In this hour of Blue Dimensions , some "Jazz Americana," jazz that draws from folk music and music popular in rural America played by violinist Regina Carter on a swinging new album called Southern Comfort . Carter mines the Library of Congress recordings collected by John and Alan Lomax and John Work as well as commercially released popular music from the South on Southern Comfort ;  we'll hear several pieces from this magnificent album, including some fine singing, as well as Carter's violin mastery. One of the songs she does was originally recorded in 1924 by blues singer Ma Rainey , and it was Elvis Presley's opening number for many of his 1970 shows. We'll check out Ma Rainey's recording, with, among others, Louis Armstrong and Fletcher Henderson in the band. Also along the same lines, the fourth album from 25-year-old pianist Julian Waterfall Pollack , Waves of Albion , which also draws on some traditional music and songs that were especially well-known in the South. Also: some "South Asian Americana" — I guess we can call it that — from pianist Vijay Iyer , the son of Indian immigrants to the United States, from his new album Mutations , and guitarist Fareed Haque , who also grew up here, son of a Pakistani father and Chilean mother. Haque's latest album is called Trance Hypothesis . Our hypothesis is that you'll like it a lot. The melting pot is bubbling over, in this hour of Blue Dimensions.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, cellist Maya Beiser plays the blues. The unique "post-classical" settings of old blues songs on her new album "Uncovered" uncover a new dimension in the music. We'll also hear her with a storied ensemble she co-founded years ago, Bang On A Can. We have new music from James Farm, featuring Joshua Redman, a fine follow-up to their debut three years ago, and "The Art Of Conversation" — between a pianist and a bassist — a wonderfully intimate collaboration between Kenny Barron and Dave Holland. Also, Frank Catalano re-writes John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme," celebrating its half-century mark, with his group Love Supreme Collective, and we'll match one newly written part with its counterpart from the original masterpiece as well.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, I'll be joined by singer Joanna Pascale, a jazz vocalist from Philadelphia with a new album called "Wildflower." We'll talk about her musical career - - she's never considered doing anything else - - and hear songs both from "Wildflower" and from a guest appearance she made with pianist Orrin Evans on his "Liberation Blues" album in 2014. We'll also play a song from someone not usually thought of as a jazz artist, James Taylor, who actually draws on a lot of jazz aesthetic, technique and harmonic sense. He's great with chords, employing unusual chord progressions, and unique voicings and a signature tone on his guitar, as well as sophisticated syncopation, making him a stand-out guitarist though usually playing accompaniment, not solo or ensemble instrumental music. We'll hear a song from his new album "Before This World." Plus, plenty of polyrthyms on new albums from the Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet ("Intercambio"), and uncle and nephew team George Freeman and Chico Freeman and band ("All In The Family").

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"Brexit" has been one of this year's biggest news stories so far, but while the British may be exiting the European Union, at least one very special jazz musician is actually a member of the EU parliament. Damian Draghici, who plays jazz on an unusual instrument, the pan flute, is a native of Romania. Music has been the passion for several generations of his family, who are of the Romani ethnicity, traditionally known as gypsies. The word "gypsy" has been associated with negative stereotypes of the Romani people, and the word also suggests that the Romani's origins are in Egypt, which they are not. Draghici has sought to fight the negative stereotypes and help Romani people both through his music and his political work. As a young man, he walked hundreds of miles to escape the repressive Ceausescu government of Romania. He made it to Greece, where he launched his musical career, eventually winning a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he majored in jazz performance on the pan flute, a wind instrument made up of cane or bamboo pipes of varying lengths. Later he served as an advisor on Romani issues to the Romanian government, and in 2014 was elected to the EU Parliament. He finished production of his album "The American Dream" with many notable guests, while serving in the Parliament. We'll hear several pieces from the album, plus a very important pan flute piece from 1928 from Texas bluesman Henry Thomas, a song that became a hit for a rock group and part of a major movie soundtrack without attribution to Thomas. Also, bassist Joe Policastro and his trio jazzify a couple of Prince songs on the new album "Pops!" and we'll hear a piece from the new album "Convergence" from extraordinary vibraphonist Warren Wolf.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, two pianists from Philadelphia, George Burton and Orrin Evans. Their new albums have interesting titles with non-alphanumeric symbols in them, but it's the music that catches our attention here.  Orrin Evans has been gathering increasing acclaim for both his piano work and his sensibility as a band leader. We'll play a couple of tunes from his new album "#knowingishalfthebattle,"  and a few from the new album from pianist, band leader, and Philadelphia native George Burton, called "The Truth Of What I Am Is > The Narcissist" -  the title uses the "greater than" sign from mathematics in it - - wrestling with his ego through music. Also, a new track from the always exciting Afro Bop Alliance Big Band, in this hour of Blue Dimensions.

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Blue Dimensions F18 Has Been Published on PRX:  In this hour of Blue Dimensions, music from a rising star, 20-year-old pianist Alexis Lombre from Chicago. We'll hear songs from her debut album "Southside Sounds", informed by her experience as a teenager playing jazz, and from a 2016 album "Coming Of Age" with a band she played in, The Young Masters Quartet, a group of young musicians mentored by Chicago saxophonist and "jazz activist" Ernest Dawkins - - and, we'll talk with Alexis - - about her music, playing jazz with and for young people, and living in Chicago on the South Side. Alexis also named some of her favorite pianists and greatest influences, and we'll hear music from some of them, including Wynton Kelly, and the player she calls her "samurai" pianist, McCoy Tyner. Music and conversation with pianist Alexis Lombre, in this hour of Blue Dimensions.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, we'll go "Beneath The Surface" with bassist Mike Boone. "Beneath The Surface" is the title of Boone's new album, and the title track is a contrafact of a Joe Henderson classic, that is, a new melody built on the harmonic structure of the older song. We'll hear the original Henderson piece too, and a couple of other selections from the new Mike Boone album, including a great Coltrane melody, and one that Boone wrote. Also, a new version of a Bobby Hutcherson favorite from guitarist Russell Malone, from his new album "Time For The Dancers" as well as the wonderful original Hutcherson recording from 1965. Musical connections from now and half a century ago, in this hour of Blue Dimensions.

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Trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire has a new double album recorded in a concert at a venue with a storied history presenting cutting-edge music going all the way back to the 1930s, The Village Vanguard, in New York City's Greenwich Village. Akinmusire is a native of Oakland CA, and attended a high school with a reputation for sending forth great musicians, Berkeley High School. He managed to catch the interest of saxophonist Steve Coleman on a visit to the school, and Coleman hired him to tour with his Five Elements group. Ten years ago Akinmusire won both the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition and the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition and released his album debut Prelude (to Cora). At a time when it seems harder than ever to have a signature  sound and style without going deep into avant-garde regions, Ambrose Akinmusire is thriving, and keeping listeners on their toes with music that speaks to the heart and the mind. Akinmusire's new album "A Rift In Decorum: Live At the Village Vanguard" is his third for the Blue Note label, and he thanks a number of musicians for their influence in the liner notes. We'll play some music from some of the musicians he acknowledges in those liner notes, including fellow trumpeters Wallace Roney and Jeremy Pelt, pianist Jason Moran, and saxophonist Steve Coleman, who discovered Akinmusire when he was in high school and hired him for his band Five Elements. It's Ambrose Akinmusire and his mentors, in this hour of Blue Dimensions.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, the music of a great singer and songwriter, Ida Cox, from the 1920s and the 1960s, with thanks to singers Cécile McLorin Salvant and Rhiannon Giddens for recent covers of Ida Cox songs that we will also play on this show. Cox was highly successful in her time; perhaps that is part of why she wasn't celebrated during the folk-blues revival with its emphasis on obscurity and rare records. A cover of one of her songs by Cream that was a hit in the 1960s was actually credited to the obscure country blues player who first covered it, not to her. We'll also hear a couple of other songs from Cécile McLorin Salvant's new album "Dreams And Daggers," an excellent set of in-concert performances. Plus, we have a Freddie Hubbard piece from the new album "Beneath The Surface" by bassist Mike Boone, a classic from Mr. Hubbard himself, and guitarist Dave Stryker taking on a  classic composition by another great trumpeter Clifford Brown, on Stryker's new album "Strykin' Ahead."

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, "Cyrille Aimée Live." We'll hear several songs from the French jazz chanteuse in spirited live performances, including two Michael Jackson songs and one by Stephen Sondheim. Cyrille Aimée is one of the jazz players today who are re-interpreting music from the rock and soul world with creative energy and zest. Also: two "Lone Ranger" songs, one from Dom Flemons, singing about the African-American lawman who may have been the inspiration for the Lone Ranger story, a US Marshall who was born a slave, Bass Reeves, and another, more of a love song really, from Walter Wolfman Washington. Also a song from a great bluesman Eddy Clearwater, who died on June 1st, singing about how he made his living (playing the blues), plus new music from saxophonist Tia Fuller, with Jack DeJohnette, Terri Lyne Carrington, and Dave Holland in the band - - and pianist Benito Gonzalez, drummer Gerry Gibbs, & bassist Essiet Okon Essiet, with "Passion Reverence Transcendence," a tribute to McCoy Tyner.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, some new, old music - - recordings issued for the first time in 2018 made decades ago by great artists who are no longer with us. We'll play several tracks from the album "Both Directions At Once: The Lost Album" from John Coltrane and his quartet, recorded in 1963, rescued from a copy of the session that Coltrane took home with him. We also have the album "Tokyo 1981," featuring previously unissued recordings of trumpeter Woody Shaw in concert, with a band including pianist Mulgrew Miller and trombonist Steve Turre, and pianist Erroll Garner in a trio concert in Amsterdam in 1964, the album "Nightconcert," all coming up in this hour of Blue Dimensions.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, we'll open "The Window" — that's the title of a new album from singer Cécile McLorin Salvant with pianist Sullivan Fortner, and the two of them offer some spirited and inventive renderings of songs from Rogers and Hart to Nat King Cole to "West Side Story." We also have the new album from pianist Christian Sands, called "Facing Dragons" - - - with some great new compositions from Sands and a Beatles song made new by the young pianist and his band. Both of these artists are twenty-nine years old and represent the leading edge of the generation of jazz artists now coming of age. We'll also hear from the late pianist and composer Randy Weston, who died September 1st at age 92. Weston devoted his career to showing the connections between jazz and blues and the African music from which they evolved. We'll play music from an album he self-released in the 1960s years before Atlantic Records saw the wisdom of issuing it to a wider audience.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, a bass clarinetist as band leader. Todd Marcus is the band leader on a new album called "On These Streets (A Baltimore Story")  - - it includes vibraphonist, and Baltimorean, Warren Wolf and guitarist Paul Bollenback. We also have new music from bassist Corcoran Holt, playing a contrafact - - a song built on the chord progression of an earlier song - - on his new album, "The Mecca." We'll hear drummer Mike Clark and organist Delbert Bump taking on a Miles Davis composition that appeared on the first set in the Miles Davis Bootleg series. We also have a Sonny Rollins piece from the latest release in the bootleg series (Volume 6), "The Final Tour," Miles Davis and John Coltrane live in Europe in 1960. We'll hear that same Rollins classic performed in 1966 by pianist Wynton Kelly (who was also on that 1960 tour with Davis and Coltrane) from a recently-issued live album with guitarist Wes Montgomery joining Kelly's trio, from a 1966 radio broadcast in Seattle. Plus, we'll slip in a new track from pianist Danny Green and his trio with a string quartet.

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Our music on this show centers around a great saxophone player, Azar Lawrence, and his new album "Elementals." Pianist Benito Gonzalez sparkles on the album, and we'll also hear Gonzalez in other settings, his own album "Circles" with Azar Lawrence in the band, and another Azar Lawrence album with him in the band. We'll also hear Lawrence in another setting, with pianist McCoy Tyner, with whom he worked in the early years after John Coltrane's death. This music is all heady, soulful, energetic, and expansive stuff. Born in Los Angeles, Azar Lawrence played in jazz and R&B bands including War, and he worked  with the great drummer Elvin Jones of the John Coltrane Quartet, who led him to New York to play in his band. He also played with Roberta Flack and Earth Wind & Fire, on the soul side of things, and Miles Davis among others on the jazz side. His new album "Elementals" and other recent works mark the re-invigoration of his career and reflect his magnificent talent as a saxophonist and composer. Pianist Benito Gonzalez possesses an uncommon energy in his playing, and in his work with Lawrence, there is powerful synergy between the two artists.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions,  bassist and composer Avery Sharpe's new album "400: An African American Musical Portrait" uses compelling music to track African-American history from the arrival of the first slaves in Virginia, now 400 years ago, to modern times, and we'll hear several selections from the album. We'll also hear from another bassist leading a band, Rodney Whitaker, who highlights the music of composer Gregg Hill who has juggled music with the need to make a living throughout his life. Also, a track from the "Bolden" soundtrack album from Wynton Marsalis, a song made famous by Abbey Lincoln from Ulysses Owens Jr. and band on the new album "Songs Of Freedom," and Eric Garner's last words "I Can't Breathe" living on in songs, from Vivian Sessoms, and from Bill Cole playing a didgeridoo.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, some spirited singing from three new albums - - a new album from the wonderful singer Catherine Russell called "Alone Together." Also, Gaye Adegbalola offers great singing and telling social commentary, as well a humor on her new album "The Griot," and, song and social commentary also come our way from Rhiannon Giddens with Leyla McCalla, Allison Russell, and Amythyst Kiah, who have recorded an album called "Songs Of Our Native Daughters." We'll also hear the latest from saxophonists Joshua Redman and Javon Jackson, all in this hour of Blue Dimensions.

Cat Russell had a long and successful career as a backing vocalist recording and performing with singers of all sorts, including Snoop Dogg, Dolly Parton, and Paul Simon, and she was a very prominent part of David Bowie's show for a while, both singing and playing percussion. She's the daughter of Luis Russell, Louis Armstrong's New York band leader, and Carline Ray who also was a singer and guitarist and bassist. Carline and daughter Catherine did an album together shortly before Carline's death in 2013. Catherine started her solo career with her album Cat in 2006, and Alone Together is her seventh album as a leader. She "sets the standard" for singing standards. Gaye Adegbalola's musical career began with a remarkable trio of women known as Saffire The Uppity Blueswomen, who provided some humor and thought-provoking ideas in the 1990s. Adegbalola has developed a unique solo act, with some very hard-hitting social commentary, spirited singing, and a dose of humor too. Rhiannon Giddens, who became known as a member of The Carolina Chocolate Drops and received a MacArthur Foundation fellowship for her work, has put together a powerful new album with Leyla McCalla, Allison Russell, and Amythyst Kiah that explores the horrors slavery and life for African-Americans after slavery.

We also have a couple of instrumental things coming up, a new piece from saxophonist Joshua Redman and his quartet, from an album coming out in March called "Come What May," and a tribute to Pharaoh Sanders from saxophonist Javon Jackson from his wonderful 2018 album "For You."

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, the new album "Barracoon" from saxophonist JD Allen. The title refers to slave barracks, and the years "1619-2019" are printed on the album's cover, marking the 400 years since the first African slaves arrived in Virginia in 1619. Allen says the African-American experience informs his music, and we'll hear three songs from the album on this show. Also, the new album "Antidote" from Chick Corea, in which he draws on his latin music influences (his "Spanish heart"), ranging from flamenco to salsa, and a song that explores the history of Latin music complete with both rap and narration, from the Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet, from their new album "The Rhythm Of Invention."

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, Jamaican pianist Monty Alexander takes on the music of Thelonious Monk and gives it a rock-steady, reggae spin - - we'll play several tracks from Alexander's new album "Wareika Hill." Also: Markus Howell, some appealing new music on both alto sax and flute on his debut album "Get Right!" Pianist Victor Gould leads a band with a string quartet and lots of horn players plus an outstanding flutist on his new album "Thought Become Things;" we'll hear one of those "things," and we have music from the group Out To Dinner (they're not out to lunch!) with trombonist Michael Dease and vibraphonist Behn Gillece, plus drummer Mike Clark leads a band called Indigo Blue, recorded live at The Iridium, with yet another Thelonious Monk piece.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, Blue World, John Coltrane recordings made for a Canadian film ("Le chat dans le sac") in 1964, finally issued as an album in 2019. We'll hear several tracks from this album featuring Trane and his classic quartet, McCoy Tyner piano, Jimmy Garrison bass, and Elvin Jones drums. These tracks were cut after Coltrane's "Crescent" album and before "A Love Supreme" in 1964. Plus: some tribute albums to Coltrane - - from decades past, an album from trombonist Conrad Herwig and one from some great guitarists (a track featuring Larry Coryell), and Coltrane tribute albums from 2019 from saxophonist Teodross Avery, and conguero Poncho Sanchez.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, some moving songs from singer and multi-instrumentalist Carmen Lundy. Her new album "Modern Ancestors" will be featured - - some of these songs have rolled around in her head for a long time, and all seem to touch on the quality of our life experiences, albeit each in very different ways. We also have a track from the Chuck Corea Trio with Christian McBride on bass and Brian Blade on drums. "Trilogy 2" is the followup to their acclaimed 2014 album "Trilogy." We also have two songs with very long titles - - I'm allowing extra time in planning this show for the titles! - - one from pianist Leslie Pintchik and her trio, from the new live album "Same Day Delivery," and another from the Bill Cole & Untempered Ensemble recorded in 1986 in concert, from the newly issued release "Music For Yoruba Proverbs" featuring the late, great saxophonist Julius Hemphill.

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a Special Presentation from Bluesnet Radio:
It seems like Dolly Parton is everywhere these days, but the songs on which she built her career - - many of which appeared on the country charts for years - - don't get played on country radio these days, and she doesn't sing them when she's on TV now. This special presentation from Bluesnet Radio is an hour of some of those songs, songs that offered country humor, rural wisdom, social commentary, a little melodrama, and a dose of good old-fashioned doom and gloom. Included are touching autobiographical songs like "In The Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)," songs that conjure thoughts of the lives of others, like "Daddy's Moonshine Still," a wild duet with her singing partner Porter Wagoner,  and tragi-comic songs like "I Don't Want To Throw Rice." What does she want to throw instead?? Find out, in this one-hour program "In The Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad) - Good Old Songs From Dolly Parton," classic recordings by a truly unique artist, including her very first record at age 13, offered with informative, but light and brief, commentary.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, New Orleans drummer and band leader Herlin Riley, 21st century New Orleans jazz from his new album "Perpetual Optimism," his statement of spirit and love of family following the deaths of his parents since his last album came out two years ago. We'll hear several tracks from the album, and a couple of pieces from bassist Ron Brendle's new album "A Tribute To The Bassists Of Jazz, Volume 1," including compositions by Charles Mingus and Sam Jones. (We do like our bassists here on this show.) Also the AACM Great Black Music Ensemble in concert, a wild harmonic and rhythmic ride on the album "Live At The Currency Exchange Cafe, Volume 1." Chicago's AACM, the Association For The Advancement Of Creative Musicians, continues to challenge us 54 years after its founding by the late jazz musician Muhal Richard Abrams. Plus: Bill Cole offers social commentary on the didgeridoo using the words of Eric Garner, on "Still Breathing 2."

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, blues singer-scholar Pascal Bokar has a new album "American Trails." Bokar, author of a book about the role of West-African music in the development of blues and bluegrass, calls his music "Afro Blue Grazz." Also: a song about civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks from Christian McBride's masterwork "The Movement Revisited" with Sonia Sanchez speaking the words of Rosa Parks - - and 21 Blue, a 21st century blues band headed up by a professor of trumpet and composition doing a Howlin' Wolf hit. Plus, another "wolf" — vibraphonist Warren Wolf takes us in a new direction on his album "Reincarnation,"  and we have a couple of classically-tinged jazz pieces from pianist/composer Aaron Diehl from his latest album "The Vagabond."

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, we have piano fever, with some great pianists, mostly women. We'll feature the new album from pianist Connie Han called "Iron Starlet," with a band that includes trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, and hear several pieces from it. Han is the daughter of two classical musicians. We also have a bluesy piece from pianist Lisa Hilton's new album "Chalkboard Destiny," and a couple of things from pianist Miki Hayama, who relocated to New York from her native Kyoto in Japan in the early years of this century. One of her pieces is a tribute, in 2004, to a great pianist we lost this year, McCoy Tyner, and we'll hear from him too.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, magical music from Azar Lawrence's stunning 1975 album "Summer Solstice," reissued on audiophile LP in the United States a few weeks before the winter solstice last year.  We also have the first two albums to come out in 2020 of the continuing album reissue series on pianist Erroll Garner from Mack Avenue Records, "Up In Erroll's Room" and "That's My Kick." These are the seventh and eight albums in the planned 12-disc series. Also: a band called Works For Me featuring rising star saxophonist Alexa Tarantino with their album "Reach Within."  Plus: a song from the new album from 91-year-old Chicago bluesman Jimmy Johnson, "Every Day Of Your Life."

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, powerful and poetic music from trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire in a quartet setting from his new album "On The Tender Spot Of Every Calloused Moment." We'll hear several tracks fom this poetic and challenging new album. Also, some new blues, from Boo Boo Davis, a Mississippi bluesman working in Europe from a new electronica-influenced album with The ElectroBluesSociety, and from Joe Louis Walker from his new album Blues Comin' On. We have a selection from the new album from pianist Christian Sands, a song from the rock band Blind Faith, and a new single from the Christian McBride Big Band to mark the killing of civil rights leader Medgar Evers in June 1963; and a song from the second Jazz Is Dead album, featuring vibraphonist and funk-jazz poet Roy Ayers.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, the youngest sibling in the magically talented Marsalis family of New Orleans is vibraphonist and composer Jason Marsalis, and we'll feature his new album "Jason Marsalis Live," recorded in 2017 at a New Orleans club and issued in 2020.  Also: new music from multi-instrumentalist and composer Derrick Hodge, his third album, entitled "Color Of Noize," with two great drummers at work, Michael Mitchell and Justin Tyson. We'll play two cuts from a previously unissued album of Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers from 1959 called "Just Coolin'" with Lee Morgan, Hank Mobley, Bobby Timmons, and Jymie Merritt in the band — plus, a piece from the great pianist Erroll Garner in the continuing reissue series of his Octave Label recordings.

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New music from vibraphonist Warren Wolf from his album "Reincarnation." Inspired both by family tragedies, and happy events, a new marriage and kids, Wolf expands his musical horizons on the album. Also, new recordings from another vibraphonist Steve Yeager with a large group on the album "Vibraharp," and from saxophonist Christopher Hollyday continuing his comeback started a couple of years ago after teaching, but not recording, for many years. We'll also play a track from an impressive new album from trumpeter Erik Jekabson, and one from a brainy new release from pianist Aaron Diehl — and a new album of pianist and composer Yelena Eckemoff's musical portraits of fourteen nocturnal animals. We'll select one of them, for this hour of Blue Dimensions.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, it's saxophonist Teodross Avery's album "Harlem Stories: The Music Of Thelonious Monk." We'll hear several Monk compositions from the highly talented Teodross Avery, and — following his thoughts on how Monk influenced his idol, John Coltrane — we'll hear classic pieces from Monk and Coltrane that Avery says are connected. We'll also hear the big band MONK'estra playing a Monk composition in their own unique way, and we'll play something from the album "Palo Alto," a recording of a 1968 Thelonious Monk concert at a high school in California that we didn't know about until 2020.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, some music that offers just the right mix of spirit, soul, and brain for these unsettling times of a global pandemic. We'll hear from South African pianist Nduduzo Makhathini (N-DooDooZOh  MAHK-A-TINI) and his band with some soul-touching music on their album "Modes Of Communication: Letters From The Underworlds." Makhathini was strongly influenced by McCoy Tyner, who died on March 6th, and we'll play a couple of things featuring him as well, in the band he was most well-known for, the John Coltrane "classic quartet," from their poignant 1964 album "Crescent."

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, some music that offers just the right mix of spirit, soul, and brain for these unsettling times of a global pandemic. We'll hear from South African pianist Nduduzo Makhathini (N-DooDooZOh  MAHK-A-TINI) and his band with some soul-touching music on their album "Modes Of Communication: Letters From The Underworlds." Makhathini was strongly influenced by McCoy Tyner, who died on March 6th, and we'll play a couple of things featuring him as well, in the band he was most well-known for, the John Coltrane "classic quartet," from their poignant 1964 album "Crescent."

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, a new album "Cry Out" — strong new blues songs from singer and songwriter Kat Riggins — whose songs take us from the crossroads in the delta to the streets of the city. We'll hear a classic Robert Johnson blues song and Kat Riggins's sequel. We'll also play several selections from a great debut album, "Omega," from saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, and we have a track from the final album of the wonderful percussionist Ray Mantilla, called "Rebirth," issued posthumously this Spring — plus new music from guitarist Bill Frisell and his trio.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions — they are named after the goddess Artemis, a super six-woman band offering a strong self-titled album. Artemis consists of Renee Rosnes on piano, Anat Cohen on clarinet and bass clarinet, Melissa Aldana on tenor saxophone, Ingrid Jensen on trumpet, Noriko Ueda on bass, and Allison Miler on drums, We'll hear several pieces from it, including a song with guest vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant. We'll also play a couple of tunes from the album "Emergency Exit" from Throttle Elevator Music, the band from which saxophonist Kamasi Washington became well-known, with Erik Jekabson on trumpet as well. Cindy Blackman Santana's new release is called "Give The Drummer Some," and we'll do just that. Plus: music from trombonist Conrad Herwig's album "The Latin Side Of Horace Silver," and the album "Palo Alto," a previously unreleased concert recording of Thelonious Monk and band from a show at a high school in 1968.

In this hour of Blue Dimensions, a tribute to the late pianist Harold Mabern, who died at age 83 in 2019, including a recently-issued posthumous album with Mabern in the band, headed up by bassist Leon Lee Dorsey and including Mike Clark on the drums. The album "Thank You Mr. Mabern" is a great gift to fans of the blues-rooted pianist from Memphis, who remained busy in his later years with a number of fine albums on the Smoke Sessions label, including a live performance at Smoke in New York City. We'll hear music from that album and two others from Harold Mabern, including a song featuring singer Gregory Porter.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, three super pianists. The album "25 Years" is a career-retrospective album from Venezuelan pianist Edward Simon, including some of his work with the SF Jazz Collective, and with his own Afinidad quartet. We also have several pieces from a sparkling new album, "Sure Thing," from pianist David Kikoski, on which he works with just one band member, bassist Boris Kozlov, in a close and intimate duo project. Also, a track from pianist Lisa Hilton's latest album "More Than Another Day," with her longtime bandmates, Luques Curtis on bass, and Rudy Royston on drums.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, "Larry Coryell's Last Swing With Ireland," an album of recordings that the late guitarist Larry Coryell cut in Dublin in 2016, less than a year before he died. We'll hear several cuts from this album and speculate about some of the titles of these pieces. Also, the funky band Dumpstaphunk updates a hard-hitting song they originally did in 2017, on their new album "Where Do We Go From Here," and we'll play the latest music from organist Dr Lonnie Smith, a live recording from his album "Breathe," as well as live music from drummer Steve Gadd and his band recorded at the Blue Note in Tokyo, plus Gary Bartz's contribution to the continuing Jazz Is Dead series of albums.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, the spotlight shines on pianist Benito Gonzalez. We'll hear several tracks from his new album "Sing To The World" featuring among others bassist Christian McBride and trumpeter Nicholas Payton as well as drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts and a Russian drummer not known to many in the US, Sasha Mashin. We'll also hear Benito Gonzalez on a 2018 album with bassist Essiet Essiet and drummer Gerry Gibbs  that was a tribute to McCoy Tyner, and Gonzalez on the piano with one of Tyner's best bandmates, saxophonist Azar Lawrence, doing a Tyner classic from Lawrence's album "Mystic Journey." Plus new music from trombonist Michael Dease, and from saxophonist Gary Bartz with his contribution to the ongoing "Jazz Is Dead" album series.

In this hour of Blue Dimensions, we'll highlight two new albums, one from guitarist Charlie Apicella working with a trio and also doing some solo performances, an album called "Classic Guitar," featuring inventive new renditions of some old classics of jazz and R & B. We'll hear several selections from the album, and several from the album "Future Stride" by pianist Emmet Cohen, who does both classics and originals, and is joined on some pieces by saxophonist Melissa Aldana and trumpeter Marquis Hill. Plus: new music from trumpeter Dave Douglas, from his album "Marching Music," and from and guitarist Jorge Garcia, who grew up in Cuba listening to rock music from the US on the radio, taking on a rock hit from 1971 in his own special way, all in this hour of Blue Dimensions.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, we'll feature a new album called "You Gotta Have It" from singer Tia Carroll, with songs that certainly pack some social commentary, as does a song we'll play from musician-producer Adrian Younge from his album "The American Negro." Younge is also a co-producer of a song we'll play from pianist João Donato from one of the "Jazz Is Dead" series albums, that Younge co-produces with Ali Shaheed Muhammad. Also new music from two super pianists, James Francies and Benito Gonzalez and from that unique guitar duo who started out playing "flamencoized" heavy metal, Rodrigo y Gabriela, from their "Jazz EP."

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, pianists old and new, including the album "TimeOutTakes," previously unissued music from the Dave Brubeck Quartet, from the 1959 sessions that produced the great jazz classic album "Time Out." We'll hear an alternate take of one of the famous pieces on that album and two pieces recorded for that album that weren't on it originally. We also have new music from pianist Lisa Hilton's album "More Than Another Day," and from Emmet Cohen's album "Future Stride," both pianists leading trios. Also leading a trio, free-jazz pianist Matthew Shipp, who says, "The piano trio is such a basic configuration in jazz, and it is an honor to take a well-explored area and apply my imagination to it to see where we can go—it helps that my trio mates are great." Bassist Michael Bisio and drummer Newman Taylor Baker are great. We'll play two selections from the album "The Unidentifiable" from the Matthew Shipp Trio on this show.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, new blues from 22-year-old Mississippi bluesman Christone "Kingfish" Ingram from his second album, called "662" - - which is his area code in Mississippi. Also, previously unreleased songs from earthy Bahamaian folk singer Joseph Spence from the 1960s, and a related song from contemporary folk artist Rhiannon Giddens. We'll hear Dave McMurray take on a song from a band Joseph Spence influenced, the Grateful Dead, on his album "Grateful Deadication." Also: pianist Alan Broadbent plays Brubeck (with The London Metropolitan Strings), percussionist Gerry Gibbs highlights the music of his father Terry Gibbs, recorded at what proved to be the final recording session of pianist Chick Corea, and we have new music from singer Amber Weekes and harpist Brandee Younger.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, Jazz Is Dead — and doing quite well, we think. We'll play music from the album "Jazz Is Dead 8," the 8th album in the continuing "Jazz Is Dead" series from player-producers Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge. "Jazz Is Dead 8" features pianist and flutist Brian Jackson at his best. We'll also hear music from two other "Jazz Is Dead" albums, one featuring vibraphonist Roy Ayers, and another saxophonist Gary Bartz. Also: new music from marimba player Jenny Klukken, from her radiant debut album "Color In Motion," and from pianist Art Hirahara, his album "Open Sky," and drummer Tom Cohen with an album called "My Take" — we'll hear an energetic piece from him with organist Dave Posmontier and guitarist Steve Giordano.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, it's "Freedom Jazz Dance." The classic Eddie Harris composition is the title track of a new album from bassist Leon Lee Dorsey, and we'll hear that, and two more very varied versions of "Freedom Jazz Dance," each of them quite unlike the others. Also, we'll play a couple more tracks from the Leon Lee Dorsey album "Freedom Jazz Dance," pieces composed by the late Hilton Ruiz, to whom Dorsey dedicates the album. We'll also hear from Ruiz himself, a track that appeared as a bonus cut on the CD reissue of his 1975 debut album - - and it's a true bonus for sure. Plus: three great new blues songs. One is from Tito Jackson, and is a new song from the venerable songwriting team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. We also have songs from young blues phenom Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, and Cedric Burnside.

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Kari Kirkland's Debut; new music from Veronica Swift, and selections from the late drummer Ralph Peterson
In this hour of Blue Dimensions, songs from new albums from two great singers, including the debut album of Kari Kirkland, a former Ironman triathlete and trapeze artist, who reinterprets some classic pop music of the 60s and 70s but also does some from this century, on an appealing album called "Wild Is The Wind." We'll also hear from Veronica Swift, from her new album "This Bitter Earth," which includes a great song from the musical "South Pacific" as well as the Dinah Washington classic that is the album's title. We'll hear from Ms. Washington herself too.  Plus, some music from the late drummer and band leader Ralph Peterson, who died March 1st at the age of 58, including a drum solo piece.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, new and newly reissued music from pianists, including the great Erroll Garner recorded in concert at Symphony Hall in Boston in 1959. The album "Symphony Hall Concert" is the latest in a series of albums from Garner's own Octave Music label, reissued by Mack Avenue Records. We also have new work from a number of the best pianists out there these days, including Helen Sung with a new album Quartet+ ("Quartet Plus"), and the latest albums from Victor Gould and Lisa Hilton, both in trio settings featuring some wonderful new compositions by each of them. Plus an album from chemist-by-day and pianist-by-night Roland Tempelaar, a self-produced debut album from this pianist from the Netherlands transplanted to New York City.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, we'll dig into two new releases by exciting contemporary players and composers, and a posthumous release of the last studio session af a great figure in jazz. We have Rahsaan Barber's album "Mosaic," a double-CD from this well-traveled saxophonist, which includes some guest appearances by his twin brother Roland Barber on trombone, and we'll also hear from the twin brothers' namesake, Rahsaan Roland Kirk. We'll also explore the latest album from vibrant vibraphonist Behn Gillece, which is called "Still Doing Our Thing," his fifth album as band leader, Plus: a track from guitarist Larry Coryell from the new posthumous release "Larry Coryell's Last Swing With Ireland," recorded in Dublin in 2016 less than a year before his death.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, the first of a two-part program — we'll hear the first two parts of John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme: Live In Seattle," with the next two parts on the next show. Recorded at a club in Seattle in 1965, "A Love Supreme: Live In Seattle" is only the second live performance by Coltrane of this masterpiece that has been issued, and it features Coltrane with his classic quartet and three additional players at a time when Coltrane was in a fast-moving state of experimentation. Also: new music from pianist Hiromi, with a string quartet, from her album Silver Lining Suite, and solo, from a bonus disc for this album only issued in Japan, on which Hiromi takes on Beethoven.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, we listen to the music of two bassists who are also band leaders. We'll play several selections from Ben Tiberio, who became known for playing on vibraphonist Joel Ross's debut album "Kingmaker," from his own debut album as band leader, "Rare Peace." We'll also hear from bassist-bandleader David Finck, an album called "BASSic Instinct." Plus: we have some Brazilian sounds, and a surprise musical choice, from the debut album of the Dallas-based band Brasuka, whose members aren't Brazilian but do come from many different countries, and we'll separate the signal from the noise with the new album from the Canadian band BadBadNotGood.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, some hard-hitting social commentary about racism, in songs from pianist Luke Carlos O'Reilly from his album "I Too Sing America: A Black Man's Diary," including a song with singer Shenel Johns, and one using voices from the news. Also, new blues releases, from Mississippi hill country blues singer Cedric Burnside, who continues bringing us great new music in the hill country tradition that he learned from his grandfather, the late bluesman R. L. Burnside, and from soul-blues singer Gerald McClendon, as well as Robert Finley, and Wee Willie Walker, recorded a few days before his death in 2019. We'll also hear new music from bassist Charnett Moffett on a fretless electric bass, from his album "New Love," and organist Mike LeDonne and his Big Band, plus trumpeter Alex Sipiagin, and the superb guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, the music of the late pianist Clive Zanda, a jazz pianist from Trinidad who died at age 82 on January 6th. Zanda, who sometimes recorded using his full name, Clive Alexander, incorporated Trinidadian calypso into his jazz compositions. He also worked with a steel pannist, mixing another side of Trinidadian music, the sound of the steel pan — Trinidad's national instrument — with his piano jazz. We'll hear some of both of these unique stylistic blends from Clive Zanda,  and rich, new orchestral music from saxophonist Remy Le Boeuf and his Assembly Of Shadows, a 20-piece orchestra, from their new album "Architecture Of Storms."

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, "Shorter Moments - Exploring The World Of Wayne," from Posi-Tone Records, drawing on their catalog to make a collection of Wayne Shorter pieces performed by artists on the label, including organist Jared Gold, saxophonist Wayne Escoffery, and drummer David Ashkenazy. Also: guitarist Dave Stryker — he's working with a string quartet on his new album, "As We Are." We'll hear a couple of pieces, and a couple from Latin jazz bassist Angel Roman and Mambo Blue, from the album "Festive Interplay." Plus: new sounds from DLO3, that is, to be sure, The Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, a group getting well-deserved rising attention these days.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, the latest from saxophonist Azar Lawrence. We'll hear several selections from his 2022 album "New Sky," and go back a few years to hear his version of a McCoy Tyner piece, a piece that he had actually played on in Tyner's band, when Tyner debuted it in 1973. We'll also hear from the wonderful pianist Victor Gould from his latest album, "In Our Time," and from a great band he is part of, The Black Art Jazz Collective from their album "Ascension." Plus: music from the saxophonist everyone is listening to these days, Immanuel Wilkins, from his recently-issued second album, called "The 7th Hand."

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra featuring singer Catherine Russell, who sings with her usual inimitable style and power, on songs from writers ranging from Bessie Smith, to Allen Toussaint and Percy Mayfield, on an album called "Community Music Volume 2, Good Time Music." Another wonderful singer Eugenie Jones will also be featured, with songs from her latest album "Players," for which she also wrote some great songs — and saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin takes on the music of the Coltranes, John and Alice, on her latest album "Pursuance: The Coltranes."

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, we'll highlight some blues singing women. We have two powerhouse women from Houston, Texas — Diunna Greenleaf. with a new album "I Ain't Playin'"  and Trudy Lynn, with her new album "Golden Girl." We'll hear several tracks from each of these great singers. Also: an album side, one whole side from an out-of-print album of performances from the San Francisco Blues Festival in 1979, featuring the late and great blues singer Big Mama Thornton, including a very special rendition of one of her classic songs.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, the late great pianist Oscar Peterson and a superb band including guitarist Joe Pass recorded in concert in Helsinki in 1987, on a new double CD called "A Time For Love," We'll hear two wonderful long pieces from this set, an extended medley of Duke Ellington pieces, and an inventive original composition from Peterson paying tribute to Johann Sebastian Bach. We also have music from bluesman Corey Harris, someone who preserves tradition by expanding on it, from his latest album "The Insurrection Blues."  Plus, a famous Miles Davis piece reinterpreted by saxophonist DeAndre Lettsome on an impressive debut album, "Impetus," all coming up, in this hour of Blue Dimensions.

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In this hour of Blue Dimensions, we'll feature the album "Soul Conversations" from the Ulysses Owens Jr. Big Band from a spirited concert at Dizzy's at Jazz At Lincoln Center in 2019. We'll hear several tracks, including one with guest vibraphonist Stefon Harris. Also, new music from drummer Nate Smith's latest album "Kinfolk 2: See The Birds," bassist Michael Feinberg and band playing a great McCoy Tyner piece, bassist Christian McBride with a track from the album "Relief," a benefit for The Jazz Foundation Of America's Musicians' Emergency Fund, and marimba player Jenny Klukken with music from one of the most interesting albums of last year, "Color In Motion."

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