KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts
KUT and KUTX news and music podcasts for Austin, Texas and beyond
What can we learn from the life and legacy of Sonny Clark? He was instrumental to the development of bebop and American music in the mid 20th century, not only as one who created and recorded his own tunes, but one who supported the dreams and visions of others as well.
In this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe talks about the importance of Clark’s music and
In this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe talks about the life and legacy of bassist, cellist, and composer Oscar Pettiford.
In this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe talks about the life and legacy of the late jazz pianist Paul Bley.
In this edition of Liner Notes Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe talks about the life and legacy of Herbie Nichols.
In this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe, talks about the life and legacy of American jazz pianist and bandleader Earl “Fatha” Hines.
In this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe discusses how jazz can help us to prevail against notions of an appending apocalypse in our time.
In this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe, talks about the life and legacy of jazz legend Billy Strayhorn.
In this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe talks about the life and legacy of Hoagy Carmichael.
In this edition of Liner Notes Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe talks about the relationship between jazz and psychoanalysis.
These early 20th century emerging ways of life have had a profound effect on our individual spiritual development as well as our identity as a larger civilization, as we consider our dreams, desires, loves, and fears. How do these two disciplines inform each other? How do those who have been outcast or in exile within society find a home in these inventive arts? What happens when Freud and Coltrane meet?
What does it mean to listen and what does it mean to reveal? How can disclosing our vulnerabilities make us more resilient? How can making peace with our past establish a more secure present and future? Where is music in all of this? We will listen to standards within the jazz canon, as we reflect upon the open and concealed ways that our spirit and mind conjoins.
In this edition of Liner Notes Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe talk about the life and work of American jazz saxophonist Lou Donaldson.
In this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe, talks about the life and work of jazz trumpeter and medical doctor Eddie Henderson.
In this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe talks about the life, work, and legacy of jazz saxophonist Phil Woods.
Red Rodney was an American bebop and hard bop trumpet player who made came up with mentors like Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. In his lifetime he saw much hardship, including the loss of his wife and daughter in a car accident, and the loss of many of his contemporaries in the jazz world.
In this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe talks about what it means to be a “survivor”, and how jazz, and specifically bebop, allows us to confront oppression through resistance, revolution, and reckoning.
Steve Coleman is an American saxophonist, composer, and band leader who’s work bridges the gaps between spirituality, culture, and time. In this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe talks about the significance of Coleman’s work in our lives today. He suggests that through the music of Steve Coleman we can understand the complexities of our lives and identities, both as meaning everything and nothing in the same moment.
Oliver Lake is an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and poet who co-founded The World Saxophone Quartet in 1977. In this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe talks about the way in which Lake’s music offered a portal for us to understand the civil rights movement and social justice through art. When listening to Oliver Lake and The World Saxophone Quartet we’re are able to understand how to create profound statements without words.
Abbey Lincoln was an American jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actress, who is known for adding a poignant voice to the conversation surrounding the civil rights movement during the 1960s in America. She was a controversial and often marginalized figure, especially following her work on, We Insist, which she, and drummer Max Roach produced in response to the exploitation and oppression of black Americans.
In this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe, encourages us to find our voice through the music of Abbey Lincoln. To understand that it matters, to speak out, to break the silence around injustice. Acknowledging that ultimately, in order to heal, one must name the affliction and fully know the illness.
Ma. Rainey, born Gertrude Malissa Nix Pridgett, April 26, 1886, was one of the first recorded Blues singers of the 20th century. Her deep, soulful voice is as distinctive as her lyrics, that were considered controversial at the time. Although she is known as “The Mother of The Blues”, her sound laid the foundation for much of the early jazz vocal style. She recorded with Louis Armstrong, and was a big influence on the work of Bob Dylan.
In this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe, talks about the life and legacy of Ma. Rainey, and highlights what her approach to her art can teach us today.
In this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe, talks about the relationship between jazz and the idea of freedom in America.
He quotes how Duke Ellington describes jazz as, “a good barometer of freedom.” Ellington said, “In its beginnings, the United States of America spawned certain ideals of freedom and independence through which, eventually, jazz was evolved, and the music is so free that many people say it is the only unhampered, unhindered expression of complete freedom yet produced in this country.”
As we celebrate this nation and the freedom and liberty we enjoy, may we also contemplate the ways in which we still carry around chains, and operate within the prisons of past oppression. Knowing that true emancipation can only be obtained, through the most difficult of all forms of liberation, freeing ourselves from ourselves.
Andrew Hill was an American jazz pianist and performer, who’s innovative approach to composition, was not only shared on his records and in the clubs, but also in the classroom. In this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe, talks about what the life, legacy and perspective of Andrew Hill can teach us about how we, not only approach music, but life also.
Tonight at Noon is an album by jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus, released on the Atlantic label in 1965. The record includes tunes that are melodic and easy, and yet tinged with a dark sentiment that makes you feel as if you are enjoying a beautiful sunset, whilst sitting atop a volcano.
The title Mingus chose for the album almost outlives the music, in subsequent movie titles and book titles about his life. In this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe talks about what the album, and it’s title evoke in us.
There is a mystery in the night that Mingus is urging us to see as normal, perhaps in an effort to demystify the jazz conversation, by saying “noon” is not something to be afraid of. “Noon” is happening right here at night and it’s just as acceptable and respectable as anything that happens during the day. In essence, he is taking the darkness out of the night.