Drawing on the title of the upcoming UCSB Jazz Ensemble’s Fall concert on Sunday Dec. 3rd, this show features the music of Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus. Rob interviews director of the UCSB Jazz Program, Professor Jon Nathan, about the upcoming concert.
On this post-Thanksgiving show we give thanks for improvisation! Drawing on the continuing debates regarding the definition of “jazz,” and in a broader sense, the definition of music itself, Rob and Bryan explore the origins and influences of the genres known as free jazz and free improvisation. We also look at the connections between the American Civil Rights Movement and free-dom music (such as Max Roach’s “Freedom Now! Suite”). Musical selections include Jelly Roll Morton, Charlie Parker, Jimmy Giuffre, Lennie Tristano, Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, and Max Roach and Abbey Lincoln. Includes readings from Derek Bailey’s book on improvisation.
The improvisational streams of American music flow into jazz from many sources, and one of those sources is the rich tradition of “Old Time” folk music, which itself is a combination of European, African, and Native American cultures. American Classical composers like Charles Ives and Aaron Copeland have explored these roots, and jazz musicians and composers have also explored those composers’ explorations! We sample the resulting music from Bill Frisell, Marc Johnson, and others. We also highlight the Old Time roots of bassist Charlie Haden, and how “Americana” influenced the free jazz revolution of during his tenure with the Ornette Coleman quartet.
This show is mainly about KCSB and raising money for the station. Still some good converation and tunes, but our priorities were fiscal.
KCSB is having its annual on-air fund drive from Nov. 6th to Nov. 15th. It’s a once a year event, so if you like The Friday Riff, please call up KCSB an pledge your support. A $45 non-student donation or a $20 student donation qualifies you for one of KCSB’s many “thank you” gifts. To pledge your support to KCSB, call (805) 893-2424.
We were informed that our upcoming show on Nov. 3rd will be preempted for Gaucho Men’s Soccer, as they have made it to the Big West Conference. I have no idea what that means.
But still – good luck to the Gaucho’s, and we’ll see you again on November 10th.
This show continues our investigations of the alternative roots of jazz, and the music that was developed from these roots. Two specific areas are the focus: Roma (or “Gypsy”) jazz (the Roma originated in India) and jazz and its connections to India, riffing off of our previous show on jazz and Native American (“Indian”) music. Includes readings from Vijay Prashad. Bryan also asks– is jamming around the campfire better than sitting in a concert hall? Find out on this edition of TFR. . .
Blues musician Willie Dixon famously noted of the history of American music that “the blues are the roots, and the rest are the fruits.” This show begins with that premise but investigates some alternative roots besides the blues, and the music that developed from those roots. Standard histories of jazz typically describe the blues as “evolving” into jazz; the problem with this is that it takes Dixon’s “roots” metaphor and kills the original plant. That is, if we assume that jazz evolved from the blues, then that makes the blues a dead form. In reality, the blues continued to develop its own variations, even after jazz was developed in tandem. (A future edition of The Friday Riff will explore this more nuanced version of jazz/blues history). Since this show was originally recorded on Columbus Day, our Friday Riff jazz origins show begins with the sounds of Native American music, and then looks at Native American jazz musicians and the way Native American music has influenced jazz. Includes readings from Dick Hebdige, John Szwed, and others.
The inaugural edition of The Friday Riff presents the central concerns of the show: how and why has jazz been defined in the ways it has been defined over the last century? What kinds of music fall inside or outside the label of “jazz” and who decides? What is jazz and why does it matter? What influence has jazz had on other music around the world and within the Americas? Bryan and Rob present a diverse range of musical selections that in one way or another are within the orbit of jazz music. Also presented are readings from critics and scholars including John Szwed, Robert Walser, and others.
Thanks for visiting the website of The Friday Riff. Our first show will air this Friday, October 13th at 12pm (noon) PDT. You can listen locally at KCSB-FM 91.9, or check out KCSB’s webcast. Podcasts will follow soon as well.