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Daddy-O! Father-And-Son Teams In Jazz

Fathers and sons in jazz

"Hey Dad, can I borrow the saxophone keys?" Night Lights pays tribute to the Father's Day holiday with music from Ellis and Wynton Marsalis, Von and Chico Freeman, Duke and Mercer Ellington, Jackie and Rene McLean, and more.

Hey Dad, can I borrow the saxophone keys? Night Lights crosses the generational divide this week with an exploration of father-and-son teams in jazz:

  • How did Duke Ellington come to use his son Mercer as a songwriter?

  • What father-and-son record date prompted a young jazz reviewer named Studs Terkel to proclaim it "an ear opener for jazz bigots and cultists?"

  • What famous saxophonist used his 10-year-old son as a drummer on a recording date for a renowned jazz label?

  • Which two regionally-known jazz veterans gained some well-deserved limelight as a result of their sons' rise to fame in the jazz world?

Find out all of this and more on "Daddy-O: Father-and-Son Teams in Jazz" on this Night Lights Father's Day special.

More about father-and-son teams in jazz:

Watch Von and Chico Freeman on stage together at Montreux in 1982:

Watch Ellis Marsalis and three of his sons (Wynton, Branford, and Jason) performing together:

Watch Dave Brubeck with three of his sons during the "Two Generations of Brubeck" era:

Special thanks to Chuck Nessa, Rod Stasick, and John Shelton.

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