8. Everybody Wants to Rule the World - The Bad Plus
9. Changes - Seu Jorge
10. Light My Fire [Live from the Blue Note] - Paris Troika
11. II BS - Charles Mingus
12. Baby Grand - Billy Joel feat. Ray Charles
13. Cantina Band - John Williams
14. Summertime/Burma Shave [Live from Austin City Limits] - Tom Waits
15. Yègellé Tezeta - Mulatu Astatke
16. KC Blues - Charlie Parker
17. Farewell Blues - The New York Musicians
18. Breakin' the Chains of Love - Fitz & The Tantrums
19. Saturday Night Church - Tuatura
20. Hell - Squirrel Nut Zippers
21. Nutville - Buddy Rich
22. Blue in Green - Miles Davis

Talk-over music came tonight from Air; Booker T. and the MG's; Medeski, Martin & Wood; Mulatu Astatke; and Yoko Kanno & The Seat Belts. 

For a rundown of the Miles to Go playlist each week, keep your browsers here, and for the best jazz et al. around, keep your radios (or your iTunes) tuned to WKCO 91.9 FM!