Edification.

The state of being edified or uplifted. The question I pose to the class is,... "can one be edified via music and if so will Jazz do the trick"?

Oh, I must say undoubtedly sir...why many has been the time I have found myself a bit run down...a tad less than and a wonderful riff from a saxophone sent my spirit upward. I believe a drum roll can jump start an exhausted heart, and a sultry voice can send one dreaming...ah yes indeed, Jazz has the stuff and will edify.

Well in that case, plant your ear lobes close to this most recent installment of Jazzism and get a musical education on the subject of edification.

Class dismissed!

Brian "Katzpheno" Phoenix

Honor Roll:

The Lage Lund Quintet - "Shapes and Sounds"
Nicholas Payton - "In The Beginning"
Betty Carter - "The Good Life"
Bobby Watson & Horizon - "Heckle & Jeckle"
David Sanchez - "Joyful"
Straight Ahead - "My Heart Keeps Crying"
James Carter - "Bossa JC"
Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock & Jack DeJohnette - "When I Fall In Love"

The Number 32.

We have hit 32 volumes of Jazzism (a katzpheno mix)...wow...whooda thunk? What do you think of when you hear the number 32? Well, when I think of the number 32...only one thing comes to mind, Franco!

Franco Harris, professional athlete, football player, running back for The Penn State Nittany Lions and The Pittsburgh Steelers...the recipient of "The Immaculate Reception" of NFL lore....the number 32.

So...in honor of Franco and the number he wore I have put together what I consider an "Immaculate Dedication" of Jazz musicianship...designed to get a grip upon your hip, make you dip and put a tingle in your upper lip...Jazz-Like Minds will mos' def' dig it...one time!

Enjoy,

Brian "Katzpheno" Phoenix

Starting Lineup:

Larry Coryell - "Newest Blues"
Terence Blanchard - 'Joe & O"
Ahmad Jamal - "Quest for Light"
Branford Marsalis featuring Tony Williams - "Citadel"
Anita Baker & Cyrus Chestnut - "Summertime"
Mose Allison - "Look What You Made Me Do"
Les McCann & Eddie Harris - "You Got It In Your Soulness"
The Horace Silver Quintet - "Song for My Father"
Kenny Garrett - "Sing A Song Of Song"

Art 101

col-lage (noun)
1.
a) An artistic composition of materials and objects pasted over a surface, often with unifying lines and color.
b) A work such as a literary piece, composed of both borrowed and original material.
2. An assemblage of diverse elements; ie (a katzpheno mix)

This weeks show is just that and more...just for your ears...can you hear in color?

Enjoy,

Katzpheno

collaged:
Kenny Barron Trio - "Solar"
Don Byron - "I've Found A New Baby"
(segue) - audio excerpt from the film "Miller's Crossing"
Wynton Marsalis - "When It's Sleepytime Down South"
Cassandra Wilson - "Til There Was You"
Billy Childs -"Just Another Day"
Cyrus Chestnut & James Carter - "Miss Thing"
Geri Allen - "And They Partied"
Greg Osby - "Summertime"
Gil Scott - Heron - "Speed Kills"
Chucho Valdse - "Lorraine's Habanera

Collage - "Festivities IV" by Kathryn Fortson prints available at www.art.com

Change.

In life, most times change just doesn't make cents...or sense. I've been through many of life's changes...the ups, the downs and the all arounds and the only thing I know for sure about change - is that it is constant.

It occurs to me that acceptance is the key. Change require we remain fluid...be like water. Water has the unique ability to take on the shape of vessel that contains it.

You put water in a glass - it becomes the glass, you put water in a pail - it becomes the pail, the circumstances change but the water remains the same. It does so by accepting, not resisting the place it is in.

"Be like water" - do this and "change" becomes just another one of those things you "flow" through.

Let the music in Jazzism Volume 30 "flow" through you and everything will be all right!

Enjoy,

Katzpheno

featuring:
Pharoah Sanders - "Our Roots (Began In Africa)"
Wayne Shorter - "On The Milky Way Express"
Vinx - "Porch Light"
The Crusaders - "Night Theme"
Brian Blade & The Fellowship - "Rubylou's Lullaby"
David Sanchez - "Karla's Change"
Dion Parsons and Ron Blake - "Avocado"
Donald Harrison - "Bob Marley"
Esparanza Spaulding - "Ponta de Areia"

Jazz is alive!

Jazz is alive.... so pass on the vibe, spread the love, riff on this good feeling, with it you can dance on the floor or the ceiling.

Jazz is alive....it has within its core, happy moments...and sad ones too...it reaches the depths of musical expression....anyone with heart can feel the connection.

Jazz is alive...born in America...it has growed up and traveled some... it has been exposed to all cultures and vibes and is "loved madly"... worldwide.

Jazz is alive... as old as the hills and as young as tommorow, it has paid many dues and has no need to borrow.

For you Jazz is you and jazz is me....Jazz is hip and Jazz is free....Jazz is alive as you now see.

Enjoy,

Katzpheno

featuring:

Al Jarreau - "Spain (I Can Recall)"
Chick Corea - "Flamenco"
Eliane Elias - "Samba Triste"
Branford Marsalis - "Love Stone"
Bobby Watson & Horizon - "P.D. On Great Jones Street"
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - "Sweet and Sour"
Cedar Walton - "March of The Fisherman"
The Avi Rothbard Quartet - "JT's blues"
Dee Dee Bridgewater - "Lost In The Stars"
Lizz Wright - "Soon as I Get Home"

Spirit!

Your life is a spirit...can you hear it? It is calling you to act, to do, to be.

Your life is a spirit...can you feel it? It is urging you to move, to dance, to run, to have fun.

Your life is a spirit...can you sense it? It is informing you on how to do the things you must, it is warning you about the things to avoid, it is your inner guide letting you know which way to go.

Unfortunately, many of us have lost connection with our spirit...believing foolishly that we are only flesh and bone...how did this falsehood occur? Challenges in life that cause us to doubt.

"Life is full of challenges, often they hit all at once! How do you deal with this? One minute, one hour, one day at a time...with strong belief in your spirit. Go forth and prevail!"
- Alriginal Housenism # 3

Belief in your spirit...can you use it? You'd better if you want to rise above.

Jazzism Volume 28 will help strengthen your belief, keep you groovin' and get the spirit movin'....belee dat!

Enjoy,

Katzpheno

featuring:
Kenny Garrett - "3rd Quadrant"
Terence Blanchard - "On The Verge"
Bobby Hutcherson - "Verse"
Nat Adderley - "Azule Serape"
Billy Childs - "Theme from Chinatown"
Freddie Hubbard and Dexter Gordon - "Rhythm A Ning"
Roy Hargrove Quintet - "Pinocchio"
Nicholas Payton - "Time Traveling"
Roberta Flack - "Trying Times"

Fusion!

Fusion used to be a bad word! Fusion represents change, moving beyond convention, rules and morms, blending and bending styles upon styles.....traveling far beyond Miles and back again.

This week's episode features some grooves that will open up your notions of Jazz and got you rocking!

Enjoy,

Katzpheno

featuring:
Greg Osby - "Sapphire"
Me'Shell Ndegeocello - "Step Into The Projects"
Miles Davis featuring John McLaughlin - "Orange"
Santana featuring Flora Purim - "Yours Is The Light"
Pat Metheny Group - "To The End Of The World"
Bobby McFerrin and Taylor McFerrin - "Taylor Made"
Return To Forever - "So Long Mickey Mouse"
Weather Report - "Herandu"
Pharoah Sanders - "Upper Egypt & Lower Egypt"

Hispanico!

Jazzism Volume 26 features Jazz with what Jelly Roll Morton called "The Spanish Tinge".

We have prepared a meal with the perfect blend of flavors spicy and cool, served warm and delicious.Endulge yourself....but don't eat too much, leave enough room so when you can get up to dance....you don't split your pantalones!

Enjoy,

Katzpheno

featuring:
Terence Blanchard and Ivan Lins - "Menino"
Pete Escovedo = "Mis Amigos"
Chucho Valdes - "Como Triago La Yuca"
Eliane Elias - "Tangerine"
Dori Caymmi - 'Ogum Knows Better"
Roy Hargrove's Crisol - "Dream Traveler"
Babrya Soul - "The Afro Bird"
Dizzy Gillespie - "Samba"
Milton Nascimento and Peter Gabriel - "Qualquer Coisa a Haver com o Paraiso"

I Love Jazz Music!

No doubt about it I am a music freak! I have collected thousands and thousands of songs from all genres of recorded sound. I think my love affair with music started as a small child .

As the story goes my older brother, who was forced to baby sit, would push my crib in front of the family stereo and use me as a human "rate a record" device. According to my brother, If he put on a record and I layed there and smiled and giggled and rolled around in my tiny crib...the song was a hit...and it got played at the next party...if on the other hand I lay there and did nothing...it was a flop....and got dumped!

I wonder how many artist would believe a baby critic? Well I'm all growed up now and I still get that feeling when a song feels right...like Bob Marley said...."the good thing about music is when it hits you, you feel no pain."

Jazzism Vol. 25 is 100 % Jazzy and totally pain free....dig it!

featuring:
Kurt Elling - "Resolution (A Love Supreme)"
Ray Brown Trio featuring Jon Faddis - "Original Jones"
GromKo. - "What Is This Thing Called Love"
Steve Coleman & Five Elements - "Dread Drop"
Dave Holland Quintet - "Prime Directive"
Jacky Terrasson - "Parisian Thoroughfare"
Charles Mingus - "Open Letter To Duke"
Duke Ellington & Louis Armstrong - "Long, Long Journey"
Dexter Gordon - "You've Changed"
Eric Reed - "Black, as in Buhaina"

photo credit: I Love Jazz by insolent candyfloss courtesy of Flickr

Success?

As soon as you define something, you cease to understand it. Man has attempted to control life with definition, creating borders and boundaries in order to obtain answers that surpass his understanding. Defining, labeling, accepting, rejecting - all the while not fully knowing. Perhaps it is better to keep questioning.

"We search all our lives for a vehicle to obtain success and wealth, when the vehicle is in the mirror"
- Alriginal Housenism # 2

Success begins with self awareness and self acceptance...and what better place to start to know and accept self then to seek out your creator

...or as an ancient scribe put it....

"Seek ye first the kingdom of GOD, and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you"
- Matthew 6:33

.Jazzism Vol. 24 is chock full of successful, creative spirits, performing and expressing their GOD given talents. Further proof that "The Music Is The Magic"

Enjoy,

Katzpheno

featuring:

Arthur Blythe, Paquito D'Rivera & Phil Woods - "Ornithology" (live)
Miles Davis - "Milestones"
Abbey Lincoln featuring The Staple Singers - "The Music Is The Magic"
Charles Fambrough - "Sand Jewels"
Afro Cuban All-Stars - "Homenaje a Marta Valdes"
Sphere - "Uncle Bubba"
Greg Osby - 'Shaw Nuff"
Bud Powell - "A Night In Tunisia"
Chick Corea - "Noon Song"
Bobby Watson & Horizon - "The Long Way Home"

photo credit: Success by aloshbennett coutesy of Flickr

Blues People

We are a Blues people, as asserted by Amiri Baraka in his book by the same name. We are a Blues people because of what we have endured and because that is what we sing.The history of Blacks in America from slavery to present day is intertwined with music, it is one of the enduring traits that link us to mother Africa.

Jazzism Volume 23 celebrates Jazz born of the Blues sound. It is our music, but it also music that the whole world has fallen in love with, so let's keep the romance alive and cherish it and reminisce because....there was a place....there was a time and then there was the Blues.

Enjoy,

Katzpheno

featuring:

Linda Hopkins & Branford Marsalis - "The Road You Choose"
Larry Carlton - "7 For You"
Nicholas Payton - "Nick@Night"
Sarah Vaughan - "I Ain't Got Nothing But The Blues"
Jimmy Smith - "Flamingo"
Cassandra Wilson - "When The Sun Goes Down"
The Crusaders - "Unsung Heroes"
Nina Simone - "Chilly Winds Don't Blow"
Roy Hargrove - "Blues For Booty Green's"
Ron Carter - "All Blues"
Jeff Beck - "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat"

photo credit: "where did the blues singer go?" by ken courtesy of Flickr

Take It To The Stage!

Jazz is a dish best served....LIVE!

This american art form is a unique musical expression of spontaneous, improvisational intelligence, that draws creator and creation together as one, and the response from the audience to this new birth...completes the trinity.

Which brings us to...

Alriginal Housenism # 1
When You Find The Joy In The Moment, Each Moment Will Bring You Joy!

I get so much joy experiencing music performed live, that I had to create for you a "virtual' concert featuring seven choice live recordings from seven distinct artists mixed together ....Katzpheno style!

Enjoy,

Katzpheno

featuring:

The Herbie Hancock Sextet - "The Eye Of The Hurricane" (live - 1977)
The Roy Hargrove Quintet - "The Left Side (live - 1993)
The Cannonball Adderley Quintet - "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" (live - 1966)
Dave Bruebeck featuring Gerry Mulligan - "Recuerdo" (live - 1968)
Cassandra Wilson - "Rock This Calling" (live - 1991)
The Jazz Crusaders - "Inside Outside" (live - 1969)
The Wynton Marsalis Septet - "I'll Remember April" (1994)

photo credit: In Concert by myra lovmont courtesy of Flickr