The blog is dedicated to Irish Jazz and to the fans, musicians and venues that support it. if you have any content you would like to add to the blog please get in touch.
On this edition you can hear the music of Alec Wilder, one of the greatest composers of 20th Century popular music , interpreted by some of the leading Jazz musicians from Roland Hanna to Bob Brookmeyer, from David Liebman to Emilie Conway.
Read more: Tales from the far Side 16.03.2017 The Music of Alec Wilder
In this edition I pay tribute to the first "officially" Jazz recording by the Original Dixieland Jazz band in January 1917 and I feature some of the group's compositions interpreted and recorded by other musicians on it's way into a new century of Jazz history. You can hear music by Duke Ellington, Bix Beiderbecke, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Arturo Sandoval, Benny Goodman, Humphrey Lyttelton, Art Pepper and the Hot 8 Brass Band.
Read more: Tales from the far Side 09.03.2017 the Best in Jazz
On this edition you can hear some of the funkiest organ grinders of 1960s Soul Jazz and beyond who ruled and revolutionized the sound of the good old Hammond B 3 Organ, showing that it could be creatively used in a Jazz context. And you can groove along to the music of Jimmy Smith, Big Joe Patton, Babyface Willette, Brother Jack McDuff, Shirley Scott and Dr.Lonnie Smith.
This time around we have a very special Hot Box for you with Al Ryan as guest presenter. Al Ryan is a well-known Irish trumpeter and broadcaster who now lives in the UK. He was a producer and presenter of jazz programmes for RTE and Lyric FM in Eire, covering of all Ireland’s major festivals, notably Cork Jazz, for nine years. He now broadcasts regularly for BBC Radio Oxford, as well as leading his own 17-piece big band in the UK and Ireland.
The Hot Box #010 features new releases from pianist Joey Alexander, Austrian guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel and Japanese trumpeter Takuya Kuroda.
TALES FROM THE FAR SIDE is live on air on CRC102.9fm and on www.crcfm.ie every Thursday 8-9 pm with a repeat on Saturday 9-10 pm. And there is a podcast of the show available on the web site all through the week. The show has established itself over the years with a small but devoted listenership (even beyond Jazz-fans) and since the introduction on internet the listenership extended nationally and internationally.
Read more: Tales from the far Side 09.02.2017 Bud Powell and his Influnce
The A-Z of Jazz Piano: this time - Pianists in the key of B
The task of hunting down jazz piano from A to Z is really only just beginning, but B proved to be a most rich seam of artists, and the The Hot Box #9 show may be remarkable for who we had to leave out as much as for those we included.
Hear The Bad Plus (yes, yes a bit of a B cheat) and Count Basie, Kenny Barron, Ray Bryant, Jaki Byard and Dave Brubeck amongst an hour long feast of pianists filed under the letter B. And of course, a celebration of the fine pianist from Dublin, Cian Boylan.
All singing and all-female version of THE HOT BOX this time around, a rich seam of talent in Ireland and set amongst the best in the world. In this hour expect to find award-winning Charanee Wade and Cecile McLorin Salvant, plus Honor Heffernan, Maria Tecce, Mary Coughlan and Liane Carroll.
Vocal performance within jazz can sometimes be “hotly” debated (geddit?) - are you a jazz singer if you don’t scat? Our answer is emphatically yes, it all depends on interpretation, phrasing, harmonisation…….we could go on. Welcome to The Hot Box No 8.