"Down at the 90th Floor: Dick & Kiz Harp"

[ghost of miles]

This week on Night Lights it’s “Down at the 90th Floor: Dick and Kiz Harp.” Dick and Kiz Harp were a husband-and-wife, piano-and-vocals duo who ran their own nightclub (converted from a warehouse and called “The 90th Floor,” after a lesser-known Cole Porter song they performed) in Dallas , Texas at the end of the 1950s. They’ve developed a cult following among jazz-vocal aficionados on the basis of two obscure LPs. The Harps, influenced by artists such as Sylvia Sims, Anita O’Day, and Dick Marx’s Chicago trio, came up with their own sound—a blend of cabaret, torch song, and Midwestern camp—riding strongly on Kiz Harp’s magnetic stage presence and slightly hoarse, soulful voice (a listener described her as “Jeri Southern smoking two packs a day”). Their career ended suddenly and tragically in 1960. In this edition of Night Lights we’ll hear music from both of their albums (available again at 90th Floor Records) and we’ll talk with Bruce Collier, the founder and owner of 90th Floor Records, who recorded both LPs. “Down at the 90th Floor: Dick and Kiz Harp” airs Saturday, October 28 at 11:05 p.m. on WFIU, at 9 p.m. Central Time on WNIN-Evansville and at 10 p.m. EST Sunday evening on Blue Lake Public Radio (tune in early for Lazaro Vega). It will be posted Monday afternoon in the Night Lights archives.

Edited November 24, 2007 by ghost of miles

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I just thought I'd mention that 90th Floor Records is no longer inactive. Bruce has revived the label.

He has recently released a new CD. (The Brian Piper Trio)

[ghost of miles]

We'll be re-airing this program tonight on WFIU (11:05 p.m. EST) and WNIN-Evansville (9 p.m. Central Time), and tomorrow evening at 10 p.m. EST on Michigan's Blue Lake Public Radio. It is already archived for online listening.

Next week: "Early Ellis: Don Ellis at the Dawn of the 1960s."