YOW Jazz, August 6: Jazz and the Olympics
Telling the Olympic story through new releases
The 2024 Paris Olympics are well underway and what better way to tell the Olympics story than through jazz? I’ve assembled a playlist of new releases that tell the story so far.
We will start with “The Opening Game” from Olli Ahvenlahti’s new release, Mirror Mirror. That will be followed by “The Challenge” from the debut of Chicago-based IRIS. IRIS is:
Arman Sangalang — Tenor Saxophone
Kirby Fellis — Trombone
Austyn Menk — Piano
Morgan Turner — Bass
Paul Barrilles — Drums & Cymbals
The Seine played a leading role in the opening ceremonies and we will hear Chris Rottmayer playing “Pont Neuf” from his new album Being. Although it is referred to as a “new” bridge, it is in fact the oldest standing bridge on the Seine. We will also hear Hot Club of Los Angeles play “Made in France”, from their album Nova.
The Olympics should mostly be about the athletes and in the third set we focus on them. We start with “False Start” by Chris Parnis from his upcoming release, Everything You Could Be. A false start by Aaron Brown ended his chances in the 100 metre sprint. He explained his emotions eloquently:
My God, it just happened so fast, I’m like did I just move? … I felt like there was a twitch beside me and that kind of made me react. I thought I heard something in the noise. It just felt like ‘Go!’ Something in my head just said ‘Go!’ It’s like when you have that angel and devil on your shoulders, that devil is just like ‘Move, go, go, get a flyer.’ No, it’s the frickin’ Olympics, don’t do that shit. But I did it. So, yeah, it’s over.
Long distance runners often get a “second wind” and we will hear the title track from John Lee’s second album, Second Wind. Canada’s Moh Ahmed may have found his second wind in the men's 10,000 metres, coming in fourth in a very fast field of competitors. He also spoke eloquently about his race:
Honestly I have no regrets. I think I ran that really, really f—ing well.
I was in position with 50 [metres to go], you know what I'm saying? And I just, I don't know. I mean, my legs are really, really dead. I did everything I could, the cues. I wasn't really worried about it. A fourth person blew past me. I was like 'go through your gears, go through your gears.'
So, hey, I gave it everything I had and yes, I'm disappointed, but I gave everything I had.
We will also hear the title track from Jonathan Barber’s new release, In Motion.
The swimming pool at the Olympics has been described as “slow and shallow” resulting in fewer Olympic-record swims. We will hear Scott Gilman play “The Deep End” from his new album, So Far.
A “high five” was certainly in order for Simone Biles’ amazing Olympic comeback. We will hear “High Five” from the new album, “New Views” from Peter Vuust and the Aarhus Jazz Orchestra. It certainly was “the end of a perfect day” for Biles.
Audrey Leduc of Gatineau ran her best race, setting a Canadian record in the 100m. We will hear Kandace Springs singing “Run Your Race” from the recent album of the same name. Springs wrote the song in memory of her late father who was a star track and field athlete in college. Here she is singing the song live.
We will end the show with “Anthem” from Lis Wessberg’s album, Twain Walking. Every athlete likely wants to hear their country’s anthem but the Olympic Anthem speaks for them all. This version was filmed in Olympia at the torch lighting ceremony in April of this year.
You can listen to the show live at 93.1FM in Ottawa or at CKCUFM.com at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, August 6. The show will also be available for on demand streaming.