December 16, 2024

A little new, a little older this week. I'm going to point out a couple of good (re) discoveries among the tracks I played:

"The ugly" from The Keith Price Double Quartet, from their 2015 album, The good, the bad, and the ugly. Some great Bitches brew-influenced jazz rock. I knew about this group's 2017 album (which is really good) but I didn't know about the 2015 release... or I had forgotten completely!

"The rabbi" from the great bass player, Richard Davis, from the 2000 album, Forest flower (not the Charles Lloyd record of almost the same name). This album is a collection of unreleased tracks from 1977. I came across this in the CJSW library as I was looking for a couple of other things. I read a review of Forest flower that bashed it pretty badly but I quite liked this track.

There's two more shows coming up for me in the next week. The next BTT episode will be just before Christmas, on Monday, December 23, 10 to 11 am MT, at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM. I'll also be guest-hosting Alternative To What on Thursday, December 19, 4 to 6 pm MT, again, at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM. Please join me for both programs!

Thanks.

Andrew

November 4, 2024

Checking in on the November 4 BTT. Some notes:

*I played Martin, Medeski and Wood (from their Radiolarians trilogy) for the first time in ages. I know this turned a few people onto MMW.

*Lots of electric guitar in this episode. This is a good thing.

*13 tracks played in one hour! An almost impossibility for a jazz show!

*I played a track called "Coda" as a coda (well, at least a finish) to the program (this was "Coda" by the late great Ryuichi Sakamoto, from the album of the same name).

It's well worth a listen. Do that here

Thanks.

Andrew

November 11, 2024

Looking back, I think this was a really great show. 11 tracks were playing with many high points. There was afrobeat to start things off ("Eli aluta" from Seun Kai & Egypt 80 with Sampa The Great, from Heavier yet (lays the crownless head), straight-up free jazz ("For peace and liberty part 4" by Black Artist Group, from For peace and liberty, in Paris Dec. 1972, spiritual jazz ("Wisdom through music" by Pharaoh Sanders, from the album of the same title), jazzy Radiohead split off music ("Tiptoe" by The Smile, from Cutouts), and much more. It's all well worth listening to and you can do that here.

Thanks.

Andrew

December 9, 2024

I called this edition of BTT "nice and varied" which I think fits very well. A nice mix of various styles. This included the first plays of music by Jean-Luc Monty and Dave Douglas for a number of years (many years in the case of Douglas, though definitely not by design!) You can tune into a podcast of the show here. 

There's more BTT on Monday, December 16, from 10 to 11 am MT, at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM. Please join me if you can.

If you like my dulcet tones, I'm also going to be filling in on Alternative To What on Thursday, December 19, 4 to 6 pm. Please join me then, too.

Thanks.

Andrew

November 25, 2024

This show was another that just worked well, both musically and otherwise. Lots of tunes played (11! The usual is nine or less), all good stuff (including a track by Jeff Goldblum - yes, that Jeff Goldblum). I encourage everyone to give this show a listen; you can do this by going here.

Thanks.

Andrew

December 2, 2024

On the Breaking The Tethers page on the CJSW site, I noted that this program bounces back and forth between crazy and “normal” (not that I play too much “normal” on the show), which is correct. It resulted in a fine episode, maybe one of the top ever. Here are some of my faves from this week:

“Dancing in the loft” by John Surman and Howard Moody from Rain on the window. This record reminds me of me of Ghandharva, by Beaver & Krause, which features Gerry Mulligan on the baritone sax, which John Surman also plays.

“Chitlins con carne” by Ben Paterson from Cookin’ in the couve. Always good to have some soul jazz on the menu.

“Untitled” by Greg Kelly from Trumpet. You too can make your trumpet sound like nothing like a trumpet.

“Free form suite, 2nd movement” by Masayuki Takaynuki from Free form suite. Might as well end things with some straight-up free jazz.

Breaking The Tethers dives deeper into November on Monday, December 9, from 10 to 11 am MT, at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM.  Please hang with me then.

Thanks.

Andrew

November 18, 2024

One thing listeners may have noticed in this program and in a number of shows recently is that there are a fair number of tracks played from the 2010 to 2015 period. Here's the reason: I'm playing catchup. I have a list of songs that I draw from to help form BTT shows (though it's not the only source I use). I realized that this list is getting long in the tooth, with many of the tunes coming from 2010 to 2015 releases. So, I'm trying to whittle these down, a few a show (no more than that, though). You can listen to these songs and a bunch of others here.

The next BTT thing will be on Monday, November 25 (last Monday of the month! November 2024 has just zipped by), usual time, usual place (10 to 11 am MT, 90.9 FM or cjsw.com).

I should note that I'll also be guest-hosting Alternative To What on Thursday, November 21. You can join me for that from 4 to 6 pm, 90.9 FM or cjsw.com.

Thanks.

Andrew

CJSW Funding Drive 2024 and Breaking The Tethers

Hi. This post presents information about the 2024 CJSW Funding Drivable (FD) and Breaking The Tethers (BTT).

The annual Funding Drive is a key time for CJSW, when the station calls upon its fine listeners to help support the work work done by Calgary's campus and community radio station. The money raised in the Drive allows CJSW to maintain, develop, and grow; it is a major element in station operations.

Here's the main details about this year's Funding Drive:

*The Drive runs from Friday, October 18 through Friday, October 25. 

*The goal is $200,000.

*The theme is the Sounds of Radiotown:

*To donate, you can go to cjsw.com or cjsw.com/donate or call 403-220-5000.

*While any donation amount is welcome, there are various pledge levels at which some swag is available. You can see these station-level incentives at cjsw.com/donate.

*In addition, individual CJSW programs also have show-specific incentives. These are in addition to the station-level stuff and will vary from show to show. 

*There are various payment options available, including monthly payments.

Looking at Breaking The Tethers during the Drive, the BTT FD program will be on Monday, October 21, from 10 to 11 am MT, at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM. There will be some BTT-specific incentives, including some great jazz CDs and a special mix of awesome tracks that were played on my program in the past year; here's what's included on the mix:

1. Brother Jack McDuff - "Theme from electric surfboard" (Ain't got no home (live in Seattle))

2. Luke Stewart - "Dudu" (Unknown rivers)

3. Kronos Quartet & Friends Meet Sun Ra - "Daddy's gonna tell you no lie" (Outer spaceways incorporated)

4. Eve Egoyan & Mauricio Pauly - "Height" (Hopeful monster)

5. Yusuf Lateef - "Chian Miau" (Eastern sounds)

6. Menagerie - "Hymn of the turning stone" (Many worlds)

7. Alice Coltrane - "Africa" (The Carnegie Hall concert)

I'll be playing some of these during the show. Other interesting things will happen! A good time will be had by all! Please join me!

Along with hosting Breaking The Tethers this FD week, I'll also be at the controls of Alternative To What (ATW), hosting the FD edition of this long-running CJSW program. As happened in 2023 the regular host, Kerry Clarke, will be away (I think she'll be in Europe - she'll be calling in, BTW) and so she has deputized me to handle things in her absence. I always have a great time hosting ATW and the FD show will be no exception. Please join me on Thursday, October 24, from 4 to 6 pm MT, at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM.

Once again, To donate, go to cjsw.com or cjsw.com/donate or call 403-220-5000.

Many thanks!

Andrew

September 16, 2024

The theme of this edition of Breaking The Tethers was akin to that for the previous week (September 9), with one slight difference. Last week, it was "no new music". This week it was "almost no new music". I played only one new release, "Outer spaceways incorporated", by the Kronos Quartet & Friends (which is a great track). Everything else was old, but good old stuff (especially "Portrait of Louisiana" by the William Parker Orchestra - Duke Ellington meets free jazz!). You can check it out here.

Thanks.

Andrew

September 9, 2024

Most of the time, release date-wise, Breaking The Tethers shows are made up of new and old music. Every now and again, I do a program where everything played is newly-released or newly re-released. This week, I did the reverse; all the tracks are old, with no new items played. This is definitely a rare thing, even less common than the "all-new" shows, but still fun to do here and there. 

Fave track this week: "Leo" by John Coltrane, recorded at his last appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1966.

I also had a request, the first in a while, for something by Oscar Peterson. I played "The smudge" from the album Eloquence.

This program is available for listening pleasure at shorturl.at/axfq0

Thanks.

Andrew

September 23, 2024

Lots of music - 10 tracks - presented this week. I would say that the main feature here was the new music, most of which was Canadian. I hadn’t played too much newly released stuff in the last few weeks so it was nice to be able to do that (not that I didn’t have new music on hand but…). Listen to things here.

Thanks.

Andrew

September 30, 2024

A lighter show, in a sense, today. All interesting tracks with a fair amount of variation between them, just nothing too wild (wild stuff often appears in a BTT program). One track to note: I had totally forgotten I had some music by UK bassist, composer, and bandleader, Graham Collier. But, on rediscovery, I was very glad to play one of his works (the track "Darius: part one") in this program. 

This will take you to the recording of the show. 

Thanks.

Andrew

October 7, 2024

This was a mellower show of sorts though there were appropriate injections of weirdness here and there. Perhaps the most interesting part was that I managed to fit in 10 tracks; normally, it's a few less. And it was 10 not-too-short tracks, not some short stuff. Anyway, you can listen to the program here.

Thanks.

Andrew

October 14, 2024

This was Thanksgiving Day in Canada (and Columbus Day in the US, though I didn't mention this on air). I picked a nice mix of tunes, I think, to celebrate Turkey Day. Well, I didn't really select them with that day in mind but it was a good group of tracks. Here are three faves:

"Claude Bolling suite for cello and jazz piano trio 6: cello fan" by Sahara Von Hattenberger - A classical meets jazz kinda thing that swings and has a solid structure.

"Interception" by the Dave Holland Quartet - From one of my favourite jazz albums, Conference of the birds. Definitely avant-garde but also quite accessible in a way.

"Rapacious" by Matt Mitchell - An out-there take on the jazz piano trio. Appropriately titled.

Here's where you can listen to this show: shorturl.at/yq8qM

Join me for the next edition of Breaking The Tethers on Monday, October 21, at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM, from 10 to 11 am MT. This will be a notable program in that it
will be the 2024 CJSW Funding Drive show for Breaking The Tethers! More on this in another post soon!

Thanks.

Andrew

August 15, 2024 - Alternative To What?

Here’s another showfill for Alternative To What. As I’ve mentioned, I really enjoy hosting this program in that it allows me to play more songs than I usually do on Breaking The Tethers (22 songs as opposed to 9 or less on BTT, usually) and play a (much) wider variety of music than BTT features (on this show, I touched on almost everything but classical… and I’ve played classical in the past on ATW). Anyway, it was a fun program; listen to it here. 

Thanks.

Andrew

August 26, 2024

On the page for this show on the CJSW site (tinyurl.com/3axhnfmj - you can listen to a recording of the program here), I said that it was “groovy with freaky”, which I think describes this well. A couple of the tracks played came from albums that I hadn’t played before (I have played the artists in the past), “Maulana” by Kuumba-Toudie (Tootie) Heath from Kawaida and “Sorcery” by Charles Lloyd from Forest flower (an album that was seriously popular when it came out, selling a million copies). Both were fine stuff.

Thanks.

Andrew

August 19, 2024

Half new and half older in this edition of BTT. I’d had most of the older ones on a “to play” list for a while so it was good to get these aired (e.g. “West Chester lady” by Jamset, “Mitochondria” by the Yosuke Yamashita Trio). An older track but a more recent discovery was “Scorpio-Libra” by Eddie Henderson; I’m not sure if I ever played anything from him before. And I squeezed in some prog, “Cogs in cogs” by Gentle Giant. Another interesting thing about this program was that about half the pieces played were from 1975; I didn’t plan that at all, it just happened. Here’s where you can listen to a recording of this show: tinyurl.com/mwmns9ec

Thanks.

Andrew

August 12, 2024

Mostly newly-released tunes on this show with some older stuff. All good. I also played  “Kings and queens” from the latest Soft Machine live album, originally recorded in 1971 but just put out this year. I am always happy to play Soft Machine! (Yes, they’re a fave band, which regular listeners have probably figured out 😄)  Here’s the link to the recording for this program: tinyurl.com/ywrfey2p

Thanks.

Andrew

September 2, 2024

September comes in with a pretty nifty show, one that I particularly liked. We had some indo-jazz (Irene Schweitzer et al and Bappi Lahiri), space jazz (Kronos Quartet and Friends), jazz-rock (Luvmenauts and Weather Report), and singing (Bria Skonberg and Bappi Lahiri - when was the last time I played two tracks with vocals in one show?), plus a few others. It’s program well worth listening to; I might even do that!😆 This will take you to the recording: rb.gy/59tb4g

I’ll be back with more of the same kind of thing next Monday, September 9, from 10 to 11 am MT. Go to cjsw.com or 90.9 FM.

Thanks.

Andrew

July 25, 2024 - Alternative To What?

This was the second of two shows in a row filling on for Kerry Clarke on Alternative To What, a great program and one of the longest-running shows on CJSW (it might be the longest-running one now, actually). I am always very happy to be on ATW, in part because the nature of the program allows me to run rampant all over the proverbial musical map, which I definitely did on July 25. I'd point out a few fave tunes from this edition of BTT but I kind really liked all of them. I'd say listen to the whole program from the start; the music is interesting and flows well. Go to shorturl.at/Xjvo7

Thanks.

Andrew

August 5, 2024

I was a bit of a klutz on this show, especially with my fingers and a bit with my tongue, but musically, however, this was top gear (to use a UK term). I very much dug the tunes played (hopefully, the listening audience did as well! 😁). There were a couple of favourites of mine ("Astral" by Food and "Orbit of La-Ba" by Old and New Dreams) along with plenty of other fine tracks; I think I liked them all about equally. You can decide for yourself by listening to the program here. 

Tune in on Monday, August 12, from 10 to 11 am MT, for the next 60 minutes of fine music on Breaking Tethers. Go to cjsw.com or 90.9 FM.

Thanks.

Andrew

July 29, 2024

A solid show, methinks. A nice amount of variety in musical style. Plus I snuck in a couple of favourites: "Reflex" by Matthew Shipp from the album I've been to many places and "Teeth" by Soft Machine from the newly-released Hovikodden 1971 (any Soft Machine after their first two albums is a fave to me). Dig it at this link.

July ends and August begins. The first BTT episode in this new month will be on Monday, August 5 (a holiday for many folks), at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM, from 10 to 11 am MT. Please join me then.

Thanks.

Andrew

July 22, 2024

I guess you could call the music this week a little more on the straight-ahead/accessible side than is often the case with Breaking The Tethers. That being said, there's a few items that came from the outside edge of jazz, such as the first track played, "Ritual purity and love, part II" by Wadada Leo Smith's Organic (when has Wadada Leo Smith done anything conventional?) and "A decisive little habit" by Iconoclast (a long piece in comparison to their usual short jazz blasts). Anyway, it was a good show, regardless of the labels we put on it. The recording is here.

Thanks.

Andrew

July 18, 2024 - Alternative To What?

I am always very pleased to fill in on the (very) long-running CJSW program, Alternative To What, normally hosted by Kerry Clarke. This week, Kerry was away so I was deputized to host ATW in her stead (thanks Kerry!) When I host this show, I go all over the musical map, as I am wont to say. To give you an idea of the broadness of the 20 tracks I played, my summary one the ATW home page, read:

Sounds this week, among others: bagpipes, 70s jazz, 60s jazz, hard rock, avant garde, murder songs, death surf, indo-psych-rock, Afro-rock, noise, punk, latin jazz, dark ambient, and noise!

It was a fun show to host and a fun show to listen to (I hope!). You can take in this episode of Alternative To What here.

I get another kick at the ATW can soon, so to speak; Kerry will be away for one more week. So, join me on Thursday, July 15, from 4 to 6 pm MT, at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM.

As well, I'll be doing my regular program, Breaking The Tethers, on Monday, July 22, from 10 to 11 am MT, same radio station.

Thanks.

Andrew

July 15, 2024

Sometimes, I use the word “nifty” too much as a descriptor, especially in the context of the music that I play on Breaking The Tethers. But it’s often the best choice and the tunes on this show are definitely “nifty”. I would say that the top two “niftiest” songs this week were the skronky “Horny toads” by the Muffins, from the expanse set Baker’s dozen, and the classic “Nine types of industrial pollution” by the Mothers of Invention from Meat light (it first appears on Uncle meat). Listen to this nifty edition of BTT here. 

Breaking The Tethers returns, with me, on Monday, July 22, usual time (10 to 11 am MT), usual place (cjsw.com or 90.9 FM).

I should also note that I’ll be guest hosting the long-running CJSW show Alternative To What on Thursday, July 18, and on Thursday, July 25. Both shows run from 4 to 6 pm MT. And, of course, they’re on cjsw.com or 90.9 FM.

Thanks.

Andrew

July 8, 2024

I've said it before, some shows just fall together nicely. The tracks complement each other yet are distinctive in themselves. The music fits into the time period perfectly. My patter is smooth and inventive. This program was kinda like that. I say kinda because I don't think my mic work was that good... but I've done worse! 😆. Anyway, you can listen the this edition of BTT here.

I should also add that my fave song title from the tunes played today was "Sold dude debate" by Scott Marshall from the album The solitude suite. I dedicated it to all the solid dudes and dudettes who were listening (or something like that).

The next show: Monday, July 15, from 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

July 1, 2024

I was away (camping) on this Canada Day episode of Breaking The Tethers. Filling in for me was Brennan Chaudhry, who has done so several times in the past. He definitely played some interesting stuff, different than what usually shows up on BTT, more ambient, but also not so different, kind of in the vein... Anyway, many thanks to Brennan and be sure to give the hour a listen. The podcast of the program is here. 

I'm back at BTT on Monday, July 8. I've got a few things cooking in my brain for the show. Please join me on from 10 to 11 am MT at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM

Thanks.

Andrew

June 24, 2024

Sometimes, things come out a bit different than expected. In the case of the June 24 program, I thought this was going to be a mid-range kinda show; a little freaky plus some less freaky. Well, it turns out that the freaky won out. Even though I’d heard them all before, the songs were a tad stranger than I thought they were, which is not a bad thing. Part of this is due to the fact that one of the songs I played, “Two-face” by Chris Lightcap’s Bigmouth, was not the song I planned to play (this was “Fuzz”, from the same album, Deluxe, which I’ll get to a some point in the future). But it was a happy accident; “Two-face” ended up being more in the out there side of town than the scheduled tune. You can listen to what I’m talking about here.

For next week’s show, on Monday, July 1, as happens sometimes, I will be away (just for that episode). Filling in for me will be Brennan Chaudry. Brennan has hosted BTT a number of times in the past. He’s always done a great job and will do the same next week. Tune in from 10 to 11 am MT at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM.

Thanks,

Andrew

June 17, 2024

This was a good ol’ regular Breaking The Tethers show, starting with some 1964 live Miles Davis and moving through the usual soup of fine music. One thing I noticed after the program: I said the date was Monday, June 20. I said this at least three times, if memory serves. Of course, the date was June 17. So, if you listen to this episode again (as you can do here), when you hear “20”, think “17”!

Hopefully, I will get the date right during the next episode of BTT, on Monday, June 24. Find out by going to cjsw.com or 90.9 FM from 10 to 11 am MT.

Thanks.

Andrew

June 10, 2024

This was mostly a usual sort of BTT show, with the usual sort of musical and year variations. However, there ended up being a few synth-centred tracks played. Aside from fusion and maybe smooth jazz (the latter of which I very much avoid listening to), synths aren’t that common in jazz. But they certainly make an appearance today. Here are the synthy songs:

“Maybe never” by Soft Machine from Other doors

“Luxe” by Brad Mehldau & Mark Guiliana from Taming the dragon

“Twigs” by John Kameel Farah & Nick Fraser from Farahser

All three are good stuff. These and the rest of the tunes played on today’s program can be listened to here.

There’ll be more fine music on the next episode of Breaking The Tethers, Monday, June 17, from 10 to 11 am MT, at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM.

Thanks.

Andrew

June 3, 2024

June starts with a show made mostly up of newly-released material, from a fairly-wide variety of styles. Somewhat interestingly, the two oldest tunes I played, “Black caucus” by Harold Land and “Stopover Bombay” by Alice Coltrane, were both from 1971. I should also note that these might have been my fave tunes from this week, especially “Black caucus”. You can dig it all here

Monday, June 10 brings another edition of Breaking The Tethers. It will be good. Join me for the musical madness that day from 10 to 11 am MT, at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM

Thanks.

Andrew

May 27, 2023

A fine mix of new (mostly) and old tracks on this program, leaning out there but definitely not fully in that territory (e.g. I played the Mercer Hassy Orchestra’s version of Duke Ellington’s “Hot and bothered”, which was originally recorded in 1928). My favourite two songs this week were the Carl Zinsius Project’s cover of Carla Bley’s “Five banana” and “Unknown rivers” by Luke Stewart. Which were yours? Not sure yet? You can listen to the show here.

June comes in next week, with the first Breaking The Tethers program taking place on Monday, June 3, at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM, from 10 to 11 am MT. Please join me.

Thanks.

Andrew

May 20, 2024

Most of the tracks in this edition of Breaking The Tethers leaned, slightly or heavily, into the avant or out-there side of jazz.  I'm glad it came out this way; maybe I've been playing too much straight-ahead or mellow stuff recently? 😆 Actually, there were a couple of more straight-ahead pieces featured today, "Brass rail" by OVK3 and "Timing is everything" by Eric Alexander. But they still pushed the sonic envelope a bit e.g. Alexander's tenor sax solo in "Timing is everything" got kinda skronky. You can listen to the whole program, skronky or not, here. 

BTT in May comes to an end next week, on Monday, May 27. Join me for the show that day from 10 to 11 am MT at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM.

Thanks.

Andrew

May 13, 2024

This show was much like last week's episode. Great music was played (fave track: "Theme from electric surfboard" by Brother Jack McDuff) and the structure was the same. The first three pieces were all from the 1970s while the last three were all recent releases. Not that this was a bad thing (at all) but, next week, I think I'll spread out the old and the new. 

Speaking of next week, there'll be more Breaking The Tethers at the usual place and time, Monday, May 20, 10 to 11 am MT, cjsw.com or 90.9 FM.

Thanks.

Andrew

May 6, 2024

There was a sharp line between older and newer in this program. The first half hour or so was filled up with one piece, the longer (33 minute) version of "Circle in the round" by Miles Davis from 1967 (there's a shorter version that clocks in at 26 minutes). This is one of my fave jazz tracks; I haven't played it for at least several years so I figured it was time for an outing. Everything past this point in the show was newly released and mostly Canadian (and good). You check out this aural dichotomy here.

You can also check out the next edition of BTT, on Monday, May 13, at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM, from 10 to 11 am MT.

Thanks.

Andrew

April 29, 2024

I was absent for this edition of Breaking The Tethers (I had an all-day work thing) but Mickail Hendi was able to fill in for me. Mickail has sat in the BTT chair several times in the past and has always done a great job, which he also did this week. You can listen to the show here. Also dig the very interesting setlist.

I'm coming back for the April 6 program. I'm going to play a long Miles Davis tune. You can in take this and the other pieces of music I'll feature on the show from 10 to 11 am MT, cjsw.com or 90.9 FM.

Thanks.

Andrew

April 22, 2024

There was a nice mixed bag of sounds in this show, ranging from Sonny Sharrock ("Promises kept" from Ask the ages, one of my all-time faves) to Neil Young (yes, Neil being jazzy) to solo piano ("Tone" by Fumio Itabashi) to soul-jazz ("The stratosphere" by BK Trio) and much more. One interesting thing that happened was that, due to length, I was only going to play a few songs or so but I ended up playing 10, which is a lot for a one-hour jazz program (not that there's anything wrong with playing more music than planned). Anyway, you can listen to the 10 tracks plus my ramblings here.

Thanks.

Andrew

April 15, 2024

There were only six tracks played in today's BTT show but they were six mighty tracks. Well, maybe not all were "mighty" but they all were good food for the ears and brain. A few words on some of them:

"The magnificent 7" by Kamasi Washington, from the epic album, The epic. I haven't played anything from this record for a while but it's always a good one to return to. This was a fine tune with which to start the program.

"Nightclub jitters" by The Replacements. Post-punks do lounge jazz, just once.

"Five banana" by Carla Bley. An all-time fave of mine. I haven't put it on air for many years so it was due an outing.

"Leo" by Alice Coltrane. From a recently-released 1971 concert at Carnegie Hall. Crazy stuff.

You can take in all of these and more here.

BTT returns, as usual, in a week, on Monday, April 22, from 10 to 11 am MT, at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM.

Thanks.

Andrew

April 4, 2024 - Alternative To What?

On this day, I was privileged to be able to guest-host the long-running CJSW program, Alternative To What, again. As I usually do when I host ATW, I went all over the musical map and played all sorts and styles of songs, long and short, old and new. On this occasion, I think I may have done the best job at this I’ve ever done, at least on an ATW show. According to the texts that came into the booth, folks listening to the program live really liked it. I did too. If you’re reading this, I think you can listen to the show ASAP; to do that, go here.

Thanks.

Andrew

PS My fave title from this show is “Satanic immersion in goat piss” by Goring Christ. I played this song in the mini Satanic death metal set towards the end of the show.😆

April 8, 2024

This certainly wasn’t the craziest edition of Breaking The Tethers but some solid music was played, much of it Canadian. Plenty of newly released tunes were also featured. Here’s a few tracks I particularly liked:

“Lonnie’s lament” by the Mike Ledonne Groover Quartet. A great version of a fave Coltrane composition.

“Light through the window” by Sam Wilson. Sounds like she has been listening to Ryley Walker.

“Watergate” by Fumio Itabashi. Classic solo piano from Japan.

Listen to these and more here. 

BTT keeps on going on Monday, April 15, I’m going to play at least one longer tune. Hang out with me from 10 to 11 am MT at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM.

Thanks.

Andrew

April 1, 2024

Welcome to a new month. And it's April Fools Day. I didn't try to pull a fast one today, just played some fine tunes, mostly new releases. The main thing I noticed about this show was that many of the songs featured some great bass playing, both electric and acoustic. I didn't plan this but I'm glad it turned out this way. I dubbed this show The Cool Bass Playing Edition of Breaking The Tethers. Listen here.

The next time my dulcet tones will be featured on air at CJSW will not be next Monday. Later this week, on Thursday, April 4, I'll be filling in on Alternative To What. Regular host Kerry Clarke can't make it so she has deputized me to do my thing on her show. As always, thanks Kerry! Join me from 4 to 6 pm MT at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM.

All this being said, I will also be back with another episode of Breaking The Tethers next week. Usual time, usual place: 10 to 11 am MT, cjsw.com or 90.9 FM, Monday, April 8.

Thanks.

Andrew

March 25, 2024

The main event in this week's program was the first track played, "Africa" by Alice Coltrane, off the just-released-last-week album, The Carnegie Hall concert. This record documents a February 1971 concert by Alice and group (which includes two drummers, two sax players, two bass players, an harmonium player, a tamboura player, and Alice herself on piano and harp). While there is definitely structure, "Africa" is basically a half-hour long freakout, where Alice and the boys kick out the jams (as I read in a review of a bootleg version of the concert). It's a fine trip. You can listen to "Africa" and the other tunes featured in this show here.

Breaking The Tethers shows up again on April Fool's Day, Monday, April 1. I'm not sure if there will be any tricks but there will be treats of the musical variety (yes, I'm mixing up special days, I know). Check this out from 10 to 11 am MT at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM.

Thanks.

Andrew

March 4, 2024

Here's a BTT program I forgot to post about, March 4. It was mostly newly-released stuff this week. Here's a few tracks I particularly dug:

The Lori Bell Quartet with a jazz flute version of Joe Henderson's "Black narcissus". Joe's version (from Power to the people) is still the best but I quite dug this one.

"Passing ships" by Andrew Hill, from the album of the same name (which was recorded in 1969 but not released until 2003). Super-horn heavy album.

"Snafu" by Yusuf Lateef from the reissued Eastern sounds. I've really been digging this record. I've played a number of tracks on BTT over the last several weeks.

"KRITN" by the Budos Band from their recent release, the EP Frontier's edge. The Budos Band are always fun to play.

That's enough of a hint about this show. You can listen to it here.

Thanks.

Andrew

March 22, 2024 - The Future Language

I crashed another CJSW program. The Future Language! Normally, The Future Language is a punk show but it went in some very different directions this week. Future Language host and CJSW music director, Helen Young, and I often talk about prog-type music and we decided we needed to bring this to air.  Helen selected half the tunes and I picked the other half. All sorts of awesome proggy craziness was fed to the airwaves and we had lots of fun. We're going to do it again sometime! Listen to everything that went down here.

Thanks.

Andrew

March 18, 2024

This was the second week in a row with a musician interview. Today, I chatted with Arthur and Jeff from Canadian band Last Ark Out. We discussed their music, their new album, Lift (I played a couple of tracks from this), future plans, and much more. Many thanks to Arthur and Jeff for joining BTT. You can listen to the interview and the rest of the program here.

It's back to just a regular music show next week, no interviews. Tune in on Monday, March 25, at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM, from 10 to 11 am MT.

Thanks.

Andrew

March 11, 2024

The main thing in this episode of Breaking The Tethers was an interview with drummer and composer Will Régnier, who called us from Laval, QC. We discussed his new record, Traces, and played a couple of tracks from it. Thanks, Will! Other music played included, as I noted on the BTT home page,  "James Brown, solo bass, solo piano, another variation of Soft Machine, and much more!" That's a nice mix! Listen to it all here.

Next week, Monday, March 18, it'll be interview time again. I'll be chatting with Arthur and Jeff from Last Ark Out, who are from Vancouver. We'll talk about their new album, Lift, and more. Plus great music will be played. Please join me from 10 to 11 am MT at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM

Many thanks.

Andrew

February 26, 2024

On the page for this show on the CJSW site, I described the program with these words: Jazz flute! Oddball guitar! Avant (small) big band! Saxophone strangeness! Fusion funkiness! I think that covers it well! It was a good show with interesting tracks. A number of listeners agreed; I had several positive texts during the broadcast from folks who dug the music. You can feed the whole thing to your ears here.

For the next episode of BTT, on Monday, March 4, the music will play but I won’t be there. I’m away this week but Steve Russell will be taking my spot. He’ll do a great job. Join him from 10 to 11 am MT at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM.

Thanks.

Andrew

February 19, 2024

A solid show for Family Day 2024. Old stuff, new stuff, and a number of large ensemble performances. The top track, IMHO, was "Kind folk", written by Kenny Wheeler and performed by Kenny Wheeler, Lee Konitz, Dave Holland, and Bill Frisell, from the 1997 ECM album Angel song. I played a version of this song by Craig Brenan and Florian Ross a few weeks back and thought I would contrast that with the original (I think this is the first recording of "Kind folk"). I've played this before on BTT a couple of times but it's so good, it deserves another airing. Here's the link to the full show: shorturl.at/kpqDP

Breaking The Tethers for February comes to an end next week, Monday, February 26. Join me for this last show of the month that day from 10 to 11 am MT at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM.

Looking at the two weeks after that, I'll be away for the Monday, March 4 program. Steve Russell will be guest-hosting in my place. After that, on Monday, March 11, I'll be interviewing Canadian musician Will Regnier, who has a new album out, Traces.

Thanks.

Andrew

February 15, 2024 - Alternative To What?

As happens a few times a year, I was blessed with the chance this week to guest-host the long-running CJSW program Alternative To What? The regular host, Kerry Clarke, was unable to host this week so she very kindly deputized me in her stead. Many thanks to Kerry!

Music-wise, when I host ATW, I tend to go a little crazy. Sometimes I go a lot crazy. Maybe I did that this week. There certainly was a GREAT DEAL of variation, starting with the Fat Elvis Zeppelin reggae of Dread Zeppelin to the weirdo keyboard glitches of Xenopraxis. In-between, among other things, we had Revolution 9 gone chipmunk, lots of vibes, a few avant jazz tracks, a 38 second song by Yes, Nigerian rock, and much more. Feed it all to your brain here.

Thanks.

Andrew

February 12, 2024

As with last week’s BTT episode, most of the tunes here are newly-released or re-released, with a couple of older selections added for good measure. What was my favourite song from the tracks today? Probably the first one played, “Chin miau” by Yusef Lateef from his influential 1961 album, Eastern sounds (this was the reissue). Fun song of the day: “Coop’s condiments” by Jennifer Wharton’s Bonegasm, which is a song (with vocals) about the condiments in a restaurant (seriously). It’s all here.

The penultimate episode of Breaking The Tethers this month is next week, February 19 is the day. 10 to 11 am MT is the time. CJSW 90.9 FM or cjsw.com is the station.

Thanks

Andrew

February 5, 2024

A lot of new jazz came into the station in the week or two preceding this edition of Breaking The Tethers. Accordingly, I featured a lot of this stuff in the show; all of this was good. I also put in a couple of older tunes, “I’ve been to many places” by Matthew Shipp, one of my faves, and “Sciatica” by the Kyle Brenders Quintet, an interesting track from an album that I had largely forgot about; I’m glad I played it. You can listen to the show here. 

Thanks.

Andrew

July 24, 2023

Nine is the number when it comes to Breaking The Tethers. Unless I play a bunch of short tunes and I don’t play anything very long, I end up featuring nine songs on the show. This is what happened this week (and on many other weeks). A few tracks to point out from this week’s nine:

“Trip merchant” by Larry Young. Organ jazz starting to head outside, just before Young became Khalid of Space.

“Fell to earth” by Soft Machine. This might be the best cut from this long-running group’s latest studio album, Other doors.

“Outeroids” by Alan Shorter. Free jazz from Wayne Shorter’s trumpet and flugelhorn playing brother.

You can listen to the nine at shorturl.at/atyF4

Thanks.

Andrew 

June 12, 2023

Lots of songs played this week, from many points on the musical map. I described this show on the CJSW page as “Groovy 70s jazz and strong and weirdness and more!” Sometimes my words don’t fit, sometimes they do and this is one of those situations. Listen to this program here. 

Thanks.

Andrew

June 5, 2023

Looking at the track list, quite simply, some great stuff was played this week. Let’s look at a few of these:

“As falls Wichita, so fall Wichita Falls” by Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays. The sprawling title track from a great album. Is it art-prog-jazz? Pick your words; it’s an amazing trip.

“Love song” by Tony Williams. Always a tremedously interesting drummer to listen to. This is from one of his two Blue Note albums before starting the early jazz-rock band Lifetime.

“Tree-fun-doe-la” by Joe Henderson. One of my fave sax players. Any Joe Henderson is good Joe Henderson. 

Go here to listen to this show.

Thanks.

Andrew

May 29, 2023

Like the previous week’s program, this was a fine show. Simply, I really liked the tunes. There was more Soft Machine (I actually try to not play the same artist two weeks in a row but what the heck), an awesome Ahmad Jamal performance (partly on the electric piano, a somewhat rare thing), and some Marvin Gaye funkiness (“Right on!”). Dig it all at tinyurl.com/5c82tuhp. 

Thanks.

Andrew

May 22, 2023

Ooh, looking at the tracklist, this was a good show. It starts off with some Soft Machine (always a good thing to do!), from the live set that came out last year, the Dutch Lesson (apparently, there’s another Soft Machine live recording coming out in 2024); there’s another of my faves, Lee Morgan; a solo bass tune from Ksawery Wojcinski (which is GREAT); and some Muffins, a more recent fave of mine, from the 13 CD (!) collection, Baker’s Dozen. It’s well worth listening to; go to rb.gy/8mwhwa

Thanks.

Andrew

May 15, 2023

As you know, I’m catching up on un-posted Breaking The Tethers shows from 2023. For most of these programs, I’ve got a fair memory of what I played that day, beyond just what’s on the track list. With this show, though, I can’t really remember much about it; sorry about that. I do know what the Brad Mehldau and Bruce Cockburn songs sound like, generally speaking 😁. You can hear this edition of BTT here.

Thanks.

Andrew

June 5, 2023

More catching up, cleaning up the messes I made in 2023. Looking at the June 5 show from that year, some great music was played. Among others, I point you to the epic "As falls Wichita, so falls Wichita Fall" by Metheny and Mays, "Love song" by the always fantastic Tony Williams, and "Three days til Sunday" by the Muffins, an increasingly fave band of mine.  Listen to it all here.

Thanks.

Andrew

January 29, 2023

This week's Breaking The Tethers was made up of some newly-released material, some older items (though nothing from the 20th century, all more recent than that), plenty of Canadian stuff, and a fair amount of piano. My top tracks were "Pointsplaneslines" by Quentin Tolmieri, "Beach and car" by Josh Zubot Strings, and "Kind folk" by Craig Brenan and Florian Ross (though I prefer the version on Kenny Wheeler's 1995 ECM album, Angel song; Wheeler wrote the song; I think I'll play this version sometime soon on BTT). All these and more are worth listening to; go to rb.gy/ogsqjl.

Next week's BTT will be on Monday, February 5 (yes, February already), from 10 to 11 am MT, at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM. Good music will be played. Please tune in.

Thanks.

Andrew

May 8, 2023

This was a mostly-Canadian edition of Breaking The Tethers, which is never a bad thing. My fave track from this show was the groovy “Singularity” by the Victoria BC group Astrocolor (the rest of the record, Moonlighting: astrojazz, vol. 1, is great too). Go here to listen to a podcast of this program.

Thanks.

Andrew

May 1, 2023

Kind of a mellow show but still an interesting one. Heck, any program with Pharaoh Sanders and the Muffins on it is an interesting show, and a good one! Feed this thing to your ears here.

Thanks.

Andrew

December 25, 2023

Here's the link to the Christmas Day 2023 edition of Breaking The Tethers: rb.gy/4e4zg5. This was a fun show and a different one. Over the years, I've rarely had to do a show on Christmas Day so I've kept the the "Christmas" BTT shows on other days pretty light on the holiday element; a few Xmas songs here, a few there, some funny stuff, some serious stuff. As BTT fell smack dap on Christmas this year, I figured I would go whole hog holiday. Everything was Christmas, all the tracks. There was still jazz (e.g. "We wish you a funky Christmas" by Adam Shulman) but most of the tracks came from other genres (rock, funk, folk, comedy, sound collage, and more) and were, basically, crazy. Give the podcast a listen and join in the nuttiness!

Thanks.

Andrew

January 22, 2024

I've said it before but it's worth repeating: Some shows just go well. The music flows and falls together nicely. My banter is good. There are few, if any, butterfingers moments or technical issues. This week's program was one of those Goldilocks editions. I had a good feeling at the end of it.

Musically, the episode was dominated by two long(ish) sets. One set was relatively straight-ahead and had a notable amount of piano. The other was more from the outer rim of jazz. In addition to these, there was a soul-jazz number ("The underdown groove" by Russ Spiegel) and a UK free jazz number ("Too suchmuchness" by Elton Dean et al). Please give it all a listen here. 

Breaking The Tethers will return on the last Monday of January 2024, the 29th (yeah, we're there already!!). Join me from 10 to 11 am MT that day, at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM.

Thanks.

Andrew

January 15, 2024

There were only four tracks played in this episode of Breaking The Tethers, which might be an all-time low. There's a good reason; two of the tracks took up over half of the program and the other two weren't short either. A few notes on three of the pieces:

"Actions for free jazz orchestra" by Krzysztof Penderecki .This is the companion piece to the Don Cherry composition, "Humus: the life exploring force" (which I accidentally called "Humus: the life affirming force" on air, sorry) which I played on the Nov. 27 BTT show. Both appear on a record released in 1971, Actions. Both are crazy, in good ways.

"Sri Rama Ohnedaruth" by Alice Coltrane. I'm getting on an Alice Coltrane kick, which is always a good thing. Fantastic strings on this song. Spiritual jazz before there was Spiritual Jazz.

"Una New York" by Luther Thomas Human Arts Ensemble. More free jazz meets hard funk. I played the other track from this re-release from 1973, "Funky donkey", on January 1.

This was a great show, I think. You should give it a listen.

You should also tune into the next Breaking The Tethers show, which will be on Monday, January 22, 10 to 11 am MT, at cjsw.com or 90.9 FM. See you then and there!

Thanks.

Andrew

January 1, 2024

For this, the inaugural Breaking The Tethers show of 2024, I decided to present an "all-new" program. That is, everything played was newly-released or newly-re-released. I hadn't done a show like this in a very long time (maybe since 2022?) so January 1 seemed liked an appropriate date to bring back this format (for just one episode, for the time being). Plenty of good music was featured; my favourite was the free jazz meets hard funk of "Funky donkey" by the Luther Thomas Human Arts Ensemble (a re-release from 1973; I'm planning to play another track from this record on the January 15 BTT program). Here's the show in full: rb.gy/azqr5n

Thanks.

Andrew

January 8, 2023

Unlike the January 1 program, this second show of 2024 was not an "all-new" edition of BTT. But it wasn't far off, with only a couple of tracks, from the New York Art Quartet and John & David Sneider, not officially falling into the "new release" category (and the Sneider song still came from 2023). Overall, not a bad way to take a further step into a new year. You can listen to the show here. 

Thanks.

Andrew