Monday, November 21, 2016

November 21, 2016

http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20161121

Today's program was the usual mix of new releases and old material.  One notable feature was the two electro swing tracks that I played (from Caravan Palace and Parov Stelar); these came as requests of sorts through a text discussion I had with a listener last week.  I haven't played too much of this in the past and I suspect I may not play too much in the future but it was good to fulfill a listener interest and add a bit more variation to the program.

If you listen to the podcast on the CJSW site, you'll notice that the first few minutes are missing (basically, my introduction and part of the first song).  My mistake; I cut it off.  Apologies for this.

I realized that I have been derelict in my duties and haven't posted for the Nov. 7 and Nov. 14 shows. Apologies also for this.  Time has just zipped by.  I will amend this over the next few days.

Andrew

Monday, October 31, 2016

October 31, 2016

http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20161031/

The Halloween show, though I didn't do anything along this theme.  I did decide to keep the talking to a minimum and mostly play music.  To that end, I began the program with a 30-minute piece ("Oblivion and forgetting always win in the end" by J@K@L with Michael Attias from their Static adieu album; I have no idea how to pronounce the name of the group - I think I botched it both times I tried!), with no breaks.  And then I played a whopping four more tracks in the remaining half-hour.  I think I talked on air only three times.  Also, everything in today's show was "new"; it'll be back to the usual mix of old and new next week.

Many thanks to everyone who pledged on the Breaking The Tethers funding drive edition last week.  To be honest, not much money was raised during this show but Linda and I had a good time and we kept the momentum going.  The station itself did great, matching and breaking both the main and stretch goals!  Many thanks as well to everyone who pledged during the drive, regardless of which show they pledged to.

Andrew

Monday, October 24, 2016

October 24, 2016

The Breaking The Tethers CJSW Funding Drive 2016 show was this morning.  Sometime BTT host Linda Cunningham joined me (thanks Linda!) and we had a great time.  Not too much money was raised ($75) but something is better than nothing and I think we got more information across about the drive.

Music-wise, we mostly talked this week but a few tunes were featured, all from the two mix CDs that were up for grabs as incentives on the show (they still are available, actually; see the earlier post on the funding drive for a list of the CD contents).

As of around 11 am MT, the total for the station is around $85,300, which is on target, I gather.

I'll be on the phones at CJSW from about 2-4 pm today.  If you'd like to pledge, you can call 403-220-5000 then or at any other time.  Pledges can also be made online, via www.fundingdrive.ca


Andrew

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

October 17, 2016

http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20161017/

This one ended up being quite the experimental show.  Some people might not call many of the tracks played "jazz" but my definition of "jazz" is broad and there was certainly jazz in this show. 

This was also an "all-new" program, the first in at least a few months.  I just had enough "new" stuff on hand that I figured I'd go this route.  The next "regular" show will be on Monday, October 31 (Halloween!); this might end up being a "new" program as well (we'll see...)

I'd be remiss without mentioning the upcoming CJSW funding drive 2016.  A few key points:

*The drive begins in just a couple of days, Friday, October 21, starting with the Big Friday program.

*The last day will be Friday, October 28, ending with the Road Pops show.

*The Breaking The Tethers funding drive edition will be on Monday, October 24, 10-11 am MT, 90.9 FM, www.cjsw.com.  Occasional Breaking The Tethers host Linda Cunningham will be joining me (thanks, Linda!).  Along with the station level incentives for pledging, there will be some BTT-specific mix CDs available during the show; see http://tethers.blogspot.ca/2016/10/cjsw-funding-drive-2016-and-breaking_14.html for more information.

Andrew

Friday, October 14, 2016

CJSW Funding Drive 2016 and Breaking The Tethers

CJSW, Calgary's campus and community radio station and home of my Monday morning show, Breaking The Tethers, will be holding its annual funding drive from Friday, October 21 through Friday, October 28.  This is an important time when CJSW turns to its wonderful listeners for support, to help the station grow, develop, improve.  Last year, $265,000 was raised for a few different projects and the goals for this year are similar: The main goal is $200,000, which will be earmarked for a radio tower powered by clean energy, and the stretch goal is $250,000, which will help start up a youth sound equipment loan program.

The Breaking The Tethers funding drive 2016 show will be on Monday, October 24, 10-11 am MT.  You can listen via regular FM radio at 90.9 FM or online at www.cjsw.com.  Occasional BTT host Linda Cunningham will be joining me for at least part of the show (hopefully more!).  There may more guests!

Any pledges, particularly during my show, would be very welcome. You'll be able to call in at any time of the day during the funding drive (sorry, the number is secret until Oct. 21!).  Alternately, you can already pledge online now at www.fundingdrive.ca.  There are various incentives that come at various pledge levels; you can check these out at www.fundingdrive.ca.  

On the subject of incentives, there will be some incentives unique to Breaking The Tethers.  These include a couple of mix CDs, each featuring music that was played on the show in the last year.  There will only be two of each available so best call in early on Oct. 24.  One CD will be available at the $100 level, both for $150.  Here's what's on each CD (cleverly titled #1 and #2):

Breaking The Tethers CJSW Funding Drive 2016 CD #1 

1. Greg Merritt Jazz Quartet – “Jakubu Jam” (New York Sexy)
2. The Ed Palermo Big Band – “Grand Wazoo”
(One Child Left Behind)
3. Ron Davis – “Blues 54” (Pocket Symphronica)
4. Pat Metheny – “Go Get It” (The Unity Sessions)
5. Richard Pinhas/Tatsuya Yoshida/Masami Akita – “TVJ 00 (Intro)”
6. Brad Cheeseman – “The Wraith Himself” (Figurants)
7. The John Betsch Society – “Song To An Untitled Lady”
(Earth Blossom)
8. Mamak Khadem – “Those Eyes” (The Road)
9. Rik Wright’s Fundamental Forces – “(She’s So) Fragmented”
(Red)
10. The Tony Williams Lifetime – “To Whom It May Concern –
Us, Them” (Turn It Over)
11. Snarky Puppy & Metropole Orkest – “Atchafalaya” (Sylva)

Breaking The Tethers CJSW Funding Drive 2016 CD #2 

1. Atlantis Jazz Ensemble – “Pillars Of Hercules” (Oceanic suite)
2. Graham Campbell & Jim Campbell – “Thinking Stop Thinking”
(As You Near Me)
3. Lukasz Borowicki – “Rytytyry” (People, Cats, & Obstacles)
4. Michel Nirenberg – “Forro From The South 2” (Retrato/Portrait)
5. Gerry Shatford Trio – “Piling Blood”
(When I Sat Down To Play The Piano)
6. BHZ – “THD” (Total Harmonic Distortion)
7. The Bad Plus – “Maps” (It’s Hard)
8. Rik Wright’s Fundamental Forces – “Sugar Crash” (Green)
9. Christian Overton – “Chasing Ghosts” (The Test)
10. Bobby Kapp & Matthew Shipp – “Snow Storm Coming”
(Cactus)
11. Peripheral Vision – “Wiretap” (Sheer Tyranny Of Will)

That's all for now.  There'll be more about the funding drive here and on Breaking The Tethers over the  next few weeks.

Many thanks.

Andrew

Thursday, October 13, 2016

October 10, 2016

http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20161010

I was back as host this week.  It was also the Thanksgiving show (at least it was Thanksgiving Day here in Canada!) though there were minimal turkey references on my part :-).  I did play an interesting selection of varied tracks, leaning to the outer rim of what could be called jazz, including a set made solely up of non-new material; considering that I feature a fair amount of newly-released and newly-re-released stuff on BTT (sometimes I do entire "all-new" shows), this was a bit of an oddity (though not a bad one, of course!).

And, of course, I mention the 2016 CJSW Funding Drive again.  I'll have more to come on this soon but, again, please check out http://fundingdrive.ca  and also make a note that the Breaking The Tethers funding drive show will be on Monday, October 24, 10-11 am, 90.9 FM, www.cjsw.com.

Andrew

October 3, 2016

http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20161003

For this week's show, as she has done many times in the past, Linda Cunningham ably filled in for me, doing her usual great job.  Many thanks, Linda!

Speaking of Linda, she will be joining me for the annual Breaking The Tethers CJSW Funding Drive show.  This will be on Monday, October 24, 10-11 am, 90.9 FM, www.cjsw.com.  It should be a fun show.  Please tune in!

I'll have more about CJSW Funding Drive 2016 in future posts.  In the meantime, check out http://fundingdrive.ca.

Andrew

Monday, September 26, 2016

September 26, 2016

http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160926

Definitely a avant/experimental slant to the proceedings on this show.  I probably telegraphed things a bit when I started with "Steps" from Cecil Taylor's Unit structures album from 1966...  Not sure what next week will bring; maybe a long tune or two, maybe more from the avant-garde...

And another mention... The CJSW Funding Drive 2016 will be from October 21 through 28.  The Breaking The Tethers Funding Drive 2016 edition will be on Monday, October 24, 10-11 am MT.   Loads more information on the FD coming soon.

Andrew

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

September 19, 2016

http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160919

I was back behind the boards this week (again, many thanks to Taylor Shephard for hosting on Sept. 12).  I thought this was a good, solid show with lots of variety in style and some in date (mostly new material with a couple of trips into the past).  There was also a small focus on music put out by people called "Steve" (Steve Colson and Steve Lehman).

Also, just a short mention, the CJSW funding drive is coming up... in October...

Andrew



September 12, 2016

http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160912

I wasn't able to present this episode, almost a last-minute thing, so Taylor Shephard filled in for me and did a great job, playing some great stuff, a really nice mix.  Many thanks to Taylor!

Andrew

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

September 5, 2016

 http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160905

And we are in September, Labour Day show to be precise.  This was an interesting show with a bit of an moody section in the middle.  I also managed to play a few somewhat longer tracks e.g. "Kahlil the prophet" by Jackie McLean and "Souls have fallen like rain" by William Parker. 

A few things to note about the Breaking The Tethers page on the CJSW site and the iTunes feed:

  • There are always 12 weeks worth of BTT episodes on this page.  It should be possible to access older shows through the search function in the top right corner.
  • On the subject of the search tool, it actually works rather well.  For instance, let's say that there's a song you heard on a CJSW program and you want to listen to it again but you can't remember anything more than one distinctive word of the title. You can search for that distinctive word, using the search tool, with a fairly high level of accuracy.  Try it out.
  • Looking at the iTunes feed, there are always two shows freely available (right now, it's August 29 and September 5).  It's also possible to subscribe to BTT on iTunes (apparently, I have 6 subscribers worldwide presently - who hoo!)
On more thing to mention, to put into your brains... CJSW Funding Drive 2016 will be from October 21 through 28.  The Breaking The Tethers Funding Drive 2016 edition will be on Monday, October 24, 10-11 am MT.  More on all of this in the weeks to come!

Andrew

Monday, August 29, 2016

August 29, 2016

http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160829

Last Monday of August already - time passes!  Oh well, what's the alternative? :-)  Anyway, this was a good show, I thought, with baritone sax appearing on a number of the tracks - not planned, just happened.  I managed to play 10 tracks, which is a fair amount for one hour.  Of those, nine were featured in full; I only managed to play a few minutes or so of "Prelude (part one)" by Miles Davis, which goes on for 22:37 (before "Prelude (part two)" begins).  Sometime in the future, I'll try to play the whole thing (or more of it, at least).

Andrew

PS I forgot to record the very beginning of the show.  For the most part, this lobbed off my introductory comments.  The podcast essentially starts with the first piece of music (Steve Lehman & Selebeyone).

Monday, August 22, 2016

August 22, 2016

http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160822/

Definitely a lean to the "out there"/experimental side of things on the Aug. 22 episode of Breaking The Tethers. Good stuff all around, I thought.  Perhaps my favourite for this week was "The omen" by Bobby Hutcherson, a spooky piece from his 1966 album Happenings (one two records he released for Blue Note that year).  Hutcherson passed away on Aug. 15 so I figured a tune played in his honor would be appropriate.  On that note, I noticed that four of the nine performers on today's show have died; anything to that?  Probably not...

Andrew

Monday, August 15, 2016

August 15, 2016

http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160815/

Another "not all-new" show, this began with some fairly straight ahead jazz and then went into some fairly avant territory and also featured several tunes with some darn groovy keyboards.   Perhaps my fave this week is the Pat Muchmore piece, which comes from the fairly bonkers album Babel fragments.  The track titles on Babel… are crazy as well with one featuring a long equation for a name and two with Mayan glyphs for titles.

Andrew

Monday, August 8, 2016

August 8, 2016

http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160808/

After all the "new" shows I've presented over the last while, this one was almost completely in the other direction, with only two tracks from 2016 ("Summer night" by the Antonio Ciacca Quartet and "The Galapagos suite: the KT boundary" by Renee Rosnes).  The other six were from various times prior (1969, 1970, 1974, 2007, 2014, and 2015).

I also played a few faves in this episode, including "To whom it may concern" by the Tony Williams Lifetime (I'd kind of forgotten how heavy Lifetime was, at least in their initial recordings) and "Song for an untitled lady" by the John Betsch Society (from Earth blossom, a somewhat forgotten classic if there ever was one).

Maybe more of the same next week...

Andrew

Monday, August 1, 2016

August 1, 2016

http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160801

Back behind the mic after a couple of weeks away.  Musically, this edition of BTT was mostly made up of newly-released material with a couple of tracks from the compilation CD Finnish jazz 2002 (the tracks were originally released in 2000 and 2001); this just arrived at CJSW, about a decade-and-a-half late :-) I quite like the Finnish jazz collections; they offer an interesting mix of sounds and the performances are always solid.  I'm not sure if there is a "Finnish jazz sound" but these almost annual CDs are a nice representation of what at least some jazz from Finland sounds like.  I think it's been a while, maybe a couple of years, since the last Finnish jazz set was sent to CJSW; I wonder if we're due to get a new one?

I should be the host for Breaking The Tethers for the next long while.  The next show will be Monday, August 8, 10-11 am MT.  The music on this program will probably be akin to the Aug. 1 program; mostly new(ish), some old material.

Andrew

Sunday, July 31, 2016

July 25, 2016

I was out-of-town for this show (in Vegas!) so Linda Cunningham more-than-ably filled in for me.  Many thanks to Linda.  The podcast of the program along with the tracklist are at http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160725

I'll be back on air for tomorrow's show, Monday, August 1.  It'll mostly be newly-released material perhaps with a couple of trips into the past.

Andrew

Monday, July 18, 2016

July 18, 2016

http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160718-1

This ended up being another "all-new" program.  I didn't plan it to be so but none of my other ideas for the show really went anywhere so "all-new" is what it ended up being.  And it was a pretty good show, despite some verbal butterfingers from me on the mic.  I managed to squeeze in 11 tracks in one hour which is pretty good for a jazz program.  This helped to get through a lot of the newly-released material that I have on deck to play.

I'll be back behind the boards on Monday, August 2, likely with a program featuring a mix of old and new.  I'm away next week (in Las Vegas!) so Linda Cunningham will be filling in for me.  Linda has hosted Breaking The Tethers a bunch of times over the last several months and has always produced a great show, with interesting tracks.  I expect nothing less for the July 25 edition of BTT! :-)

Andrew

Monday, July 11, 2016

July 11, 2016

http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160711

This was a follow-up show of sorts to the 10th anniversary program from last week.  I figured I'd play a couple more tracks from the first 2006 program this week, those being "Ramblin'" by the Ginger Baker Trio and "Slightly all the time" by Soft Machine (yes, I know, I play too much Soft Machine; I'll take a break, really).  The rest of the show was a mix of newly-released material and some older stuff (which is what the July 18 program should be like as well).

A heads-up here: I'll be away on Monday, July 25 so Linda Cunningham will be filling in for me again.  As always, Linda will do a great job.

Andrew

Monday, July 4, 2016

Monday, July 4, 2016 - 10th Anniversary!

http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160704

This was the 10th anniversary show for Breaking The Tethers.  BTT first went on air at CJSW on Tuesday, July 4, 2006.  It was a three-hour program and I played 28 tracks during that time.  Today (Monday, July 4, 2016), ten years later, I dipped into those 28 and managed to play a mix of 10 pieces of music (actually, 9 pieces of music and 1 comedy number) in one hour, commemorating that first show a decade ago.  It was a lot of fun to take a look back and I very much enjoyed playing the tracks, almost all of which are personal favourites of mine.

Note: On the podcast, I managed to not record my introduction and the first few moments of the first track, "Lonnie's lament" by John Coltrane.  Apologies for this.

Next week's show, on Monday, July 11, 10 am MT, will basically be a regular Breaking The Tethers episode.  I'm thinking I might play a few tracks with some sort of connection to the 10th anniversary but I'll mostly feature some unrelated newly-released music and take a few trips into the past.

Andrew

Monday, June 27, 2016

June 27, 2016

http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160627

This was the last in this series of Breaking The Tethers programs featuring all-newly-released material.  Fave tracks this week included the noisy "Go get it" by Pat Metheny and "Talking shit" by Miles Davis & Robert Glasper, which featured Miles Davis doing pretty much just that. Lots of groovy electric piano work this week as well e.g. "Time to run" by Bill Laurence and "Talking shit". Next week will be the BTT 10th anniversary program (more on that below) and then I plan to return to shows with a mix of old and new.

For the 10th anniversary show, which will be 10-11 am MT on Monday, July 4, I will be playing a selection of the music I featured on the very first edition of Breaking The Tethers, on Tuesday, July 4, 2006.  I'd love to play all 28 tracks that were on that first program but I only have one hour, not three, as I did in 2006, plus a few of the songs would require some hunting to track down.  If I can get to seven or eight of them, that'll be just fine.

Andrew

Monday, June 20, 2016

June 20, 2016

http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160620

This was an "all-new" show, as was last week's program and as next week's program will be.  As noted in last week's post, I'm trying to "clear the deck", so to speak, of much of all the new material that has come my way in the last month or two.  I'm doing this, in part, because I'm getting prepped for the Breaking The Tethers 10th anniversary show on Monday, July 4, 2016, two weeks from now.  I actually found the tracklist for the first program, Tuesday, July 4, 2016 (I though it was long lost) so I know what I played that day.  For the anniversary edition, I'm going to feature a small selection of the music that I played then; I won't be able to play everything (the 2016 version of BTT was three hours long; it's only one hour long now) but there will be a representative sample.

Andrew

Monday, June 13, 2016

June 13, 2016

http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160613

This was yet another all-new music show, the third in a row, I believe.  There's just too much interesting new material coming my way not to feature it.

I also have another motive in playing so much new stuff; I want to clear the deck, so to speak, before the big anniversary.  Hmm, what's that, you say?  Well, here's the story.  Monday, July 4, 2016 marks the 10th anniversary of Breaking The Tethers (and the 10th anniversary of me being on air, with a regular show, on CJSW); BTT hit the air for the first time on Tuesday, July 4, 2006.  It's not that big a deal but I will be celebrating things a bit; I'm still pulling the program together but details will be coming out soon.  Between now and then, for the June 20 and June 27 programs, I'll stick with the "all-new" format, again, to "clear the deck" (and, of course, to play some good new music).

Andrew

Monday, June 6, 2016

June 6, 2016

http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160606

Once again, today's edition of Breaking The Tethers was an "all new" show, featuring newly-released material.  There was just too much new stuff on my plate to do anything different.

There were a few trends in today's program.  On one hand, a number of tracks definitely came from the experimental side of town (e.g. Zach Cooper; Of Sound, Mind and Body).  On the other hand, I played a few modern-sounding, fairly straight-ahead tunes that were performed by medium-sized (leaning to large) groups (e.g. Snarky Puppy; Andy Jaffe Nonet; Stryker/Slagle Band).  Electric guitar also made prominent apperances (e.g. Rez Abbasi & Junction; Alex Goodman).  We'll see what crops up next week.

Speaking of next week (June 13, 10-11 am MT), I suspect it might end up being a "new" show as well.  But, again, we'll see.

Andrew

Monday, May 30, 2016

May 30, 2016

http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160530

As I suspected, this ended up being an "all-new" show this week.  As sometimes happens, there was loads of new material that I just wanted to get out there.  There was a nice mix of styles, basically see-sawing from fairly out there material (e.g. Nick Fraser Quartet, Jackson and Adasiewicz) and more commercial sounds (e.g. Logan Richardson, Esperanza Spalding).  I'm not sure at this point what next week's program (June 6) will bring but it'll be good, as always :-)

Andrew

Monday, May 23, 2016

May 23, 2016

http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160523

There was a nice of mix of styles and of old and new this week.  I was a bit of a butterfingers on the board and I sneezed on air a couple of times (fighting a losing battle with a cold) but the music was good.  I was able to play a couple of live Soft Machine tracks, which is always a good thing IMHO.

Next week's program might end up being an all-new show (I've got loads of newly-released material) but we'll see.

Andrew

Monday, May 16, 2016

May 16, 2016

http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160516

Back behind the boards after missing the last two shows (again, many thanks to Linda for filling in on both programs!).   So much new jazz has crossed my path over the last few weeks that I had to make this an "all new" program (next week's show may end up being the same).  I think I featured a nice mix of things, with a bit of a lean to vibes and related percussion sounds.  I played 12 tracks in one hour; probably not a record for BTT but definitely up there in terms of how many jazz recordings can be played in 60 minutes (sometimes it's only a handful).

Andrew

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

May 9, 2016

Linda Cunningham hosted Breaking The Tethers again this week.  It was a good show as always with Linda.  Many thanks to her for filling in this week and last week.  The podcast and tracklist for the May 9 Linda edition of BTT are at http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160509.

I'll be back behind the mic this coming Monday, May 16, 10-11 am MT, 90.9 FM, www.cjsw.com.  I'm not sure what kind of program it will be but I'll work on that over the next few days.

Andrew

Thursday, May 5, 2016

May 2, 2016

This week's program was hosted by Linda Cunningham.  Linda did a great job as always.  The podcast and tracklist are at http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160502.  Linda will also be behind the boards for the May 9 edition of BTT.  Many thanks to Linda!  I'll be back on air for the May 16 show.

Andrew

Monday, April 25, 2016

April 25, 2016

Back for one week and then gone for two (more on this below), this was the Breaking The Tethers episode for CJSW Listener Appreciation Week.  I managed to play a fairly long tune, about 31 minutes in length, the longest piece I've played in at least several months; this was "Hommage" from the recent Eberhard Weber tribute CD on the ECM label.  The podcast and tracklist for the show are at http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160425-2.

I'll be away for the next two weeks, missing the May 2 and May 9 editions of BTT.  As she did last week, Linda Cunningham will take over for these programs.  She'll do a great job, as always.

Andrew

Monday, April 18, 2016

April 18, 2016

Linda Cunningham hosted Breaking The Tethers this week.  Many thanks to Linda for filling in.  The podcast and tracklist are at http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160418.

I'll be back for next week's show, Monday, April 25, 10-11 am MT.  This will fall in CJSW's Listener Appreciation Week so it'll be a bit of special program.

Andrew

Monday, April 11, 2016

April 11, 2016

Yes, this ended up being yet another "all new stuff" program.  I was thinking of playing a few older items I had lined up but there was just so much new material that could be featured...  My plan now is to have a "mixed dates" program in a couple of weeks (more on next week's show below) and try to do as many of these in the future.

BTW, the podcast and tracklist are at http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160411-1/

I will be out-of-town next week so Linda Cunningham will be filling in for me once more.  She'll do a great job.  Many thanks in advance to Linda!  (looking ahead, Linda will also be filling in for me on May 2.

Andrew


Monday, April 4, 2016

April 4, 2016

This was another "all-new" program, with everything played being newly released.  I'm still working my way through the fairly large amount of new material that has come my way recently.  I'm not sure if next week's program will follow in this pattern; we'll see.

Podcast and tracklist: http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160404

Andrew

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

March 28, 2016

I was back on air this week after a week away.  Linda Cunningham filled in for me very ably on March 21 and put together a great show.  This week's program (March 28) featured a surprising number of songs for one hour (11!)  along with some really good content; I very much liked pretty much everything I played, all of which was brand new.

The podcast and tracklist are at http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160328.

Andrew


Saturday, March 26, 2016

March 21, 2016

As noted earlier, I wasn't able to do the show on Monday, March 21 but the more-than-able Linda Cunningham filled in for me and did a great job, as always.  Many thanks to Linda!  The podcast and tracklist for this edition of BTT are at http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160321.  I'll be back with an "all-new" show on Monday, March 28.

Andrew

Monday, March 14, 2016

March 14, 2016

The podcast and tracklist for this week's show is at http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160314/.

This was another program featuring all-newly-released content.  There was also a fair amount of old-school-style synthesizer on many of the tracks as well as a fair amount of music from Toronto musicians.

As mentioned earlier, I won't be able to do the show next week so Linda Cunningham will be behind the board.  Linda will do a great job, I'm sure.  I'll be back for the March 28 program.

Andrew

Monday, March 7, 2016

March 7, 2015

Podcast and tracklist: http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160307

After last week's all-Africa jazz special for Black History Month, I returned to a more common format, the all-new show.  Just had enough new stuff cross my path over the last few weeks that it made sense to do a "new" program. 

I also got to say "fucking" on air.  Twice. 

It might end up being an all-new show next week as well.  Again, mucho new material from the jazz world has and will be coming in.  At some point, though, I will get back to the mix of old and new (as well as styles).

Andrew

Monday, February 29, 2016

February 29, 2016

Leap year day!  Here's the tracklist and podcast: http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160229/.

In celebration of Black History Month (Feb. 29 being the last day of the Month), I figured I would play a selection of jazz from Africa, the Mother Continent.  I didn't have a particular theme; I just pulled together some music with strong African connections and featured it on the show.  Most but not all of the tunes had been played on BTT before, at some point in the last 9.5 years.

I'm not sure what form next week's program will take.  It might end up being an all-new show as many new CDs and digital files have come my way recently.

I won't be on air on Monday, March 21. Linda Cunningham will be taking the reins of Breaking The Tethers that day and will do her usual great job!  Thanks in advance, Linda!

Andrew

Monday, February 22, 2016

February 22, 2016

Tracklist and podcast are at http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160222.

This was an "all-new" episode, the first I've done in a little while (though I've come close with other shows recently).  I suspect that there will be more like this in the near future though next week's program will be a special one for Black History Month.  Simply, I'll be playing a bunch of jazz from Africa.

Andrew

Monday, February 15, 2016

February 15, 2016

The podcast and tracklist for this episode are at http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160215.

I followed the same structure as last week's show, with older tracks at the beginning and end of the program and all-new material in the middle. Like last week, I thought it was a format that worked well. Incidentally, I actually played some straight-ahead vocal jazz, which I rarely do; the track in question was "Sunday in New York" from Tim Tamashiro's new CD, Drinky (I think I played it because of the minor key and the CD cover :-)

As for next week's show (Feb. 22), I suspect that it will be an all-new stuff edition.  A lot of new material, both CDs and in digital format, has crossed my path in recent and there's a fair chunk of it that I'd like to throw out to the world.

The Feb. 29 show will be a Black History Month special.  As Breaking The Tethers is a jazz program (basically), I'm going to play jazz and jazz from the source, mother Africa.  Everything in the program will be jazz from that continent.  I won't be able to feature a large amount of music (BTT is only an hour long) but hope to play a mix of styles from various places in Africa.

Andrew

Monday, February 8, 2016

February 8, 2016

The usual stuff for today's show is at http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160208.

This was a musical sandwich of sorts.  I placed two freakouts ,"Masonic inborn, part 1" by Albert Ayler and "Journey through the outer darkness" by Sun Ra, at the start and end of the program, respectively.  The bit in the middle featured all newly-released material, mostly less out there than the Ayler and Ra tunes (which, by the way, were from 1969 and 1973, again, respectively).

I'm hoping to do a special show for Black History Month next week or the week after.  I'm still putting it together.  Stay tuned.

Andrew

Monday, February 1, 2016

February 1, 2016

First day of month #2 of 2016.  Time passes...  The podcast and the tracklist for this show are at http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160201.

Everything in this program was "new" in some way or other (newly released or newly re-released).  I haven't presented a show like this in a while but enough recently-released material crossed my path that it made sense to do one.  Might happen next week as well; we'll see.

In addition, there was a fair amount of Canadian content in today's show, including a couple of tracks from local (Calgary) performers.

A note about last week's show (January 25).  The podcast went AWOL right after the show but it has reappeared.  You can listen to this show at http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160125/.

Andrew

Monday, January 25, 2016

January 25, 2016

The podcast for this show appears to have gone AWOL but the tracklist is at http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160125/.

Good, solid tracklist this week, I think.  Nice to be able to play a couple of Bowie-connected pieces this week.  While many of the other programmers on CJSW have been playing Bowie songs recently in honor of the man, I refrained for a couple of weeks but now seemed like a good time to salute Mr. Jones.

Next show will be Monday, February 1, 10-11 am MT.  Almost in February... time passes, time passes...

Andrew

Sunday, January 24, 2016

January 18, 2016 revised

Turns out that, due to technical problems, there was no podcast made of the Monday show.  However, Linda did interview Calgary playwright Eugene Strickland and this is available at http://soundcloud.com/cjsw-90-9-fm/eugene-stickland.

January 18, 2016

The tracklist and podcast for this edition of BTT are at http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160118/.

This show was guest-hosted by Linda Cunningham, who did her usual more-than-able job and put together a great set of music.  Many thanks to Linda!

I'll be back for the Monday, January 25 program.

Andrew

Monday, January 11, 2016

January 11, 2016

Podcast and tracklist: http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160111/

I found this to be a fun show to do, featuring mostly long tracks, some new and some old.  I thought about playing something jazz-ish from David Bowie, who passed away the day before but I figured that there would be Bowie-galore on CJSW (and rightly so) and I could pass.  On the subject of musicians who recently left this plane of existence, I did play a track by the late Paul Bley ("El cordobes" from the 1972 album, Paul Blye & Scorpio), who died on January 3.

Andrew

Monday, January 4, 2016

January 4, 2016

First show of 2016: http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20160104/

Most of the time on BTT, I play newly-released or newly-re-released material with a few trips into the past.  For this show, I decided to play only non-recent tracks, nothing that could be called "new".  I think it went well though I should be back to the usual format next week (or maybe the week after that).

Andrew

Saturday, January 2, 2016

December 28, 2015

The podcast and track list for this last show of 2015 are at http://cjsw.com/program/breaking-the-tethers/episode/20151228/.

I turned this into a mellow show, featuring only a few longer tracks, one new release and three older pieces, one of which ("Out-bloody-rageous" by Soft Machine) is an all-time favourite of mine.   For the first show of 2016 (on Monday, January 4, 10-11 am MT), I think I'll do the same sort of thing and then back to the usual sort of Breaking The Tethers program after that.

BTW, apologies for not posting this earlier.  I knew I likely wouldn't get to it on Monday but time just zipped by and, all of a sudden, it's Saturday.

Andrew