I'm in Vancouver, Canada, since 2010. Prior to that I've lived in Boston, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, and spent a decent amount of time in New York, so I have a sense of what different scenes can look like.

Right now I'd say the Vancouver scene is at a high point since I've lived here. There was a lull from the mid 2010's into the pandemic. Coming out of the pandemic, the scene has come back to life with a vengeance.

There is one very good jazz club with 2 - 4 sets of music almost every night. There are several smaller venues, including new ones popping up that are replacing the ones that closed in the past few years. There are great local musicians, with styles ranging from straightahead hard bop to more modern adventurous stuff. There are at least two record labels and two very active promotors, that are in a kind of symbiotic / healthy competition. [Edit: There is also an online podcast / gig list / newsletter to stay on top of all the happenings. And a good university music program giving a steady supply of young talent, as well as teaching gigs to the OG’s].

Downsides right now are, would be nice to have some more top name touring musicians. For example Pat Metheny came through Seattle but not Vancouver on his tour this past year.

And, our previously great festival is in trouble right now.

[Edit: other big downside is cot of living, especially housing. I don’t know how any musician can make a living wage in Vancouver, and my guess is that the majority of them have a different “day job.”]

Overall, for a city of its size (~700k city proper / 3M metro area), I can't complain.

How is your local scene doing in 2024?

Not sure why but I find Barney Biggard's clarinet instantly recognizable. And it's not like I've listened to him that much, but whether it's with Duke or Armstrong's All-Stars, I immediately recognize his play.

His solo on Armstrong's I Surrender Dear (pt. 2) in 1950 is just incredible! https://youtu.be/A5W47EHGRI4?si=feVYD_-JOhu4hk8P&t=215s

From The Great Jazz Pianists by Len Lyons

Fantasy Recording Studios, Monterey, 1974

From hearing you live and listening to your new albums, I get a strong impression that your playing has developed markedly. Do you feel that way about it?

There has been development, but the development I'm looking for is right through the middle. I don't try to go to the edges of what I'm doing and spread out that way. I try to go through the middle, the essential quality, and extend that. Consequently a lot of listeners might not hear any development for a long period of time, but there is inner development going on.

It might have something to do with ideas or the rhythmic displacement of ideas, but that's speaking technically about something I'm not thinking about technically. What I'm trying to do is say something in the context of my music. What I'm learning how to do is say it with listenable, understandable musical language that gets deeper into meaning. The best example I can think of is what Philly Joe [Jones] can do with an eight- or four-measure solo. Using the same rudiments that other drummers use, he can do something that makes you say, "Wow! Yeah, what a beautiful way to put those things together, so simply and to say so much."

I'm trying to say strong things, strong ideas. I'm speaking as if it's a technical consideration, but when I'm playing, I'm thinking of being in the flow of the music, allowing it to develop over a period of time.

Title. Whenever I heard it, it sounds so fun, but I don't seem to know many tunes that have that rhythm.

Hi, I could google this but think I’ll like your recommendations more than what I’ll find there. Do y’all know of any jazz made in protest to Vietnam or any other war for that matter?

Hi! Im getting married in March and we are planning to bring our record player to the wedding to have inside the venue (we will have a band outside). What are some great jazz albums? It can be as niche as you want. I don’t really listen to jazz music as I am more of an Americana/indie fan, and a chronic audiobook listener, so I don’t know much jazz besides the essentials and some jazz pop folks like Laufey. All suggestions welcome!

I am trying to get him a few for Christmas and would love to have some time to shop around! Thank you so much!

Does anyone know whether the French "Chronological Classics" series compiling all of the old 78 RPM discs, which ultimately numbered something around or north of 1,000 CDs, will ever be available for purchase via manufactured-on-demand media? CD-R's or the like? My set is woefully incomplete, and I would really like to fill out the missing pieces.

The final album from Sir Miles Davis. Recorded in 1985, released in 1989. Reasons for the late release vary from Miles wanting more money from CBS Records, or his beef with up-and-comer Wynton Marsalis (which possibly explains Miles’ exit from CBS/Sony after 30 years), or the tapes weren’t delivered in time for the presses seeing that the album was recorded overseas. This album was released the same year the WB album Amandla was released (1989).

Been trying to figure out how to categorise styles of jazz in a way that people can understand what I’m talking about

What style would you describe the following albums as?

Like minds (chick corea, metheny etc) In common (walter smith) Deciphering the message (makaya mccraven) Gary Burton/Keith Jarrett Speak like a child (herbie)

So for my HS senior feature last year I played "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" by Tommy Dorsey on trombone as my grandpa really loves older jazz and especially like Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, and so on. He really loved it and just this past week I recorded myself playing it on my own and my mom showed it to him and said he was really happy. Do you guys have any recommendations for tunes I could learn that he might like? Anything goes but something in that general genre.

I dig this photo. Louis signing a guy's head in France 1961.