May 2012 — 50 Years On Stage 1962-2012

Riverwalk Jazz On-Air

 

The Jim Cullum Jazz Band Presents:

Bria Skonberg5/3 In the Footsteps of Giants: Trumpet Dynamo Bria Skonberg

New York-based trumpet player Bria Skonberg is a brilliant young musician revitalizing classic jazz. Appearing frequently on Jazz @ Lincoln Center stages, Bria cites Louis Armstrong as a key influence.


Sidney Bechet

5/10 Sidney Bechet: Jazz Immortal

A consummate artist, Sidney Bechet was an early jazz soloist and master of clarinet and soprano saxophone. Actor Vernel Bagneris tells Bechet’s story with the help of New Orleans-based clarinetist Evan Christopher and saxophonist Bob Wilber, who studied with Bechet.

 

Django Reinhardt5/17 Django Jubilee
The Hot Club of Francisco, featuring guitarist Paul Mehling, presents a concert celebrating the infectious music of Django Reinhardt, the Romany guitarist who burst on the world stage in the 1930s and continues to thrill musicians and fans today.


Fats Waller5/24 It Ain’t Over ’til the Fat Man Swings:Dick Hyman Plays Fats Waller

Fats Waller was famous for his wild personality on stage,  but underneath he was a prolific composer and key figure in the history of jazz piano. In honor of our 23rd birthday this month, Dick Hyman guests on this encore presentation of the first Riverwalk Jazz broadcast in 1989.

 

Johnny Mercer5/31 Come Rain or Come Shine: Johnny Mercer in His Own Words
Tunesmith Johnny Mercer was a hit-maker from the 1930s through the ’50s. In a rare radio interview, he tells stories about his famous songs, interpreted on our show by vocalists Rebecca Kilgore, Stephanie Nakasian and Carol Woods.

 

Note: Riverwalk Jazz public radio broadcasts are recorded well in advance of air dates. The above listings do not reflect live appearances by the Jim Cullum Jazz Band.   You can find the JCJB concert calendar here.


A Second Helping of Birthday Cake: Bob Wilber and Friends at Smalls, March 15, 2012

 

A Jazz Lives blogpost by Michael Steinman

 

Bob played some wonderful jazz classics—as if summoning up all his heroes, mentors, and friends in an admiring ring around the bandstand.

 

Read the entire blogpost  here >>


Stay in Touch with Jim Cullum

Connect with Jim and fans like you on Facebook and Twitter. To find out when The Jim Cullum Jazz Band is coming to your town in 2011, and for a schedule of live performances in San Antonio, TX, view our event calendar.


Where to Hear Live Jazz

Information on live performances by your favorite guest artists appearing on Riverwalk Jazz.   Regular Gigs

Calendar of May Festivals, Concerts and Parties


Photo Credits

  • Bria Skonberg courtesy the artist
  • Sidney Bechet courtesy nps.gov
  • Django Reinhardt courtesy last.fm
  • Fats Waller courtesy Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
  • Johnny Mercer courtesy johnnymercer.com
  • Jim Cullum courtesy Riverwalk Jazz
  • Interior Key Hole Club, San Antonio courtesy Kenneth Dominique
  • Johnny Mercer courtesy Johnny Mercer Educational Archive
  • Paul Mehling courtesy the artist
  • Bix Festival poster courtesy bixsociety.org
  • Bria Skonberg video courtesy Riverwalk Jazz

Riverwalk Jazz Inspires Young Students

As follow-up to a story in our February issue about a group of West Texas middle school students who won a history competition with their project based on a Riverwalk Jazz radio broadcast, this month we hear these enterprising young students  tell their own story in an interview recently broadcast on KWBU, public radio in Waco.

 

Peeking Through the Keyhole, with its story of bandleader/club owner Don Albert’s fight against segregationists at his Key Hole Club in 1940s San Antonio, was the broadcast that caught their attention.

 

After winning a regional history competition at Baylor University, the students had a chance to meet Jim Cullum when he performed at Baylor. Next up, state finals at UT/Austin.

 

CLICK HERE for historical video and  KWBU radio interview of Midway Middle School students, Emily North, Kylie Keele, Jayson Wyble and Madi Minard.


 

Time to Make Summer Plans: Jazz Festivals and Events

It’s time to schedule jazz into your summer plans. Here’s where Riverwalk Jazz artists are appearing in the coming months.

  • Breda Jazz Festival, The Netherlands with Catherine Russell & Duke Heitger
  • Sacramento Jazz Festival with Allan Vaché & Rebecca Kilgore
  • New Orleans Traditional Jazz Camp with Banu Gibson & others
  • Elkhart Jazz Festival, IN with Bucky Pizzarelli & Dave Bennett
  • Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Festival, IA with The Jim Cullum Jazz Band and many more

This is just a sample of some of the great musicians playing these events. There are many more.  Check out the calendar details.


Johnny Mercer Archive

Johnny Mercer

Thanks to the Mercer archive at Georgia State University, fans of Johnny Mercer have a whole website to explore everything ‘Mercer,’ including his song database, discography and popular music collection.


Interview With Paul Mehling

by Don Mopsick

The Bay Area guitarist has spent his life celebrating the great gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt. Paul’s band, the Hot Club of San Francisco, is featured May 17 in Django Jubilee (see program listing at left).

 

Paul shares with us his thoughts on a recent CD, Django and playing unplugged.

 

Here is the entire interview >>


Bria Skonberg: Make Me One Pallet On Your Floor and Interview


info@rwj.org

Just ask and we’ll answer your questions about The Jim Cullum Jazz Band and Riverwalk Jazz on the radio.  

 

Dear Riverwalk:   I’ve been getting your newsletter and emails for years; now I’m not. What happened?                                      Harold, MN 

 

Riverwalk Jazz Executive Producer Margaret Moos Pick Responds:

 

Harold, Thank you so much for your inquiry. If you have not gotten the expected emails, please contact your mail server tech support and request that they allow mail from our mail server: 64.150.177.16. That should solve the problem.