Venezuelan pianist, Otmaro Ruiz and Brazilian vocalist Catina DeLuna’s latest CD, Lado B Brazilian Project 2, features less well-known songs from the Brazilian songbook, and fresh arrangements of some of the classics. Lado B, means B Side. Catina and Otmaro thought it would be a fun pursuit to record these often forgotten tunes they both consider as interesting as the celebrated A side cuts. These are two fabulous musician who are unusually articulate in explaining their process so this was a fascinating and enlightening conversation. They’re also loads of fun.

AB Trio. Buffalo based Adam Bronstein is a guitar player known for his clever songwriting and playful improvisation. Focusing on guitar at the forefront of its sound, his trio’s music is instrumental with influences ranging from jazz through Hip Hop, R&B and Psychedelia. We were excited to catch Adam on a recent trip to his native Buffalo, and even more excited when he appeared on tour at the Bop Stop for this May 22nd. 2025 appearance in support of his most recent release ABTrio. Featuring Adam on Guitar, James Benders on Bass and Gabriel Wells on Drums and Percussion, Daniel Peck is your host for Adam Bronstein and the AB Trio-Live at the Bop Stop.

Live 1951: Midnight Matinee. This unique program is designed to put the listener in a front row seat for a live rhythm review performance. So often, we wonder what a live program would have been like before the dawn of Rock n' Roll? Well, thanks to the preservation of this 2-week program in Los Angeles from late September and early October of 1951, we can catch a glimpse. Promoter Bill Lester intended to hold weekly midnight concerts at the Olympic Auditorium in downtown LA, but after 2 weeks, the late-night shows were scraped, due to the fact that they were losing money. Lester hired LA disc jockey, Hunter Hancock, who was a trailblazer in playing R&B on the radio to emcee the shows. Some of the biggest names in West Coast R&B performed; Big Jay McNeely, Floyd Dixon, Maxwell Davis and Peppermint Harris. What's spectacular is the lesser-known talent; Madelyn Perkins, Ernie Andrews, Smilin' Smokey Lynn and the Gospel group, the Golden Keys. Radio station KMPC agreed to air the first half hour of these 2-hour concerts, which should have led to greater promotion of the event, but alas, after 2 weeks it was done. We are so fortunate that Bill Lester recorded portions of these shows, so that 75 years later, we can still experience the excitement and joy of the music. Sit back as Matt The Cat takes you to the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles for the Midnight Matinee, an exciting jaunt into the world of the live R&B review show.

We celebrate Betty Carter’s lasting influence at Jazz at Lincoln Center with a performance by vocalist Charenée Wade, accompanied by many former members of Carter's bands through the years.

Coming Soon.

Part 1. Clarinetist/saxophonist, Ken Peplowski had his first professional gig when still in elementary school and went on to play with everyone from Marianne Faithfull and Leon Redbone to Peggy Lee and Charlie Byrd. Ken was only sixty-six when he passed away February 1, 2026 after a five-year battle with multiple myeloma. Ken was a joyful, generous spirit and one of the first musicians I played with when I came to New York when we were paired in a jazz festival in front of thousands. I was nervous and he was cool, and his lovely attitude carried me along musically and otherwise, so no one knew I was shaking in my boots except me. This is the first of my two-part conversation with Ken, recorded in 2016 in Manhattan.

Venturing onward to New York seems to be a necessary step in the careers of most aspiring jazz artists. Guitarist Tim Picard has been a Northeast Ohio mainstay, equally adept in straight ahead and free jazz. But time marches on and opportunities abound in the Big Apple, so Tim is off to New York, but not before one last performance of originals and favorites. Backed by Theron Brown on Piano, Jordan McBride on Bass and Zaire Darden on Drums, and from a July 24th, 2025 performance, Daniel Peck is your host for the Tim Picard Quartet . . . Live at the Bop Stop.

Imperial Records, Part 1 - 1947-50. Imperial Records was a major player among the indie labels of the late 1940s and the entirety of the 1950s. Started in Los Angeles in 1946 by Lew Chudd, a Canadian raised in Harlem, Imperial began filling the ethnic and cultural voids left by the majors at the time. Chudd knew there was a large market for Latino Music in America, so he headed to Mexico City and recorded some Mexican jump bands that sold very well. He then included square dance records which also racked up sales as now square dances could be held without callers. He began recording Rhythm & Blues in 1947 and by '49, he had hired Dave Bartholomew to scout talent in fertile New Orleans. The Braun Brother had beat him to The Crescent City by recording Paul Gayten and Annie Laurie first, but with Bartholomew's help, Chudd was able to sign Fats Domino, Smiley Lewis, Archibald and Jewel King, dominating the New Orleans R&B scene. This week, we begin a series looking at the huge impact that Imperial Records had on R&B during the late 1940s into the mid-1950s. In part 1, Matt The Cat will showcase Imperial's earliest R&B releases from 1947-1950. We'll see how the boogie woogie stylings of Dick Lewis, "Poison" Gardner, Charlie "Boogie Woogie" Davis and Lloyd Glenn gave way to the New Orleans blues of Tommy Ridgley, Jewel King, Smiley Lewis and Fats Domino, who would become the biggest artist ever on the Imperial label.

The low end gets some love with a profile on Stanley Clarke. We hear music from the 2022 NEA Jazz Master’s storied career as a leader, and as a founding member of Return to Forever.

Coming Soon.