Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series. In this episode, we take a deep dive with Edmonton-based jazz bassist Aretha Tillotson into her new 2025 CD Kinda Out West and a life dedicated to music. This release marks her second album as a leader and follows her Western Canadian Music Award–winning 2024 album Introducing Aretha Tillotson.

Kinda Out West is an ode to the musicians of Alberta and the neighboring province of British Columbia, capturing the spirit, independence, and creativity of the Western Canadian jazz scene. Leading a chordless quartet, Aretha draws inspiration from the great ensembles of Sonny Rollins and Ornette Coleman from the 1950s and 1960s, bringing that tradition forward with a modern voice.

This conversation explores the new album, her compositional approach, and the journey of building a jazz life in Western Canada.

🎧 Get the album Kinda Out West:
https://arethatillotson.bandcamp.com/ 

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Joe Dimino Podcaster/Artist

Joe Dimino has been writing & creating in a variety of capacities since his college days at the University of Missouri-Kansas City somewhere around 1993. If you are keeping score, that would be about 29 years+. It all began at UMKCs University News as a Sports Writer & turned into a myriad of expressive avenues. Inventing poems, art, video & audio has always been in the proverbial cards.