My Debut As A Radio DJ in the 2020's
While I’ve been writing here under my own name here, I’ve been cultivating another identity. As a writer, you can call me by my name, but as a radio DJ, call me Coltrane Santana.
I debuted my first show under this name on Monday March 21st, 2022. My show, The Trane Tracks, can be found on Shady Pines Radio’s website or mobile app. Also check out my partners in crime, Studio KMSG, who now has 3 shows on the station. DJ Icy-hot hosts High Voltage, an all electronic show Wednesday nights. Dj Bellyskratch and X-Contamination host Off The Record, a mouth-watering musical meal. With their and Shady Pines help, I’ll continue to show off cool music and the stories that surround it. This debut show is more about me then the music this week.
Please listen alongside my words here. My Mixcloud page will have my archived shows for you to listen at your leisure if you miss me live!
Here I am going to provide some extra context and information that didn’t make it into the show for whatever reason.
Rockin The Paradise- Styx
Styx was the first concert I ever saw. As a rock fan growing up, I listened through their Greatest hits and became a fan of the band. Ironically it was after I saw them live that I dove into their discography that I really became a fan. As of now, I still love Styx and will die on this hill.
AD 1928 and Rockin The Paradise were chosen because it headlines the album Paradis Theater, easily my favorite Styx album, and among my all time favorite albums. Paradise Theater is structured like a live show that you’d hear at an elegant theater. You have marquee show tunes, like Rockin The Paradise, and you have songs that feel like they surround the theater. Songs like Lonely People and Nothing Ever Goes As Planned speak to the crowd, the jaded or tired humans that use music and the theater experience as a way to unwind.
The tragedy is that Styx had one more album (Kilroy Was Here, which is also great) after this before the original lineup shattered. I wanted to start the show like they started their album. Like every other song on here, it’s a personal choice. I doubt this’ll be the last time I feature this band on the air.
Everybody’s Everything- Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana is another rocker I’ve been a fan of all my life. My dad got me into him when I was very young. We finally got to see him in concert a few years back. Unfortunately they didn’t play this one. This isn’t my favorite Santana song, that’ll certainly be featured later.
I chose this song because few Santana fans I know even talk about this one, and it could be a party anthem. I’m sad that I couldn’t find a studio recording that lasted longer, because this song deserves a long jam session. One of my least favorite teachers was the one, ironically, who turned me onto this song. He was a band teacher who could play a really good trumpet, and talked about the horn section in this song. Near the end of the chorus the trumpet has to jump an entire octave to punch in the last note. That’s not easy to hit on the fly. I played trombone for about 4 years, an instrument with a bigger mouthpiece than a trumpet, and even with the flexibility of the bone, it’s a hard note to hit.
However, this isn’t why I chose Santana in my name. Before I was born, my parents gave me wierd nicknames in the womb. One of them was Coltrane Santana, named after John Coltrane and Carlos Santana. So, I had to include a Santana song in my show on this day.
Like We Own It- The Motet
When I first moved to Portland, my friends and family brought me to a bluegrass festival that I love dearly. 3 days into the festival, at about 3AM, some friends and I took a bottle of Jack Daniels to a security checkpoint that was abandoned. We played The Motet self-titled album on repeat. Every time someone passed by, we asked them to dance with us. It’s a memory I cherish.
Like We Own It is the perfect song to test out new audio to. Be it a car speaker, a pair of headphones, or a portable suond machine of any kind. The high synths are complimented by a horn section on one hand, while the drum and bass pop underneath the medley. You can hear every instrument strut it’s stuff before the vocals take over. This song has background singer added to the chorus to complete the invigorating studio recording.
I’ve since seen the Motet in concert 3 times, the last time was after Lyle Divinsky (the singer who performs on this song) had left the band and moved to Portland. The band is part of the reason I’ve been falling in love with funk and jam bands the past few years. It’s no wonder they show up on the Trane Tracks.
Wake the Funk Up- Five Alarm Funk featuring Leo P
Next time I feature a Leo P song, I’m just gonna say Leo P. I was nervous during recording that I’d pronounce his name wrong. I’ll keep it simple next time.
Five Alarm Funk’s newest album featured Bootsy Collins in the very next track after this. The whole album is a dance floor jam. A rock funk group with a brasshouse saxophone is a great fit. I knew Leo was in the album, and once I heard the baritone sax doing funny sounds in this song, I knew I’d found it.
There’s no special reason for this one, I just think it’s a neat song. The next one, really is special…
Justice 2020- Dumpstaphunk featuring Trombone Shorty & Chali 2na
And here I did make an error. I said this was performed on the wrong festival. This was performed for Justice Comes Alive, a virtual music festival that came up in the wake of last June’s Black Lives Matter protests. A bunch of New Orleans born black musicians were perfect for this festival.
The song itself is a wonder. The swampy guitar and bass that defines Dumpstaphunk for me comes in strong. The horns brighten it up before the lyrics tell us what we’re here for. Lyrically, it sounds like an anthem to get everyone together and listening to each other. It is not centrist or neutral on the political spectrum. Before you can decode the lyrics, Trombone Shorty performs an amazing trombone solo, one that’s been threatening to take over since the song began. After one more bunch of lyrics, we hear Chali 2na’s rap verse. He takes many shots at the police systems that threaten the livelihoods of black citizens every day. I love how he flows rhymes in between everyone hollering “JUSTICE”.
This was an easy pick for me. I’ve been waiting a few years for Dumpstaphunk to record an album, and Where Do We Go From Here didn’t disappoint. Justice 2020 isnt the only socially conscious song, and far from the only dance banger you’ll hear on it.
Sugar Doosie- Galactic
Spotify told me that this was my most played song in 2019 on their platform. I’m glad that is was. I know it wasn’t my most listened to song of the year, (we’ll get there later), but Spotify saw me shove this song into my ears more than any other.
Galactic was among my first musical discoveries in Portland. They were performing at my workplace, and when I heard their sound, I knew I was in the right place in my life. I eventually fell in love with the band, and have now seen them twice (so far) in concert. I love their sound because the funk is an after effect of a bluesy jazz band. They know when and where to turn the music up. This song doesn’t always need to get dirty and funky, but it keeps up a positive energy. I hope one day that they’ll play this at a show I attend, as I’ve missed the first two times. One day…
Hey Pocky Way- The Neville Brothers
As a funk history fan, most of my trails have brought me to the Neville Brothers. They’re New Orleans institutions who inspired generations of musicians.
Hey Pocky Way is the opening track to Fiyo on the Bayou, and keeps up a similar positive energy to the Sugar Doosie. My show is going to try and harness this feeling moving forward. I chose this Neville Brothers version over The Meters because I prefer the horn intro and lively percussion section. While I wish I could hear the piano more in the Neville’s, I still give them the edge. Plus, the 1981 Neville album had Whitney Houston do some background vocals (in Fire on the Bayou and Sitting in Limbo)
I wish I had a larger story to tell around this, but I haven’t been to New Orleans, either as a citizen or a visitor, so I can only live vicariously through their music. Time will tell if I can change that, but I can at least play their music for us.
Lady Day and John Coltrane- Gil Scott-Heron
Even the most positive energy needs a change sometimes.
Having a song lighter in scope was a good way for me to recenter myself, as well as provide a springboard into a Coltrane song. GSH has a good point, in that we need musicians to negate our troubles. It’s the philosophy that brought me to jazz music, and to this radio station.
Naturally, calling myself Coltrane means I had to feature the name. Of course, I can take it a step further.
Giant Steps- John Coltrane
I wish I had the musical knowledge to explain this song, and why it’s so famous/infamous.
Giant Steps is a way for Coltrane to show off his ever-broadening musical knowledge. Throwing wild chords at a million miles an hour to the bassline is insane enough. But once it’s established he turns the dial to 12 with it. It’s so fast, yet it allows you to follow along. It’s crisp and clean to the untrained ear.
I almost went with Blue Train, since it’s the Trane tracks, and I’m trying to go with cheeky branding. Realistically, I wanted something that was familiar to some of us while still being on the crazy side. This did the trick for me, and here we are with it.
Neena- Outer Orbit featuring John Medeski
I’ve been following frontwoman and singer Sarah Clarke since Dirty Revival, and even got the opportunity to interview her about music in Portland. I’ve seen her, between both bands, more than any other musicians in concert in my life. I’d gladly keep that going.
She’s great at singing in these kinds of bands. Both Dirty and Orbit have wonderful musicians behind them, ones who can elevate a big voice like hers. Galen Clark created this band during quarantine, bringing together an all-star crew of local Portland musicians. Neena features John Medeski, of the Medeski trio, on organ. It’s a great sound for a band whose keyboard players don’t always utilize the sound, instead opting for synth and piano sounds for their jams. The song starts soft, only building itself up. By the end of the song, everything is at its most grandiose. It’s beautiful to listen to, and fits perfectly in a live setting.
Bright Lights, Big City- Takeshi Nakatsuka & Karen Aoki
In 2019, I swear I listened to this song more than Sugar Doosie, but I didn’t know where to find this song on Spotify. I listened to this on Youtube a lot during 2019, at first thinking it came from the Persona franchise, but eventually finding out it wasn’t the case.
Readers are aware that I’m a Citypop fan, and this song came up during one session. While I don’t believe this song counts as Citypop, its sound was so similar that I believed it belonged to the same time period. The bright synthesizer sounds feel like a breezy warm summer night. The mood is like a colorful city weekend night that I always dreamed about as a kid. These sounds have a nostalgic feeling even for those of us who grew up outside city environments, as their soul-filled synths are reminiscent of a simpler time that we always want to go back to.
It’s probably an illusion I’m cooking up for myself. For 4 minutes and 57 seconds, I let myself get caught in the illusion before I wake up and re-enter my reality. It’s not glamorous, but with songs like this stuck in my head, it seems so much sweeter.
Stomp!- The Brothers Johnson
At the end of my show, I want my listeners to remember a fun dance-worthy time that makes them wish they could stay on the Trane with me.
One of my new favorite songs, with some of my favorite bass playing, was the perfect way to go. Last year this almost dominated my Spotify Wrapped review.
If I ever went to an old Disco club, this is exactly what I want to hear. Dance songs that literally command you to dance. The musicians have more than enough juice to fuel your every dance move. I wish I could keep this energy up forever. Naturally, the tracks have to end at some point.
This song was always gonna show up on the Trane Tracks. I would love an excuse to play it again, but realistically I won’t. There is so much music to be played, and stories to be told. I hope you’ll ride with me again on the Trane Tracks. I am your conductor Coltrane Santana, I hope you have your ticket ready for the next time we hop on board.
Until then, check out the rest of Shady Pines Radio!
