Night Lights Classic Jazz
Night Lights debuts on KFSR this week. KFSR is the first California station to carry Night Lights.
WDCB, one of two stations in the Chicago area that continue to broadcast jazz, is airing three Night Lights programs in a row on Labor Day Monday evening, from 7 to 10 p.m. Central Time–Cats Who Swing and Sing: Women Singer-Pianists of the 1940s and 50s, 1959: Jazz’s Vintage Year, and Porgy and Bess: the 1950s Jazz Revival.
Night Lights made its debut on WFIU four years ago almost to the day–or night, as it were–with a program called Let Freedom Ring that aired on the eve of the July 4th holiday. I had been working at WFIU for exactly two years, subbing for weekday afternoon jazz host Joe Bourne and producing WFIU jazz specials such as Bix Beiderbecke: Never the Same Way Twice and Jump for Joy: Duke Ellington’s Celebratory Musical. When the syndicated “Worldwide Jazz” show that we carried on Saturday evenings suddenly ceased production, I proposed Night Lights as a replacement to our station manager, Christina Kuzmych.
The new Grand Theft Auto IV game has been rocking the country (not to mention the television airwaves–I’ve seen the ad countless times in the past couple of weeks), racking up millions of sales and even more millions of dollars. The commercial features a standard, pulsing rock-hiphop soundtrack sample, but Downbeat notes that the new edition has a jazz component as well, in the form of legendary…
*Marc Myers gathers remembrances from musicians who played with Giuffre (be sure to catch part 2 of Marc’s tribute tomorrow).
New York City’s Museum of Modern Art opens an exhibition next week devoted to jazz and film scoring. Check out the list of movies they’ll be showing over the next few months–impressive. WNYC aired a show Friday morning on the topic that includes interviews with composer Johnny Mandel, musician Bill Kirchner, and…
Rifftides blogger and jazz eminence Doug Ramsey hipped readers several days ago to a Sunday, April 6 broadcast of Benny Carter’s rarely-heard “Kansas City Suite.” It’s at 1 p.m. PDT on KPLU.org…
*Several radio stations around the country are adding Night Lights to their weekly lineup. KMHD-Portland, Oregon will be carrying the program at 8 p.m. PDT on Monday evenings. Beginning May 10, KOSU-Oklahoma Public Radio will broadcast Night Lights on Saturday evenings at 11 p.m. CDT. And KMBH/KHID-McAllen and Brownsville, Texas will soon
Some jazz news of note from the past week or so…*The widely-syndicated, Siskel-and-Ebert-style radio jazz program Listen Here! will cease distribution at the end of this month. Word is that NPR’s long-running…
Brief notes for the holiday weekend:*Copacetic Night Lights friend Bill Kirchner is taking his monthly turn on WBGO’s Jazz From the Archives this Sunday evening with a program on pianist Dick Twardzik…
David Brent Johnson hosts the weekly WFIU historical jazz program Night Lights and Afterglow as well. Learn more »
In 1964 Dean Martin recorded a laidback martini-at-the-fireside album that included the original version of a song that would soon become his signature tune.
Afterglow is WFIU's weekly program of jazz and American popular song hosted by David Brent Johnson.
Copyright © 2013, The Trustees of Indiana University | Copyright Complaints
1229 East Seventh Street, Bloomington, Indiana 47405
