"Don't call it jazz! This is social music!" Miles Davis gave us that gem of a quote as he was admonishing a reporter for using "that dirty word, jazz" in an interview. What is a confusing remark at first becomes clear when you dive deeper into the mind of a professional musician. All great musicians are poly-genre, meaning they care less about the style of music than the quality of it, and its cultural resonance.
Host Jon Armstrong is a professional musician, and a professor of jazz music and recording technology at Idaho State University. Before moving to Idaho, Armstrong worked in Los Angeles for seven years as a player, composer, and educator. He's performed jazz, rock, funk, hip-hop, R&B, bluegrass, country, folk, reggae, and everything in between. He still gigs and writes a lot of music and is constantly checking out recordings from every corner of the creative music world.
Each show, Armstrong will play tunes that have caught his ear over the years, while telling fun stories and informative anecdotes from his unique perspective. On special occasions, he will also bring in a guest musician to do an in-studio live interview and performance!
Don't Call it Jazz. First and final Saturdays of every month at 7pm.
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Don't Call it Jazz is proud to present ISU alum, Mal Layne in studio to discuss her new album, Integration by Parts, released on City Creek Records, ISU's new record label. Mal was a graduate of the music department in 2022 and is now studying in graduate school at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City on trombone. -
This week we continue our conversation with Chris Long and Jon Armstrong. Chris discusses his time with Concord Records, and some of the projects he's been a part of.
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Don't Call it Jazz is proud to present an interview and listening hang with Music Producer Chris Long. Chris discusses his time with Concord Records, and some of the projects he's been a part of.
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For this episode of Don’t Call it Jazz, Jon digs into his recent purchases and shares some of his favorite recent tracks. Not so much a best-of, but a collection of great creative jazz music from some wonderful contemporary artists that Jon has been listening to on repeat recently.
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Don't Call it Jazz is proud to present an annual tradition of celebrating LGBTQ musicians in recognition of pride month.
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Don't Call it Jazz is proud to present an interview and listening hang with Jens Kuross, an outstanding musician and producer based in Boise, ID. Jens completed a residency at ISU for the commercial music program where he produced four original recordings of student compositions, and we'll be checking out those recordings.
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Don't Call it Jazz is proud to present an interview and listening hang with Jens Kuross, an outstanding musician and producer based in Boise, ID. Jens completed a residency at ISU for the commercial music program where he produced four original recordings of student compositions. We'll be checking those recordings out next week, but for this week, enjoy a stimulating conversation about art while we check out some of Jens' music along the way.
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Charnett Moffett was a virtuosic bassist from NYC, born to a family of musicians. His led one of the more fascinating and impactful careers of any contemporary jazz musician. Moffett performed with some of the most influential musicians, and recorded on some of the most important and seminal albums in jazz history. His own recordings were hyper creative and daring.
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Barbara Morrison was an incredible jazz vocalist, and an iconic figure in the Los Angeles arts community. She performed with some of the most important figures in jazz and R&B including Johnny Otis, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Doc Severinsen, Ray Charles, and more.
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Don't Call is Jazz will be dedicating the March 26th episode entirely to the life and career of Ron Miles, a brilliant jazz musician who tragically passed on March 8th earlier this year. He died from a rare blood disease, and was only 58 years old.
