Latest

Dean Thiessen Big Band follow-up

Arvind Ramdas - Homage at Frankie's [EP.48]

Arvind talks about his May 29, 2022 gig at Frankie's Jazz Club.

Raincity's Canadian tour

Keeping it loose while staying grounded

Jazz Juno recap

BC Junos grab bag

5 more interesting stories from this year's BC-based nominees

Jazz Juno Award nomination snubs

5 great jazz albums that didn't get nominated

The Channel is Dead, Long Live the Video Essays [EP.47]

Four audio essays recovered from the now-defunct YouTube channel

The Blue and Gold

Self-titled acoustic blues and roots album both fun and cathartic

The Frankie's After Dark opening weekend

Two nights of Bud Powell and attentive audiences

What I learned this week

At the folk fest, jazz is ‘in’

How many artists dropped the J-word in their blurbs

Julia Ulehla & Meredith Bates - Coastal Jazz Transition

A bonus episode of the podcast

Yves Léveillé - L'échelle du temps

A mystery-adventure with piano and strings

The Vancouver Jazz Orchestra launch at Pyatt Hall

And five Ellington tunes I loved from the setlist

The Patreon problem

The platform serves 15,000 music creators but isn't growing much.

Who's responsible for audience development

From a prompt by Jazzfuel

Amanda Sum - New Age Attitudes [EP.46]

Amanda talks about her upcoming album, New Age Attitudes. She released the title track single on April 22, 2022.

The Infidels presents Frankie's After Dark

Nine weekends of a new late show at Frankie's

Numeracy in music: Spotify monthly listeners

It doesn't equal streams, and it's not constant each month

My favourite quote about CapU jazz

You're too old for this (in the best way)

The tweet by a band called Wednesday about a tour to SXSW

JANCIS - You Must Believe In Spring [EP.45]

Jancis talks about his first jazz quartet and vocal album, which he released from Richmond on April 8, 2022.

The Dean Thiessen Big Band debut concert

An interview with Dean about his upcoming event in Burnaby

Caity's razor

Avoid publicity expenses until someone's asking for it.

Emily Best - Light Up the Dawn [EP.44]

Emily talks about her second album, which mixes indie rock, folk, and jazz.

The Artist Earnings collection

Introducing the 22-part journal from 2021

The relief of avoiding a Special General Meeting

The Coastal Jazz board is now Julia Ulehla, Michael Matich, Meredith Bates, and Mitchell Edgar.

Predicting the jazz Juno Awards: 2022

My review of all 15 nominated albums in the 3 jazz categories

Alright, Okay, You Win

Jamie Hicks - Origin Story [EP.43]

Jamie talks about his first jazz album, Origin Story.

The BC World Music Collective performs for Home Routes

Recruiting the band for the Travelling Goodtime Medicine Show

23 students, 5 bands: the Fraser MacPherson Jazz Fundraiser

A full house of Cap combo recitals at Frankie's

The Lido launch: new Vancouver jazz monthly night

We're gaining more jazz series than we're losing.

Angela Verbrugge - Love for Connoisseurs [EP.42]

Angela talks about her second vocal jazz album, Love for Connoisseurs. She released the album on March 25th, 2022.

Karl Silveira - A Porta Aperta

Karl is a trombonist from Toronto who has me wondering what makes jazz music "heavy".

How much money did TD give to Coastal Jazz?

Estimating the jazzfest title sponsorship's value as it heads toward a breakup.

What do you think about Facebook?

I wrote the word "Facebook" 11 times in this Update and now feel icky.

Feven Kidane's Maiden Voyage

Feven goes from free jazz to powerful post-bop in 3 days.

Emily MacCallum - UofT Eco-Musicology [EP.41]

Emily talks about her academic and musical path from Langley to Victoria, Europe to UofT, and violin to musicology.

Jazz meets shred guitar

An interview with Keanu Ienco, a 24-year-old guitarist in Nanaimo

The New Thing at General Strike Coffee

Feven Kidane played free jazz at the newest DIY series in town.

Trance clapping

Atley King took the audience at Frankie’s to a rare place.

15-minute-long tunes?

David Blake's lengthy standards go to my head at the Tangent.

Thad Bailey-Mai's superpower

Thad's time is coming; here's the key factor that'll put him over.

The Sister Jazz Orchestra plays Chelsea McBride

Talking about two tunes in the setlist from a composer I admire.

Tom Keenlyside Quartet - A Night At The Espresso

The Espresso was a real place, and this album aims to celebrate the inter-generational impact it had.

"Just go build the band": how the Sister Jazz Orchestra started

An interview with Christian Morrison of Sister Jazz Orchestra

Justice McLellan - Blue J [EP.40]

Justice talks about his band Blue J and their first indie rock album, A Sign of Good Luck, on Nettwerk Records.

The Fox Cabaret is an unexpectedly good jazz venue

This quartet, Raagaverse, inspired me last week.

Jennifer Kim on the New Generation Big Band

The band played six tunes, one of which is an original by Julian Borkowski.

Omianan - Paper Dream

Sara Kim on vocals, Thomas Hoeller on guitar, Nikko Whitworth on bass, and Jesus Caballero on drums.

The last stop on Virginia MacDonald's jazz tour to BC

Later this year, expect Virginia to record her original material and get ready for a later album release, possibly in 2023.

Ian Cromwell - Locals Lounge [EP.39]

Ian talks about the return of his Vancouver live music initiative, Locals Lounge, to in-person presentations.

The jazz vocal scat soloing of Laura Anglade

Laura's scat singing prowess kept me tuned in throughout each of the three numbers at a jazz student clinic.

Coastalgate: "uncertainty & chaos" at Coastal Jazz

I missed the genesis of a story that would spread to CBC News and The Globe and Mail, a couple months later.

JoyRide: Charles Cozens & Colin Maier oboe-accordion duo

This oboe-accordion duo is the feeling of classical musicians making a 90s-style hip hop album.

The High Standards Quartet at Blue Frog & Numbers Cabaret

Introducing Laura Anglade (vocals) and Virginia MacDonald (clarinet) to Metro Vancouver in two gigs.

Catherine Wilson - Euterpe: Music is the Key [EP.38]

Euterpe is a jazz and classical performance non-profit. Catherine is the founder; she’s a concert pianist in Toronto.

The Ostara Project launch: a supergroup is born

Their recordings will be one of the biggest Canadian jazz releases this year; here's the set that started it all.

Morgan Childs Quartet - Jazz at the Bolt 2022

The drummer returns to Vancouver and keeps paying it forward, from Gen-X to his generation to mine.

Tahnee Juryn - Modern Day Vocal Coaching [EP.37]

The Modern Day Warriors is Tahnee’s Rush cover band. She talks about that, vocal coaching, and more.

Ardeshir Quartet - Jazz at the Bolt 2022

This saxophonist's post-bop band, featuring three other musicians from the Tangent generation, is my jam.

Whelming - Plant Your Lightning

It’s rare for indie rock songs to appease both advanced musicians and mainstream music audiences.

Celebrating old music killing new music

Is old music killing new music? The answer isn’t what you think: let’s talk about why it’s actually worth celebrating.

Evany - give/take

Evan Cheung proves, on his first R&B EP, that he is a self-starter who knows the value of a good collaboration.

Alex Marr & Tess Meckling - Sugarfungus [EP.36]

Alex & Tess talk about their indie rock band, Sugarfungus; and the band's first EP, Letting Go, Moving Still.

Bernie Senensky - Don't Look Back

This album, recorded in 1989, is like going down to hear a jazz legend and wanting to savour the gig for all it’s worth.

The brilliant PR of Neil Young, Spotify & Joe Rogan

Different audiences want to hear different things, and I think this story is a brilliant PR move by all sides.

Andie Lloyd - Lighting & the Mission of Artists [EP.35]

2 things I’ve never done: produce theatre shows, and deep dive on the music of Taiwan. Andie’s done both, and much more.

Niki Kennedy - "Get Back in the Groove"

This nu-disco single put me in the mood to start my year off right. Comparing it to Niki’s back catalogue surprised me.

Alex Scott - LxTox [EP.34]

Alex made a singer-songwriter EP with Josh Eastman under the name LxTox. The title track, “Adult Skin”, is the standout.

Jonny Tobin - Together [EP.33]

Jonny’s jazztronica music is a soundtrack to optimism. He’s hitting his stride in 2022 with his fourth album, Together.

Carman J. Price - I Will [EP.32]

Carman’s second album, 10 years after his first one, is an eloquent jazz vocal album featuring Bill Coon and Rene Worst.

Ted Kadonoff - McGill Music: First Semester [EP.31]

Ted plays trombone in McGill’s classical music program. At age 18, she has wise insights on where motivation comes from.

Cindy Dai-Thiessen – Music Heals [EP.30]

Music Heals is where Cindy works, but she’s also played key roles in events like Jazz at Presentation House and TinyVic.

Todd Stewart - Drums with Brad Turner [EP.29]

Todd played jazz drums as a sub with the Brad Turner Quartet on December 15, 2021 at Numbers Cabaret. He talks about it.

Strong Towns music: strong music scenes

I remix Chuck Marohn’s ideas into a Strong Towns music paraphrase, where it’s all about musical life.

Stop saying “artists need to be media businesses”

Did you see those tweets by Wendy MacNoughton? Making content 2x/week is not what emerging artists need to do.

Mary Chernoff - Inspire [EP.28]

Mary’s first book about her creative life, stories, and practices is Inspire. She’s my mother, and she sure inspires me.

Bobby Wiens - Denver to Vancouver Tour [EP.27]

On October 17, 2021, Bobby played drums with the Domi Edson Trio at Frankie’s, arriving in Vancouver for one night only.

The writer who taught me to be weird

He helped me stay serious.

Anita Eccleston - "Long Nights"

This Christmas song for which Anita wrote music and lyrics, sang, and played trumpet is similar to Stella by Starlight.

velours - Saskatchewan Confessions [EP.26]

Ava Janzen, aka: velours, played at the 2021 Saskatchewan Jazz Festival and also made CBC News for cancelling a big gig.

Jonny Tobin - "Lilacs and Lavender"

As a keyboardist and as a person, Jonny seems more comfortable than ever on his most-popular jazztronica single to date.

Wild Blue Herons - Bill Sample & Darlene Cooper [EP.25]

Bill & Darlene, a couple each with great careers, drop a new album and show us what collaboration deserves to feel like.

Missing the party

I'm worried about what I've been up to.

Claude Giguère - North Shore Celtic Ensemble [EP.24]

The North Shore Celtic Ensemble is a nonprofit youth music program, and Claude led it, as co-founder, for over 20 years.

Aidan Goheen - Joining Early Spirit [EP.23]

How often do you get to hear a conversation between a band’s original member and the new musician who replaced them?

Basic streaming profitability

Streaming is like selling software; once you're in the black, it's pure profit.

Alvin Brendan - Duets [EP.22]

Alvin’s friends regard him as an expert musician, but his expertise grows in wanting to be the worst player in the room.

Ezra Jordan - 117: music videos

“Dollarama” is one of my favourite pop songs of 2021, and all four of these music videos moved me. Sad boy vibes abound.

The unfair advantage of just doing email at all

Tons of artists are sleeping on email marketing.

Francis Arevalo The Sound of Healing: Extended

This album updates the original project that Francis released in 2020. It’s conscious hip-hop with a key personal story.

John Oliver A Thousand Points of Light [EP.21]

John’s conscious, avant-garde music took off on Bandcamp through his Tao 20 Tree Temple project after this conversation.

daysormay Just Existing

The first album from daysormay Just Existing released on October 6, 2021.

David Vest Live at Hermann's

I thought when his bio says, “since 1957”, that this was Vest’s birth year. No, that’s when his career started.

Hugh Fraser Canadian Dedication

This album features the late Hugh Fraser and the Vancouver Ensemble of Jazz Improvisation: VEJI, pronounced like veggie.

The best music download price

The best price for selling digital music is always this.

Hugh Fraser Gastown Chronicles

Two albums by Hugh Fraser (1958-2020) released to Bandcamp on October 1, 2021. This one features his quintet.

UJUSUN - "Quantum Nebula"

Jamie Lee launches a new project with Chad Galpin called UJUSUN, starting with this electronica single.

ACTORS: Acts of Worship

The Vancouver band Actors released their album Acts of Worship on Friday, October 1, 2021 with Artoffact Records.

Jonathan Baylis - Learning To Improvise [EP.20]

Jonathan Baylis talks about being a lifelong learner and becoming an improvising jazz double bassist.

Peach Pit - "Up Granville"

I've done bad: Peach Pit are one of our Vancouver success stories, but I’ve never listened to a song by them until now.

Born on a Wednesday: From The Headwaters

I’m new to this band — but I’ll tell you right now, I’m in. Being a folkie at heart, I got into this sound right away.

RanchWriters: Barney Bentall & Geoffrey Kelly

When I got the new collaborative album from Barney Bentall & Geoffrey Kelly called RanchWriters, I fell into a trap.

'Professional musician' vs. 'artist'

These words can and should point to two separate identities.

Avery Sloane: Future Pilot

This first EP by Avery Sloane starts with the strumming pattern that you learn first on the acoustic guitar.

Justine Lynn - "I'll Leave The Porch Light On"

On the single “I’ll Leave The Porch Light On” by Justine Lynn, yes, there’s a truck. And there are tumbleweeds.

Tim Reinert - The Infidels Jazz [EP.19]

Tim Reinert talks about what it means to be a jazz fan, hosting a radio show in a local scene, and starting a label.

Jon Gordon: Stranger Than Fiction

It’s the deepest and most rewarding international jazz project I’ve heard all year. Dig in.

Facebook, promoters, and curiosity

Curiosity opens up conversations and possibilities; assumptions do the opposite.

Great Aunt Ida: Unsayable

I started making an easy stir-fry to use up a bunch of veggies that filled the fridge, and then this album came on.

Laynah - Producing Yourself [EP.18]

Laynah talks about learning to produce her own music as a singer-songwriter while moving between BC and Montréal.

Steve Maddock: The Blues Project

Steve dropped his vocal-forward Vancouver jazz album, The Blues Project, with Cellar Music on September 3, 2021.

AKOYI - "Moonlight/Downtown"

Want to hear a duo of fingerpicked acoustic guitar with French horn in the Mixolydian mode?

Just ask people

Simplify decision-making by asking your people.

Rich Chambers - "High School Can't Last Forever"

Rich has a jazz musician name, but he’s a self-produced punk rocker on his single “High School Can’t Last Forever”.

Chin Injeti - "Sparrow"

The great cover art for the latest Chin Injeti single “Sparrow” is the work of Injeti’s son, Julian.

Amber Tsang - Autumn Nocturne [EP.17]

Amber Tsang talks with me about her eventful year 2021, including her album Autumn Nocturne with Alvin Brendan.

Adrienne Nye - "Lonely Days"

This single from Adrienne Nye, “Lonely Days”, reminds me of my soft spot for an Emmylou Harris song.

Shawn Austin - "Tailgate to Heaven"

Shawn opens his latest single with the lyric, “Streets of this town ain’t paved in gold but there’s a Texaco star”.

Wine and trust

Artistic work is best paired with high-trust commerce.

Steve Kaldestad - Three Big Moves [EP.16]

Steve talks with me about moving from Regina to Montréal, then to London, and finally to Vancouver as a saxophonist.

Will Clements - Don't Miss Me [EP.15]

Will C. & Will C. discuss three classic problems: being too hard on yourself, work-time balance, and avoiding burnout.

Overvaluing your music

Not everyone's music catalogue will appreciate.

Desirée Dawson: Meet You At The Light

Meet You At The Light is the title of Desirée Dawson‘s seven-track EP.

David Lavoie & Carson Tworow - Urban Repurpose [EP.14]

David & Carson released their first full album on July 23, 2021, with David living in Calgary and Carson in Vancouver.

Selling to yourself

My breakdown of the four main vocations for independent musicians.

April Liang "333": creating Olivia Rodrigo World

Who is an artist? Someone who doesn’t know they can fail.

J. Knutson - Early Spirit Reopens [EP.13]

Jay talks with me about the band Early Spirit, where he is the guitarist and singer-songwriter and I am a former member.

Emad Armoush shows mastery with Rayhan

This album marries Syrian musical storytelling with modern jazz sentimentality.

Deanna Drudge - Killing Time [EP.12]

Deanna Drudge unpacks her new album titled Killing Time.

FACTOR must end the Artist Development grant

I have an idea to replace it.

Killian on "Energy" and moving from Alberta

After relocating from Alberta to British Columbia, the 19-year old rapper-producer continues his leap of faith.

Marina Hasselberg - Creative Cellist [EP.11]

Marina Hasselberg meets me on the occasion of her shows at the Vancouver jazz festival.

Fred Stride on the Saskatchewan Suite

The Vancouver jazz legend shared some reflections on the new album called Saskatchewan Suite.

Anita Eccleston - So It Goes with Confidence [EP.10]

Anita's influences range from Amy Winehouse to Brad Turner, and from Radiohead to Dolly Parton.

Traffic and how to pay for it

All traffic is worth paying for.

Stvrk on RGB (Deluxe)

Just under a year since the release of his first EP, Stvrk revisits his love of conceptual albums with RGB (Deluxe).

My Most Expensive Mistakes in the Music Business [EP.9]

I present 6 of my most expensive mistakes in a long-form version of an upcoming PechaKucha presentation.

Will Chernoff leaves the band Early Spirit

I’ve parted ways with Early Spirit, the band I co-founded with Gabriel Dubreuil, Ben Kelly, and J. Knutson.

Good Information debuts with "Fringes"

The latest release, “Fringes”, from Edmonton-based quartet Good Information paints their hometown in a romantic light.

Chin Injeti Golden [EP.8]

Chin Injeti takes a break in-studio to join me on the occasion of his single “Golden (feat. Thieves Like Us)”.

Everything is audience building

I have some intel to prove it.

UNCVRD Vancouver: content with a conscience

Seven Studios brings together local creatives and charities with their latest venture, UNCVRD Vancouver.

Haleluya Hailu on Greetings and Salutations

Debuts can be tricky—they’re just like first impressions.

Conquering Alexander on their EP, 9202

Want to heal your soul but don’t know where to start? Put on 9202 by Conquering Alexander for guidance.

Pointless pre-saves

The pre-save experience provides your audience with no unique value.

Ask Will Anything - with Victoria Cowan [S.1, EP.7]

I take questions from my jazz music audience with Victoria Cowan of Wordplay Creative.

David Blake - The Tangent Café Era [S.1, EP.6]

David Blake pays tribute with me to the first 7-year run of jazz at the Tangent Café in Vancouver.

Emily Wood - Folk & Science [S.1, EP.5]

Emily talks about her research at McMaster University and contrasts learning folk music traditions with music education.

Chris Blaber - Ecstatic Waves [S.1, EP.4]

Chris discusses handling many projects, growing pains in the arts, and the physical demand of musicianship.

Francis Henson - Boy Pacific [S.1, EP.3]

Francis and I unpack the journey up to the point of his third solo album, Boy Pacific.

Ilhan Saferali - Jazz Through Adolescence [S.1, EP.2]

Ilhan Saferali talks about coming-of-age in the Vancouver jazz community.

The Tale of Terry Murphy [S.1, EP.1]

I read a short story called “The Tale of Terry Murphy”, about the music industry in 2020, to launch the podcast.

Kalyan Rath - "Take Me Away"

In April 2021, 17-year-old Kalyan Rath made a song for his graduation project. His mission? Get 10,000 streams.

The Promise of Dee Daniels at Cellarstream

Dee performed at Frankie’s with Tilden Webb on piano, Bill Coon on guitar, Miles Hill on bass, and Paul Clark on drums.

Sarah Jerrom - Dream Logic: intimate inspiration

This album is at times vulnerable and heavy, other times playful and sardonic.

Seth Godin answered my question about streaming

Seth's response is great food for thought as you navigate all the stories around Spotify this year.

Dean Thiessen: Stranger Friends

They say “play what you know” and, for a debut project, Thiessen seems to know a lot about himself already.

Louis Stein of Busty and the Bass on ET Suite

The Montreal-based octet released a short but sweet EP that is guaranteed to get you grooving.

Give away a free CD

On customer acquisition cost for music audiences.

Curtis Andrews: Speaking Hands

Released independently by percussionist Curtis Andrews on Friday, April 2nd, 2021 is the album Speaking Hands.

Laz on “Afrikan Child”

Laz felt the need to create a body of work that could speak to the Black population of British Columbia.

Maria Schneider's whales

Once you find enough whales, you can leave Spotify or YouTube if you want.

Itsgurrr - “Between Us”

R&B has often been a way for the heartbroken to get their feelings off their chest.

Al Muirhead - Live from Frankie's

Al Muirhead, on his album Live at Frankie’s and the Yardbird, spends time in Vancouver with a quintet.

If your work gets recommended, spend more money to make it

Three principles I came up with last year.

Earth Tones roll out their new EP slowly, patiently

The first release that I checked out in 2021 was the debut single “All I Got” from an indie soul quartet, Earth Tones.

Cory Weeds and the 7500x option

Selling CDs has nothing to do with the music.

Teaching 9-to-5 music lessons

You could make $120,000 a year if you try this.

Jamie Lee on performing at Winter Jazz 2021

The Jamie Lee Trio performed as part of Winter Jazz, the festival presented by Coastal Jazz and Granville Island.

DJ Kookum, Sierra Baker, and Missy D at Winter Jazz

Side Door streamed this live showcase on behalf of Winter Jazz, presented by Coastal Jazz and Granville Island.

Gordon Grdina Trio: the gateway from jazz guitar to oud

Gordon Grdina performed at Winter Jazz, an online festival presented by Coastal Jazz and Granville Island.

Matt Young on “where did you go?” by Arianna Bernas

Matt Young and Arianna Bernas make the best of their distance with online collaboration.

Francis Henson - Boy Pacific

Francis Henson kicked off 2021 with the release of his album Boy Pacific, which dropped on Sunday, January 31.

Nolimitzchris on "Waste of Time"

The Saskatchewan-raised R&B artist shows just how committed he is.

David Restivo - Arancina

David Restivo grew up in New York, Vermont, and Toronto, but he now lives in Nelson, BC.

Amber Tsang & Alvin Brendan - Autumn Nocturne

Playing duo is much like operating a waterbound vessel.

Ted Kadonoff, Clayton Poon, & Lisa Matsugu on Noxious Obs

Noxious Obs is a student group, and Escape from the 2020 Dumpster is their latest EP.

Ratatouille musical lacks zest

What happens when a global pandemic hits, multiple lockdowns ensue, and artists have a ton of time on their hands?

Laynah on "Dear Benjamin"

Laynah is a Canadian singer-songwriter who has lived in both Metro Vancouver and Montreal.

Jessica Hawkes on "Pennies for Christmas" by Nina Soro

Jess talked with me about her 2020 alt-Christmas single.

Carson Tworow & Nik Pisko-Dubienski on tourdefrance 2

Carson Tworow and Luke Fantom met in Metro Vancouver. Fantom now lives in the UK.

Bobby Wiens - Talking Drums

Talking Drums is Wiens’ first album as a bandleader, recorded at the University of Northern Colorado in one day.

HAVYN - "First Impressions"

The R&B duo is self-produced and released this single from White Rock.

Streaming saves classical music

I’m a self-proclaimed classical music fan who is coming out of the closet, because classical music slaps!

PNW hip hop "Odyssey" has 4 artists

Jonny Tobin, The Drum Temple, and Kapok are from Vancouver; BrandonLee Cierley is in Portland.

Friendship by Jenny Xu - Project Sock Retrieval

Jenny Xu, Ben Feldman, and Kofi Shepsu released an instrumental jazz trio album as the band Friendship.

Tissa Rahim - "Missing Love"

Missing Love is an R&B song by Tissa from her second EP. Braeden “Pockets” Rangno is the producer.

Why I started reviewing music on Rhythm Changes

My promise is to include thoughtful, respectful coverage of artists I love.

A love letter to Vancouver Jazz

I had a massive crush on Vancouver jazz as a teenager. Then, I called the whole thing off. But now, I know it’s love.

Instagram sucks for musicians

Here are 3 reasons why Instagram sucks for musicians.

The Problem with Music in 2020

We’re so lucky to be artists in this time and not in other times.

Peter Frampton royalties remarks are wrong

In a Tweet from 2018 he said, “For 55 million streams of, ‘Baby I Love Your Way’, I got $1,700.” Here's the whole story.

October's Very Ownership: Drake and independence

If you have local artists in your life that you support and root for, join me in rooting for Drake to make this move.

Becoming a professional musician: I failed

Many friends, family, and colleagues have co-signed and influenced my music career. Have I let them down?

The weirdness of Sessions Live

I don’t know yet whether or not they’re addressing a brilliant insight about today’s streaming stores.

High school band class vs. the Junos

I grew as a young person because of the community that my band teachers held together every single week.