The RH Factor’s Hard Groove might sound uncontroversial to modern ears, but in the early 2000s it was revolutionary. With this record, Roy Hargrove broke away from the straight-ahead jazz revival of the Young Lions era and created something entirely new. Hard Groove blended Roy’s trumpet with the voices of R&B and soul heavyweights like D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, and Common, artists whose platinum-selling albums (Voodoo, Mama’s Gun, Like Water for Chocolate) already featured Roy’s melodic horn playing and orchestral arrangements.

With Hard Groove, Roy flipped the script: instead of lending his sound to the hip hop and neo-soul world, he invited those artists into a jazz record. The result was a landmark project that blurred genres and redefined what jazz could be in the 21st century.

You'll Hear It has been nominated for a Listener's Choice award for Best Music Podcast at the Signal Awards. Vote for us here: https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2025/shows/genre/music

Want more neo-soul? Check out our Voodoo episode: https://youtu.be/AYqmFNF2s0U

Watch the documentary "Hargrove": https://www.hargrovedocumentary.com/

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Joni Mitchell’s Blue, a folk masterpiece, has inspired jazz musicians since its release in 1971. Is it because she sings like a horn player? Her improvisational melodies? Her unconventional chord structures? Her confessional songwriting?

We dive into every song on Blue, breaking down her favorite chords and her vocal phrasing to understand what makes this album great. You’ll never hear this record the same way again.

Watch to the end to see the Open Studio band’s extended interpretation of our favorite song off this record: “River.”

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https://osjazz.link/yhi

John Coltrane's A Love Supreme: Some call it the greatest album of the 20th century. Others say it isn't even Coltrane's best album ... of 1965.

No matter where you think it sits in the jazz music canon, Coltrane's love letter to God is a masterpiece. We break it down track-by-track, chord-by-chord to uncover what makes this album such a rewarding listen from front to back.

This week marks 99 years since Coltrane's birth. In his honor, we look back at this episode from 2024, where we listen deeply to what just may be Coltrane's magnum opus.

Looking for more Coltrane? Here are 6 Songs To Turn Coltrane Curious Into Coltrane Converted:
https://youtu.be/aSdNNTmL7Yk

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

We're talking jazz influences in hip hop today with Nate Sloan and Charlie Harding from Switched On Pop. We dig into tracks from Kendrick Lamar (there's that TPAB acronym!), Common, Cautious Clay and David Bowie to surface the musical qualities that explain why jazz musicians love these artists.

Plus - we explore the striking similarities between jazz and hip hop, especially in the recording booth, and why we don't hear more jazz in the popular music canon.

Check out our Robert Glasper episode:
https://youtu.be/hsJpuqtNH9o

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We’re diving back into Stevie Wonder with Innervisions, right in the heart of his classic period from 1972 to 1976. There’s something magical about this stretch of music history, and Innervisions stands as one of the greatest albums to emerge from it.

Stevie wrote every song on this album, and played every instrument on many tracks. From "Too High" to "Living For The City" to "Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing", we pull apart these incredible songs to spend time with the many sides of Stevie Wonder: bass player, drummer, lyricist, and vocalist. Plus -- we're bringing back the keys for this one so Peter and Adam can pull apart all the musical nuances that make jazz musicians love Stevie Wonder so much.

Adam breaks down why jazz musicians love Stevie in our You'll Read It newsletter. Sign up for personal reflections and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of You'll Hear It.

Start your free Open Studio trial for ALLLLL your jazz lesson needs.

This episode references our episode on Talking Book, "Is This Stevie's Greatest Album?" Check it out here.

There is no more important relationship in this era of music than that of Miles Davis and John Coltrane; two masters ever-present in the musical and cultural landscape. Someday My Prince Will Come marks the last time Coltrane and Davis played together, and it couldn't be more perfect.

We dive into how their partnership played out on stage and in the recording studio over the years, and how their dynamic on Someday My Prince Will Come marks a handoff from ’50s jazz to the rock and roll sound of the ’60s, with Coltrane leading the way.

And Miles Davis, even more so than a masterful trumpet player or composer, was a tastemaker. From the musicians he picked, to the chord changes, to his choice of album art, we explore how this record brings it all together in one phenomenal package.

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🎹 Welcome to You’ll Hear It!

Your destination for laid‑back jazz chats, nerdy chords, and genuine conversations with Adam Maness and Peter Martin.

If you love spontaneous piano sessions, deep dives into jazz theory, or discovering community around two laid‑back hosts, you’re in the right place.

When does Afro Blue and Smells Like Teen Spirit belong on the same record? When it's a Robert Glasper album! In 2012, Glasper's Black Radio brought together artists like Erykah Badu to bring a jazz standard, Afro Blue, back into the popular music canon. Black Radio hit #1 on the jazz charts, while simultaneously reaching #4 on the hip-hop R&B charts and #15 on the Top 200.

The Blue Note pianist has been bending genres since the 90s, bringing together the best of traditional jazz and weaving it seamlessly with R&B, hip-hop, soul and rock & roll. And it all fits, because Glasper is equally at home in all of these categories. He grew up listening to all kinds of music, like Nirvana, Billy Joel, Busta Rhymes -- everything. Black Radio, he says, was a way to put his "life on wax".

Rob Harvilla from 60 Songs to Explain the 90s: The 2000s joins Adam and Peter to dive into what makes this album great, and how it refutes from any attempt to categorize it. From the J. Dilla Influence, to Casey Benjamin's album-defining flute, to the Erykah Badu of it all, you'll never hear this album the same way again.

And this album inspired what is possibly our best YHI outro yet. Let us know if you agree!

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