Thanks Marty. Today we’re going to hear my favorite song recorded at my favorite place, HairyLarryLand.

In the fall of 2024 I saw Eliecer Tamez at Gamer’s Haven when I was there for my Thursday Night D&D campaign. Eliecer played with me in the Jazz Recital Band at ASU and he expressed an interest in getting together and playing agian.

Then at Blues Fest I saw Danielle Russell. She’s been the singer in many rock and blues bands in Northeast Arkansas and she sang with The Flying Hungarians every year at Blues Fest. I asked if she would be interested in singing jazz and she started in on all of her favorite jazz composers.

Something Blue – Safari – November 22, 2025

This is Hairy Larry inviting you to enjoy Something Blue every Saturday night at ten. This week we’re featuring Jazz Alliance, Steps Ahead, and the Dave Holland Quintet. For more about the show visit the Something Blue website at sbblues.com.

Don’t miss Something Blue, Saturday night at 10:00 PM Central, at kasu.org.

Something Blue – Echoes – November 8, 2025

This is Hairy Larry inviting you to enjoy Something Blue every Saturday night at ten. This week we’re featuring Mike Stern, Howl Quartet, and Hairy Larry. For more about the show visit the Something Blue website at sbblues.com.

Don’t miss Something Blue, Saturday night at 10:00 PM Central, at kasu.org.

This is Hairy Larry inviting you to enjoy Something Blue every Saturday night at ten. This week we’re featuring Regis V Gronoff, Hypotenuza, Bob Reynolds, Steve Lawson, Roman Stolyar, and Boom Boom Beckett. For more about the show visit the Something Blue website at sbblues.com.

Don’t miss Something Blue, Saturday night at 10:00 PM Central, at kasu.org.

Thanks Marty, today we’ll hear the premier recording of a new song I wrote recorded at KASU New Jazz In Jonesboro.

NJHB recorded their first album at HairyLarryLand on December 29, 2012. In 2013 we released 8 1/2 albums counting “Bop Soup” as half an album. We were back in 2018 and 2019, recording an album at every show. After the pandemic we recorded an album outside of the Round Room on November 5, 2023, and then, last week, we recorded “The Hop Skip Jump”.

We are a different kind of jazz band featuring group improvisation. On November 30, 2019, when we recorded our “Checking For Traps” album, I said, “Then we’re gonna do like NJHB does, we’re gonna not just improvise the solos, we’re gonna improvise the arrangement, we’ll go outside, do whatever we want, have a good time.”

So to explain some of this I’m going to do an analysis of the excerpt of “The Hop Skip Jump” we’re about to hear. I will post a link to the whole album at sbblues.com.

Thanks Marty, today we’re going to hear a jazz standard recorded at KASU New Jazz In Jonesboro.

New Jazz In Jonesboro started in 2013 at TheArts@311 on Church Street in downtown Jonesboro. Then in 2018 and 2019 we had two more seasons at the Jonesboro Public Library Round Room featuring some of the same musicians and many performers new to the New Jazz concerts. These shows were sponsored by KASU.

Now, in 2025, we’re back, once again sponsored by KASU.

We’ve had music in the Brookland United Methodist Youth Building before, sometimes because of the rain forcing us indoors. It’s a great small room with comfortable seating and good acoustics.

So that’s why New Jazz In Jonesboro is in Brookland!

We’ve had three shows so far this year, headlining Jazz Buskers, Bebop Beatniks, and The Delta Blues Aces.

Thanks Marty, today we’re going to bring the funk as played by a band that was popular here in Jonesboro before the pandemic.

Of course I’m talking about The Funk Donors. I never did get to hear them play live but I knew them by their reputation and I wanted to go see them since some of my friends were in the band. Fortunately they recorded a great album, “Flatland” and if you love live music like I do you can watch their videos on Youtube.

This all started when I went to see luvtrst. play at Stage Too. I was talking to Brian Nobles when he mentioned that he used to play in a band with Cody Ballard, the saxophonist in luvtrst. Well, my inquiring ears want to hear so I found out about the band and their album, “Flatland”.

Thanks Marty, today we’re going to hear an original song recorded at the Arkansas Roots Festival.

I first met Sky City at Blues Fest. They volunteered so I booked them. They have always delivered wonderful performances.

Since then they played again at Blues Fest, Sunday In The Park and Bebopalooza. Nathan Crouch even joined us for an evening of Grateful Dead songs at TheArts@311. It is also through Sky City that I met Tonja McKay, an entomologist, and a fine violinist or fiddler, as we say in Arkansas. She helped me record “Three songs from Astral Weeks” at TheArts@311.

In fact all the musicians in the band are outstanding. Playing at the Arkansas Roots Festival on April 8, 2017 were Nathan Crouch – acoustic guitar and vocals, Grant Camp – bass and vocals, Tanja McKay – violin, Matt Pierce – electric guitar and vocals, and Jason Hatcher – drums, all long time Jonesboro residents.

I will leave many links at the Something Blue website at sbblues.com.

This is Hairy Larry inviting you to enjoy Something Blue every Saturday night at ten. This week we’re featuring Manuzik, Javiar Martin Boix, DRDJEKILL, DIGDug, and Gavin Gamboa. For more about the show visit the Something Blue website at sbblues.com.

Don’t miss Something Blue, Saturday night at 10:00 PM Central, at kasu.org.

Thanks Marty, today we’re going to hear a great Arkansas jazz pianist play everybody’s favorite song.

I can remember, back in the day, when I used to watch the Art Porter Trio play jazz on AETN. Older listeners will remember a time when all the world’s music wasn’t at your fingertips and it wasn’t that often that you got to hear a piano trio on television.

Art Porter led a full life with church, family, music education, and performance, often intertwined. That is he started playing at church and later he played at church with his own family, who he taught to play. He also taught in Little Rock, Arkansas, at Horace Mann High School, Parkview High School, and Philander Smith College while performing nights with a jazz trio that sometimes included his son, Art Porter Jr., and sometimes a guest, Pharoah Sanders.

My friend, Suzanne Michell, loved his music and she sang with him as a guest. He even played with his long time friend, Bill Clinton, and Art Porter and his son performed “Amazing Grace” at Bill Clinton’s first inauguration in 1993.

When I’m about to play this song I say, “Ok now, here’s everybody’s favorite song, “Summertime”.

So now, here’s Art Porter, a great man and a genius on jazz piano playing everybody’s favorite song, “Summertime”.