Routes: A Jazz Impressions Podcast

Grab your winter coat and koto, we're back with a slightly seasonal special! In this episode, we chart floral and festive paths from the library music-inspired serenity of Sven Wunder's 'Snowdrops', to Roland Kirk's honktacular rendering of 'We Free Kings'. En route we take in hip-hop, Japanese jazz and even some Christmas music, plus a brief rundown of some of our favourite albums of the year. Stay tuned as we get cooking again in 2024.

In our bumper anniversary 10th edition we pay tribute to two jazz giants: percussion legend James Mtume and vibes wizard Khan Jamal. But which route best connects them? Via the West Coast, or the astral plane? Dan travels through time and Ollie through space, on a cosmic journey that passes Philly, pharaohs and psychedelic beanies. Thanks for indulging us for 10 episodes, and stay tuned for more astral traveling this year. Roads? Where we're going, we only need Rhodes.

We take flight in Episode 9 with two classic live cuts: Joe Henderson’s 'Junk Blues' and Don Pullen & George Adams’ 'Saturday Night It The Cosmos'. But what’s the best route? Via Italy and Japan? Or as the crow flies? Ornithophobics need not apply. Thanks for all your support in this first year of the podcast and stay tuned for more Routes in the new year. Keep watching the skies!

In this episode, we pay tribute to the late, great MF Doom, the metal-faced enigma we lost on Halloween 2020. But what connects the supervillain to ‘70s funk supremos the Ohio Players? What’s Cole Porter got to do with Giorgio Moroder? And where does an Anglo-Trakehner stallion fit into all this? Get your Gazzillion Ears round episode 8 to find out.

What links the ambient jazz of Bennie Maupin’s ‘Past + Present = Future’ and the dusty grooves of DJ Krush’s ‘Dig This Vibe’? What is the best soundtrack to getting probed by aliens? And what is the French version of the Mafia? Find out all this and more in this abstract episode of the podcast - along with more of Ollie’s flawless impersonations of instrumental jazz.

In this tribute episode, we join the dots between Stanley Cowell’s ‘Sienna: Welcome My Darling’ and Chick Corea’s ‘Litha’. Plus we delve into Sweden, beekeeping and the discography of L. Ron Hubbard - and be sure to listen out for Ollie's uncanny impression of a shakuhachi.

This time we break free of our jazz shackles, tracing a path between the psychedelic folk rock of Crosby, Stills and Nash’s ‘Wooden Ships’ and the '90s bossa-infused hip-hop of ‘Runnin’ by The Pharcyde.

In episode 4 we connect two very different tracks recorded 10 years apart - the free-leaning post-bop of Eric Dolphy’s ‘Green Dolphin Street’ and the dark, funky, cinematic vibes of Gary Burton’s ‘Las Vegas Tango’. Plus hip-hop and samples and films, oh my!

Episode 3 features a pair of classic tracks from a duo of Detroit jazz legends. Along the way we discuss kalimbas, the history of Strata East Records and Slugs’ Saloon in New York, as well as the historic Fillmore West and the San Francisco hippie scene.

In this Blue Note heavy episode, we discuss an underappreciated gem from master vibesman Bobby Hutcherson, the compositional talents of Joe Chambers, the lyrical side of Freddie Hubbard and the legacy of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Also, there’s a special guest appearance from a squeaky garage door trying to imitate Wayne Shorter.