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:
- Aug 13, 2025 - Brief Review of the Eric Scott Trio's Trip through the Hampton Hawes Songbook
- Aug 6, 2025 - With So Many Causes Worth Supporting, Why Jazz?
- Jul 30, 2025 - Without You, No Us
- Jul 25, 2025 - Save What We Do
- Jul 14, 2025 - Drummer Curtis Nowosad's I AM DOING MY BEST is the Inaugural Breaking Jazz Pick of the Week
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:
| September 7th at 7 PM Hour | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7:57 PM | Jason Forsyth | “Sanctity” — It's About Time | BUY | |
| 7:50 PM | Michael Wolff | “In My Life” — Sunny Day | BUY | |
| 7:43 PM | Nick Finzer | “We the People” — The Jazz Orchestra, Vol. 1 | BUY | |
| 7:34 PM | Jerome Sabbagh | “The Break Song” — Stand Up! | BUY | |
| 7:29 PM | Erik Deutsch | “Pretty Pigeon” — This Was Then | BUY | |
| 7:09 PM | Erik Deutsch | “Invisible Temples” — This Was Then | BUY | |
| 7:00 PM | Erik Deutsch | “This Was Then” — This Was Then | BUY | |
| September 7th at 6 PM Hour | ||||
| 6:53 PM | Donny McCaslin | “Celestial” — Lullaby for the Lost | BUY | |
| 6:45 PM | Shuteen Erdenebaatar and Nils Kugelmann | “Train to the Past” — Under the Same Stars | BUY | |
| 6:40 PM | Nadav Remez | “Boulevards” — Summit | BUY | |
| 6:35 PM | Caelan Cardello | “Steppin' Up” — Chapter One | BUY | |
| 6:30 PM | Harold Lopez-Nussa | “Gitanerias” — Nueva Timba | BUY | |
| August 31st at 7 PM Hour | ||||
| 7:55 PM | Okonski | “Dusk” — Entrance Music | BUY | |
| 7:43 PM | Jason Charos | “George's Place” — Opening Statement | BUY | |
| 7:36 PM | Yoko Yates | “Winding River” — Eternal Moments | BUY | |
| 7:31 PM | Nadav Remez | “Hephaestus” — Summit | BUY | |
| 7:21 PM | Michael Mayo feat. Norbotten Big Band | “About Your Love” — Fly - Deluxe Edition | BUY | |
| 7:16 PM | Caelan Cardello | “Groundwork” — Chapter One | BUY | |
| 7:16 PM | Harold Lopez-Nussa | “A Lyle” — Nueva Timba | BUY | |
| 7:01 PM | Rin Seo Collective | “City Suite II. Cityscape” — City Suite | BUY | |
| August 31st at 6 PM Hour | ||||
| 6:57 PM | Christian McBride Big Band | “Come Rain or Come Shine” — Without Further Ado, Vol. 1 | BUY | |
| 6:49 PM | Nick Finzer | “Just Passed the Horizon” — The Jazz Orchestra, Vol. 1 | BUY | |
| 6:45 PM | Paul Cornish | “Queinxiety” — You're Exaggerating | BUY | |
| 6:39 PM | Danny Janklow + Elevation Band | “Q & Lou” — Balance//Eternal Realm | BUY | |
| 6:30 PM | Anthony Wilson Nonet | “Walk Tall” — House of the Singing Blossoms | BUY | |
| August 24th at 7 PM Hour | ||||
| 7:57 PM | Emma Smith | “What Took You So Long?” — Bitter Orange | BUY | |
| 7:52 PM | George Burton | “Babel of Voices” — White Noise | BUY | |
| 7:47 PM | Okonski | “Lakebridge” — Entrance Music | BUY | |
| 7:41 PM | Eric Alexander and Vincent Herring | “Mo's Theme” — Split Decision | BUY | |
| 7:36 PM | Michael Valeanu | “Segment” — Road Songs | BUY | |
RSS feed of the 30 most recent tracks of the show.