Podcast
Since 2021, the Rhythm Changes Podcast has been an audio companion to this website and part of making a home for creative, improvising, local music people.
Latest episode
Listen to the show wherever you find podcasts, or tap here for links to some places:
History of the Rhythm Changes Podcast
The "RCP" launched on May 25, 2021 with a release of six initial episodes. Will Chernoff was the original host and booked the early guests from his personal network, which came from his time attending Capilano University's Jazz Studies program as well as his years in the Canadian folk scene.
Among the first 30 guests through the rest of the year 2021, several established musicians helped spread the word to an early group of listeners. Guests on some of the most-downloaded early episodes include David Blake, Steve Kaldestad, and Bill Sample and Darlene Cooper.
From November 2021 through the summer of 2022, as the live music scene emerged from the pandemic, Will produced weekly episodes. The podcast accompanied the launches of the gig list, free weekly email, and subscriptions at Rhythm Changes in 2022 and earned perhaps more attention in the scene than those other offerings, even though the actual listening audience was smaller than the readership. People would ask, "How's the podcast going?" or, "Who's coming on the podcast soon?" Among the most-downloaded early episodes from this era are the ones with Gordy Li and Arvind Ramdas.
Some of Will's RCP episodes ended up documenting his guests at early or important junctures in their relationship with him, or with the scene at large. These guests include Tim Reinert in 2021, before he had presented any shows as Infidels Jazz; Cory Weeds in 2022, before Will began working with the Cellar Music Group; and several young musicians like Alvin Brendan and David Caballero who were about to become first-call players.
Chris Fraser succeeded Will as the host in August 2024 following episode 100. "His personality in our scene is so impactful and so positive," Will said of Chris in the announcement. Some of Chris' most popular episodes are his debut, featuring Madeleine Elkins; ones with long-established artists, like John Korsrud and Ron Samworth; and one with Cole Schmidt right before the 2025 jazzfest. Will and Chris also each had a notable episode with an elder of the scene: Kate Hammett-Vaughan and John Gross respectively.