Interplay

The latest episode of Now's the Time went down last Thursday evening, and I must say, modestly speaking, I nailed it. There are nights in the studio when you have to concede that you're weren't quite on. But there are others when everything is falling into place, and there are no technical glitches to derail you, and you spend the long drive home, smiling, thinking: Hell yes, that was good.

The evening began with an interview with Adrian Cho, founder and artistic director of the Impressions in Jazz Orchestra. Adrian's a great guy, and I've interviewed him before. He's a tireless promoter and worker for the music he believes in, and his mission, as artistic director, is to deliver programs that aim squarely at the nexus of education and entertainment. In that sense, his vision dovetails nicely with that of the IMC. Anyway, the show he's currently promoting is the IJO's upcoming Cult Fiction Classics, April 18 at Dominion Chalmers. If you're in Ottawa, go.

Thereafter, I got my hard bop on. John Coltrane, until recently strung out, fired by Miles Davis, and searching for direction (some of which he found while woodshedding with Monk), spent much of the period between 1956-1958 collecting paychecks from Prestige Records. He was a member of a number of different session lineups, many of them billed as the Prestige All-Stars, as well as stints as a sideman, and occasionally he was co-billed (John Coltrane and Kenny Burrell). All of this is documented on the excellent Interplay, the Concord Music Group's recent repackaging of all of this previously available material. It sounds wonderful; warm and full. The package is handsome, and the liners are incredibly detailed. Great stuff.

Have I piqued your interest? Just download the show already:

Now's the Time - April 3, 2008: Impressions in Jazz Orch. / Coltrane's Interplay

I'm in the studio next on May 8, when I'll play music by Bengt Berger and his Bitter Funeral Beer band - worldy, free improv stuff by a large-ish ensemble, sometimes including Don Cherry.

I'll check in here next week with some non-improvised music related stuff.