AccuJazz

For over 30 years, Labor Day weekend in Chicago and Detroit has meant large-scale, free, world-class jazz festivals downtown. To celebrate the long-standing tradition of the Chicago and Detroit Jazz Festivals, AccuJazz Internet Radio has created two streaming radio channels playing music by the artists performing at this year’s festivals. As with all AccuJazz channels, they are free and available 24/7. The Chicago Jazz Festival is known for presenting a wide array of jazz, from mainstream stars to artists on the fringe, and this year is no different. From Grammy-winning vocalist Kurt Elling and superstar pianist Ramsey Lewis to experimental reedist/composer Henry Threadgill, attendees will experience the whole gamut of jazz artistry. The Detroit International Jazz Festival has a more straight-ahead aesthetic, with headlining acts like Roy Haynes, Branford Marsalis, Terence Blanchard and Artist-in-Residence Mulgrew Miller. Less jazz-intensive listeners might also enjoy the funky sounds of Tower of Power and the blues rock of the Fabulous Thunderbirds. All of the above artists’ music is playing on the AccuJazz festival channels. Both festivals proudly present a lot of local talent, and the local bent is reflected in the AccuJazz programming. The Chicago channel is playing music by local heroes like artist-in-residence Nicole Mitchell, Dana Hall, Corey Wilkes, Jodie Christian, Ari Brown, Paulinho Garcia and Ted Sirota in addition to out-of-towners like Brian Blade and Brad Mehldau. Whether or not they’re planning on attending the festivals, AccuJazz listeners will no doubt enjoy the breadth and quality of music playing on the two Jazz Fest channels. Listen now at AccuJazz.com.

Ah, I see. Well, I'd say listen to the channel and watch out for the JALC disc -- you might be surprised by the the music. I mentioned in the post about how JALC is not my favorite institution, but deserves credit for the quality of the music on this latest disc.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing in your mind?

Hello, Organissimo folks. It's Lucas Gillan, AccuJazz.com program director, letting you know about my new "Staff Picks" channel on AccuJazz.com, which is playing exclusively my favorite new jazz releases. Read about it, give it a listen, and let me know what you think. It's a pretty diverse line-up of stuff, from Chicago Underground Duo to Dave Holland and 13 other CDs besides. AccuJazz.com, a leader in streaming Internet jazz radio, is making things personal with the addition of its new "Staff Picks" channel. Consisting of music from program director Lucas Gillan's favorite 15 new jazz releases, the channel makes for a diverse and engaging listen. As with all AccuJazz channels, it is free to use and available 24/7 at AccuJazz.com. In his job as program director, Gillan receives dozens of CDs every week for airplay consideration. While only some of those make it on to the AccuJazz.com playlists, even less make significant lasting impressions on the program director. The Staff Picks channel represents the new CDs that made the transition from the workplace to his car stereo for repeated listens. The inaugural Staff Picks playlist includes new releases by big name artists like Brad Mehldau, Paul Motian, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra as well as lesser-known fringe jazz by the New York-based collective Little Women and the Chicago Underground Duo. Stylistically, the music represents many corners of the modern day jazz landscape, from the mainstream modern jazz of Dave Holland's Pathways and Orrin Evans' Faith In Action to the rock-influenced post-jazz of London-based group Polar Bear, whose new album Peepers appears on the channel. Gillan has accompanied the new channel with an in-depth blog post (found here) with reviews of all 15 albums playing on the channel. Every time a new batch of music is added to AccuJazz's database, Gillan plans on select adding to the Staff Picks channel, creating an ever-changing but tightly-controlled playlist unlike any other. Listeners can find the Staff Picks channel at AccuJazz.com. The 15 CDs currently included in the channel are listed below: Brad Mehldau - Highway Rider (Nonesuch) Paul Motian / Chris Potter / Jason Moran - Lost in a Dream (ECM) Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra - Portrait in Seven Shades (Jazz at Lincoln Center) Stephan Crump with Rosetta Trio - Reclamation (Sunnyside) Dave Holland Octet - Pathways (Dare2) Chicago Underground Duo - Boca Negra (Thrill Jockey) Orrin Evans - Faith in Action (Positone) Polar Bear - Peepers (Leaf) Lionel Loueke - Mwaliko (Blue Note) Little Women - Throat (AUM Fidelity) Michael Musillami - Old Tea (Playscape) Trombone Shorty - Backatown (Verve) Dan Weiss - Timshel (Sunnyside) Thomson Kneeland - Mazurka for a Modern Man (Weltschmerz Records) Dave King - Indelicate (Sunnyside)

Hello, Organissimo folks. It's Lucas from AccuJazz.com here. It's been a while since I've told you about a new channel, but I have a couple of really interesting ones to let you know about here: "Best of 2009" and "2010 Jazz Grammy Nominations." Check 'em out now or read on for more info. It's the time of year for giving gifts, spending time with family, and, of course, making year-end top-10 lists. Dozens of jazz critics and bloggers have taken it upon themselves to publish their opinions about the jazz of the last 12 months, and AccuJazz.com has been keeping tabs. The Internet jazz radio site has launched a free, streaming channel called "Best of 2009," playing music from the albums most frequently cited by critics as being among the best of the year. Pooling together over 20 lists, including the annual JazzTimes critics poll, AccuJazz.com has created a channel that reflects the critical consensus on the best jazz released in 2009. The channel makes for an exhilarating and diverse listen, playing everything from the futuristic piano jazz of Vijay Iyer's "Historicity" to the down-home New Orleans grit of Allen Toussaint's "The Bright Mississippi" and the brainy free improvisation of Henry Threadgill's "This Brings Us To, Vol. 1." With nearly 60 albums making up the channel, there is a large amount of music to take in, but AccuJazz is doing what it can to help you wade through all of the excellent music. The channel is programmed so that the albums mentioned in the greatest number of lists will be heard the most often. The channel offers listeners plenty of opportunities to see what all the fuss is about in regards to critical favorites like Iyer [pictured], Threadgill and big-band composer/conductor Darcy James Argue. If a listener disagrees with a particular artist's place on the channel, he or she has the ability to "deselect" any artist they would rather not hear. AccuJazz also introduced a channel playing music nominated for the 2010 Grammy Awards in the jazz categories. All 5 "Best Instrumental Jazz Album" nominees are playing on the channel as well as albums nominated in other jazz categories, like "Best Jazz Vocal Album," and "Best Improvised Solo." Both the "Best of 2009" and "2010 Jazz Grammy Nominations" channels are part of a month-long roll-out of new AccuJazz channels called "Jazz Holiday," which you can read more about on the AccuJazz blog. Two more new channels will be introduced before January 1st. Listen now at AccuJazz.com.

Apparently some folks around here aren't the biggest fans of the Beatles, or of jazz covers of their songs, but hopefully enough folks are in to the Fab Four to merit a word about AccuJazz's new "Composers: Beatles" channel. The channel plays over 150 jazz cover versions of Beatles tunes and tunes written by Beatle members. Basie, Grant Green, Ramsey Lewis, Gene Harris, Jaco, Buddy Rich, Brad Mehldau, Avishai Cohen and many, many more are on the channel. Go on and listen! "Official" press release below: To celebrate the long tradition of jazz musicians performing the music of the Beatles, AccuJazz.com has launched a streaming jazz radio channel exclusively playing jazz covers of Beatles songs. The channel, called "Composers: Beatles," is free to use and available 24 hours a day at AccuJazz.com. The Beatles' place in the history of rock and roll is indisputable: many consider them to be the best band ever, and their influence in the music of the last 40 years is immeasurable. With the recent remastering of the Beatles' recorded catalog and the release of the much-anticipated "Beatles Rock Band" video game, many people are listening to the band with fresh ears. Beatle fans may be surprised to know, however, that Beatlemania also caught on with the jazz crowd long ago. Jazz musicians have been putting their stamp on the Lennon and McCartney songbook since before the Fab Four dissolved in 1970. Artists ranging from Count Basie to Brad Mehldau have found inspiration in the Beatles' music, often programming their songs alongside those by Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, and George Gershwin. In fact, songs like "Yesterday," "Eleanor Rigby" and "Norwegian Wood" may be considered part of the standard repertoire. The AccuJazz channel is playing over 150 different tracks, all of which are Beatles songs or compositions by Beatles members. Stylistically, the selections range from Buddy Rich's propulsive big-band arrangement of "Norwegian Wood" to Gene Harris' groovy soul-jazz version of "Get Back" to French pianist Baptiste Trotignon's contemplative take on "Julia." Listeners will witness the undying inventivess of the jazz musicians on the channel, who take familiar melodies to surprising and delightful musical destinations. Also new on the AccuJazz website is a channel called "Pop Composers," featuring jazz players taking on the music of the Beatles as well as other "non-jazz" musicians like Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, Burt Bacharach and many more. "Composers: Beatles" and "Pop Composers" mark the 49th and 50th channels in AccuJazz's channel lineup, joining other popular channels like "Piano Jazz," "Decade: 50s," "Brazilian Jazz," and "Jazz Fusion." As with all AccuJazz channels, listeners can customize their experience by pausing, skipping songs, and "deselecting" artists they would rather not hear. Listen now at AccuJazz.com.

Hello, Organissimo folks, it's AccuJazz programmer Lucas Gillan with our newest channel, Brazilian Jazz. We're streaming a collection of much Brazilian and Brazilian-influenced jazz, from classic Getz/Gilberto to Dexter Gordon playing bossas to jazz-tinged MPB stars like Joao Bosco and Jorge Ben. Hope you enjoy: Ever since Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim fused American jazz with Brazilian samba in the 1950s to form the new style known as Bossa Nova, countless musicians have been inspired to create music marrying the two traditions. Brazilian harmonies and rhythms have pervaded modern jazz in the past 50 years, influencing artists from Stan Getz to Maria Schneider. To celebrate Brazilian Jazz, AccuJazz Internet radio has just launched a new streaming channel devoted to the style. It is free to use and available 24 hours a day. The subtle syncopated rhythms, complex harmonies, and combination of dissonance and sweetness in Brazilian music make for art of rare beauty. Listeners will hear these traits in the over 600 songs playing on the channel. The playlist includes timeless bossa nova by Joao Gilberto, American masters like Charlie Byrd and Stan Getz, a sprinkling of Brazilian-influenced hard bop by artists like Dexter Gordon and Joe Henderson, and jazz-tinged MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira) by artists such as Joao Bosco, Gilberto Gil, Beth Carvalho, and Caetano Veloso. Brazilian expatriates such as Eliane Elias, Jovino Santos Neto, Luciana Souza and Claudio Roditi also make up a large portion of the playlist. "Brazilian Jazz" brings the tally of AccuJazz channels to 48, joining other popular channels like "Piano Jazz," "Decade: 50s," "Straight Ahead," and "Jazz Fusion." As with all AccuJazz channels, listeners can customize their experience by pausing, skipping songs, and "deselecting" artists they would rather not hear. Listen now at AccuJazz.com.

We're almost done with the decade channels - we'll have to come up with something else soon for new channels. But until then, read about the '90s channel, or just start listening now. AccuJazz Internet radio continues its periodic roll-out of decade-based jazz channels with the launch of "Decade: '90s," a free, easy-to-use streaming jazz channel playing the best jazz from the 1990s. The '90s were a time of incredible diversity in the jazz world. It's impossible to tether the decade's jazz activity to any single style, concept, or trend. The one sure thing about jazz in the 20th Century's last decade is that the artists passionately continued to create meaningful music in whatever style suited them. The decade brought us a host of exceptional new jazz talent: Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Dave Douglas, Stefon Harris, Brian Blade, Avishai Cohen and Jason Moran, along with many others, all kicked off their professional careers in the '90s. These musicians are well-represented on AccuJazz's channel, but listeners will just as likely hear the great work of still-active jazz veterans like Joe Henderson, Tony Williams, Ray Brown, Bobby Hutcherson, Benny Golson, Paul Motian, Roscoe Mitchell and Billy Taylor. The channel is playing over 1,500 songs from albums released during the '90s, and makes for an eclectic listen including styles ranging from straight-ahead hard bop to avant-garde and Latin to fusion. Much of the music created in the last two decades eschews categorization, drawing on a panoramic view of jazz and other musical traditions. "Decade: '90s" is the 7th channel in AccuJazz's "Jazz by Decade" category, joining a channel devoted to Pre-1940 jazz and a channel for every decade from the '50s through the '80s. It brings the total AccuJazz channel tally to 47, including such popular channels as "Piano Jazz," "Decade: 50s," "Straight Ahead," and "Jazz Fusion." As with all AccuJazz channels, listeners can customize their experience by pausing, skipping songs, and "deselecting" artists they would rather not hear. Listen now at AccuJazz.com.

Hey Organissimo, it's Lucas from AccuJazz letting you know about our newest channel. It's called "Mellow Jazz," and it's a celebration of the jazz ballad in all its glorious forms. Check out the main release below, or just cut to the chase. To celebrate the softer side of jazz, AccuJazz Internet radio has introduced a new channel called "Mellow Jazz." Playing over 1,000 recordings of ballads by great jazz musicians, the channel is completely free to use and available 24 hours a day at AccuJazz.com. Throughout its history, jazz has first and foremost been a music of explosive, infectious rhythms. It was the syncopated, "hot" rhythms of the first New Orleans jazz bands that heralded a revolutionary new style, not any new chords or innovative instrumentation. While swinging rhythm is a defining characteristic of jazz, there has always been a flip side to the music's insistent pulse: romantic, soul-searching balladry, presented at slow tempos. The focus in this style is more about creating a mood and telling a story than provoking a visceral physical response in the listener (though there are certainly countless instances of slow jazz ballads that swing like mad -- Oscar Peterson trio, anyone?) Golden-toned tenor saxophonists like Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster were early masters of the style, and every great jazz musician since them has incorporated ballads in to their repertoire. The relaxed, soulful, and romantic sound of a well-delivered jazz ballad has long been a hallmark of smoky jazz clubs, elegant dinner parties, and makeout sessions. Now, listeners wanting to create that mood need look no further than AccuJazz.com's "Mellow Jazz" channel. Despite its seemingly narrow focus, the "Mellow Jazz" playlist is far from monotonous. Jazz musicians are never lacking in inventiveness, and their treatment of slower tempos is no exception. There's the sensous bossa nova of Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto, the ornate pianism of Erroll Garner and Ahmad Jamal, big band ballads by Basie and Ellington, and romantic vocals from Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Dianne Reeves and many more. "Mellow Jazz" brings the total AccuJazz channel tally to 46, including such popular channels as "Piano Jazz," "Decade: 50s," "Straight Ahead," and "Jazz Fusion." As with all AccuJazz channels, listeners can customize their experience by pausing, skipping songs, and "deselecting" artists they would rather not hear. Listen now at AccuJazz.com.

More Monk covers: Listen here

The Bobby Broom album is great. Fortunately I've had a chance to see his trio a number of times at their Wednesday night steady at Pete Miller's in Evanston (which was just axed a few weeks ago, after over 10 years). My favorite tune by far is "Work." Bobby just kills it.

RE: Clean Feed: Two creative Chicago groups put out releases on Clean Feed this year: Lucky 7s with Pluto Junkyard and Herculaneum with Herculaneum III. Lucky 7s includes some really notable Chicago players: the aforementioned Josh Berman as well as saxophonist Keefe Jackson, vibist Jason Adasiewicz, and New Orleans trombonist Jeff Albert, who came out with a very good CD under his own name earlier this year (Similar in the Opposite Way. Pluto Junkyard is really good. It's full of extended compositions with inventive interactions of improvised and composed elements. Surprising contrasts of texture seems to be a big theme in this scene, too. I haven't heard the Herculaneum CD yet but am considering shelling out some dough for it; their debut, Orange Blossom, on 482 Music, is one of my favorite CDs of the last few years, and, being a radio programmer, I've heard hundreds of CDs from that time. Other favorites from 2009: Vijay Iyer - Historicity (due out later this year) John Hebert - Byzantine Monkey The Story - The Story (group of highly educated twenty somethings making really, really good use of all their learnin') Bobby Broom - Plays for Monk Steve Lehman - Travail, Transformation, and Flow Carl Allen and Rodney Whitaker - Work to Do Sam Yahel - Hometown Darcy James Argue - Infernal Machines Allen Toussaint - The Bright Mississippi Matt Renzi - Lunch Special Jeff Tain Watts - Watts Julian Lage - Sounding Point Fareed Haque - Flat Planet The Bad Plus - For All I Care October Trio - Looks Like It's Going to Snow Blue Note 7 - Mosaic Joshua Redman - Compass Ones I need to listen to more: Steve Kuhn Fly James Carney - Ways & Means Kurt Elling - Dedicated to You Darwin Noguera - The Gardener Kevin Tkacz - It's Not What You Think

Hello, Organissimo friends, it's AccuJazz programmer Lucas Gillan with yet another AccuJazz channel for your listening pleasure. It's called "Nothin' But the Blues" and it's playing over 600 tunes based on the 12-bar blues, from King Oliver to Brad Mehldau. It really makes for an intriguing listen. Read more below. AccuJazz Internet Radio continues its weekly roll-out of creatively programmed jazz channels today with the launch of "Nothin' But the Blues," a streaming channel playing hundreds of jazz versions of the classic 12-bar blues. The channel is completely free to use and available 24 hours a day. As cutting edge jazz pianist Jason Moran noted with the title of his 2005 album "Same Mother," jazz and blues are two branches on the same family tree. Never ones to deny their roots, jazz musicians have continued to offer their own interpretations of the classic 12-bar blues progression for almost a century. The earliest jazz recordings feature blues-based compositions like King Oliver's "West End Blues," Spencer Williams' "Royal Garden Blues," and W.C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues," and today's jazz musicians still play these tunes as well as their own blues-based creations. Listeners will be surprised by the channel's musical diversity. While all of the 600+ streaming songs are based on the same harmonic foundation, there is an extremely wide palette of colors, moods, and rhythms to be heard. From the straightforward big band swing of Ellington's classic "C Jam Blues" to the angular bebop of Charlie Parker's "Bloomdido" and the dark harmonies of Wayne Shorter's "Footprints," the blues is full of endless possibilities. "Nothin' but the Blues" brings the total AccuJazz channel tally to 44, including such popular channels as "Piano Jazz," "Decade: 50s," "Straight Ahead," and "Jazz Fusion." As with all AccuJazz channels, listeners can customize their experience by pausing, skipping songs, and "deselecting" artists they would rather not hear. Listen now at AccuJazz.com.

Hey, Organissimo folks, it's me again, back after a couple of weeks off from bothering you about AccuJazz business, to let you know about the newest AccuJazz channel, Regions: Chicago. I've been working on this one for a long time and it includes a really wide range of jazz from the city, including a lot of self-released stuff by musicians living and playing in the city right now. Delmark, Atavistic, Origin, Chicago Sessions, and Blujazz have all sent me plenty of releases by great Chicago musicians. Here's my personal take on creating the channel, and here's the more official-sounding Press Release: AccuJazz Internet Radio continues its weekly roll-out of creatively programmed jazz channels today with the launch of "Regions: Chicago," a streaming channel playing over 1,000 songs by artists who have called the Windy City home. The channel is completely free to use and available 24 hours a day. Countless jazz legends have called Chicago home, and the city has incubated some of the music's most important movements, from the blossoming of expatriate New Orleanians like Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton in the '20s to the rise of Chicago's legendary Avant-Garde scene in the '60s. Swing kings Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa fell in love with their city's jazz at a young age, and bebop masters like Gene Ammons and Johnny Griffin got their starts there too. Modern jazz legends Herbie Hancock and Jack DeJohnette also grew up in Chicago before making their marks on the jazz world. "Regions: Chicago" highlights the work of these well-known musicians, but focuses even more on the unheralded local musicians still filling the city's streets with music every night. Windy citizens Kurt Elling, Patricia Barber, Bobby Broom, Corey Wilkes, Nicole Mitchell, Fareed Haque, Fred Anderson and Ken Vandermark all contribute to the playlist. Listeners will also be treated to lesser-known, but equally talented musicians like vocalist Dee Alexander, guitarist Kyle Asche, trumpeter Orbert Davis, pianist Ryan Cohan, bassist Larry Gray, and many, many more. While New York remains the mecca of the Jazz world, the music is alive and well in Chicago. Aside from seeing it live, there's no better way to experience Chicago's thriving jazz scene than with AccuJazz.com's brand new "Regions: Chicago" channel. The channel is fourth in AccuJazz's Regions category, joining similar channels dedicated to music from New Orleans, New York, and Europe. It brings the total AccuJazz channel tally to 42, including such popular channels as "Piano Jazz," "Decade: 50s," "Straight Ahead," and "Jazz Fusion." As with all AccuJazz channels, listeners can customize their experience by pausing, skipping songs, and "deselecting" artists they would rather not hear. Listen now at AccuJazz.com.

Wow, I really hope to read that bio when it comes out. Herbie's music is like none other. I had a long conversation with Ben Allison about Herbie when Ben was in Chicago a few months ago (with Frank sitting a couple of feet away) and he put forth his own theory about Herbie being gay -- acknowledging that there was no factual evidence for it.