Breaking Jazz
About The Program
Dizzy Gillespie once said: “As a musician, you have to keep one foot in the past and have one foot forward, into the future.”
Matt Silver here to let you know that musicians making new jazz records today — whether they’re conscious of it or not — continue to heed Dizzy’s words. This music we love is so inextricably bound to its history, to legendary musicians long passed, that, as an audience, we can lose sight of the fact that it’s constantly evolving, its idiomatic language constantly expanding, like the universe — or the argot of adolescence.
On my new show, “Breaking Jazz” — showcasing the recently released music I like best right now — you’ll hear from the instrumentalists and vocalists generating the most buzz in the contemporary jazz ecosystem. You’ll also hear from those who’ve got the chops but not yet the name recognition. Hence, breaking jazz — like breaking news.
But the name of the show implies something beyond that. And that is the prospect of discovering not just new songs and the new names playing them, but new sounds — sounds distinctly rooted in the capital-T tradition but also unencumbered by any prescriptive notion of what jazz is or must be.
On “Breaking Jazz,” we’ll champion music qua music; that is, music for its own sake, as a mood and perspective altering substance that makes life, if not a little better, than at least a little richer and more acutely felt, its texture more perceptible. I will never play an album simply because its promotional materials declare it to stand for one anodyne, focus-group-tested political position or another. To be sure, music amplifies the melody, harmony, and rhythm of the time in which it’s made, and the times in which we live are, indeed, hyper-political. But, to me, if something’s gonna make the air, it’s because it’s made a statement musically, not in a press release.
I’m not looking for fresh new faces to sell jazz to the masses — or to save it or transcend it or redraw its borders; I’m going to play for you the stuff I compulsively share with those closest to me because I want them — I NEED them — to be as excited about it as I am.
I’ve learned that when you thoughtfully share music with others, you can reveal those parts of your innermost self that conventional language will never completely do justice. Each week, for 90 minutes, I’ll share those parts of myself with you.
THIS is Breaking Jazz.
Join me. Every Sunday night at 6:30 pm Pacific. On KSDS Jazz 88.3 FM in San Diego; all around the world at jazz88.org and the KSDS mobile app.
Latest Blog by Matt Silver
A One-Time Jazz Messenger, Terence Blanchard has Arguably Been Most Impactful Delivering Jazz through Film
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.
Here's what Matt Silver is talking about:
- Jun 3, 2025 - A One-Time Jazz Messenger, Terence Blanchard has Arguably Been Most Impactful Delivering Jazz through Film
- Apr 28, 2025 - April 30 is International Jazz Day, a Time to Celebrate Jazz as it Exists Today
- Apr 11, 2025 - Tues., May 13: Vibraphonist Chuck Redd to Pay Musical Tribute to the Terry Gibbs Dream Band
- Mar 26, 2025 - Remembering James Moody
- Feb 6, 2025 - How Does a Jazz Radio Station Pick This Year's Super Bowl Winner?
On-Demand Audio Content
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Here are a few CD selections featured most recently:
Here are the 30 most recent tracks played on this show:
| June 8th at 7 PM Hour | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7:58 PM | Tyreek McDole | “The Sun Song (Reprise)” — Open Up Your Senses | BUY | |
| 7:55 PM | Julian Shore Trio | “It Was a Dream” — Sub Rosa | BUY | |
| 7:46 PM | Brandon Woody | “We, Ota Benga” — For the Love of it All | BUY | |
| 7:35 PM | Itai Kriss | “In the Light” — Daybreak | BUY | |
| 7:31 PM | Yotam Silberstein | “The Girl Next Door” — Standards Vol. 2 | BUY | |
| 7:25 PM | Adrian Galante | “You're All the World to Me” — Introducing Adrian Galante | BUY | |
| 7:17 PM | Caity Gyorgy | “Say It (Over and Over Again)” — Asking for Trouble | BUY | |
| 7:10 PM | Cory Wong | “Gumshu” — Wong Air: Live in America | BUY | |
| June 8th at 6 PM Hour | ||||
| 6:59 PM | Isaiah J. Thompson | “In the Temple (Spiritual Warfare)” — The Book of Isaiah: Modern Jazz Ministry | BUY | |
| 6:57 PM | Brandee Younger | “Reckoning” — Gadabout Season | BUY | |
| 6:53 PM | Glenn Dickson and Bob Familiar | “And Even Yours is Mine” — All the Light of Our Sphere | BUY | |
| 6:43 PM | Kris Monson | “Del Boca Vista” — Option to Extend | BUY | |
| 6:37 PM | Bela Fleck, Edmar Castaneda, and Antonio Sanchez | “Cloak and Dagger” — BEATrio | BUY | |
| 6:30 PM | The Westerlies | “Fight On” — Paradise | BUY | |
| June 1st at 7 PM Hour | ||||
| 7:57 PM | Isaiah J. Thompson | “A Prayer” — The Book of Isaiah: Modern Jazz Ministry | BUY | |
| 7:46 PM | Julian Shore Trio | “Pegasus” — Sub Rosa | BUY | |
| 7:40 PM | Nicole Zuraitis feat. Dan Pugach and His Big Band | “Jolene” — Siren Songs Vol. 1 | BUY | |
| 7:35 PM | Joshua Redman | “Borrowed Eyes” — Words Fall Short | BUY | |
| 7:24 PM | Glenn Dickson and Bob Familiar | “When the Mist Thins” — All the Light of Our Sphere | BUY | |
| 7:20 PM | Kneebody | “Say So” — Reach | BUY | |
| 7:15 PM | Cory Wong | “Tidal Tail” — Wong Air: Live in America | BUY | |
| 7:05 PM | Michael Valeanu, Jon Boutellier, and Clovis Nicolas | “Cowboy Song” — Three of a Kind: Made Up Melodies | BUY | |
| June 1st at 6 PM Hour | ||||
| 6:58 PM | Kris Monson | “Happy Song” — Option to Extend | BUY | |
| 6:45 PM | Kate Kortum | “Obsession” — Wild Woman | BUY | |
| 6:38 PM | Tracy Yang Jazz Orchestra | “Scene Taiwan Collection II: Sea Swell” — OR | BUY | |
| 6:30 PM | Bela Fleck, Edmar Castaneda, and Antonio Sanchez | “Kaleidoscopes” — BEATrio | BUY | |
| May 25th at 7 PM Hour | ||||
| 7:55 PM | Chris Cheek | “From Me to You” — Keepers of the Eastern Door | BUY | |
| 7:49 PM | Isaiah J. Thompson | “The Prophet” — The Book of Isaiah: Modern Jazz Ministry | BUY | |
| 7:43 PM | Tyreek McDole | “Under a Blanket of Blue” — Open Up Your Senses | BUY | |
| 7:38 PM | Champian Fulton and Klas Lindquist | “My Monday Date” — At Home | BUY | |
RSS feed of the 30 most recent tracks of the show.