Smirk: Not Your Grandfather’s Jazz and the Birth of a Label

Music You Can't Pigeonhole: Danny Sher on Emotion Over the Analytical

Drummer and composer Danny Sher sits down to discuss the tug-of-war between highly intellectualized composition and raw emotion. Danny breaks down his desire to dodge "accounting jazz" and write music that forces the audience to feel the rhythm before they can analyze it. Tracing his wild musical evolution, Danny shares hilarious early memories of acting as a "Dog Star Commander" mascot for Manchild, getting humbled at early sessions, and watching a young Tyshawn Sorey casually drum in 15. Danny explains his strategy for writing "jazz disguised as rock" with Horse Torso, navigating the brutal polyrhythms of Atomic Pigeons, and pivoting from insane technical compositions to the catchy verse-chorus songs that got Crippling Alcoholism signed to The Flenser. Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro: Feeling the rhythm before judging the music 00:38 - The "Dog Star Commander" mascot in Manchild 05:10 - A humbling session 07:06 - Sitting behind a young Tyshawn Sorey playing in 15 08:48 - Forming Horse Torso and blending dissonance with relatable grooves 13:42 - Discovering the Mathcore Index Podcast and playing Saint Vitus 17:15 - Pivoting from insane technical music to catchy verse-chorus songs 20:39 - Getting signed to The Flenser with Crippling Alcoholism 24:42 - Dodging "accounting jazz" and focusing on emotion 26:10 - Navigating the otherworldly polyrhythms of Atomic Pigeons & Shardik 28:07 - Recording with legendary no-wave producer Martin Bisi 30:33 - Peter Apfelbaum's early funk days with Les Claypool 32:36 - Disguising jazz as rock: Writing for Travis Reuter and Andrew Smiley 38:51 - Writing cliches head-on for the hardcore band Unsee 40:04 - Outro: Keeping up with @HorseTorso BIRCH GROVE MEDIA * Web: birchgrove.io * Follow us: @birch.grove.media on Instagram. * Watch on YouTube: youtube.com/@BirchGroveMedia * Get the Record: Shop our current 180g LP and digital releases on our website. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Special Edition: Is AI the Death Blow for Creative Music?

In this Special Edition episode, Lindsay and Alan tackle the massive disruption of Artificial Intelligence in music. They break down the controversy surrounding the first AI-generated Billboard charting artist, the fierce pushback from working musicians, and the surreal "uncanny valley" of algorithmic audio. Shifting to the jazz ecosystem, they analyze new tech like Neural Audio Synthesis and Stefon Harris’s Harmony Cloud, before subjecting themselves to some truly horrific Suno AI generations attempting to mimic modern jazz artists. Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro: Going in blind on AI 01:13 - Meet Xania Monet: The first AI artist on the Billboard R&B charts 05:11 - Alan reacts to the cookie-cutter AI pop track in real-time 09:45 - The Gayle King interview and the ethics of "putting in the work" 16:18 - Kehlani’s backlash: AI stealing the spotlight from real musicians 24:00 - The "Uncanny Valley" effect of perfectly tuned AI audio 25:26 - Transitioning to the reality of AI in the Jazz ecosystem 27:22 - Neural Audio Synthesis and improvising live with AI models 31:40 - Stefon Harris’s Harmony Cloud ear-training app 36:39 - Suno AI Experiments: Prompting an Eric Dolphy jazz standard 43:24 - Forcing AI to simulate Tyshawn Sorey drumming for Steve Lehman 46:30 - Why jazz audiences won't tolerate fake, algorithm-generated music 49:09 - The Gen-Z analog revival and getting away from technology 50:09 - Birch Grove Media's official anti-AI label stance 51:04 - Outro: Podfuel and supporting human-made music BIRCH GROVE MEDIA * Web: birchgrove.io * Follow us: @birch.grove.media on Instagram. * Watch on YouTube: youtube.com/@BirchGroveMedia * Get the Record: Shop our current 180g LP and digital releases on our website. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Josh Lopes: Dither, John Zorn, and the Art of Blasting White Noise

Guitarist and composer Josh Lopes opens up about the intersection of classical chamber music discipline and underground experimentation. He walks through the collaborative history of Dither, the psychology of working directly under John Zorn, translating Laurie Spiegel’s planetary orbit tracking data to fretted instruments, and how an iPad mechanical failure turned a performance at the Stone into a living nightmare. Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 00:25 - From Rhode Island to the Avant-Garde Scene 01:46 - Euphoniums, Marching Band, and Transferring Schools 03:44 - William Paterson University and the "Bossa Nova" Trap 05:44 - Unlearning Jazz Robot Habits and Developing Soft Skills 06:39 - Getting Academic Probation for Breaking Into Shea 09:25 - The Difference Between Chamber Musicians and Jazz Players 11:47 - Forming the Electric Guitar Quartet 14:22 - The Intensity of Performing John Zorn's Game Pieces 18:39 - A Shattered iPad During a Solo Bagatelle 20:09 - A Weird Mother's Day Encounter with John Zorn 22:23 - Playing "Rugby" at The Kitchen 23:22 - Translating Laurie Spiegel's Electronic Scores 26:50 - The Pretentious Venice Biennale Concert 28:37 - Blasting White Noise for Sensory Deprivation Music 33:03 - The $100 Vintage Japanese Guitar Project 35:15 - Learning Tuvan Throat Singing in a Trader Joe's Milk Cooler 37:37 - Discovering "Genghis Blues" and Ham Radio Harmonics 41:56 - Teaching Music in Newark to Kids Who Don't Listen to Music 44:29 - Replacing Standard Notation with YouTube QR Codes 49:49 - Why Good Guitarists Secretly Have Mental Disorders 51:13 - Missing the Grit of the Old Stone BIRCH GROVE MEDIA * Web: birchgrove.io * Follow us: @birch.grove.media on Instagram. * Watch on YouTube: youtube.com/@BirchGroveMedia * Get the Record: Shop our current 180g LP and digital releases on our website. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Sam Ospovat: From Cecil Taylor to Blight Music

Drummer Sam Ospovat discusses his technical evolution and the historical weight of performing with masters like Cecil Taylor. He breaks down the differences between the New York and Nordic music communities, the creation of his project Blight Music in a Brooklyn warehouse, and the discipline required to maintain a creative voice across different continents. Timestamps: * 00:00 - Intro: The difficulty of moving to New York * 01:13 - Formative years at UC Santa Cruz * 04:16 - Mills College: An incubator for the avant-garde * 05:32 - Two weeks with Cecil Taylor: Focus and improvisation * 08:12 - Moving to NYC and the influence of mentors * 11:46 - Relocating to Finland and the Nordic scene * 19:07 - Classical music as a Finnish national identity * 26:19 - Rhythmic ratios: Composing with prime numbers * 29:39 - Virtuosity and the feeling of total abandon * 32:11 - The "Blight Music" concept and the warehouse scene * 39:51 - Writing for non-specialists in complex structures * 44:19 - Timbre and the intellectual component of music * 50:13 - The Brooklyn warehouse and the Blight Music festival * 56:10 - Identifying the true originals in the current era * 1:03:59 - How to find Sam Ospovat’s music BIRCH GROVE MEDIA * Web: birchgrove.io * Follow us: @birch.grove.media on Instagram. * Watch on YouTube: youtube.com/@BirchGroveMedia * Get the Record: Shop our current 180g LP and digital releases on our website. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Smirk: Not Your Grandfather’s Jazz and the Birth of a Label

Alan and Lindsay Bjorklund explore the decade-long journey of the album Not Your Grandfather’s Jazz featuring Tyshawn Sorey, Matt Mitchell, Jeremy Viner, Travis Reuter, and Kim Cass. They break down the band history of Smirk, the process of recording world-class improvisers at GSI Studios, and why they chose to build an independent platform for creative music. Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro: Reflecting on the label’s first release 01:00 - The origins of Smirk (2011 at Ibeam) 02:00 - Smirk vs. Face: Electric and Acoustic quintets 04:14 - Expanding to a sextet with Matt Mitchell 09:29 - Personnel rotations and sub-players 11:44 - Writing specifically for the 5-string electric bass 12:04 - Bass chemistry with Tyshawn Sorey 15:28 - Meeting Tyshawn Sorey and early collaborations 19:51 - Inside the 2017 GSI recording session 22:38 - The decision to fund a project and start a label 25:58 - Interconnectedness: The Merry Poppins session 30:05 - The Nublu release gig and the live energy 31:14 - Tyshawn’s perfectly timed stick drop 32:39 - Nostalgia for the 55 Bar and intimate spaces BIRCH GROVE MEDIA * Web: birchgrove.io * Follow us: @birch.grove.media on Instagram. * Watch on YouTube: youtube.com/@BirchGroveMedia * Get the Record: Shop our current 180g LP and digital releases on our website. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.