The 96th edition of The Hot Box!

This an all-piano affair that marks the re-release (on Spotify) of all 42 albums recorded in the 90’s, of the solo piano recitals branded as The Maybeck Recitals. Recorded by the independent Concord Jazz label, they present a who’s who of jazz pianists of the last decade of the last century. The real biggies aren’t there – the Herbie Hancocks, the Oscar Petersons – perhaps Concord couldn’t afford their fees – but taken overall the recordings represent a diversity of brilliance. From stride to modernism.

In this edition we sample 9 of the players, from JoAnne Brackeen to Jim McNeely, and have cause to celebrate the amazing acoustics of the hall itself – lined with rosewood panels and an audience of only 50 – and the Yamaha grand piano at its centre. If the very best piano music is your bag, tune in to The Hot Box.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:01:05 — 69.9MB)

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The Hot Box 95: What’s in it?

Some great new music that’s what. Two from America, one from Belgium, and two from Ireland.

The album Tim Fitzgerald’s Full House was awarded to Daniel Cervigni who emailed Donald@jazzireland.ie, and now you can contact Donald to “win” the copy of Chick Corea’s Acoustic Band double album “Live”, which marks the second anniversary of Chick’s death.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:35:59 — 66.3MB)

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The Box goes abroad this time, heading south east to Italy, where some exceptional and distinctive jazz can be found. In this edition we highlight the marked attention to lyricism which informs so much Italian jazz, as though perhaps the traditions of Italy’s great classical tradition and opera lie beneath much of the contemporary jazz scene. We start however at the inception of jazz in Italy, banned as it was by the Fascist regime in the 1930s.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 59:10 — 67.7MB)

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Why do some bands choose brand names rather than the name of their leader? A very brief investigation in the Hot Box #093.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:07:44 — 77.5MB)

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The 92nd Hot Box is hot with guitars all the way. And there’s a reason. The new album from Chicago-based guitarist Tim Fitzgerald. Better still, you could become the lucky owner of a copy. An album that has been Album of the Month in Downbeat with a four and a half star review! So check in to the Box and see how you could get lucky!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:00:33 — 69.2MB)

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The 91st Hot Box takes a look at Christmas (already!)

A selection of jazz from all eras that celebrates or satirises Christmas from the personal collection of Donald Helme.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 57:40 — 66.0MB)

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A cornucopia of delights from new recordings makes up the 66-odd minutes of this edition, starting out with a track from one of the new jazz superstars.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:06:28 — 76.0MB)

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Tracks this time are exclusively (well almost) from brand shiny new albums. The exception sadly is another of those remembrance pieces, this time for the singer Tina May who died earlier this year.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:07:47 — 77.5MB)

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In the 87th Hot Box we scratched the surface of the hot topic of females in jazz, and now we to try to go a little deeper, so the 88th picks out some more women whose contribution to jazz has been stellar. And then we take a listen to an extract from the famous Piano Jazz series presented by Marian McPartland, in the studio with her friend, the legendary Mary Lou Williams.



We’re still only scratching the surface, or as one of our chosen songs says, Scratchin’ in the Gravel!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:03:03 — 43.2MB)

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The Hot Box 87 – in which we celebrate some of the best female jazz artists past and present

Scratching the surface in just an hour, we can listen to a few of the female jazz musicians that have been prominent, but in such a talented minority, for the 100 or so years of jazz music.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 0:01 — 144.0MB)

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