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Jazz Podcasts
154 shows and 24,525 episodes sit under Jazz.
Hear intimate artist conversations on Judy Carmichael's Jazz Inspired and Oregon Music News, plus record-focused banter from Jazz Bastard Podcast.
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Listening guide
A listener's guide to Jazz podcasts
Some jazz listening begins with a record; some begins with a person remembering the room where the music happened. The shows here divide along that line. There are patient artist conversations, restless dives through albums and standards, local-scene dispatches, and radio-style sets that let selection do most of the talking.
The useful question is less “How much jazz do I know?” than “Do I want stories, criticism, or uninterrupted listening?”
Musicians in conversation
Judy Carmichael's Jazz Inspired has the warmest interview room of the group. Questions open slowly, guest answers have space to widen, and technical talk is translated into the language of touch, timing, memory, and taste. The guest list moves easily between performers and other jazz-minded artists, with episodes such as Christian McBride on Jazz Inspired, Eliane Elias on Jazz Inspired, and Leonard Maltin 2 on Jazz Inspired.
The Jake Feinberg Show moves faster. Its interviews feel spoken first and edited second: quick affirmations, timeline questions, detours, then a return to the names, venues, and lineages that hold the story together. Start with The Joseph Blue Interview or The Tyrone Allen Interview and expect scene knowledge to arrive through recollection rather than lecture.
LexMedia Podcasts is a mixed network, so choose its jazz strand deliberately. The Jazz Journey with Doug Hall | Episode 6: Javon Jackson, The Jazz Journey with Doug Hall | Episode 5: Aaron Irwin, and The Jazz Journey with Doug Hall | Episode 4: Ray Soul identify the relevant path through a broader feed.
Records under discussion
Jazz Bastard Podcast approaches the record shelf with an appetite for themes and playful titles. Jazz Bastard Podcast 343 - Do You CTI What I CTI? points toward label-minded listening, while Jazz Bastard Podcast 340 - What Shall We Play from Record Store Day? starts from the pleasures of choosing what to put on. The two-part Jazz Bastard Podcast 344 - Sonnymoon for Two Bastards - Part 1 and Jazz Bastard Podcast 345 - Sonnymoon for Two Bastards - Part 2 offer a longer entry.
You'll Hear It supplies the most recognizable album-by-album route. Its run includes "Money Jungle" – Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Max Roach, "Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington" – Thelonious Monk, and "The Shape of Jazz to Come" – Ornette Coleman. For a more current turn, there is Best New Jazz In February 2026.
Broader themed selections come from Jazz, Just The Way We Like It. One episode is simply Jazz, Just The Way We Like It - Episode 232 - Spiritual Jazz; another gathers several distinct voices in Jazz, Just The Way We Like It -Episode 229 - Lakecia benjamin, Kandace Springs, Esperanza Spalding and ZEM. It is a practical choice when one record feels too narrow but a general stream feels too loose.
Jazz as a living scene
Oregon Music News has an oral-history temperament: leisurely, affectionate, informed, and comfortable with a useful digression. Its local focus appears clearly in Chris Doss: Biamp Portland Jazz Festival honcho looks back at this year's and Charley Gray: Coffeeshop Conversations #58 - 2016 PDX Jazz Festival Jazz Master ..
For shorter scene reports, Jazz88 moves among performers, venues, festivals, and releases. Celebrating Sidney Bechet with Tony Balluff of the South Side Aces sits beside Ella Grace releases her debut CD at Berlin in Mpls and Jazz in the Cities Festival provides Pathways into Enjoying and Understanding Jazz March 28. That makes it a good stop for listeners who like the social geography around the music.
If you want the wider landscape, go up to Music. For criticism and conversation that crosses styles, head to Music Commentary; for artist-led talk beyond this genre, try Music Interviews. Music History suits listeners who want a longer historical frame, while Rock and Hip-Hop lead toward different musical traditions.
Where to start
Begin with Judy Carmichael's Jazz Inspired for an intimate artist conversation. Choose Jazz Bastard Podcast when the record-collector impulse is strongest. Try Oregon Music News or Jazz88 for clubs, festivals, and working musicians in their local setting. If you want a familiar album as the doorway, You'll Hear It offers the cleanest first step.
Featured shows below are part of the PlayNext catalog. Updated weekly.
Featured shows
8 shows, described rather than listed
Each has a short write-up and a note on what it does best here.
Rapid-fire interviews put musicians such as Joseph Blue, Julian Ho, and Eliana Athayde at the center, with scene-specific memories and an oral-history feel for listeners who like jazz told through conversation.
A rotating ensemble ricochets through pop culture, TV, movies, wrestling, and oddball questions with interruptions, laughter, and quick pivots. It suits listeners who want rowdy morning-show chemistry.
Leisurely, scene-savvy interviews connect Portland jazz and broader music life, from festival organizer Chris Doss to musicians Chance Hayden and Paul Brainard. It suits listeners who enjoy digressive local stories.
Judy Carmichael gives guests such as Julie Benko, Kristin Korb, and Ken Peplowski room for extended answers, gently steering warm conversations for listeners drawn to lived jazz culture.
A rotating set of conversational programs includes Doug Hall's Jazz Journey interviews with Javon Jackson and Aaron Irwin. It suits listeners who welcome guest-led jazz talk within a broader community mix.
Clásica FM presents music programming in Spanish and invites listeners into its supporter community through its website. It suits Spanish-speaking listeners looking for a broad music-radio home.
The podcast works through jazz records and themes in multipart runs, with episodes on "Sonnymoon for Two," CTI, Record Store Day, and smooth jazz. It suits listeners who like album-led discussion.
Chef Bruce Buege serves themed smooth-jazz episodes built around motoring west, summer, heat, swing shifts, and keeping things smooth. It suits listeners after an easygoing programmed mix.