Jazz Beat

Tom Reney's very first interview was with famed jazz drummer, Max Roach.

Jazz Beat from New England Public Media features host Tom Reney's research and love for the music, one artist at a time. In this outing, he spends some time with the work of Houston Person.

Jazz critic Gary Giddens talks to Tom Reney about Sonny Rollins

For Jazz Beat 57 and 58, Tom Reney spoke with Billy Boy Arnold about his autobiography, THE BLUES DREAM OF BILLY BOY ARNOLD.

For Jazz Beat 57 and 58, Tom Reney spoke with Billy Boy Arnold about his autobiography, THE BLUES DREAM OF BILLY BOY ARNOLD.

In Part 3 of Tom Reney's interview with Ricky Riccardi, author of Heart Full of Rhythm: The Big Band Years of Louis Armstrong, they discuss Armstrong's tour of England in 1932, and his European sojourn in 1934-35; his top billing in the movie, Pennies From Heaven; his groundbreaking achievement as the first African American host of a network radio series; and the controversy over his 1938 recording, "When the Saints Go Marching In."

In 2015, Tom Reney spoke with Peter Guralnick about his biography, Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock & Roll . And now in a two-part Jazz Beat, he’s interviewed Peter about six of the American music legends who are profiled in Guralnick’s new book, Looking to Get Lost: Adventures In Music & Writing : Robert Johnson, Skip James, Johnny Cash, Howlin’ Wolf, Dick Curless and Ray Charles.

In 2015, Tom Reney spoke with Peter Guralnick about his biography, Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock & Roll . And now in a two-part Jazz Beat, he’s interviewed Peter about six of the American music legends who are profiled in Guralnick’s new book, Looking to Get Lost: Adventures In Music & Writing: Robert Johnson, Skip James, Johnny Cash, Howlin’ Wolf, Dick Curless and Ray Charles.

In Part Two of Tom Reney's conversation with Ricky Riccardi about his new book, Heart Full of Rhythm: The Big Band Years of Louis Armstrong, Riccardi discusses Armstrong's skirmishes with Prohibition-era gangsters and managers; the trumpeter's triumphant return to his birthplace of New Orleans in 1931; and the massive archive of self-documentation in letters, scrapbooks, and tape recordings that Armstrong left for posterity.

For Jazz Beat, Tom Reney spoke with Louis Armstrong biographer Ricky Riccardi about his new book, Heart Full of Rhythm, The Big Band Years of Louis Armstrong. In the first of a two-part interview, he and Riccardi discuss Armstrong’s breakthrough in the early 1930s as a popular artist; his first recordings of Broadway show tunes and the key role that Armstrong played in establishing popular song as a core element of the jazz repertoire; and the mixed response that Armstrong received during this period from critics in the U.S. and Europe. Armstrong recordings heard in the podcast include “Struttin’ With Some Barbecue,” “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” and “Stardust.”

Billy Hart, a master drummer in his own right, describes Joe Farnsworth as "one of the rhythm philosophers" in the liner note he's written for Farnsworth's new album, Time to Swing. Farnsworth was born in South Hadley, Massachusetts, in 1968. For the past 30 years, he's been one of the most in-demand drummers on the New York scene, but he's made only a handful of albums as a leader. Time to Swing features Wynton Marsalis in a rare sideman appearance, and the critical acclaim its received underscores Farnsworth's ongoing prominence in jazz.

Tom Reney spoke with Sonny Rollins in August for a special project honoring Yusef Lateef’s centennial. Sonny and Yusef were friends for many years, but Rollins also considered him a mentor and spiritual inspiration. Tom also asked Rollins about his groundbreaking work of 1958, The Freedom Suite and about interviews that Rollins has recently given The New York Times and The New Yorker about the Golden Rule. Musical excerpts include Rollins’ St Thomas, B.Quick, The Freedom Suite, and Come, Gone; Yusef Lateef is heard playing oboe on the classic blues, In The Evenin’ (When The Sun Goes Down.)

Tom Reney spoke with Paul Arslanian on May 6 about his career in jazz. Paul is a veteran pianist who's been a highly visible figure in jazz in Western Massachusetts since 1984. In 2010, he was a co-founder of the Northampton Jazz Workshop, and since then, he's produced a series of weekly performances that feature a guest artist who plays with the Northampton-based Green Street Trio. Arslanian is the Trio's pianist, which also includes bassist George Kaye and drummer Jon Fisher.

Jazz a la Mode host Tom Reney interviewed Lee Konitz in 2004 before concerts he was playing in Northampton and Cambridge. Konitz died from Covid-19 related pneumonia on April 15 at age 92. He was still touring and recording until social distancing began in March. A major figure in his own right, the Chicago-born saxophonist was associated over the course of his 75-year-long career with the jazz greats Miles Davis, Lennie Tristano, Stan Kenton, Bill Evans, and Brad Mehldau.

Champian Fulton was hailed by Francis Davis in the Village Voice in 2007, the year of her debut recording, as "the best new singer I've heard this year-- make that several years."

Tom Reney spoke with Bennie Wallace for Jazz Beat a few days before concerts that the veteran tenor saxophonist was scheduled to play in Connecticut in October 2019.

Jazz Beat host Tom Reney appeared on Open Source with Christopher Lydon on WBUR. They discuss jazz and r&b and classical music and Tom Reney reveals eight essential recordings and one book that he would take to a desert island.

Jazz Beat 44 is devoted to Tom Reney's appreciation of the blues singer and guitarist T-Bone Walker.

tr@nepr.net (Tom Reney)

Tom Reney pays memorial tribute to Charles Neville on this edition of Jazz Beat.

This edition of Jazz Beat features an interview that Tom Reney conducted with Anat Cohen in 2008 when she was the Billy Taylor Artist in Residence at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

In his latest edition of JazzBeat, NEPR’s Tom Reney turns the spotlight on Boston-born trumpeter Ruby Braff. Braff’s biography and his influences illuminate the period of jazz history that he inhabited. But the tone and style that you’ll hear in the episode’s music samples point to the timelessness of the music coming from his trumpet.

In the latest episode of Jazz Beat, Tom Reney celebrates the legacy of the jazz great Max Roach, and recalls the personal influence the drummer had on his life. Our podcast includes excerpts from Max's recordings with Clifford Brown, Sonny Rollins, Abbey Lincoln, and Stanley Turrentine, and selections from a solo concert by Max that Tom produced in 1979.

Tom Reney's memorial tribute to Fats Domino credits the great pianist as a founder of rock 'n' roll and an exemplar of New Orleans rhythm and blues, and addresses a schism between jazz and r&b.

Tom Reney looked into the legends of the two bluesmen known as Sonny Boy Williamson for this Jazz Beat podcast refuting some of what Randy Newman asserts in his new song, "Sonny Boy." Hear deep background on these blues greats, as well as Newman's tune, and blues classics by Sonny Boy I and II, and Billy Boy Arnold and Mose Allison.

This edition of Jazz Beat is devoted to Tom Reney’s interview with Geoff Muldaur, the singer/guitarist/banjo player whose associations include the Jim Kweskin Jug Band and Maria Muldaur in the 1960s, and Paul Butterfield’s Better Days in the early ‘70s.

In the latest edition of Jazz Beat, Tom Reney takes a look at the time that Duke Ellington’s orchestra met jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt in Paris, and the concerts and recordings that came out of that meeting. This JazzBeat is peppered with wonderful examples of swinging jazz by Django and the Ellingtonians.

This edition of Jazz Beat presents an interview conducted by guest host Peter Sokolowski with Doc Severinsen, famous as Johnny Carson’s bandleader on The Tonight Show and a virtuoso trumpet player who still practices every day. This conversation took place before a live audience in the recital hall at UMASS Amherst, and covers subjects from Doc’s early career touring with big bands, his work as a studio musician in New York, and his television days. He discusses several of his favorite players and concludes with his thoughts about retirement and his dedication to his instrument: “I think about the trumpet when I’m sleeping at night.”

This episode of Jazz Beat focuses on the one and only album that Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington made together. Tom Reney reviews the run-up to the Great Summit, highlights of the album, and thoughts on the legacies of these two jazz giants.

Tom Reney offers an appreciation of piano legend Jaki Byard in this edition of Jazz Beat. Byard’s 95th birthday anniversary was June 22, and his legacy thrives both on records and through his well-known protégés Jason Moran, Larry Goldings, Marty Ehrlich, and Fred Hersch. Tom’s tribute includes personal recollections, details of Byard’s background in Worcester and Boston, and several musical samples.

Tom Reney looks back at Duke Ellington’s “New Orleans Suite,” and the crucial role that Duke and festival producer George Wein played in the establishment of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which just completed its 49 th annual presentation in the Crescent City. Wein’s insistence that any festival he produced would include Ellington, who “stayed only in the finest hotels,” and feature integrated ensembles was a spur to ending rigid segregation practices in New Orleans.

In the latest edition of Jazz Beat, Tom Reney explores the legacy of the bassist Scott LaFaro, who was a leading innovator in modern jazz and a member of the Bill Evans Trio. LaFaro was tragically killed in an auto accident in 1961 at age 25, and he’s the subject of an outstanding biography by his sister Helene LaFaro-Fernandez. Tom’s appreciation of LaFaro includes numerous samples of his music.

For Jazz Beat 30, Tom Reney pays tribute to Nat Hentoff, who died on January 7 at 91. The Boston-born journalist wrote primarily on First Amendment issues for the Village Voice for 50 years, but was also a renowned jazz critic and historian. In the early 1960s, Hentoff produced an outstanding series of albums for Candid Records by Charles Mingus, Clark Terry, Abbey Lincoln, and blues greats Otis Spann, Memphis Slim, and Lightnin’ Hopkins. Tom’s memorial includes excerpts from some of these, and an overview of Hentoff’s devotion to jazz and principles of free speech.