There's a new sponsor for the first big jazz festival of the season, but the same great music as always seems to be ready to go. The 2025 Saratoga Jazz Festival is sponsored by GE Vernova, and is scheduled for June 28-29 on the scenic grounds of Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC). As always, the range of talent is broad, from the blues (Gary Clark Jr.) to the great vocalists of today and tomorrow (Gregory Porter, Cassandra Wilson, Veronica Swift, Nicole Zuraitis) to certified jazz legends (Al DiMeola, Gary Bartz, Kenny Garrett) to successful crossover acts (Lettuce, Trombone Shorty). Click here for a full list of artists on the Main Stage and more intimate Charles R, Wood Discovery Stage.

As always, producer Danny Melnick joined me to discuss the festival and give some insight into how the event is structured and how it takes place, as well as the skinny on which artists to catch. Danny has been graciously joining me for podcast conversations since 2011, and its always a pleasure to speak with him.

Besides all the great music, the festival has continually upgraded its facilities, and has a juried art and craft fair, terrific restaurant-quality food and grounds to explore. "The Hang" is one of the great weekends of each summer, so be sure to put it on your calendar.

Musical selections include the title track from NEA Jazz Master Kenny Garrett's Do Your Dance album and "Skylark" from Cassandra Wilson's Grammy winning New Moon Daughter album, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary at the festival in an exclusive New York performance.

Sometimes jazz musicians get their big breaks at school, and others from mentors on the bandstand. And others…from their job in land use regulation?

Such is the case for singer Susan Hinkson, whose debut album Just In Time (on windfall creations, LLC) is a spirited romp through the Great American Songbook. For years Susan was a regulator and policy maker for architectural real estate both for the city of New York and as the managing member in the Capalino Ventures, LLC urban strategy firm. Among those with whom she worked closely was Richard Barth, the touchstone of regulatory real estate land use, who introduced her to his brother Bruce. Straight No Chaser fans are well-acquainted with pianist Bruce Barth, an important part of the New York jazz scene for decades.

Ms. Hinkson has an expansive knowledge of showtunes, immersed in the music by a mother who was a musical arranger on Broadway. Together they listened to the storied Make Believe Ballroom radio show on WNEW-FM that played all the popular songs of earlier years. So when she met Bruce Barth to talk about voice lessons, the two knew they had a deep sense of musical commonality. Fast-forward to the present, and the result is Just In Time . The album features Barth on piano in a superb New York quintet comprising alto saxophonist Steve Wilson, bassist Vicente Archer and drummer Adam Cruz.

Susan digs deep for some lesser recorded runes like the Rodgers/Hammerstein tune “This Nearly Was Mine” from South Pacific, as well as better known classics like the title track, “My Funny Valentine,” and “It Might as Well Be Spring.” With a nod to her favorite singers, she delivers a fun version of Blossom Dearie’s “Rhode Island Is Famous For You,” and goes against type with female-centric versions of “The Best is Yet to Come” and “One for My Baby (and One More for the Road).”

Podcast 996 is my conversation with Susan, as we discuss her late start in recording and her attraction to “boy songs” in choosing repertoire. The podcast features her versions of “The Best is Yet to Come,” and "Thus Nearly Was Mine."

You don’t judge a book by it’s cover, and you don’t judge a band by its name. Toronto-based Shuffle Demons may sound like a retro-blues band, but in fact the sounds they have captured on their latest album, Are You Really Real? (Alma/Universal ) don’t easily get categorized.

There’s the jazz-funk of “X Marks The Spot,” swinging “Good Mourning,” and more intricate “Ride the Wave” among a set of tunes heavy in high-energy improvisation. The band presents a unique lineup of instrumentation featuring Richard Underhill (alto and baritone sax), Kelly Jefferson and Matt Lagan (tenor sax), Mike Downes (electric and acoustic bass) and drummer Stich Wynston. The result is an always interesting listen that will hit both your mind and bottom.

Richard and Stich joined me for our conversation, as we followed the band’s history from busking on the streets of Toronto forty years ago, to personnel changes which shifted the band’s core sound, to today’s ensemble. Aided by the Canada Council for the Arts, the band has been able to record and release albums that try – and even succeed – to capture the energy of their live shows.

Musical selections include “Good Mourning" and "Scala Rosa."