Three New Orleans Jazz Vocalists

Give us a lesson in scat singing.

Bluegrass Banjo and Dixieland Jazz

They're not all that far apart, come to think of it. Check out this joint effort of The Del McCoury Band and New Orleans' own Preservation Hall Jazz Band on Letterman:

Jazz Profiles: Louis Jordan and Milt Hinton

Since I do a lot of walking here in Guadalajara, I have the chance to listen intently to my iPod for long stretches of time. It's a great way to pass the time on a 45-50 minute walk, which is about how long it takes me to walk to the CEPE (where I teach and where my students take classes) from my apartment room. Just enough time to listen to an entire episode of NPR's Jazz Profiles, a wonderful series hosted by Jazz vocalist Nancy Wilson.

I've heard all of the released Jazz Profiles podcasts at least once. And many of them I've listened to multiple times. For Jazz enthusiasts, it's a great treasure-trove of information and musical selections from the best performers in the history of Jazz. From the likes of such greats as Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald, Charles Mingus, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk, etc., to some of the equally good, but lesser-known performers like Fletcher Henderson, Red Norvo, Jackie McClean, Gene Ammons, Benny Waters, etc. Perhaps my two all-time favorite Jazz Profiles broadcasts are the ones on Louis Jordan and Milt Hinton.

You can listen to most of the Jazz Profiles recordings online at NPR. If you do, you'll get a sense of the history of Jazz in a very entertaining way. Let me help you get started with giving you the links to my two favorites mentioned above:

(1) Louis Jordan - a great alto saxophonist in his own right, but best known for his pathbreaking singing and performing in what is known as "Jump" jazz. I think Rock-n-Roll was pioneered by Louis Jordan, whose influence on the likes of Chuck Berry and Little Richard are undeniable.

(2) Milt Hinton - a bassist loved by all and affectionately known as "The Judge" who originated and perfected the style known as "slap" bass playing.

Every single episode of the Jazz Profile series is fantastic. And I have a feeling that once you listen to one of the episodes above, you'll be hooked. Give it a go, and welcome to the wonderful world that is Jazz.

Whither the NPR Jazz Profiles Podcast?

WTF? I absolutely love NPR's Jazz Profiles series. I gather that it ran orginally from 1995-2005, which should mean about 500 or so weekly episodes (if all episodes were originals and not repeats). But the podcast appears to have disappeared! As you can see at the website, there have been weekly updates for only about a year-and-a-half, which simply can't be the measure of the full original series. There simply has to be more. For instance, Bix Biederbecke is an early Jazz icon, but there is no podcast show for him. Nor is there a show on Johnny Dodds or Chick Webb or Coleman Hawkins. And I simply can't imagine that these legends of Jazz would be excluded from the series. But the podcast updates stopped this past December 24. There's been nothing since. And nary a word about it on the website. I wrote to NPR asking for some explanation, but haven't heard back from them. What gives? If anyone knows what's happened to the podcasting of this wonderful series, please leave me a comment. And, for those of you Jazz aficionados who weren't aware of this series, you absolutely MUST check it out. It's truly fantastic.

PS: WTUL bumped me from the Jazz Program DJ schedule. Bummer. That's what happens when there are only 7 Jazz Program slots per week and a slew of undergrads who want those slots and have preference for them. I was developing a bit of a following on my Thursday night Jazz Show for WTUL. And I think I had a pretty awesome show format. But so it goes. I still have a Thursday morning Classical Show, which I enjoy doing; but my heart is with the Jazz. By the way, if you ever want to listen to a great radio station, you can tune in to WTUL via internet livestreaming anywhere in the world where you can find a high-speed internet connection. The website is http://www.wtulneworleans.com. You can link to the live webcast from the home page. Check it out. The Jazz Show runs daily from 6-8pm, and the Classical Show runs Mondays-Fridays from 6-8am.