OK Jazz Podcast

The BLUES! This is a fun one, introducing some of my favorite blues tracks past & present, some famous tracks and some deeper cuts. Pour out a couple bourbons and turn the music up!

HOT tunes from around the world, past & present! Get the BBQ flames burning and turn up the volume for this special episode!

Short but sweet mid-summer episode with new music from France, the UK, USA and Brazil, groovy Japanese fusion, all-time great 90s rock and more!

OK Jazz is BACK! New music from Brazil, Australia, Taiwan/USA, World Cup soukous, tributes to SonnyRollins and Abdullah Ibrahim & more! (Sorry for the poor audio today, some mic issues I could not fix!)

Early morning episode with a LOT of new music! Brazil, Spain, Holland/Japan, some VERY hot live Freddie Hubbard, dance-o-rific Soukous from Congo and lots more!

Quickie episode paying respect to the rhythm sections! Mainly some old favorites, tunes where the rhythms always just jumped out to me, not just funky and soul but in jazz, afrobeat and even some 'ginga' from Angola. Turn this one up!

OK Jazz returns in 2026 with another packed episode!, new music from Brazil, Senegal and Spain (Radio Tarifa are back!) Some prog-rock inspired jazz, New Orleans groove, an essential re-issue from Mali and more!

The 2025 Year-End episode, some of my favorite tunes of the year from ALL around the world!

Super fun episode chatting with broadcasting legend Peter Barakan! Peter has been on Japanese TV & Radio for more than 40 years, and has introduced me to at least a couple hundred albums over the years. We sat down recently to just exchange some recent favorites and music stories! (NOTE: My microphone track was unusable so had to make the best of it, I sound like I'm across the street...best listened to with headphones!)

Back again with an episode of great tunes! New groovy jazz from Melbourne, compilation of Kenyan 'benga', deep cut from the departed legend Jack DeJohnette, some country-rock, the new Atlas Maior album, and lots more!

Part 2 of this special episode with my Tokyo Jazz Joints Photo Project brother Philip Arneill! We get into his arrival in Japan, record store exploring, how we met, some classic hip-hop, soul, jazz and lots more!

After ten years wandering Japan taking photos of jazz joints with this boss, I finally got him on the podcast! Photographer, writer, actor, fashionista and my brother in jazz, this is Part 1 of a very special episode where Philip Arneill takes us back through his life in music. Lots of laughs, jangly, bluesy tunes, life in Northern Ireland & college in Scotland, right up to when he first came to Japan (to be covered in Part 2). This is a fun one!

Packed new episode with new music from SarathyKorwar, RobertoMontero, contemporary Polish jazz, deep cuts from the heart of Louisiana Creole culture, dreamy electro-pop & more!

Salif Keita Mini-Interview! The legend from Mali is in Japan for some live shows celebrating his new album So Kono. I got to speak briefly with him before his first Tokyo gig at a small live house, beyond a thrill to get even a short time with one of my favorite ever musicians!

Short but sweet new episode, with new music from Poland, Cape Verde, Mali, Australia and Sweden, some huge jazz reissue news, and a soul classic comes off the CD shelf!

To celebrate the upcoming release of Cheikh Lô s new album, here's a very special episode looking back at his career! He doesn't record often as this is only his sixth album to date, so it's a good time to show love to one of the OK Jazz Podcast first ballot Hall of Fame members, the remarkable Ceikh Lô from Senegal!

Record hot summer in Japan means it's time for the third annual HOT Summer OK Jazz Special! Smokin' tunes from the US, Trinidad, Brazil, Peru, Nigeria, Thailand & more, turn it UP!

Packed episode with a bunch of new jazz releases, the return of the MinyoCrusaders, more new music from Brazil, more guitar mastery from Madagascar, and tribute to some rock legends!

Another (loose!) theme episode, celebrating the Japanese Rainy Season! Tunes from around the world about the rain, that mention the rain, or that I just loved listening to while walking in the twinkling, atmospheric, beautiful rainy streets of Tokyo & Yokohama. 梅雨特集エピソード！

A ramshackle episode of OK Jazz but with the usual great musical selections! BlackSabbath sung in Amharic, new music from BrandeeYounger, more classic Strata-East jazz, respect to Sade, a visit to the Soviet Union and lots more!

Back with a guitar heavy episode! Wizardry from Gabor Szabo, Djelimady Tounkara, Donna Grantis, & Syran Mbenza. New music from Kuunatic, the Billy Hart Quartet, rocking grooves from 1970s Zimbabwe, two Soca classics from Trinidad, plus lots more!

Quickie episode today but with great tunes as always! Two of 2025's best new releases so far, 1970s Samba-Rock, Grammy Museum & TV talk, J-Jazz classic & more!

Short but sweet episode with new music from Brazil, recent/new jazz, great re-issue news, 80s funk and respect for RobertaFlack! Plus some bonus light ranting about the USA!

Very special episode today with guest selector Colin Smith! In between introducing some deep jazz cuts from the UK & USA, we have a free-wheeling talk that covers Colin taking me to see Stan Tracey at the Bulls Head in London, the UK jazz scene past and present, Ornette Coleman & Prime Time, and even a hilarious anecdote about Lemmy from Motorhead giving Colin a beer. This was a treat to catch up with an old friend, and one of the biggest music fans I know! (Sorry for some unavoidable sound & editing issues that pop up in this one!!)

A ramshackle episode recorded in California, but with a LOT of great music! New Congolese rock & roll from Jupiter&Okwess, new jazz from the US and Greece, classic reggae, birthday shout-outs to BBKing and ArtPepper, heavy guitar from DonnaGrantis & more! (Plus some raspy voiced intros and evan a little political talk :)

OK Jazz turns 10 years old today! And to celebrate, we're heading to one of the most musical cities on Earth and my favorite ever record label, STAX! From 1957-1975 Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee produced some of the greatest music of the 20th century; on this special edition of the podcast, join me as we look past the big hits to explore some of the deeper cuts from one of the great catalogs of music ever recorded. We're going to Soulsville, USA!!!

OK Jazz returns after a six month hiatus! Tribute to two giants that left us Quincy Jones and Papa Noel, new jazz from the UK, some modern soul, monster grooves the French Caribbean, some personal & music related updates and LOTS more!

2+hour mega-comeback episode of OK Jazz! New music from South Africa, the UK, USA, Mali and Brazil, a classic jazz re-issue, beautiful Congolese Rumba as usual, and a LOT more. Last episode (for awhile..) so turn it up and dive in!

ICYMI, here is the Tokyo Jazz Joints Podcast discussion between Philip and I about the current Eigakan Jazz Kissa Kickstarter Project! Hear all about how it started, the campaign details, and how you can help support us in our quest to take a classic jazz kissa years into the future!

A JAM-packed episode of new music from Cuba, South Africa and the USA, plus my very special Memory Lane Childhood Mix of tunes I loved hearing on the radio as a kid in New York City 1974-1982!

Quick mid-week episode with brand new music from jazz legends CharlesLloyd and AbdullahIbrahim, kompas music from Haiti, South African pop superstar Brenda Fassie & a new/old soul music back-to-back!

OK Jazz is back in 2024! New music from Brazil, Bolivia, Eswatini & Japan, classic grooves from Congo and some Impulse! label treasures!

Part 2 of OK Jazz Episode #167 - 2023 Year End Special! Some of the best new releases and reissues from a year packed with great music, 33 tracks from 18 countries!

Part 1 of the 2023 Year End Special is here! Some of my favorite new releases and reissues of another jam-packed year of great music, 33 tracks from 18 countries!

OK Jazz returns with a packed new episode, new music from Chief Adjuah, Dengue Fever and Eddie Henderson, plus a Los Angeles Mega-Music-Mix inspired by Mr. OK Jazz' recent trip to the City of Angels!

The Autumn Allergy Special! New & classic music from Turkey, brand new release from IrreversibleEntanglements, Japanese Jazz old & new, vintage Franco & O.K.Jazz and LOTS more!

New jazz releases, music from South Africa & Algeria, a wild reissue from France, classic JohnColtrane & more!

New music from Brazil, Jamaica, the US AND my special interview with harpist Brandee Younger, recorded at the Tokyo Blue Note!

It's been the hottest summer in history..so here's a suitable HOT Summer Special on OK Jazz! Soul, Samba, Chicha, Soukous, Funk & more, turn the volume UP for this special episode!

New music from the UK, USA, Mali/Nigeria, and the Abenaki First Nation, a Caribbean island hop, a beautiful kamancheh/kora duet & more!

This is a PACKED episode! New music from the UK, Peru, Korea and Gambia, classic swinging EllaFitzgerald, Philly Soul/Disco, the Soukous Siren TshalaMuana, new from BrandeeYounger & more!

VERY hot new episode with new music from West Africa, Japan and Cuba and Brazil, more classic Congolese Rumba from a departed legend, O Samba, South African Jazz & more!

Tribute to the legend AhmadJamal, new music from New York, Poland/UK, a groovy 1970s Japanese pop reissue, classic Brazilian funky jazz & lots more!

Take a nostalgic trip back to the decade of baggy jeans, backwards caps, the OJ Trial, Bill Clinton and everyone's first ever email accounts, it's a 1990s Mix from Mr. OK Jazz! Hip-Hop, Rock, Ambient, Jazz, WorldMusic, all kinds of tunes that were in his portable CD player from ages 16-26!

Packed new episode with new music from Brazil, the USA, and Haiti. 90s hip-hop classics, a Stax Records medley, respect to WayneShorter & more!

New music from Cuba and Brazil, deep Japanese Jazz cut, classic PFloyd and a Funkadelic deepcut on this episode of OK Jazz!

Another packed episode of super cool tunes, as usual! Laika music from Greece, spaced out grooves from the UK, two new releases from Brazil, space travel with JohnColtrane & more!

A HOT episode kicks off with some wild Japanese guitar mastery from a Takeshi Terauchi reissue, some deep JB, new music from Brazil & France, Japanese Jazz classics & more!

Kick off 2023 with the latest episode of OK Jazz! New music from Nigeria, Germany and Japan, funky jazz re-issue, more from one of 2022's best albums & more!

19 tracks from some of the best new albums of 2022! Mr. OK Jazz shares many of his favorite new releases from the US, UK, Brazil, Peru, Lebanon, South Africa and many more spots around the globe!