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The Dave Brubeck Quartet is our Jazz Feature from a live concert from The College of the Pacific on Dec. 14,1953 with Paul Desmond on alto saxophone, Ron Crotty on bass and Joe Dodge on drums playing his very first gig with the band. This concert was special for Brubeck as it was at his alma mater. Desmond in particular loved the acoustics of the hall too as it brought out special properties of his alto saxophone. Brubeck, with the help of his wife, Iola had opened the doors in the early 1950s to presenting Jazz to college audiences and he had done a few cross country tours at universities th...

This recording by Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers was not released until 2021 even though it was recorded in 1959. It is tonight's Jazz Feature and the theme of the five Mondays in the month of October will be albums that were never issued at the time of their recording. This marvelous Blakey album was never issued by Blue Note Records because the band, 6 weeks after this session was recorded, went into Blrdland, New York's leading Jazz club then and it was decided to record there in front of a great audience. Two volumes of music was issued and this session was therefore moot and shelved...

Tonight's Jazz Feature is a fine album by the "welterweight champion of the tenor saxophone", Hank Mobley. The music typifies New York Jazz of the mid-50's and is timeless and always contemporary sounding. The people involved are Mobley and trumpeter Bill Hardman who was working at the time with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, pianist Sonny Clark, bassist Paul Chambers and ace drummer Arthur Taylor. What makes this session very special in the presence of alto and tenor saxophonist Shafi Hadi (born Curtis Porter). Hadi's unique style on both horns makes this session one of a kind.. It i...

Tonight's Jazz Feature is a Jazz Show tradition that we present every year at this time as it's "back to school". This is an entertaining and educational recording and gives one a good idea about how Jazz music evolved. Even though the recording was made in 1960, many of the concepts and sounds are still heard in today's Jazz music so in many ways a recording like this is an important door to explaining what compromises Jazz music. Julian "Cannonball" Adderley was one of the most important voices of the alto saxophone and was a great bandleader as well. Not only that he was...

Tonight's Jazz Feature is a very regular tradition on The Jazz Show at this time of year which of course is "back to school, back to work etc" This presentation although historical is an important document even if one has heard it before where Maestro Leonard Bernstein discusses what is and what isn't Jazz. Bernstein understood and respected Jazz music and it's players and composers and held them to the same high esteem as his classical counterparts. Part 1 is what is and what isn't Jazz and Part 2 delves into the construction of a popular song and then with the help of many major mu...