There is something to be said for combining a good drink with good music. And when that combination happens to be a seriously good whisky and solid jazz? Hard to beat!
Often our whisky tasting sessions are accompanied by jazz music… curated and compiled by one of our members who once upon a time used to organise a large memorable jazz festival in Mumbai.
As my partner prepares for his upcoming show Bombay Jazz, I started to think about the different range of jazz styles, their mood and what whisky just might make a good match!
- Asian American Jazz or Japanese Jazz – Yes jazz with taiko drums or the mournful strains of the erhu exists… and cries out for a Japanese whisky like Yoichi
- Bosa Nova Jazz – Go for something a little sexy sweet like a Glendronach
- Blues jazz – Bourbon baby… nuff said!
- Indo-jazz – Why not go desi with whisky too? Reach out for a Paul John or Amrut…
- Jazz rock – Demands something more ‘straight up’ like a blended malt such as Monkey Shoulder or the ‘bad boy’ Wasmund’s
- Nu jazz – What about a quality NAS whisky from Kilchoman?
- Orchestral jazz – More sophisticated delicate like a Glenburgie or a classic Japanese whisky like a Hakushu 18 year
- Ragtime or Dixieland – Back to the US for Westland or Corsair Triple Smoke
- Soul jazz – Definitely calls for a little sultry smokey Bowmore’s Laimrig 15 year or a classic like Caol Ila
- Swing – Something lighter, fun but with substance… what about a Compass Box offering like Spice Tree
And when sax is being played live in your living room, rehearsing for an upcoming show, it is hard to not think of reaching out for a whisky….
If you are curious to see a play about India’s jazz scene of yore with its influence on Bollywood music, check out StageSmith’s “Bombay Jazz“…
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Whisky Lady 
Nice idea – jazz and whisky. And thanks for the breakdown of the types of jazz! I’ve been catching more and more of it on the radio in my car and remembering how much I like the old-school melodic traditional jazz. But I’ve not combined it with whisky so thanks for that! I also own a saxophone but I’ll try not to play and drink at the same time! 🙂
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An old school friend living in Singapore is a terrific sax player and we regularly catch live music and whisky together… He’ll stop enjoying his dram long enough to pop up on stage to serenade us lucky souls with his sax, then decide he’s had enough and back to the whisky! Same time though? Nah…
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If I manage it I’ll be on Britain’s Got Talent….then ultimately You Tube of course. Your friend sounds fantastic! I’d be interested to see a post about specific jazz tunes you feel go well with a dram because I haven’t a clue where to start with jazz. As usual with catching tunes on the radio, they never back-announce so I never know what it was I tapped my foot along to.
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Hehehe!!! Will look forward to that YouTube clip! 🙂
We have so much jazz in our home… including live which was what prompted the post!
Will consider a follow-up post as I re-stock my nearly empty whisky cabinet. Because naturally will need to sample and suss out the best combos!! 🙂
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Fantastic! 🙂 I look forward to future posts on jazz-whisky combos.
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