Blue Note’s 85th Anniversary

85 years ago on January 6, 1939, a German-Jewish immigrant and passionate Jazz fan named Alfred Lion produced his first recording session in New York City founding what would go on to become the most iconic and longest-running Jazz label in the world. For 85 years Blue Note Records has represented The Finest In Jazz, tracing the entire history of the music from Hot Jazz, Boogie Woogie, and Swing, through Bebop, Hard Bop, Post-Bop, Soul Jazz, Avant-Garde, and Fusion, and—after being relaunched by Bruce Lundvall in 1984—has remained the leading label dedicated to documenting today’s vibrant and creatively thriving Jazz scene under the leadership of current President Don Was, who took the helm in 2012. A concert celebrating the 85th anniversary of the longest-running jazz label in the world, called Blue Note Records, will come to Madison, Wisconsin, on Jan. 26 at 7:30 p.m. as part of the Wisconsin Union Theater’s (WUT’s) Jazz Series. The 90-minute Blue Note Records 85th Anniversary Tour event at Shannon Hall in Memorial Union will feature a collective of jazz stars that includes pianist and musical director Gerald Clayton, alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, vibraphonist Joel Ross, drummer Kendrick Scott, and bassist Matt Brewer. The collective’s tour performances around the country celebrate the label, which has a history that includes many music styles – including hot jazz and blues to cool jazz, bebop and fusion – and that built the bridge into today’s avant-garde jazz. “Blue Note has been such a wonderful home for the community for incredible musicians, for creativity for all these years,” Clayton said.

The visionary young voices of jazz have long been the lifeblood of Blue Note Records, and The Blue Note Quintet continues the tradition of rising stars of the roster joining forces to celebrate the label’s unparalleled legacy including Out of the Blue, Superblue, New Directions, The Blue Note 7, and The Blue Note All-Stars.

Mr. Gerald Clayton joined Blue Note in 2020 and has released two albums—Happening: Live At The Village Vanguard and Bells On Sand—as well as performing on Blue Note albums by Charles Lloyd, Ambrose Akinmusire, & Bill Frisell.

Mr. Kendrick Scott signed with Blue Note in 2015 and has released three albums for the label—We Are The Drum, A Wall Becomes A Bridge, and Corridors—and appeared on Blue Note albums by Terence Blanchard, Walter Smith III, & the Blue Note All-Stars.

Mr. Joel Ross came to Blue Note in 2019 with the release of KingMaker and has since released Who Am I? and The Parable Of The Poet with his latest album nublues due out in February 2024. He’s been featured on Blue Note albums by Makaya McCraven, Johnathan Blake, Joshua Redman, & Meshell Ndegeocello.

Mr. Immanuel Wilkins released his Blue Note debut Omega in 2020 followed by The 7th Hand in 2022. He is a member of Joel Ross Good Vibes & Johnathan Blake Pentad and was part of the Leonard Cohen tribute band Here It Is.

I had the honor of checking in quick with Mr. Clayton about this historic event and what someone in attendance will be in community with in Madison on January 26th at the Wisconsin Union Theater. We took a walk through how these artists will be working together as they play original tunes, some versions of Blue Note artists works and ‘surprises’ that will be welcoming individuals to feel this music. As good as the concept of this show sounds, I firmly believe this is a group that is poised to be discussed well after the fact as an event that united people with shared stories of records they used to spin and new music they are now going to seek. I would have been remiss not to talk a little about how spending time with and working with both Mr. Roy Hargrove & friend of the program Mr. Billy Childs added some new edges and ideas, as well as friendship. This is the kind of thing that will also be felt here in Madison on the 26th. Digg.

Whatsup With Cee Knowledge

Cee Knowledge, better known as Doodlebug of the Grammy winning hip-hop jazzified topic spittin’ trio Digable Planets, adopted the moniker Cee Knowledge while studying at Howard University. Cee-Know grew up in a city full of musical traditions from the cosmic jazz of the Sun Ra Arkestra to the new Philly soul of Bilal and Musiq Soulchild and that ground-breaking hip-hop force that is The Roots and Eve. He also forged that Cosmic Funk Orchestra combining and united jazz & hip hop artists from Delaware & Philadelphia. We all know about the genre-crossing star falling to Earth sounds of Digable Planets but that vision didn’t stop when DP stopped making music for some time, that same energy brought creative forces like Roy Ayers, Sun Ra Arkestra & friend of the proGram, Ladybug Mecca toGether to remix some CFO tracks. A winner of the NAACP image aways and a Sony Innovators award. I call him a friend.

I had the chance to set up a long overdue hanG with Cee recently to go over so many things that have been happening. First off we touch on why it was I saw my Digable Planets fam on my TV?! CBS hosted a Grammy salute to 50 years of Hip Hop and so many of the legends were there to honor, be honored and help build off the past. We got a chance to talk about the music and the feels of then and now of 30 years of their ‘Reachin” album. We both were astonished at how some of the ‘topical’ talk of then is still relevant today, and out on tour, how the crowds are filling up the spaces with diversity of all peoples’ is represented. One of the main reasons I wanted to catch up w/Cee this time around was his dippin’ his toe into Co-authorship on a graphic novel entitled: The Epic of the Heaven and Earth Association. We go from how this idea kinda developed with his love of comics, developed over time and is now almost to the point of another edition. There’s also a podcast and you can subscribe here. Cee details how the view from the lens in this podcast is not from the humans on Earth as we know them. Get heavy with this. of course our time toGether would not be complete without talking NBA hoops, especially where our rival teams are currently sitting in the division and who is ballin’ that we respect. Always a classic(ish) time with Cee & G.

Texas Scratch

Blues-rock band Texas Scratch released its new self-titled album on Quarto Valley Records. Texas Scratch is made up of three born-and-bred Texas guitarists, Jim Suhler from Dallas, Buddy Whittington from Fort Worth & Vince Converse from Houston. This mighty threesome of big dog guitar slingers takes no prisoners when it comes to red-hot guitar performances, both live and in-studio. This trio of six-string guitar beasts are accompanied on the album by drummer Jeff Simon and bassist Nathaniel Peterson. Their combined efforts have resulted in a debut album consisting of fiery, passionate guitar licks everywhere you turn, soaked in the blues and kicked in the ass by the blues-rock they all love to play. Some of the song titles on the album alone lets the listener know what they are in for – What the Devil Loves, Trip Hammer, Showdown and Louisiana Cock Fight – give a few clues as to what to expect musically. But the album is far from just a six-string shootout or shredding contest between top gun guitarists; the 9 total songs on the album feature 7 original songs written by a combination of Suhler, Whittington & Converse with killer arrangements, passionate vocals, tight ensemble playing, & clever lyrics. Suhler’s & Simon’s day jobs are longtime members of George Thorogood and the Destroyers,in fact, Mr. Simon is an original member of The Destroyers (he co-founded the band with Thorogood in 1973) and Suhler has been a Destroyer since 1999. Suhler is also a founding member of the band Monkey Beat since 1991. Whittington recorded/toured with blues legend John Mayall for 15 years before heading off to an acclaimed solo recording/touring career in 2008 that continues to this day. Converse made his bones with heavy blues-rock power trio Sunset Heights, touring with acts like Johnny Winter, Peter Green, Fats Domino, & Kenny Wayne Shepherd. A devoted blues musician, he now kicks ass with his band, Vince Converse and Big Brother. And Nathaniel Peterson was a member of Savoy Brown. For one reason or another through the years this HOTT blues album never got to see the light of day. That didn’t stop the stories from spreading throughout the music world about what a tremendous album it was. Recorded in October 2009, the album’s release took 14 long years to finally see the light of day as the musicians initially got together in New Jersey to jam and lay down each other’s tracks at the legendary Showplace Studios in Dover, NJ. The album was recorded in four days and produced by the late, great Ben Elliott.

I had the pleasure of catching up with Jim Suhler to get down and dirty into the new self titled album from Texas Scratch. We talk about songwriting and songs, dissect a couple of tracks including ‘I’d Rather Be Lucky Than Good, which he co-wrote with Tom Hambridge. We discussed the choices of stretching out tunes in a live setting and sometimes not. It is clear where some of the influences of this music seem to come from, we do mention some of the pivotal music that helped shape Texas Scratch and most obviously, ZZ Top. Jim even shares an incredible tale of how Billy F. Gibbons officiated his wedding! By the end of the chat, I was very interested to hear what tune from the new record he would chose to build a setlist around and what other tunes/artists he’d combine to build that set. Always insightful and this was no less. At the time of this call, the Dallas Cowboys & Green Bay Packers had yet to play their playoff game, we share a quick ‘good luck’ to each other, and he once again, has a story of meeting some leGends of the game down in big D.

Light Of Day

The final part of this week’s proGram reflected & refracted to move around.

I Shall Be Released- Nikki Armstrong
Mercy, Mercy, Mercy- Nikki Armstrong & WLB (Live At The Turning Point Cafe 4/23/2005)
Piece of My Heart- Erma Franklin

Human- Bette Smith
Southern Gul- Erykah Badu
Lint of Love- Cibo Matto

Third Stone from the Sun / If You Love Me Like You Say- Gary Clark Jr. (Live)

T.U.S.A.- Masters of Reality
Gimme Water- Masters of Reality
Take Me With You- Morphine
Get In Get Out- Randall Bramblett
Love You Too- Cornershop

Shine On Through

The middle part of this week’s proGram translated the glow into inspirations.

That’s All Right, Mama- Jerry Garcia & Merl Saunders (Live 7/5/73 Lion’s Share)
Zillionaire- Rob Wasserman Ft. Jerry Garcia & Edie Brickell

I’m A Steady Rollin’ Man- Peter Green with Nigel Watson Splinter Group
Mississippi- Bob Dylan
Praise the Lord and Pass the Snakes- Hot Tuna (Live)

Little Miss Strange- The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Long Hot Summer Night- The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Rainy Day, Dream Away- The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Bold As Love- Pretenders
Crosstown Traffic- Living Colour
Dearest Darling- Bo Diddley

What’s He Building- Tom Waits

Ice For A Cozy Up

The first part of this week’s proGram was a warming up blanket for the sore & tired.

Ripchord- Larry Keel Ft. Sam Bush
The Buzzards Was Their Friend- Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks (live)

Slacabamorinico- Tommy Talton
Give a Little Bit (Tribute to Levon Helm)- Tommy Talton
Cold, Cold World- Floyd Miles Ft. Gregg Allman & Edgar Winter
Blind Bats and Swamp Rats- Gregg Allman

Killing Yourself On Purpose- Scrapomatic
I Know- The Derek Trucks Band (Live)
Rastaman Chant- The Derek Trucks Band (Live)
Cabbage- Yonrico Scott Ft. Col. Bruce Hampton & Rev. Jeff Mosier

Where Too

The final part of this week’s proGram had the arrows out with all directions covered.

Liquid Angels- Liquid Soul
Nothing But Net- Liquid Soul
Hardgroove- The RH Factor
Keep Talkin’- Lakecia Benjamin Ft. Amp Fiddler & Tracy Nicole
Cool About It- Mr. Fiddler

Mystery- Miles Davis
Blow- Miles Davis w/Easy Mo Bee
Young Blood- M1 Brian Jackson & The New Midnight Band Ft. Dead Prez & Blackbyrd McKnight
Relaxin’ At Camarillo (August 29)- Meshell Ndegeocello & Charlie Parker

Bus Ride- Reuben Wilson
Soul Special- Andrew Hill

Icy Switch

The times and dates don’t matter – the groove of the proGram took the cool of it and made it move.

Tropicalia- Dr. Lonnie Smith Ft. David Fathead Newman
Godchild- Steve Yeager
Gone- Stefon Harris & Blackout

I Don’t Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing (Open Up the Door I’ll Get It Myself)- Grant Green
Upshot- Grant Green (Live at the Antibes Jazz Festival on July 18, 1970)

The Bird Wave- Jimmy McGriff
Groovin’ for Mr. G- Richard Groove Holmes
Hunk O’ Funk- Brother Jack McDuff
‘Round Town- Elvin Jones

Ice Of A Start

The beGinning parts of this week got off to an icy get go, but the music had to be set free to the slickness.

I Can Smell That Funky Music- Eric Mercury
Midnight at the Oasis- Pleasure
I Am Somebody Part 2- Johnny Taylor
I Got to Be Myself- The Rance Allen Group

Blast!- Marcus Miller
Higher Ground- Marcus Miller
Unchain My Heart (Part 1)- John Scofield
Legalize It- MSMW

Thank You- Melvin Sparks
Pick Up the Pieces- Melvin Sparks
Ice Cream Sammich (Remastered)- Skeebo Knight Ft. Chuck Leavell
Rat Fight- mega cat

That Sparkle

The final part of this week’s proGram had a certain somethin’ in that glow deptartment.

Punch- Ron Horton Ft. John O’Gallagher & Marc Mommas
Angular Logic- Rich Halley


Cañaveral En Llamas- Kenneth Jimenez Ft. Gerald Cleaver, Angelica Sanchez & Hery Paz
Trio Mengi- Anni Kiviniemi
As of Now- DIVR
Sayyid Chant and Dance No. 42- The Gurdjieff Ensemble & Levon Eskenian


Pine Needles- Garry Dial & Rich DeRosa Ft. Mike Stern
Pluto Language- Garry Dial & Rich DeRosa Ft. Dick Oatts, Victor Provost, Anne Drummond, Mauricio Zottarelli
A-440- Garry Dial & Rich DeRosa Ft. Jeff Berlin


Aye- Muriel Mwansa Mwamba
Trails & Temptations- Muriel Mwansa Mwamba

Edge Freeze

The middle part of this week’s proGram still had the ability to stop time in its tracks.

Kick (Disco Mix)- Brion Gysin
Baboon- Brion Gysin


Vibing in Ay (Folamour Remix)- Léon Phal
Get It In- House Dance Mystics Ft. Future EOF
Equality (Original Mix)- Hevi Levi
Oh No (Pt. 2)- L.A.B
Niñx- Ana Tijoux


Rock & Sway Riddem- Dubmatix & Al Pancho

Space AC- Lars Deutsch
Classroom- John Medeski
Oceanic- Hu Vibrational
Capricho- Fabiano do Nascimento & Sam Gendel


Rumba for the River Trilogy: Dragon Dance- Vincent Hsu (Live)

Morning Glowin’

The first part of this week’s proGrm seemed to have a bit of a glow to it:

Lonesome Road Blues- Sebastià Gris
Drops- Blanca Altable Ft. Álex Hache
Take Your Time- Black Pearl
greenarrowradio promo- Cedar County Cobras


Man of Few Words- The Incurables
Sting Me (Slow)- The Black Crowes (Live, In-Studio 1/4/92)


Ain’t It Funny- The Tibbs
Kra1 (Origin Story)- mega cat
Celebrate with Port!- mega cat
Don’t You Ever Get the Creeps?- mega cat
Cyclone- Wolfgang Valbrun
I’ll Keep My Light in My Window- Mike Keat & The CB’s


Wild Shadows- Flevans
Guajru- Toco
Leão Leonardo- Toco

House The Houseless

Musician & WWOZ radio host Cole Williams is in the vanguard of a powerful movement of direct action in the city of New Orleans, defending the rights of unhoused people.

In recent years New Orleans housing activists created a political space for people to come together. Following frequent street demonstrations at City Hall, activists succeeded in getting the City to provide emergency housing in empty hotels. Now grassroots activists are renovating City-owned blighted houses with unhoused people by their side. Organized by The Greater New Orleans Citizens Relief Team (GNOCRT), they are asking the city government and those individuals with construction skills to assist in this dramatic and impactful Project.

Cole Williams is leading this struggle with deep community participation and her powerful songs of love and struggle. Her new album with the Cole Williams Band, “Give Power to the People” puts them in the tradition of Gil Scott-Heron, creating songsthat reflect the everyday experiences and hopes of Black people all around the world. These songs are anthems of the Movement for Black Lives and certainly for people struggling to make sense out of this dangerous and hopeful moment.

Dan + Claudia Zanes Holiday Bash

This Holiday Sing Along with Grammy Award® winner Dan Zanes and his musical wife, Claudia Zanes, (family to greenarrowradio), is a multicultural all-ages wintertime celebration based on the Christmas gatherings Dan experienced as a child growing up in New Hampshire, in which friends and neighbors came together to sing carols around the piano. This event is/was an ideal Sensory Friendly performance.

But it’s the 21st century!

And now the singers are from a variety of traditions and the songs are from here and there, near and far—Christmas and Hanukah classics in English, Hebrew, and Ladino; as well as holiday songs from Korea, Tunisia, Puerto Rico, Wales, and Haiti. Instead of a piano there are the sounds of guitar, mandolin, harmonica, flute, trombone, tambourine, melodica, ukulele, and anything else that happens to make it in the door. Songbooks are distributed and the audience becomes a part of the festivities. I have to thank the Kennedy Center for having another great thing for me (and you) to be a part of wherever we are around the globe – innovation means INclusion.

The Dan + Claudia Zanes Holiday Sing Along offers a chance for people to experience some of the best of life’s possibilities… while singing with wild abandon! Watch the entire performance here.

Enjoy!!

Flew Away

The final part of this week’s proGram knew where to go, ahead.

Minnesota Fats- Raz Olsher
Prelude with Attitude- Raz Olsher
Det läcker- Dina Ögon


Masada- Club d’Elf

Survivor- Genesis Owusu
Wetter- Atmosphere
RUN- Killer Mike & Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley
Journey- Roots of Creation & Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad Ft. Passafire


Gett Off- Prince (Live at Glam Slam, 1992)
Jughead- Prince (Live at Glam Slam, 1992)


Astral Flowers- Sam Gendel & Fabiano do Nascimento

Winging That

Middle part of this week’s proGram took flight straight away.

Every Day of Your Life- Sheryl Youngblood & Delmark All-Stars
For You- Thee Sinseers
Just One Kiss- Kelly Finnigan
Who Cares For the Houseless On the Holidays- Cole Williams Ft. Curtis Muhammad & Big Brooklyn Red


The Little Funky Drummer Boy- Kait Dunton Ft. Jake Reed
Pushing- Go.Soul.Map. Ft. Derane Obika
Back in the Underwater Instrumental- Go.Soul.Map.


OCTAPUSSY- Janek van Laak
LoA (Land of America)- Will Brock, Sumsuch
Sham Pain- Brion Gysin


Reverse- Caravan Palace
Koul Dan Mon Do- Souleance Ft. Kaloune & Papatef [Poirier Remix]

On The Wing Of A New Day

The beGinning part of this week’s Friday show had its own way to fly by.

Motion Picture Soundtrack- Cigarettes After Sex
Alibi- Hurray for the Riff Raff


Walk Of Shame- Deap Vally
Creeplife- Deap Vally
I Put A Spell On You- Deap Vally


New Feature- Folly Group
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35- The Black Crowes
Sometimes Salvation- The Black Crowes (Live Houston 2/6/1993)
Scarlet Tongues- The Glass Hours
Fate- Stoll Vaughan


(Christmas) All The Time- Chris Grabau
Reindeer on Strike- Big Harp George
greenarrowradio x-mas promo- Lil’ Red & the Rooster
Santa Baby- Lil’ Red & the Rooster

Sculpting Sound

The visually gorgeous, sonically rich and artistically inventive performances on Sculpting Sound feature a dozen of music’s most forward-looking artists playing with, and on, sound sculptures by Harry Bertoia. Presented by Pyroclastic Records and premiering on the Winter Solstice, December 21, 2023 at 10:27 p.m. ET, SculptingSound.org offers free and complete access to a series of revelatory performances recorded at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas. The musicians were given unprecedented access Bertoia’s sculptures. The results blur the lines between music and visual art and provide an opportunity to hear strikingly fresh and innovative work from some of the most vital improvisers of our time and to explore Bertoia’s work, not just visually, but as he fully intended: sonically. At the heart of the website is the collection of six high-definition concert films. Each hour-plus long concert places two musicians famed for their distinctive voices in dialogue with Bertoia’s Sonambient sculptures: guitarists Nels Cline & Ben Monder, trumpeters Ambrose Akinmusire & Nate Wooley, saxophonists Ingrid Laubrock & JD Allen, acoustic string players Jen Shyu & Brandon Seabrook, drummers Marcus Gilmore & Dan Weiss, and pianists (friend of the proGram, Kris Davis & Craig Taborn. All 12 musicians are known for their genre-crossing & expansive outlooks, and here they push their art even further by engaging in a complex interplay with each other, their instruments, and the sculptures—which ring with bell-like tones, vibrate & shimmer, boom & whisper, echo & reverberate, chime & crash, sing out & sing on. The music that emerges is unique—a new collaborative form at the juncture of improvisation, ambient & experimental music, art, & chance.Although Harry Bertoia (1915-1978) was best known during his lifetime as one of the greatest furniture designers of the 20thcentury, he has since become revered as a visionary visual artist. Following the commercial success of his iconic wire chairs, Bertoia dedicated himself to sculpture. Central to his practice were a series of sound sculptures, his Sonambients, whose evocative, encompassing tones could be called forth by a passing wind, ambient vibration, or the touch of a hand. Bertoia himself captured their sounds on eleven LPs released during the last years of his life. Until now, however, musicians have had precious few chances to interact with these works. In 2022, the Nasher Sculpture Center included many sound sculptures among the more than 100 pieces in their exhibition Harry Bertoia: Sculpting Mid-Century Modern Life. Writer, poet and record producer David Breskin seized on this opportunity to create and curate a week-long festival called SCULPTING SOUND: Twelve Musicians Encounter Bertoia, during which the expressive possibilities of the Sonambient pieces could be fully explored. Breskin’s long career has often straddled the worlds of contemporary music & art. In 2002, he brought Bill Frisell to the work of German painter Gerhard Richter, which resulted in the creation of Frisell’s 858 Quartet and the multimedia book Richter 858; and then, in 2010, married Nels Cline’s music to Ed Ruscha’s paintings, producing the poetry/music/art mashup DIRTY BABY. More recently, Breskin has produced an eclectic array of albums for artists including Mary Halvorson, Patricia Brennan, Kris Davis, Ingrid Laubrock, Cory Smythe, Craig Taborn, Brandon Seabrook, Dan Weiss & Ches Smith.

Leave It To Them

The final part of this week’s proGram knew right how to grow into the space.

Space- Hu Vibrational
***pre-recorded conversation with Adam Rudolph***
Proto Zoa Gogo- Hu Vibrational
Timeless- Hu Vibrational


Kid- Sean Mason
Where Are You Going, Frank? (Franto, kam jdeš?)- Skip Wilkins


A Flower is a Lovesome Thing- Kurt Rosenwinkel & Geri Allen (live)

3 for Africa- El Trio (Live)

Where We Came From- Thollem (live)
Where We’ve Been- Thollem (live)

Just A Clip

The middle portion of the proGram was hanging out with the wash.

Stop Smoking- Brion Gysin Ft. Elli Medeiros
Every Night (Cole Williams RMX)- Macy Gray
No, No, No Pt. 2- Sly5thAve Ft. Jonathan Mones


1999/Baby I’m a Star/Push- Prince & NPG (Live at Glam Slam, Minneapolis, MN, 1/11/1992)
Cream- (Incl Well Done, I Want U, Hit U in the Socket)- Prince & NPG (Live at Glam Slam, Minneapolis, 1/11/92)


Altitude (L.O. & Diisko Remix)- Adrian Younge, Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Garrett Saracho
Black Rainbow (Melanie Charles Remix)- Jean Carne & Adrian Younge & Al Shaheed Muhammad
Skunk Funk- Chris Mondak


Chicken And Dumplins- Ulysses Owens Jr. and Generation Y
Soulful- Ulysses Owens Jr. and Generation Y


Home Cookin’- Cory Weeds w/Little Big Band (live)
Montara- John Chin Ft. Jaimeo Brown & Sean Conly (live)