Oscar Treadwell R.I.P.

[Lazaro Vega]

(Steve Schwartz quote from JPL)

"Very sad news for the jazz radio community. Oscar had recently, August 2005,

gone back on the air at WVXU in Cincinnati. All of his programs are archived

on the website below. So long, Oska T."

Radio Personality, Jazz Historian Oscar Treadwell Dead At 79

I regret to announce that my uncle, Arthur K. Pedersen, A.K.A. OSCAR

TREADWELL, passed away today, April 1, 2006. He fell ill on Thursday, and

was hospitalized until he passed today. His four children were by his side.

According to his wishes, his remains will be donated to scientific study. I

am unaware of any planned memorial services at this time.

Paul Evans Pedersen, Jr.

Hammonton, NJ

COOKBEAUX@aol.com

Visit website:

http://www.oscartreadwell.com/

[Lazaro Vega]

I see Ghost has put this up over in Jazz in Print, too.

[mikeweil]

I had no idea he was still alive. R.I.P.

Oh the times when friends or DJs were immortalized by jazz musicians' song titles .....

[kulu se mama]

what a shame.

i'm here in cincy and i listen, watch, and read the news every day, and this is the first i am hearing of this.

oscar was a true national treasure.

he will be greatly missed.

r.i.p.

[Lazaro Vega]

Oska T

An Oscar For Treadwell

Jumpin' with Symphony Sid

Line for Lyons

Avila and Tequila

....

A local bassist named Dave Spring wrote and recorded a tune called "One for Lazaro." While m.c.ing a concert the band sprang it and that was a great personal moment. Good tune, too.

----

Treadwell was one of the greats. Listening to voices of his generation one could learn so much not only about the music but about how to connect with an audience and do well by the art form.

[kulu se mama]

here is the obituary from this morning's paper.

Oscar Treadwell nurtured listeners' love of jazz

BY REBECCA GOODMAN | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

ANDERSON TWP. - Death has silenced the man who ended every show with "Sweet love." Cincinnati's voice of jazz radio, Oscar Treadwell, died Saturday.

He and his passion for music were immortalized by some of jazz's masters. Charlie Parker composed "An Oscar for Treadwell," which he recorded in 1949 with Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk and Buddy Rich. In 1950, Wardell Gray recorded "Treadin' with Treadwell." And in 1955, Monk sent Mr. Treadwell a copy of his composition "Oska T" for use as a theme song.

"There was probably no finer jazz host anywhere than Oscar," said Chris Phelps, vice president of marketing for WGUC-FM. "He was a true fan and aficionado of jazz; and as he saluted all of these wonderful jazz musicians, they recognized that he, too, was a true luminary."

Mr. Treadwell, 79, a jazz historian and DJ who hosted "Jazz with O.T." on WVXU-FM, died of complications of a virus Saturday at Mercy Hospital Anderson.

His philosophy was an "uncompromising pursuit of excellence coupled with a tireless, generous spirit," said Cliff Radel, Enquirer reporter and former pop music critic. "He expressed that philosophy through his love of jazz."

Mr. Treadwell - whose real name was Arthur Pedersen - was a full-time radio announcer in Reading, Pa., and Philadelphia from 1946 until 1953. During those years he emceed jazz concerts and introduced the performers. After Louis Armstrong called him Oscar onstage one night, he added "Treadwell."

"Radio never did pay much money, so I got into sales in 1953," he told The Enquirer last year. "In 1960, I came to Cincinnati (to work) for Mechanical Supplies."

After a stint at WZIP-FM, he went to WNOP-AM in 1965. He hosted "Jazz with O.T." at WGUC from 1973 until 1995, when the station switched to an all-classical format. His show was moved to WVXU.

He retired in 2001, but returned to WVXU last August.

Survivors include sons, Art and Alan Pedersen; and daughters, Patchen Hill and Gretchen Vice.

Mr. Treadwell donated his body to University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. His son Art said that no service is planned.

Edited April 4, 2006 by kulu se mama

[kulu se mama]

here is a slightly different article from the afternoon paper.

Oscar Treadwell, local jazz icon

Oscar Treadwell, a consummate jazz connoisseur whose life-long affection for the art form was contagious, has died.

A radio broadcasting legend, Treadwell, who lived in Anderson Township, was known as the voice of Cincinnati jazz radio. He died Saturday at the age of 79 after suddenly falling ill on Thursday.

"There is nobody like him to take his place, no one standing in the wings," said Mike Sharfe, a bass player with a number of area jazz groups who performs at the Blue Wisp Jazz Club downtown and other Greater Cincinnati venues.

"He gave a lot of credibility to the jazz scene. He gave us insight and a worldly look at jazz with his vast knowledge," Sharfe said.

Treadwell, who never recorded a note, was a renowned jazz historian with a radio career that spanned 50 years.

Born Arthur Pedersen in Reading, Pa., he changed his name when he became a radio personality.

He would recall once that when he introduced Louis Armstrong on stage, his idol turned to the young Arthur and said, "Thanks Oscar."

"I thought, if I ever get a music show, I'm going to be 'Oscar-something,'" Treadwell said.

He often spiced his shows with poetry readings, but it was ultimately about the music as he introduced listeners to what was considered the jazz avant garde of the day.

Treadwell's radio career, which began in Philadelphia in the early 1950s, was so tied to advocating jazz performers that the greats wrote songs for him. Charlie Parker penned "An Oscar for Treadwell" and Thelonious Monk composed "Oska T."

He was on the radio in New York City before he landed in Cincinnati in 1961. He worked wherever stations would play jazz, from WNOP in the '60s to WGUC in the '70s and '80s to WVXU in the '90s and recent months.

Treadwell received a Post-Corbett Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995. He credited his long career playing jazz music and reciting poetry on the radio to the great artists on the recordings. His role, he said, was just a "simple activity."

In 2003, jazz fans and musicians gathered to salute Treadwell.

"This is a long overdue tribute to OT," said the event's organizer, Richard Evans, a fellow jazz lover and longtime fan of Treadwell, at the time. "He rubbed elbows with Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk. He's the ultimate with his devotion and contributions to jazz."

He received the key to the city, thanks from the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County for donating radio recordings and a 6,000-piece CD collection, and the endearment of jazz lovers who remember his dulcet tones for nearly 40 years.

"He pretty much, on a daily basis, lulled you to sleep with the sweetness of his voice," said Cincinnati City Council Member Jim Tarbell, honoring Treadwell with a city proclamation at the time.

Last August, a revamped WVXU (91.7 FM) brought Treadwell back to the broadcasting booth to host a two-hour jazz show on Sunday nights called "Jazz with OT." It was a major addition to the station when the program debuted on Aug. 9.

Upon returning to radio at the age of 79, Treadwell joked, "Yes, I thought I was retired, but they approached me about doing this and I became very excited."

Even though Treadwell had donated most of his classic jazz recordings to the Public Library, he retained a large vinyl jazz collection that WGUC officials transferred onto CDs for his show's production.

"They brought out a (CD) burner and computer so I could make the transition from old tapes to the CDs. It's really rather amazing," Treadwell said, marveling about the ease of the digital radio age in which his voice tracks were mixed with the music.

Treadwell used recordings of some old jazz profiles he did on WGUC, updating them when necessary, and used some of his trademark poetry readings on the show.

Since jazz has come on such hard times in radio, even the announcement of the weekly two-hour show got noticed.

"Since the word got out that I was doing this, Blue Note and other companies have already sent me releases," Treadwell said. "It's almost as if they were waiting for somebody to say, 'Yeah, I'm going to play some jazz.'"

Richard Eiswerth, WVXU station manger, said the shows that Treadwell had recorded in advance would be broadcast as planned for the next few weeks.

Sunday night, in his time spot, the station ran a short interview producer/announcer Lee Hay had done with Treadwell last August. Then his show went on, as scheduled, in its entirety.

"There's a huge hole," said Hay of Treadwell's passing. "A huge, huge hole with him gone."

Treadwell's nephew, Paul Evans Pedersen Jr. of Hammonton, N.J., said Treadwell's four children were by his side when he died.

[Chuck Nessa]

Met him on two or three occasions. The last time was at least 10 years ago in Dayton. He was a real "gentleman". I'm sure he will be missed by many.

Edited April 4, 2006 by Chuck Nessa