Charlie Parker was punk rock before there was punk rock. His bebop was underground music: subversive, intellectual, and a major departure from popular music of the day (think: Nat King Cole, The Andrews Sisters, Perry Como). He was an intellectual heavyweight, nearly untouchable in his technical ability and pushing music to places no one else was daring to go. So where did Charlie Parker with Strings, his most accessible album, come from?

It's not Bird going commercial, like some have claimed. Charlie Parker with Strings is an album he fought to make. He loved Bach and Stravinsky (even quoting the opening of Stravinsky's 'Firebird Suite' mid-solo in one legendary performance), and had longed to make a record where his jazz saxophone was accompanied by strings.

The resulting record is music's greatest improviser at his best. Jazz pianists Peter Martin and Adam Maness listen to select tracks (like "Just Friends" and "Summertime"), breaking down the theory behind the music to understand what makes this album great.

Jazz is the foundation of the most GENIUS music in recent history: Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Joni Mitchell, D'Angelo. In this popular music series, You'll Hear It, Adam and Peter break down the greatest albums of all time. These seasoned jazz pianists bring their deep musical knowledge to every joyful episode to help you hear the hidden qualities that make music AMAZING. You'll never hear music the same way again.

Like the jam at the end of the show? Head to @openstudiomusic on YouTube for more.

Visit openstudiojazz.com for ALLLLL your jazz lesson needs.

00:00 - Intro: Charlie Parker with Strings
01:10 - "Just Friends"
04:40 - Want to Be a Great Musician? Study This Track
10:20 - Early Recording: "Swingmatism" (1941)
12:45 - The Secret to Charlie Parker's Genius: Practice
15:20 - The Savoy Sessions: "Now's the Time" & Young Miles Davis
18:20 - The Contrafact Built in Real Time
21:45 - "Koko": Miles Davis Couldn't Play It?!
24:30 - Musicians NEED to Listen to This
27:15 - Think Parker Sold Out? Think AGAIN
28:55 - "April in Paris": Parker's Chosen Tune
33:55 - About Mitch Miller's Oboe ...
38:25 - "Summertime"
44:10 - "Out of Nowhere"
46:35 - We Have An Album!
47:20 - "East of the Sun"
53:00 - "I'll Remember April"
55:50 - Categories: Desert Island Tracks
56:35 - The BEST Moments on Strings
1:11:10 - Open Studio Plays "Just Friends"

Is Steely Dan's Gaucho more perfect than Aja? Maybe even ... too perfect? Two years in the studio. The greatest session musicians alive asked to play take after take after take until it was exactly right. And sometimes that STILL wasn't enough for Donald Fagen and Walter Becker.

On today's episode of You'll Hear It, jazz pianists Peter Martin and Adam Maness are breaking down the 1980 album track by track: the jazz harmony hiding inside those smooth grooves, the abstract poetry of the lyrics, and the insane stories behind how this thing got made. Including the $150,000 drum machine invented specifically for this record, the interview quote that cost them a third of a song, and the drum track that took 85 takes and 35 tape edits to piece together.

And after all that, we didn't get another Steely Dan record for 20 years.

Was it worth it?

Read about the simple mistake that would haunt Steely Dan for 44 years in this week's edition of the You'll Read It newsletter: https://youllhearit.com/newsletter

Watch our FULL breakdown of Steely Dan's Aja: https://youtu.be/G10mYohR6T4

00:00 - Steely Dan's Gaucho: A Monument to Perfect
01:15 - "Babylon Sisters"
11:00 - What Makes Steely Dan Genius
13:35 - The Precision of Purdie's Drums on Babylon Sisters
16:10 - Abstract Lyrics
19:35 - "Hey Nineteen"
22:25 - Pristine Rhodes
25:25 - Isolated Vocal Stems on "Hey Nineteen"
33:00 - "Glamour Profession"
38:55 - The Mingus Influence
40:10 - "Gaucho"
43:20 - The Keith Jarrett Lawsuit
48:50 - Gaucho Chorus Deep Dive
54:10 - "Time Out Of Mind"
57:50 - Monument to Perfectionism (Lead Boots)
1:01:35 - Perfectionism and Jazz
1:05:05 - Is Gaucho More Perfect Than Aja?
1:06:25 - "My Rival"
1:10:40 - Bowie / Steely Dan Side-By-Side
1:14:00 - Too Fussy?
1:19:05 - Open Studio Plays "Glamour Profession"

The Impossible follow-up: Michael Jackson's 1987 album Bad. Five years after Thriller changed everything, Michael returned with a record that would become one of the best-selling of all time, win two Grammys, feature some of the greatest musicians in the world (hey, Stevie Wonder!) ... and somehow still gets called a letdown.

We've covered two of Michael's albums produced by Quincy Jones: Off the Wall and Thriller. What about Bad? Could it actually be better than its predecessor? Jazz pianists Peter Martin and Adam Maness deliver their final verdict on this 80s pop sensation.

Along the way, you'll hear behind-the-scenes stories about the making of the album. Plus - we break down the tracks (with keyboards) to highlight the music theory behind this album's most compelling moments.

“Annie, are you OK?” Sometimes the best hooks come from the strangest places - find out where in the YHI newsletter: https://youllhearit.com/newsletter

00:00 - Intro: "Smooth Criminal" - Michael Jackson
01:30 - Michael Jackson's Bad (1987)
6:40 - Quincy's Smaller Role on Bad
7:50 - The Quincey Jones Brain Trust
11:00 - "Bad" - Tough Guy Michael
15:00 - Too Much Programming?
18:40 - That Organ Solo? Jimmy Smith!
22:40 - The Tragedy Behind Bad
23:45 - "The Way You Make Me Feel" - Sweet Michael
29:15 - How WE Really Feel (About Bad vs Thriller)
30:30 - "Speed Demon" - A Nostalgic Track
31:55 - Can We Be Honest?
32:50 - "Liberian Girl" - The Mid-Album Dip
35:30 - "Just Good Friends" - Stevie Can't Save It
41:00 - "Another Part of Me" - Pure Joy
45:00 - How "Man in the Mirror" Got Its Name
45:55 - "Man in the Mirror" - The Apex
53:00 - Why We Don't See Songs Like This Today
57:30 - "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" - Rejected By Babs
1:01:00 - "Dirty Diana" - Phil Collins Vibes
1:02:50 - "Smooth Criminal" - That's MJ's Heartbeat!
1:06:25 - "Leave Me Alone" - The Shuffle
1:09:15 - Apex Moments: Phillinganes and That "Woo!"
1:10:55 - Final Verdict: Bad vs Thriller
1:14:05 - Open Studio Plays "Smooth Criminal"

Carole King’s Tapestry is so cozy, you'll want to hug it; sit with it. It sounds simple, warm, and totally unassuming. But it’s way more impressive than it seems at first.

Adam and Peter break down what’s actually going on beneath the surface of Tapestry ... and what most people miss. Carole King was already an elite songwriter long before this album. You know Aretha Franklin's “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”? Carole wrote that. “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” by The Shirelles? She wrote that, too. When she was just 17!

Listen closely and you hear it everywhere: in the chord choices, in the way the she actually PLAYS the piano instead of just accompanying her vocals, and in the way her melodies and lyrics lock together so naturally you barely notice how intentional it all is.

Add in that soulful, sweet voice, and you start to understand how this unassuming record became a chart-topping, Grammy-dominating classic when it came out in 1971.

Tapestry sounds easy, but it's not. Check out this episode, and you'll never hear this album the same way again.

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00:00 - Opening Tune: It's Too Late
01:25 - Introducing Carole King's Tapestry
05:00 - That Time Young Paul Simon and Carole Played Together
07:10 - Carole's Early Doo-wop Sound
10:20 - "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" - Aretha Franklin
13:30 - When Songwriter Became Performer
16:30 - B.B. and Carole
18:00 - "I Feel the Earth Move"
22:00 - "So Far Away"
30:45 - "It's Too Late"
40:50 - "Home Again"
44:00 - "Beautiful"
45:35 - "Way Over Yonder"
50:00 - "You've Got a Friend"
58:20 - "Where You Lead"
1:02:30 - "Will You Love Me Tomorrow"
1:04:40 - "Tapestry"
1:08:45 - "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"
1:13:10 - Apex Moments of Tapestry
1:21:20 - Coming Up On on You'll Hear It
1:22:00 - Outro: "It's Too Late"

We're looking at the best jazz releases of January 2026! Listen with pianist Adam Maness as he breaks down and reacts to these great tracks.

Start your free Open Studio trial for ALLLLL your jazz lesson needs:
https://osjazz.link/yhi

00:00 - Intro
00:50 - Why Don't You - Sam Fribush, Corey Fonville, Charlie Hunter
03:09 - Talking Drum - Julian Lage
04:58 - Flim - Winderman, Colman, Kimock
06:53 - Nacho Supreme - Motion II
08:51 - Wisdom Is Eternal (For Barry Harris)
10:49 - Unpersuadable Extern - N∆BOU
12:11 - Free Walk - Vladko
14:17 - Fireball - John Ellis & Double Wide
15:52 - Giant Steps - Billy Hart
18:50 - Parks Lope - Aaron Parks

New episode drops February 2, 2026! Keep your eyes on the feed for episodes on artists like Carole King, Michael Jackson, Ornette Coleman, Miles Davis, Radiohead, Tears for Fears, D'Angelo and so much more!

We're looking back at the best jazz releases of 2025. Listen with pianist Adam Maness as he breaks down and reacts to these great tracks.

This is a new segment from the team behind You'll Hear It, and we're looking to continue this music discovery pod as a weekly series in 2026. Help us shape this series and leave us a comment with your feedback.

Start your free Open Studio trial for ALLLLL your jazz lesson needs:
https://osjazz.link/yhi

00:00 - The Best New Jazz of 2025
00:55 - "Spiral Dance" - Branford Marsalis Quartet
02:30 - "Minor Blues Redux" - Kenny Barron
4:54 - "Icarus" - Joshua Redman
6:55 - "Thou Swell" - Gillian Margot, Geoffrey Keezer
9:30 - "Southern Nights" - Sullivan Fortner
12:30 - "Anything but now" - Cécile McLorin Salvant
16:30 - "Everything Means Nothing to Me" - Brad Mehldau
22:00 - "Over (feat. Yebba)" - Robert Glasper
24:40 - "Carved From" - Mary Halvorson
26:45 - "Old Folks" - Christian McBride
29:00 - "Windows" - Chick Corea, Christian McBride, Brian Blade
33:00 - "Mood Indigo" - Dee Dee Bridgewater, Bill Charlap

What does it really mean to live a musical life?

As we look ahead to 2026, Adam and Peter talk about music as a way of being. Not a checklist, or a finish line, or something reserved for “professionals.” They share why they believe everyone is a musician, and why taste and curiosity matter more than optimization.

Whether you're a musician, or a lover of music, anyone can lead a musical life.

Start your free Open Studio trial for ALLLLL your jazz lesson needs:
https://osjazz.link/yhi

00:00 - How to Live a Musical Life in 2026
07:00 - There is No Finish Line
08:45 - All Humans Are Musicians
19:10 - Find Your Own Taste
28:00 - How We Choose Topics for You'll Hear It