Anthony Dean-Harris

It's pledge drive time again-- the time when I hang out at the radio station a little more than usual and pounce every time I hear a phone ring. It's one of my favorite times of the year and you can be a part of it, too, by heading over to KRTU.org  and pledging a donation to the station. Becoming a member is pretty rad, to which I can attest. This week's show involves me saying that a lot, it also has some pretty good music. Taylor Eigsti - Daylight This popped up on the commute. Also, I didn't get to go to the Austin City Limits Festival a couple weeks ago and heard Coldplay did a great job. This is in reference to that. Nujabes - Tsurugi No Mai Josh Nelson - Dirigibles As I said last week, I really like Nelson's Discoveries  and I hope this track leads you to the same conclusions I'm holding about this album. Brad Mehldau - The Falcon Will Fly Again I added Highway Rider  back onto my phone recently because I felt I needed to revisit it. Maybe I was r...

If it isn't already clear, I'm particularly excited about Jazz'SAlive. I always am. It's a tradition for my family to go every year and even though I'm now in a position where I'm seeing how the sausages and laws are made, so to speak, I still don't love this event any less. This show isn't really connected to this weekend at all with the exception of my enthusiasm but that's always there, isn't it? Dafnis Prieto - Emergency Call I love that the MacArthur Foundation always picks a jazz musician to receive one of their grants each year. We as fans should support musicians even if we aren't an anonymous group of eccentric curators of brilliance with large purse strings, but it's good to know the MacArthur grant is out there. Congrats to Dafnis Prieto for getting this honor. It'll be cool to see what he does with it. The Remix Project - A Tribe Called Quest-Electric Relaxation Brad Mehldau - When It Rains Work has been particularl...

Combined with the gray (but still pleasant) morning in San Antonio and the passing of my good friend and publisher, Kathy Clay-Little , this week's Line-Up is a bit softer and a little more chill. I hope you don't mind this change up this week. Ambrose Akinmusire - Jaya The computer picked this here but I figured I don't play Akinmusire often enough anyway. Pazes - Untitled Chris Dingman - Jet Lag I haven't been playing Dingman as often as I'd like, either. Besides, this track came up in my commute this week and I asked myself why I never played this track on the air in the first place. JAMES Farm - Unravel The computer picked a JAMES Farm track for the show but I had to switch things up to fit with the somber mood I'm going for this week. MF DOOM - Saffron Tigran Hamasyan - A Fable Now that I re-obtained A Fable , this album is going to get some steady play for a while. Brad Mehldau - Things Behind the Sun On the bus ride to the station today, Nick...

I didn't note it on the air but this week marks my 2 year anniversary of The Line-Up. We've come a long way and I'm proud of this show, what it has spread to the masses and how it has really been a lynchpin for Nextbop. Now, in the tradition of spreading dopeness... Kyle Eastwood - Marciac For some reason, Kyle Eastwood really came correct for his latest album, Songs from the Chateau . The energy has really flared up. I dig it. Ben Allison - We've Only Just Begun It was another one of those "hey, I haven't played [blank] in a while" moments. Terri Lyne Carrington - Crayola I was sort of shocked to hear this on Carrington's The Mosaic Project  instead of Esperanza Spalding using this song for one of her own albums. It's just as good live as it is in the studio. It's a blast of fresh air. Adam Cruz - The Gadfly Milestone  is a great album, period. Rarely do I hear anything from Sunnyside Records that doesn't knock me off my feet. Sun...

It's the first episode of the show with the new theme song, Christian Scott 's cover of Thom Yorke's "The Eraser". I'm sort of excited about that. Other than that, it's an altogether great show even without the new glossy cover. Chris Dingman - Indian Hill I hadn't played any Dingman in a while but it seemed appropriate since it seems he's getting a whole bunch of great attention now that his album is out. Cloning Americana - On the Rise Kory got ahold of this album recently and has spoken quite highly of this group. I like what I heard and much like anything else on this show, I yoinked the idea and played it here. Francisco Mela & Cuban Safari - Toma Del Poder I first got this album last week and it was one of the biggest surprises of that week. This is definitely worth copping. D'Angelo - Spanish Joint I love this song; don't you? Kenneth Whalum III - If We Try The track that comes after this one by LFQ reminded me a lot...

This week has been challenging and that has keyed into tonight's show. Someone stole my iPod at work this week which means it won't be as easy coming up with what has stood out to me in a given week to pick for the show, but it's not like pouring over the music I get to decide what hits your ears has been a breeze. Add to the fact that the computer didn't feel like tabulating the time right until I was halfway done putting the show together and lets just say the nuisance continued. It's a labor of love and I make my way through no matter what. No need to get down about it, I just lean on Jesus, peace, and the music. Jason Moran - RFK in the Land of Apartheid I was watching the PBS documentary, RFK in the Land of Apartheid , the other night, largely because the score was by Moran. This is also my favorite track from Ten , as I've said quite often, so to the 1 spot this goes this week. Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey - Grandfather's Gun Nextbop is still streami...

It still took me an inordinate amount of time to put this show together. I'll get it together, though. Also, I give this current theme song a couple more weeks so get your input to me as soon as you can. Johannes Wallmann Brasstet - The Sweet Minute I kept three computer selections for this week's show. I put the first two at the top of the hour. Roxy Coss - Lately Since the computer picked this track, I don't have all that much to say. Kenneth Whalum III - It Was Written (feat. Common) I had two or three tracks from KWIII before he gave me his album this past weekend. After finally hearing the whole album, I realize he picked the tracks he sent me for a reason. The whole album fits together really well but "It Was Written" stands on its own very well. Shane Endsley and the Music Band - Big When I got the track for this, I had some... problems with it. Hopefully this plays alright. Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey - Black Wall Street From August 23 until it...