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Noon Edition

Dearly Beloved: Husband-And-Wife Teams In Jazz

Long-term love and art go hand-in-hand on this edition of Night Lights, where we're focusing on couplings both romantic and musical. Though the rigors of the jazz life made marriage difficult to sustain for marital partners who played together as well, artists-couples left behind some impressive recorded legacies. We'll feature partners such as

  • Stanley Turrentine and Shirley Scott
  • Peggy Lee and Dave Barbour
  • John and Alice Coltrane
  • Max Roach and Abbey Lincoln
  • June Christy and Bob Cooper
  • Julie London and Bobby Troup (eventual co-stars of the TV show Emergency!)
  • Elmo and Bertha Hope


Some, like Alice Coltrane and Bertha Hope, continued to pay tribute to their respective loved ones' music after early death deprived them of their husbands. We'll hear recordings from all of the above couples.

For More On Husband-And-Wife Jazz Musicians:



• Watch Peggy Lee and husband Dave Barbour perform "I Cover the Waterfront":

• Listen to a previous Night Lights program about another husband-and-wife musical team:

Dick and Kiz Harp: Down at the 90th Floor

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