Posted in Jazz Notes on Jul 4th, 2008
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.
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Posted in Jazz Notes on Mar 21st, 2008
Some previous Night Lights shows from the archives, offered as listening suggestions for the coming weekend:
Jazz, Spiritually Speaking. Jazz interpretations of spirituals by John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Grant Green, Louis Armstrong, Archie Shepp with Horace Parlan, and more.
Music for Peace: Mary Lou Williams’ Sacred Jazz. An early Night Lights show…
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Posted in Videos on Dec 23rd, 2007
Season’s greetings from Night Lights via holiday ambassador Mr. Cole:
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Posted in Shows on Dec 17th, 2007
Our annual invocation of holiday jazz this year calls upon the talents of Fats Navarro (”A Bebop Carol”), hipster vocalist Babs Gonzales, tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons, trumpeter Donald Byrd, guitarist Joe Pass, and many other propagators of classic jazz, blowing joyous tidings unto you all. Happy holidays from all of us at Night Lights and WFIU–may you find many great books, movies, CDs, and other “items of interest” under your holiday tree. If you’re yearning for more…
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Posted in Jazz Notes, Videos on Dec 11th, 2007
From the “DVDs-we’re-sorry-we-missed” dpt.: a clip from trumpeter Shorty Rogers’ appearance on the too-hip-to-last early-1960s TV show, Jazz Scene USA. Quite likely inspired by…
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Posted in Jazz Notes on Oct 31st, 2007
Beware… Strange Enchantment: Jazz for Halloween, replete with the story of the jazz-loving New Orleans Axeman, from the Night Lights archives. Me, I’ll be spinning lots of jazz CDs this evening to ward off any axe-wielding apparitions while I put…
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Posted in Shows on Dec 23rd, 2006
Our annual holiday program, with cool yule jazz from Mal Waldron, Elvin Jones, Bill Evans and Jim Hall, Booker Ervin, Coleman Hawkins, surprise holiday sounds, and a special Christmas reading from Louis Armstrong.
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Posted in Shows on Dec 24th, 2005
This week on Night Lights it’s “The Night Before Christmas,” with Christmas-Eve jazz from Fats Navarro, Dexter Gordon, Louis Armstrong, Duke Pearson, Frank Sinatra, and more…
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