There have been a total of 480 albums that 97 reviewers placed on their top 10 lists. That’s a lot! Wish I could listen to them all.
But here’s a few I did listen to—at least in part—and want to play for you. This way you and I are making these ‘discoveries’ together. Although I suspect some of you are more familiar with many of them than I am.
Near the beginning you’ll hear two versions of the same tune–Eddie Harris’s Freedom Jazz Dance. They’re both played by the same drummer/leader (Florian Arbenz) recorded a few months apart, but with different instrument combinations. And very different arrangements. To me that epitomizes ‘jazz’.
Other artists are Ethan Iverson, Matthew Shipp Trio, Tom Skinner, Kate Baker & Vic Juris, Mali Obamsawin, Sun Ra Arkestra featuring 98 year old Marshall Allen, and Al Foster. As for historical releases—you must listen to this ‘discovery’ of a 1972 concert by Pepper Adams with The Tommy Banks Trio.
More great variety! And we call it ‘jazz’.
Just a quick addendum: Just prior to uploading this episode I noticed that the previous episode, Part 2, had over 700 hits. Usually within a week a typical episode gets about 400. So it’s encouraging to know that you are enjoying this series on the best albums of 2022. Thank you for your support! And if you feel motivated, a review and rating on the itunes podcast site would be so appreciated! -Larry
Dear Larry the Radio Guy,
Please forgive the informality. Maybe you have heard about my new book, The Hidden History of Louisiana’s Jazz Age. It’s my third book published by History Press. I thought a discussion of the book would be a nice topic for The Jazz Podcast as we get closer to the New Orleans Jazz Fest.
Below, you’ll find my press release. I hope to hear from you soon.
Sam Irwin
225-620-8698
http://www.SamIrwin.net
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT SAM IRWIN
SI@SAMIRWIN.NET
225-620-8698
REVIEW COPIES: HAMPTON RYAN – ARCADIA PUBLISHING
HRYAN@ARCADIAPUBLISHING.COM
Here’s what people are saying about Sam Irwin’s The Hidden History of Louisiana’s Jazz Age:
Ricky Riccardi, Louis Armstrong scholar, author of Heart Full of Rhythm
To discover and pay tribute to every single early pioneer of New Orleans music would take a full set of encyclopedias (remember those?). But Sam Irwin has done the world a service in this volume, combining exciting new research and a gripping style of storytelling that will be appreciated by the historians of the music but will also be gobbled up by the average fan who might be familiar with the names of Louis Armstrong and Buddy Bolden, but assuredly have not spent much time with the danger-ridden early career of clarinetist Joe Darensbourg or the shocking demise of trumpeter Evan Thomas.
Barbara Sims, author of The Next Elvis: Searching for Stardom at Sun Records
The New Year, and Sam Irwin, have brought jazz lovers, and all readers who enjoy stories about our colorful state’s history, a new understanding of what the author calls “the most significant art form America has produced.” Many have made that assertion, but Irwin’s just-released book, Hidden History of Louisiana’s Jazz Age, fills in pieces of the puzzle of just what and who was responsible for the flowering of this music.
Sam Irwin’s new book explores early Louisiana jazz
Author Sam Irwin explores an unexamined jazz history in “The Hidden History of Louisiana’s Jazz Age,” his third book from History Press.
The book is a treasure trove of fascinating Louisiana jazz stories. How did jazzman Joe Darensbourg of Baton Rouge, the musician who played clarinet on Louis Armstrong’s 1963 smash hit “Hello, Dolly,” encounter not one, but two serial murderers in his long career?
Who was Crowley trumpeter Evan Thomas, the man murdered on the bandstand by a jealous husband in the Promised Land neighborhood of Rayne, La.?
Why were New Orleans’ city fathers so embarrassed by jazz that they renamed their famous Basin Street to the non-harmonious North Saratoga Street?
Who was Baton Rouge musician Toots Johnson and why was his band so popular that his musicians continued to use his name 20 years after his death?
How did jazz thrive in rural communities like New Iberia, Parks, St. Martinville and Opelousas?
Another question Irwin asks is why did Armstrong choose the Fourth of July as his birthday? What did Independence Day mean to southern Blacks in 1901?
These questions are answered in the book, which was published by History Press on January 2, 2023.
“Buddy Bolden never played outside New Orleans, so how did jazz grow in places like Parks, New Iberia, Opelousas and Crowley?” Irwin asks. “For every great early musician who made it big in New Orleans and Chicago and beyond, there were dozens of jazzmen who performed in the honky-tonks, joints, theaters and barrooms across Louisiana…any place where there were large plantation communities. I wanted to know who these men and women were. The result is The Hidden History of Louisiana’s Jazz Age.”
He didn’t know it at the time, but research for the HH/Jazz Age began for Irwin the day after New Orleans musician Allen Toussaint died in 2015. That’s when Irwin first heard trumpeter Nicholas Payton’s brilliant performance on Toussaint’s The Bright Mississippi.
“I wasn’t planning on writing another book but this one materialized out of the music I was practicing. Nicholas Payton made the music sound so easy, it inspired me to pick up my horn and play after I hadn’t touched it for nearly 30 years,” Irwin said. “I also wanted to learn about the musicians and where they came from. They weren’t all from New Orleans. I wrote blog posts to promote my band, the Florida Street Blowhards. Before I knew it, I wrote half a book.”
Irwin’s FSB have established quite a reputation as the only traditional jazz band in Baton Rouge.
“My musicians kept showing up for rehearsals and gigs and we’re having a great time performing these old great jazz tunes. They are so old, they’re new.”
A public relations professional and freelance journalist, Irwin has been writing about Louisiana for the last two decades. He is the public relations director of the American Sugar Cane League and former press secretary of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry.
He grew up in Breaux Bridge, La., the Crawfish Capital of the World, and wrote about that experience in “Louisiana Crawfish: A Succulent History of the Cajun Crustacean” in 2014. He followed that book up with “It Happens in Louisiana: Peculiar Tales, Traditions and Recipes from the Bayou” in 2015.
The former music major (he ended up with a B.A. and M.A in history) at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette is spending more time playing trumpet with the FSB at front yard concerts, wedding second lines and other gigs than writing. He lives in an old neighborhood in Baton Rouge with his wife, two cornets, two trumpets and a Benge fluegelhorn. Another horn can be expected at any time.
Irwin manages his author webpage at http://www.SamIrwin.net and the band’s website at http://www.FloridaStreetBlowhards.com where the Blowhards Blog can be found.
He is available for speaking engagements and interviews.
Autographed copies of “The Hidden History of Louisiana’s Jazz Age” are available from the author’s website, SamIrwin.net. Also, readers may order directly from History Press and online retailers and local bookstores.
Hope the book is doing well. Sorry I didn’t get back to you. I’m very interested in the Cuba-New Orleans connection, inspired by Ned Sublette’s book Cuba and It’s Music. And I know he also wrote a book on New Orleans, which I haven’t read.
At some point I do hope to read your book. Thanks for mentioning this to me.
Hope you enjoy some of my Discovering Jazz episodes. And yes…at some point I would like to talk about the New Orleans influence. And look forward to corresponding with you when I feel radio to make that a ‘topic’. I suspect it will be fascinating.
-Larry Saidman aka LarryTheRadioGuy.