ghost of miles

Yes, well, that's balanced out by the large number of complaints we get these days from listeners on the left calling us "National Pentagon Radio." The Common Dreams writer is not entirely off the mark--like most of mainstream media, if NPR errs in anybody's favor these days, it's usually the right (check out the FAIR study on number of conservative/GOP guests vs. liberal/Democrat). I think many liberals, and a growing number of conservatives, like NPR simply because it hasn't turned into total trash. (Although listening to some of the extended & fluffier pieces they sometimes slip into the weekend edition of All Things Considered might make you think otherwise...) And, at a time when TV networks are cutting their foreign bureaus and/or closing them altogether, NPR is actually expanding its journalistic payroll in that regard.

Saw a woman reading this in a restaurant last week and have been intrigued ever since: Misquoting Jesus

"Piano Noir" is now archived.

Not everyone is thrilled at the prospect. Well, to quote the great Some Like It Hot, "Nobody's perfect." I'm not much of a Kissinger fan either... but I think Koppel is not as much of a cheerleader as the Common Dreams writer portrays him to be. Remember the furor when Nightline ran the names of all of the American dead in Iraq? Was that really "selling" American foreign policy? Koppel's pretty middle-of-the-road. So is NPR... it's old-school journalism. I was heartened by the audience's response when Koppel appeared on The Daily Show; when Jon Stewart asked Koppel if there were any good, reliable news sources left now that network news was going down the drain, Koppel said, "Well, I think NPR--" and was interrupted by a tremendous cheer from the audience.

Koppel's coming to NPR.

I was just talking about her to my cubicle-mate last week... I'm taking over a new show here, and told my colleague that I'd be playing a lot of Betty Carter. In fact, the very first program includes "Theme From Dr. Kildare (Three Stars Will Shine)" from ROUND MIDNIGHT. One thing I enjoy about Carter's records is the choice of repertoire--always interesting and somewhat eclectic.

This week on Night Lights it’s “Piano Noir: Ran Blake”. Pianist and composer Ran Blake has earned an international reputation with his recordings and with his work as a Third Stream educator at the New England Conservatory of Music. His music has been strongly influenced by the genre of film noir; in this program we’ll hear selections from his 1980 album Film Noir, as well as sides from his 1962 debut The Newest Sound Around, his 2001 release Sonic Temples, and his Horace Silver tribute Horace Is Blue: a Silver Noir. “Piano Noir” airs Saturday, January 28 on WFIU at 11:05 p.m. (8:05 p.m. California time, 10:05 Chicago time); you can listen live, or you can wait until Monday afternoon, when the program will be posted to the Night Lights archives. For those seeking an in-depth analysis of Blake's music, I highly recommend Joe Milazzo's online article Freedom to Contemplate. Next week: "Say It Loud." Black-pride soul-jazz of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Randy, You might want to check out Scott Turow's new novel, ORDINARY HEROES.

I'm thinking about contacting XM at some point--but I need to do a little more listening/learning regarding each network's jazz programming. Thanks much for all of the info & advice, folks--and if others want to chime in, please do.

I got one along these lines just now: Whatever. I'm going to check my PayPal account to make sure that everything's OK, but gawd, this scam s&*% gets tiresome.

What a gas!

Up for a board member who's expressing interest in Niehaus V. 5.

Listening right now. Great show! Beats most of what we get in Boston. I'm excited about the prospect of syndication. I'd love to have your show available locally. I write for The Boston Globe on occasion and would love to help with the launch of your show on the local airwaves. Please keep us advised of any developments... Kalo, thanks much! Just saw your post today... I'll certainly keep you advised. Does WGBH play Hewitt at all? Steve S. posts here from time to time as SteveBop.

Indy folks--sheldonm, rachel, jazzmessenger, etc.--how about Fountain Square's Decadent By Design for Organissimo?

Wasn't aware that the guy had changed instruments. At the very least! Friend of mine worked in a record store years ago where Benny Green would sometimes call & always ID himself by saying, "Hi, this is Benny-with-a-Y Green."

Thanks much, Berigan... I might have to pick up the double-movie DVD as well.

Hey all, I'm truly hoping to ramp up Night Lights for syndication this year (right now it's on one other station besides our own) and am trying to get a list together of stations that might be open to carrying it. If you care to, can you list your local/regional station that plays jazz? In most areas we'll try the NPR station first, as we're a member station ourselves, but I realize that many NPR stations carry little or no jazz these days--they've either gone all-talk or triple A. If you think there's a station around your parts that might be interested, NPR or not, could you either post it or drop me a PM? Many thanks! David

Night Stalker is on DVD, and I also loved the theme, written by Gil Melle! Gil Melle wrote the theme? Get outta here! That makes the show even cooler IMHO...

Noal Cohen posted this to the Hardbop list, and it got re-posted to Yahoo Songbirds... so third time's a charm for Organissimo!

Friend of mine had dupes of this and just passed one along to me... looks to be a great listen!

Yeah, I used to catch this show occasionally when it was syndicated for reruns in the 1970s... I much preferred Frawley. William Demarest creeped me out (as your photo serves to remind me!). Speaking of older TV shows (and probably NOT one for the kids, though, if they're like I was, they'll seek it out, heh, heh) has Night Stalker made it to DVD yet?

Thanks for posting this--I had just looked Leff up on the Internet a couple of days before Christmas, because he's mentioned in William Zinsser's EASY TO REMEMBER, and was surprised to find that he had just passed away (surprised because I didn't even think he'd still be alive--and Zinsser didn't either, when he actually got to meet Leff in the late 1990s). My grandmother actually has some of the original sheet music with Leff's images on the front.

Re-posted from Yahoo Songbirds--a great list, btw, for anyone who's interested in jazz vocalists:

In the early 1970s, as recording opportunities for more adventurous hard-bop musicians dried up, trumpeter Charles Tolliver and pianist Stanley Cowell started their own label, Strata East, partly in order to document the activities of their quartet Music Inc. The aesthetic results were in some ways an extension of the musicans with whom Tolliver had worked in the 1960s—Jackie McLean, Max Roach, and Andrew Hill. On this edition of Night Lights we’ll hear live performances from the quartet from Slug’s Saloon in New York City and from a concert in Tokyo, as well as recordings the quartet made augmented by a big band. “Charles Tolliver on Strata East in the Early 1970s” airs Saturday, January 21 at 11:05 p.m. (8:05 California time, 10:05 Chicago time) on WFIU. You can listen live, or wait until Monday afternoon, when the program will be posted in the Night Lights archives. Next week: "Piano Noir: Ran Blake."

Great original cover! I prefer that one too.