KSDS 88.3 Blog

The Cuban peso may be in freefall, but who needs stable fiat currency when you’ve got… gold?! That’s right, after weeks of hotly contested competition, the musically mighty island nation of Cuba has won the Gold Medal in the inaugural KSDS Jazz Olympiad. 

Don’t despair, Canada! Cherish this Silver Medal in the KSDS Jazz Olympiad and remember better days, like the one pictured above, when Diana Krall and Tony Bennett got together to sing duets!

It’s been a tough week at America’s higher latitudes. But cheer up, Canada! — our frighteningly friendly and irrepressibly cheerful neighbors to the north have earned the Silver medal in the inaugural KSDS Olympiad.

Pass that Dutch...no longer just an instruction from Missy Elliott, now a rallying cry for the Canadian and Cuban jazz delegations.

The Dutch have a long history of losing stuff…like Brazil, Taiwan, and New York City. So, they’re sure to look on the bright side and be super stoked about winning the Bronze medal in the inaugural KSDS Jazz Olympiad. Chin up, Netherlands, your homes aren’t all sunk just yet…. Plus, you’ve got this whole third place in jazz thing to hang your clogs on!

Pianist Ralph Sutton and his quartet recorded this album (cover pictured above) specifically for the 1960 Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley. Sixty-six years later, the games and the music still go hand in hand…with the inaugural KSDS Jazz Olympiad!

By Matt Silver

And then there were three. The people have spoken…and of the dozen nations included in our inaugural Jazz Olympiad, only three remain: Canada, The Netherlands, and Cuba.

*Pictured above: Bassist Michael League (center), with Pedrito Martinez, the brilliant conguero and vocalist from Havana, Cuba (left) and the Mexico City raised, New York City-based drummer Antonio Sanchez (right). These three first played a totally improvised set together at the 2018 North Sea Jazz Festival. Their new album — appropriately titled "Elipsis" — is a continuation of the musical conversation that started there. Photo by Francois Bisi.

By Matt Silver

It’s Friday, Feb. 20, and the KSDS Jazz Olympiad continues with a major Latin American tilt between Cuba AND Mexico.

By Matt Silver

It’s Thursday, Feb. 19, and we’ve got more winners-bracket action for you from the inaugural KSDS Jazz Olympiad. Today, it’s a clash between legendary cultures of seafaring exploration. It’s the Italians versus the Dutch. 

By Matt Silver

On Wednesday, Feb. 18, the KSDS Jazz Olympiad continues with can’t-miss second round action between Sweden and Canada. Do you prefer your jazz with sides of pickled herring and lingonberries or slathered in maple syrup and served with an ice-cold Labatt? 

Jazz at its best is more cooperative than competitive. Pictured here is legendary Swedish bassist Palle Danielsson (center) with French pianist Michel Petrucciani (left) and American drummer Eliot Zigmund left. They performed and recorded as the Michel Petrucciani trio in the mid-late 1980s, most famously on “Pianism,” Petrucciani’s 1986 Blue Note debut.

By Matt Silver

With names like Grappelli, Petrucciani, and LeGrand, the French have the legacy heavyweights. BUT, Swedes like pianist Bobo Stenson and the late bassist Palle Daniellson have been indispensable to the "Nordic Sound," the distinct aesthetic of icy, atmospheric minimalism most associated with producer Manfred Eicher's ECM Records, the label famously known for producing "the most beautiful sound next to silence."

It’s hockey hosers versus lederhosen. It’s maple syrup versus schnitzel. It’s Labatt versus Beck’s. But it’s really none of those things; this is about music!

By Matt Silver

KSDS's inaugural Jazz Olympiad continues, and today it’s Canada versus Germany. North of the border, Oscar Peterson, Gil Evans, and Renee Rosnes carry the Maple Leaf flag. And in Deutschland, it’s a combination of big names — like trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff — and bigger institutions — like the WDR Big Band — that do the heavy lifting.

London or Amsterdam? Ronnie Scott’s or BIMHUIS? Dave Holland or the sovereign nation of the same name? Whose contributions to jazz, both classic and contemporary, hew most closely to your tastes? Vote now at jazz88.org as we celebrate the inaugural Jazz Olympiad!

By Matt Silver

It’s only fitting that the English delegation, with bassist Dave Holland as a key flag bearer, should open match play against the nation that, for years, competed internationally as Holland.