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.
Here's what Matt Silver is talking about:
- Feb 23, 2026 - Orange is the New Bronze!
- Feb 24, 2026 - Canadian Silver: Just as Satisfying as the Second Best Kind of Bacon
- Feb 21, 2026 - The Medal Round: Canada, The Netherlands, and Cuba
- Feb 20, 2026 - Jazz Olympiad Round Two: Cuba vs. Mexico
- Feb 19, 2026 - Jazz Olympiad Round Two: Italy vs. The Netherlands
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:
| February 22nd at 7 PM Hour | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7:55 PM | James Fernando | “Like It Is” — Philly 3 | BUY | |
| 7:49 PM | Hannah Marks | “Feed the Fire” — Feed the Fire | BUY | |
| 7:38 PM | Bill Frisell | “When We Go” — In My Dreams | BUY | |
| 7:31 PM | Pat Bianchi | “Jitterbug Waltz” — Confluence | BUY | |
| 7:18 PM | Corcoran Holt | “Kiss to the Skies” — Freedom of Art | BUY | |
| 7:13 PM | Aubrey Johnson | “The Words I Cannot Say” — The Lively Air | BUY | |
| 7:03 PM | Warren Wolf | “Will the Real Kenny Gee Please Stand Up” — Smoove Vibes | BUY | |
| February 22nd at 6 PM Hour | ||||
| 6:57 PM | Nicholas Mycio | “Shadow Puppets” — Please Plant Flowers | BUY | |
| 6:49 PM | Tom Oren | “Dark Lights” — Dark Lights | BUY | |
| 6:38 PM | Javier Nero Jazz Orchestra feat. Randy Brecker | “Makie it So” — Alkebulan | BUY | |
| 6:30 PM | Simon Mogul | “Speak from the Heart” — Simon Says | BUY | |
| February 15th at 7 PM Hour | ||||
| 7:57 PM | Bill Laurance | “Lumen” — Lumen | BUY | |
| 7:53 PM | Simon Mogul | “Stutz McGee” — Simon Says | BUY | |
| 7:50 PM | Ben Wendel | “Birds Ascend” — Barcode | BUY | |
| 7:38 PM | Tom Oren | “Dawn of Adventure” — Dark Lights | BUY | |
| 7:34 PM | Eddie Bruce with the Ed Vezinho and Jim Ward Big Band | “Some Other Time” — For Dreamers and Their Dreams | BUY | |
| 7:13 PM | Eddie Bruce with the Ed Vezinho and Jim Ward Big Band | “Save Your Love for Me” — For Dreamers and Their Dreams | BUY | |
| 7:10 PM | Eddie Bruce with the Ed Vezinho and Jim Ward Big Band | “Pure Imagination” — For Dreamers and Their Dreams | BUY | |
| February 15th at 6 PM Hour | ||||
| 6:55 PM | Eddie Bruce with the Ed Vezinho and Jim Ward Big Band | “How High the Moon” — For Dreamers and Their Dreams | BUY | |
| 6:49 PM | April Varner | “Night and Day” — Ella | BUY | |
| 6:41 PM | Samuel Torres | “Duet No. 1 in E. Minor” — Trio Libre | BUY | |
| 6:38 PM | Lucy Yeghiazaryan | “Next Spring” — Hey Love | BUY | |
| 6:30 PM | Tigran Hamasyan | “Prelude for All Seekers” — Manifeste | BUY | |
| February 8th at 7 PM Hour | ||||
| 7:58 PM | Joel Ross | “A Little Love Goes a Long Way” — Gospel Music | BUY | |
| 7:53 PM | Bill Laurance | “Mantra” — Lumen | BUY | |
| 7:45 PM | Melissa Aldana | “La Sentencia” — Filin | BUY | |
| 7:40 PM | Roberto Fonseca and Vincent Segal | “Day” — Nuit Parisienne a la Havane | BUY | |
| 7:36 PM | Alexa Tarantino | “All Along” — The Roar and the Whisper | BUY | |
| 7:30 PM | Julian Lage | “Solid Air” — Scenes from Above | BUY | |
| 7:21 PM | Tigran Hamasyan | “Ultradance” — Manifeste | BUY | |
RSS feed of the 30 most recent tracks of the show.