"The words love and like both have 4 letters, but they're two different things all together" - Whodini (from One Love - 1986) "Funk used to be a bad word" - Funkadelic (from Let's Take It To The Stage - 1975) "Jazz is a 4 letter word" - Max Roach, Nicholas Payton and anyone else who can read, write and count. The word jazz is a controversial term. It might be the new "N" word. It's meaning has gone through various changes, in the early 1900's jazz meant fornication. In an interview with...

Welcome to Season 17 of Jazzism (a katzpheno mix).... as always there is more Jazz music love here than you know what to do with, as I continue my quest to bring All You Young Jazz Lovers  - Nothing But The Best That The World Has To Offer In Jazz Music.  Those of course are my trademark slogans. In any event this is the maiden voyage of 2024 so, all aboard the seas are calm and we have a steady wind blowing to take us anywhere we choose to go. Sail On, Brian "Katzpheno" Phoenix ...

The Final Episode of 2023 Fellas break out the tux, Ladies don your favorite ballroom attire...we going out Big Band Style! Happy New Year!!! Enjoy, Brian "Katzpheno" Phoenix featuring: Roy Hargrove Big Band - Mambo For Roy (2009) The Chad Rager Modern Big Band - Straight, No Chaser (2008) Deborah Cox - I Don't Hurt Anymore (2007) Dizzy Gillespie & His orchestra - Birk's Works (1950) Duke Ellington & His Orchestra - Tea For Two (1956) Tito Puente & His Orchestra - Cha...

As you may know by now... I use the title of one of the tunes from the episodes playlist, as the title of the episode. It's my attempt to tie the songs to the show and keep it all about the music, the thing I love. It is also, in most cases, a nod to a great composer or performer, in this instance it is both. The title of the episode is "Jitterbug Waltz" penned by a truly remarkable and prolific composer, stride piano player, showman, broadway hitmaker and King of Harlem - Thomas "Fats"...

Fall is in the air, the leaves are changing into their vibrant hues of brown, orange, yellow and red. Pumpkin spice has been sprinkled on everything edible and infused in aroma candles and therapy. Raincoats and sweater come out of the closet and a new covid 19 booster is available at the druggist. You gotta love it!! One of my favorite traditions is also taking place this fall.... HOMECOMING. I will celebrate in one way or another my alma mater (HU You KNOW!!), by enjoy the game (Go...

There is PAST cool... you know flat tops, shell toe adidas, standing on the corner in a b-boy stance. There is CURRENT cool... guys rockin' twin braids with a fade...everyone keeping their drip right...girls with the bantu knots...and food that is bussin' Then there is NEW cool.... what is it?? JAZZIM (a katzpheno mix) that's what it is, that's what this episode represents, all of it - cool of the PAST, cool of the CURRENT and NEW . NO CAP!!!   Enjoy, Brian "katzpheno" Phoenix ...

This is the fourth episode of 2023 and this one is designed to give you Something To Consider. Consider how to keep your like In The Flow. What is meant by... "in the flow"? Listen and learn young grasshopper, listen and learn. Brian "Katzpheno" Phoenix featuring: Next Collective - Africa (2013) Chick Corea Trio - Alice In Wonderland (2014) Elijah Jamal Balbed - What Matters Most - In Life (2015) Katreese - Something To Consider (2016) 4-Sight - In The Flow (1998) Ben Williams - Toy...

Wayne Shorter Lives! Space traveller....the space between the notes. He was The Phantom Navigator aka Emanon aka Mr. Gone aka Mr. Weird. The celebration continues..... into the cosmos! Enjoy, Brian "Katzpheno" Phoenix featuring: Wayne Shorter - Adam's Apple (1966) Weather Report - Elegant People (1975) Weather Report - Lusitanos (1976) Weather Report - Palladium (1977) Wayne Shorter - Maya (1994) Wayne Shorter Quartet - Adventure Aboard The Golden Mean (2005) Art Blakey & The...

Yet another installment of the best damn Jazz Music podcast on the internet! On this episode...more good music and my reflections on the passing of the most unique composer in modern Jazz history, and a damn strong saxophonist to boot - Mr. Wayne Shorter.   Enjoy, Brian "Katzpheno" Phoenix featuring: Cyrus Chestnut - Two Heartbeats (2014) Dave Douglas - The View From Blue Mountain (2009) Harold Lopez Nussa - Inspiracion en Connecticut (2016) Pat Metheny - Breakdealer (2012) Nneena...

Slide, slide, slippitty slide, forget about your troubles and your your 9 to 5, let's all get together, listen to Jazzism and let it ride. Come along on another fantastic voyage. Enjoy, Brian "Katzpheno" Phoenix featuring: John McLaughlin - 1 4 U (2008) Hiromi's Sonicbloom - Time Out (2007) Harvey Mason - Either Way (2014) Esperanza Spalding - Noble Nobles (2016) Nicholas Payton - Let It Ride (2008) Sphere - Isfahan (1998) Idris Muhammad - By The Red Sea (1971) Jose James - Park...

" I think being in love with life is a key to eternal youth" - Doug Hutchinson "What though youth gave love and roses, age still leaves us friends and wine" - Thomas Moore   I once heard a young man say.... "A bell's not a bell until you ring it, a song's not a song until you sing it. Love in your heart wasn't put there to stay, love's not love until you give it away" - Oscar Hammerstein II Enjoy the mix, Brian "Katzpheno" Phoenix   featuring: Bobby Hutcherson - 8/4 Beat (1994) ...

"All around the city and from coast to coast, I'm slicker than most, slicker than most" - Guru (from "Slicker Than Most", Jazzamatazz Vol. 1 1993) Yep, yep... It's your boy Brian "katzpheno" Phoenix once again puttin' the Jazz in your ear! Have no fear this episode of Jazzism (a katzpheno mix) is chock full of gooey, chewy,  jazz filled knuggets to excite and delight and here and there I also drop some words of insight. So turn on, tune in and ride along with me from one side of the jazz...

[Originally posted 03/37/2022] These are no doubt trying times.  A relentless virus is plauging the world of humans. According to the website "Worldometer" the most recent death toll attributed to the covid 19 coronavirus is over 6 million people. Truckers obviously despise being healthy and to prove it, jammed up traffic across the US/Canadian border in protest to mandates requiring citizens place a small piece of protective cloth across their nose and mouth (aka masks) that will help...

[Originally Posted 01/08/22] Happy 2022!! The start of a new year...and a new coronavirus strain, welcome to the season of Omicron. Well, I hope "All You Young Jazz" are vaccinated but if you chose not to do so, I hope you are well and are taking the necessary percautions. Come to think of it even if you are vaccinated and boosted (as I am) ...still, take all the necssary precautions because there is only one you and you are worth it! Sarting the New Year off right with my promise to...

These are no doubt, trying times. A virus relentlessly is plaguing the world of humans. According to the website "Worldometer" the most recent death toll attributed to Covid 19 Coronavirus is over 6 million people. Truckers obviously hate masks and to prove it, jammed up traffic across parts of the Canadian border to protest mandates to place small pieces of protective cloth across their nose and mouth called masks, that would help keep them and their loved ones healthy.Extreme weather caused...

Happy 2022!!The start of a new year...and a new coronavirus strain, welcome to the season of omicron. Well, I hope "All You Young Jazz Lovers" are vaccinated but if you chose not to do so, I hope you are well and are taking the necessary precautions. Come to think of it even if you are vaccinated and boosted (as I am) ...still, take all the necessary precautions because there is only one you and you're worth it!Starting the New Year off right with my promise to continually bring y'all...

Just as a hero has an origin story and its corresponding mythology, so does the villain. Sin cannot exist where there is no law. Yes needs no, day succumbs to night and if loving you is wrong...I don't wanna be right.The theme song of the hero is joyous, simple and upbeat, the theme of the villain is ominous, haunting, and cool. When you hear it you know something bad is coming and you can't escape it nor do you wish to.Enjoy the dark side with me a while on this jazzy journey, but never fear...

Harvest time, a season of reaping what you have sown. A cause for celebrating - for it is the FAITH you possess, that has seen your HOPE realized. A farmer plants a seed never really knowing if the crop he just put in the ground will flourish. His experience and knowledge can give him certain assurances, yet and still it is truly an act of faith. I have faith that the seeds I planted over 13 years ago when I produced my first Jazzism (a katzpheno mix) Podcast will see All You Young Jazz...

I'm baaaack! Nothing but good Jazz Music, something we all could use during these stress filled days. Enjoy, Brian "Katzpheno" Phoenix featuring: Ravi Coltrane - Klepto (2012) Joanna Pascale - I Wanna Be Loved (2015) Wallace Roney -Vater Time (2007) Anat Cohen - Lilia (2015) Harvey Mason - Montara (2014) Buster Williams - Where Giants Dwell (2018) Nicholas Payton - You Stepped Out Of A Dream (1994) Jimmy Greene featuring Javier Colon - When I Come Home (2014) Harold Lopez Nussa -...

Rebirth "Each night, when I go to sleep, I die. The next morning, when I wake up, I am reborn." - Mahatma Ghandi "I give you this to take with you: Nothing remains as it was. If you know this, you can begin again, with pure joy in the uprooting" - Judith Minty (author, Letters to My Daughters) "The Phoenix must burn to emerge" - Janet Finch (author, White Oleander) Enjoy the new mix, Brian "Katzpheno" Phoenix featuring: Marc Cary - "Beehive" (2015) McCoy Tyner - "Mr. PC" (2008) The...

OK...I must start with a bit of housekeeping. For years now I have been listing episodes in a way that I now find a tad confusing. Previously I would list a new episode as 1.12 for example. This indicated episode 1, season 12. Moving forward I will be cataloging and listing Jazzism shows with the season indicator first followed by the episode indicator, as in 13.1. So what this means is that in fact - I have been posting Jazzism (a katzpheno mix) podcasts on the internet for 13 years! WOW!!...

In 1986 saxophonist Branford Marsalis released an album he titled "Royal Garden Blues". The album was well recieved and reviewed and helped solidify Branford as a musician to be rekoned with, one of my favorite tracks on the album is an original written by Branford entitled "Emanon". I recall reading or hearing somewhere that Branford titled it Emanon as an inside joke...when he couldn't think of a name for the tune, he flipped the words no and name and came up with eman on (emanon), which is...

Once again....it's on! The Winter solstice has passed and the Spring equinox is approaching. Time for me to emerge from my cocoon and display To All You Young Jazz Lovers a mix of beautiful colors. Spread your wings, Brian "Katzpheno" Phoenix featuring: Billy Childs - Backwards Bop (2017) Steve Khan - Blues Connotation (2011) Christian Scott - Jenacide (2010) The Rongetz Foundation featuring Renee Neuville - Eunice K (2012) Ahmad Jamal - Autumn Rain (2012) Regina Carter - Love Theme From...

On November 2nd, 2018 the Jazz world lost its Crown Prince...the one and only Roy Anthony Hargrove. I fell in love with Roy's musical approach the first time I heard him blow. I was introduced to his music by a good friend through a recording...Roy's 1992 CD release "The Vibe". The music was hip yet still solidly in the Jazz tradition, a little Hard Bop, a little Post Bop...100% beautiful. This episode is all about Roy, Long Live The King! - Brian "Katzpheno" Phoenix Roy Hargrove -...