Matt Silver

Don’t miss SING! SING! SING! THIS Saturday morning, June 28, at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET, when host Will Friedwald interviews the brilliant writer, actor, comedian, and vocalist Seth McFarlane.

Seth McFarlane, the brilliant writer, actor, illustrator, voiceover artist and comedic mind behind Family Guy, Ted, The Orville, and A Million Ways to Die in the West, also happens to be a wonderful vocal interpreter of American popular song.

Terence Blanchard has composed original music for over 80 motion pictures; for his efforts, he’s been nominated for two Academy Awards.

By Matt Silver

Versatility is one thing; possessing the aptitude to match a boundless musical curiosity is another. Leonard Bernstein had both; Terence Blanchard also has both. Bernstein’s jazz-infused compositions for stage and symphony orchestra bridged jazz and classical music in boundary-breaking new ways, lending credence to his senior thesis at Harvard, in which he asserted that “jazz is the universal basis of American composition.” Blanchard, in a career now in its fifth decade, has consistently expanded upon Bernstein’s thesis, riffing on classical motifs with his Grammy-winning jazz ensembles and enlivening operas, symphony orchestras, and scores upon scores of (film) scores by reminding audiences that jazz is not just an idiomatic musical language; it’s also, in the right hands, an unforgettably moving narrative tool.

”Le Chat Dans Le Sac” is a 1966 French Canadian film in the style of the French New Wave, in part about the disintegration of a young couple's relationship. With music by John Coltrane.

By Matt Silver

At just 37 minutes, and comprising eight takes of only five distinct tunes, it’s hard to categorize John Coltrane’s Blue World as an album, per se.

That doesn’t make it any less spectacular.

Issued by Impulse! Records in Sept. 2019, Blue World constitutes previously unreleased recordings from John Coltrane and his classic quartet at the very peak of the their powers and cohesiveness as a unit.

On Wed., April 30, Jazz 88 will celebrate International Jazz Day 2025 by spinning selections illuminating the truly global reach of jazz. Matt Silver got a head start on the April 27 edition of “Breaking Jazz.”

By Matt Silver 

I host a new jazz release show on Sunday evenings called "Breaking Jazz," where, each week, I bring you the music and musicians of the moment — jazz as it’s being played today. This past Sunday evening, on "Breaking Jazz," I celebrated International Jazz Day 2025. I realize I was three days early to the party, but "Breaking Jazz" is but a humble weekly program; wait 'til next week, and, by then, the ship's way too far out of port.

If you’re talking about the greatest jazz big bands ever assembled, the conversation is neither fully credible nor complete without including The Terry Gibbs Dream Band. 

Killer charts by some of the greatest arrangers ever: Bill Holman, Bob Brookmeyer, Al Cohn, Shorty Rogers, Lennie Neihaus, and Marty Paich. Drum-tight ensemble playing. Solos like smart bombs: devastatingly explosive and precisely controlled. And a propulsive yet economical rhythm section. Nothing superfluous. Burning hot, yet ALWAYS cool.

Moody with Dizzy Gillespie.

Today (Mar. 26, 2025) we celebrate the centennial birthday of James Moody. Moody, a prolific saxophonist and flutist with a career spanning eight decades, passed on here in San Diego in late 2010. He led an extraordinary life, and would've turned 100 years old today.

Davis famously informed his musicians they’d be playing the gig for free just minutes before downbeat. What followed was one of the most celebrated live jazz performances of all time.

Black History Month 2025 continues with week 2 of “Freedom Now! Jazz and the Fight for Civil Rights.” 

• Long before the 1619 Project, there was Ellington’s Black, Brown, and Beige, a sprawling jazz symphony meant to communicate a comprehensive picture of African American history through music. 

• Long before Wynton Marsalis became the first jazz musician to win a Pulitzer, Norman Granz treated jazz as high art, imploring audiences to listen with the same reverence they might reserve for Bach or Brahms.

By Matt Silver

This Sunday in New Orleans, the Philadelphia Eagles will battle the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX (that’s 59 for those of you who don’t count as the Romans do). It’s the second time in three years that the Eagles and Chiefs will meet on Super Sunday, so, naturally, a rivalry has developed — not just between the teams but between the cities themselves. 

Tune in every weekday this Black History Month from noon to 1 p.m. Pacific.

*Note: All programs to air from noon to 1 p.m. Pacific. If you’re unable to catch a program live, each day’s program will be made available for on-demand listening the next day here. 

Week 1

February 3

Black and Blue: Louis Armstrong and Civil Rights

Hosted by Will Friedwald with special guest Ricky Riccardi

February 4

Breaking Barriers: Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson and Lionel Hampton

Hosted by Loren Schoenberg

February 5

Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit: Protest in Song

Hosted by Will Friedwald

The 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala. Photo by Ted Tucker, Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau.

By Matt Silver

On this MLK Day, we honor not just Dr. King’s words and actions but those of the broader struggle for civil rights. And we do so, in our small part, by pairing the stories of that era with the artistic response they incited.

Undoubtedly, the tragedies of that period shaped artistic expression as much as the triumphs, if not more so. The 1963 bombing of the 16th St. Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala. is no exception. We invite you to read a bit about the tragedy below and engage with the following musical statements, handpicked by our on-air hosts for this MLK Day.

John Coltrane’s “Alabama”

Charles Mingus’s Town Hall Concerts

Ramsey Lewis’s “Wade in the Water”

George Adams’s “Going Home”

Babs Gonzales’s “We Ain’t Got Integration”

Max Roach’s “Let Thy People Go"