Night Lights Classic Jazz

How Professor Bop Paid His Dues: Babs Gonzales

Babs Gonzales was the toastmaster of the bebop world, a vocalese hipster who made the scene and lived to sing and write about it. Read More »

Recent Shows

1968, Riot: The Year In Jazz

student activists holding signs and marching

As the 1960s neared to a close, the jazz world continued to absorb the cultural upheavals of a volatile decade.

In the mid-20th century Black jazz artists began to make inroads into the movie industry scoring films such as Anatomy Of A Murder and Odds Against Tomorrow.

On this edition of Night Lights it's "Word From Mingus," a program of Charles Mingus' 1950s spoken-word collaborations with poet Langston Hughes, monologuist Jean Shepherd, and actor Melvin Stewart. We'll also hear Mingus' own performance of his piece "Chill of Death," written when Mingus was...

In 1957 a fading Depression-era playwright, two hot box-office stars and a West Coast jazz group all played prominent parts in creating a dark portrayal of New York City showbiz life that’s now considered a cinematic masterpiece. Film-expert James Naremore and musicologist Phil Ford us to talk about the look and sound of "Sweet Smell of Success."

At the beginning of the 1960s jazz musician Yusef Lateef moved from his hometown of Detroit to New York City and continued a musical evolution that would eventually earn him one of jazz’s most musically expansive legacies.

Women instrumentalists thrived in the upside-down jazz world of wartime America.

Liston was a trailblazer for women in 20th century jazz, a master trombonist and arranger who forged partnerships with some of the music's most key figures.

We’ll hear some of the artists such as Cassandra Wilson, Maria Schneider, Renee Rosnes, and Diana Krall who rose to prominence during the decade, as well as a trio of veterans who enjoyed a late-career renaissance, including Abbey Lincoln, Shirley Horn, and Betty Carter.

Older stories »

Night Lights Blog

My Interview With Duke Ellington

... OK, that should be "interview." A virtual conversation, using a very analog-era practice, in which I chat with the Duke about his work on the film score for ANATOMY OF A MURDER.

John Coltrane A Love Supreme Live In Seattle

Night Lights' annual roundup of notable archival releases and reissues.

Indiana University jazz studies head Tom Walsh and vocalists Rachel Caswell and Janiece Jaffe joined David Brent Johnson on WFIU's "Just You And Me" to discuss Dominic Spera, the trumpeter and former IU jazz educator who passed away on Saturday, October 23 at the age of 89. Spera's music is featured as well.