Murder at Birdland

About Murder at Birdland

In the fall of 2001, Martin Spencer—a fifty-one-year-old clinical psychologist from Topeka—faces three life-altering revelations in a single week: the death of his father, the shocking truth that his biological father—a jazz trumpeter—was murdered half a century earlier, and the discovery that he can travel through time using photographs. His journeys carry him to the heart of jazz itself: New York City's 52nd Street in the late 1940s, at the height of the bebop era. There, he finds himself in the company of legends—Art Tatum, Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Red Rodney—while navigating a dangerous web of mob ties, corrupt cops, and federal agents. Caught between past and present, music and murder, Martin must uncover the truth about his father's death. But in chasing history, he also finds something unexpected: romance.

Publisher

Mike Steinel

Category

fiction · music

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

13 Oct 2025

Latest episode

2 Mar 2026

Latest episodes

20 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   2 Mar 2026

   Episode 20 (Final) - A California Bungalo/Road Trip

   Martin wakes once again in a New York hospital—but this time the calendar tells a different story. Before leaving the city, he takes one last walk through its streets. The neon and music of 52nd Street have vanished, and the Dunham exists only as a memory. He returns to Kansas and makes one more desperate jump to find Sondra.

2. 

   23 Feb 2026

   Episode 19 - 24 Hours/It Happens

   As the clock ticks toward 11:50, Martin braces for the moment he has been moving toward all along. The hours are charged with contradiction: dread of what will happen beneath the Birdland awning, and an unexpectedly joyful stretch of time with his father. In the end, Vincent is right—it does not unfold the way Martin believes it will. In a shadowed alley, he finally confronts the truth.

3. 

   16 Feb 2026

   Episode 18 - A Stone Tumbles

   With violence pressing on him like a raging current, Martin is forced into a split-second choice that reveals a side of himself he's never known. As past and present collide in uncanny ways, he resolves to seize control of his fate. The chapter ends with an unexpected encounter that signals everything is about to change.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Contact Murder at Birdland

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.