Breaking The Tethers 20th Anniversary Shows

On a Tuesday morning in late June 2006 (sorry, I can't quite recall the exact date - maybe it was June 20?), at 6:00 am MT, Breaking The Tethers on CJSW began. What this means is that BTT is going to be 20 years old this month! This warrants some celebration, musically, on the show itself. Here's what's going to happen: The June 8th program will be a regular BTT show; I think going to do an "all-new" program, considering loads of new music has crossed my path. After that, the next three shows, June 15, June 22, and June 29, will be in celebration of the BTT big anniversary. On each of these episodes, I will play fave  tracks from the BTT past; mostly stuff I really dig and some things that I remember that listeners did as well. So, please tune in! Much fun will be had! Go to cjsw.com or 90.9 FM at 10 am MT.

Thanks.

Andrew

June 1, 2026

The main element in this show was a live performance and interview with Fraser, Nat, and Alex from Bowline Jazz. Fraser and Nat came in to chat in April and made a return visit, this time playing four tunes live with Alex. They also talked about their upcoming concert at the Congress Coffee Company on June 26 (there's more details on that here). Many thanks to the Bowline guys for coming on BTT this week. The live recording of the show is here.

As per usual, Breaking The Tethers carries on next week, Monday, June 8. Tune into cjsw.com or 90.9 FM at 10 am MT. I think this is going to be an all-new program; loads of new music has come my way!

Thanks.

Andrew

May 25, 2026

This last Monday in May brought a fairly out-there, heavy-on-guitar version of Breaking The Tethers. Maybe my subconscious thought I was getting too mellow over the past while and made me put this episode together 😄. Regardless, it was a good show and I particularly dug it. A note about the last track, a speedy version of "Footprints" by Miles Davis and group from 1967: This one had been on my "to play on BTT" for ages and I finally managed to give it the air time it deserves! For your listening pleasure, the whole show is here.

Thanks.

Andrew

May 21, 2026 - Alternative To What?

I did the guest-host thing on Alternate To What this week, very gladly, as always. 20 songs played over two hours, coming from death/black metal, modern classical, slick jazz, modern chamber music, Bjork-style pop, Booker T, and much more. When I host Alternative To What, I often use the term "all over the musical map" in some way and I think I hit that mark with this particularly show. Listen to it here. 

I don't know when I'll be back on ATW but I will return to CJSW, hosting Breaking The Tethers on Monday, May 25, 2026. Go to cjsw.com or 90.9 FM from 10 to 11 am MT. 

Thanks.

Andrew

May 18, 2026

There was one longish new track to start off the show this week, "Black cat" by Phil Miller/In Cahoots from 2003. After that, it was all new stuff, six tunes in all. A surprising amount of new content has headed toward me and CJSW in recent weeks and months (so much that I'm backed up, in fact!). I've mentioned this before and I've played a lot of new stuff on BTT already but I still needed to have an "almost all-new" program. Regardless of the label, it was all good music and well worth listening to here.

There's still one more episode of Breaking The Tethers left in May 2026, on Monday, May 25. You can join me for that one starting at 10 am MT at cjsw.com or 90.9.

This week, you can also hang with me as I fill in on Alternative To What again. This will be on Thursday, May 21, 4 to 6 pm MT, same radio station. 

Thanks.

Andrew

April 27, 2026

I've recently returned to doing the occasional "all-new" Breaking The Tethers program (that new music just comes my way) and this was another one of those shows. All good stuff was played but probably my top tracks were the first and last ones played: "The longest night" by Soft Machine from their new release, Thirteen (yay! new Soft Machine!) and "Hold on tight to your music" (always good advice!) by the Setting from their self-titled album. Check this out here. 

Thanks.

Andrew

May 11, 2026

Nine tracks played this week, which is a fair number given the fact that BTT is only an hour long and a jazz show (jazz not being known for very short tunes); I guess I packed 'em in! A nice mix of old and new and various styles. Here's a few of the tunes played that you might want to focus on:

"Five" by Ivo Perelman and Damon Smith: Straight-up free jazz. Haven't played anything quite like this in a little while.

"Three headed dragon" by Jimmy Farace: It's always good to hear some baritone sax.

"Uncommon notion" by Lukas Ligeti: This one went almost everywhere.

"Turmoil" by Soft Machine: New Soft Machine! Always a good thing!

Go to this spot to listen to the show.

Breaking The Tethers returns very soon, on Monday, May 18, starting at 10 am MT. Go to 90.9 FM or cjsw.com and take it all in.

Thanks.

Andrew