The Upside of Jazz

Comedian Robert Klein, Part 2

In the second episode featuring comedian Robert Klein, he and Joe continue their conversation about jazz and comedy,  Klein remembers a special breakfast with Groucho Mar

Comedian Robert Klein, Part 1

In the first of two episodes featuring the comedy legend, Joe and Robert Klein get together to talk about Klein's career in comedy. Despite not being a musician, Klein ex

Kelly Peterson - "He was always looking to the next thing" 

Joe has a conversation with Kelly Peterson, whose husband was Oscar Peterson, about the legendary pianist. Peterson shares the story of how she and Oscar built a life tog

Pianist John Beasley - "There is no clear cut path"

Joe and pianist John Beasley have a chat about Beasley's new album, Invisible Piano, which was inspired by a tour of an art museum in Stuttgart, Germany, how he found mus

Larry Goldings - "That makes the challenge of being myself harder"

Joe talks with pianist and organist Larry Goldings about finding his ​own sound while playing a range of styles with a variety of people, "Rhombus," Goldings's new album

Luther S. Allison - "It's a gift to be able to love this"

Joe and pianist/drummer Luther S. Allison sit down for a discussion about exploring jazz by learning how to play different instruments, how the places you live shape the

Tia Fuller and Shamie Fuller-Royston - "We've always embraced all types of genres"

Pianist Tia Fuller and saxophonist Shamie Fuller-Royston have a chat with Joe about playing music as a family when they were kids and now together as adults, their latest

Harry Connick, Jr. on Finding Your Own Sound

Joe sits down for a conversation with pianist, singer, actor, bandleader, and author, Harry Connick, Jr. to talk about learning piano from James Booker and Ellis Marsalis

Louis Armstrong & America's Voice

To celebrate the United States’ 250th, Joe Alterman explores the remarkable story of Louis Armstrong — how America found its voice in him, how he became one of its greate

The Business Behind the Notes

Joe explores the important, prolific, and complicated relationship between Jewish immigrants and Black musicians — and how their intersecting stories helped give birth to

The Sound Between the Notes

Joe shares the history of how the sounds of Jewish and Black communities came together and ended up shaping the sound of American music. See omnystudio.com/listener for

Matt White - "For me, it's connection"

In the next episode of The Upside of Jazz featuring artists out of the South, Joe has a conversation with Columbia, South Carolina native, trumpeter, composer, and educat

Sarah Sharp - "It's almost mythology, it's so universal"

In the first of two episodes featuring artists out of the South, Joe talks with Austin, Texas-based vocalist Sarah Sharp about sitting down and listening to multiple vers

An Interview with Sonny Rollins

This week we revisit one of Sonny Rollins's final interviews recorded in October 2025, when Joe Alterman sat down for a conversation with the Saxophone Colossus himself.

Sean Mason - "There was something about jazz that pulled me"

Joe and pianist Sean Mason get together for a chat in which Sean explains why he believes the 20s are the most underrated jazz era, making the piano dance, and how Sean d

Bobby Broom - "It is who I am"

Joe and guitarist Bobby Broom talk about his latest album featuring Sonny Rollins' compositions, "Notes of Thanks," 16-year-old Broom getting his start alongside Sonny Ro

Finding the Humor in Jazz

Joe looks behind the serious face that jazz sometimes puts on and uncovers a world of silliness, both on and off the stage. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy infor

Julie Benko and Jason Yeager - "I find my spirituality in the doing of the theater"

Host Joe Atlerman invites Julie Benko and Jason Yeager to the show to talk about finding spirituality in music and theater, how to define Jewish music, and traditions bui

Charles Tolliver - "Each note has a declaration"

Joe Alterman and trumpeter Charles Tolliver chat about revisiting Tolliver's debut album as band leader, "Right Now... And Then," for its recent remixing and reissue, kno

Pat Metheny - "I tend to think of music as just one thing"

Guitarist Pat Metheny joins Joe Alterman to share his thoughts on being a musician in a time of AI, how he developed his understanding of playing an instrument, and how s