May 15, 2025 - Alternative To What?

This was the first of two Alternative To What programs I'm going to be guest-hosting in May. Many thanks as always to regular ATW host Kerry Clarke for tapping me to fill in. Today's program leaned a bit to the jazzy side of things, especially in the second hour. A fair chunk of the first hour was made up of a special feature: I played one track, in order, from each of Philip Glass' symphonies that were based on David Bowie's (and Brian Eno's) Berlin trilogy albums, Low, Heroes, and Lodger. The first symphonies were put out in the 1990s but the last one didn't appear until 2022 and I didn't hear it until earlier this year. Now that all three have crossed my ears I figured it was time to put a sampler on air. You can listen to the Glass/Bowie/Eno pieces plus the rest of the show on the podcast here.

The second edition of Alternative To What that I'll be hosting will be on Thursday, May 22. Come travel all over the musical map with me from 4 to 6 pm MT at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM.

Thanks.

Andrew

May 12, 2025

For the first time this calendar year, I decided, very close to airtime, that this edition of Breaking The Tethers was going to be an "all-new" show. And that's what it ended up being; eight songs played, in a variety of styles (perhaps leaning more to the outside?), all of which are newly-released or newly-re-released. While I dug them all, my favourite was probably "34a" by Steve Lehman from The music of Anthony Braxton. The recording of all of this is here.

Monday, May 19 features the next BTT program. Join me for more music and more music from 10 to 11 am MT at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM.

I'll also be making a couple of appearances on Alternative To What? in May, on Thursday, May 15 and Thursday, May 16, 4 to 6 pm both days. A tip of the hat to regular host Kerry Clarke for letting me do my thing on her show.

Thanks.

Andrew

May 5, 2025

May arrives for Breaking The Tethers and brings a show that definitely leans to more out there sounds leavened by some soul jazz ("Trane's terrain" by Jon Bentley) and a tribute to Joe Williams ("Sad song" by Planet D Nonet with Leonard King). The craziest of the crazy music had to be "Il Teatro Rosso, scene II - the spasms of trapped animals" by No Hay Banda / Steven Takasugi / Huei Lin which I described in an internal CJSW review of the album (Il Teatro Rosso) as, to paraphrase myself, "free jazz or chamber music made by rodents on meth". It's wild stuff; the last few minutes of the track sound like the end of the world is coming. You can listen to it, and the rest of the program here.

There will be more great music, wild and otherwise, on the next edition of BTT, on Monday, May 12, 10 to 11 am MT, at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM. Please join me if you can (and I hope you can!)

Thanks.

Andrew

PS I'll also be guest hosting on Alternative To What on two Thursdays in May, May 15 and 22. More on this soon.

April 28, 2025

Last week's program, on April 21, featured an interview (with Rachel Therrien, which was great) so I figured I'd keep the words to somewhat of a minimum this week and have a music-heavy show (not that that BTT episodes aren't always full of music). Which is exactly what happened; nine songs played, many fairly long, from a fair number of styles (avant-jazz, contemporary jazz, afro-jazz, Canterbury sound, jazz-rock, and more). I invite you to give it a listen here.

Celebrate the arrival of May with another BTT show, on Monday, May 5, at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM, from 10 to 11 am MT. See you then!

Thanks.

Andrew

April 21, 2025

The main thing in this week's program was an interview with trumpet and flugelhorn player, composer, and bandleader Rachel Therrien. This was originally supposed to happen a few weeks ago but it came to pass today. It was great to chat with her about her music, her new album, her touring, and her future plans.

In addition to the interview, much fine music was played. Perhaps the best way to describe these is to say that there was heaven, angels, Satan, purgatory, and a necropolis. Take a look at the song titles and you'll figure this out! 😁

BTT finishes out in April with a show on Monday, April 28 (which is federal election day in Canada - if you can vote in Canada, get out and vote!). Go to cjsw.com or 90.9 FM from 10 to 11 am MT.

Thanks.

Andrew

April 14, 2025

What did we have on the Breaking The Tethers musical plate today? Notes on a few items:

*I went proggy and played some Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP). But it was a jazzy ELP, the "Piano improvisations" section from the live album Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends.

*Brian Baggett, he of Chapman Stick fame, is back with a new album, Travel past the aftermath. The track I featured on the show, "Ojos verdes", was completely appropriate, I think, as I have green eyes 😁.

*A recent fave discovery:"Starless and bible black" by the Stan Tracey Quartet of Under milk wood: jazz suite from 1965. Serious moody stuff.

*All hail "Big tuba" from the album of the same name by the Hot 8 Brass Band. Tuba! Tuba! Tuba!

You can listen to all of this and more here.

More great stuff next week, including the rescheduled interview with Rachel Therrien. Please join me on Monday, April 21, at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM, from 10 to 11 am MT.

Thanks.

Andrew

April 7, 2025

The main item was supposed to be an interview with trumpet and flugelhorn player Rachel Therrien. It didn't come to pass but it's been rescheduled for Monday, April 21. We'll talk about her new album and her tour and play a track or two from the album.

This week's show ended up being all music, which is never a bad thing. There was plenty of Canadian sounds, tunes from two all-female bands (Artemis and Ostara Project), and some of what could be called "oddball" jazz. The podcast of the program is here.

The next edition of BTT will be on Monday, April 14, from 10 to 11 am MT, at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM. It'll be all music again (well, I'll talk a bit between the tunes).

Thanks.

Andrew