Vintage jazz radio streams/podcasts?

July 22, 2009 11:36 AM

What are some decent vintage jazz radio streams/podcasts *with on-air programmers/DJs*?

Two of my favorite radio shows on KBCS ("20th Century Jazz The First Half" with Joannie Nelson and "Vintage Jazz" with Al Barnes) are being discontinued due to management idiocy.

So I'm on the lookout for other shows to fill the huge void that will exist next month. I know "vintage jazz" is broad, but I'm not looking for some very specific music, I'm open to a host of things.

And I don't want to simply hit shuffle on an iPod or listen to streams with random (but good!) music. I want to hear DJs, good ones that talk about what they're playing, ones that have insightful things to say and/or are just a joy to listen to.

posted by 1001 questions to media & arts (12 comments total)

KJAZ is pretty great. Not too heavy on the DJing but the tunes are probably up your alley.
posted by quarterframer at 12:14 PM on July 22

WAMU's Hot Jazz Saturday Night with host Ron Bamberger. Much more info and a the audio archive of last Saturday night's program behind the link.
posted by apartment dweller at 1:23 PM on July 22

and the audio archive
posted by apartment dweller at 1:24 PM on July 22

WKCR has lots of great jazz programming. I like Bird Flight which is on early weekday mornings.
posted by caddis at 1:46 PM on July 22

At the risk of sort-of self-linking, WUMR at the Univ. of Memphis is a 24-hr jazz station, and streams online.
posted by DiscourseMarker at 2:17 PM on July 22

Second the KJAZ recommendation; it's listed in the iTunes radio section as The Spirit of Jazz.

The great Jerry Dean is the only jock I've ever heard - he died a couple of years, but his old streams soldier on - now THAT'S vintage!
posted by DandyRandy at 2:17 PM on July 22

A bunch of the WFMU guys play jazz from time to time. Very few WFMU shows stick to much of a predictable format, though.

http://wfmu.org/schedule
posted by yesno at 3:04 PM on July 22

Public Radio International's Jazz After Hours plays a mix of classic and modern jazz, and is hosted by Jim Wilke, perhaps the smoothest voice in all of radio. It airs on late weekend nights in most markets, so either see if your local public radio station carries it, or use Allegro's list of US stations that stream it.

He also hosts a one-hour show, Jazz NW, which is available for download, but that focuses on current, regional musicians.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 11:09 PM on July 22

Definitely check out "Swing Years and Beyond" which is hosted by Amanda Wilde on KUOW, Seattle's NPR affiliate. There's a very handy playlist archive so you can get a sense of what she's been playing lately, or not lately.

I discovered the show by happy accident a number of years ago and try to tune in when I can, which unfortunately is rare these days. Amanda Wilde has a nice, laid-back on-air personality and I enjoy the variety of the eras she plays from. Listening to "Swing Years and Beyond" reminds me of similar locally-hosted public radio shows that I listened to when I was younger (unfortunately, they also went the way of your favorite shows and got elbowed out by other programming).

The most recent broadcast of SYaB is available as an on-demand Windows media stream only, but KUOW offers a choice for the live radio stream (mp3, Real media or Win media). So, hopefully you can catch the live broadcast, which is on Saturdays from 7 p.m. to midnight Pacific time (I am always amazed by that time slot).
posted by rangefinder 1.4 at 12:11 AM on July 23

The Evolution of Jazz with Ed Love is on Monday through Friday from 11-midnight on WDET here in Detroit. It definitely streams, but I can't tell if there's a podcast.

Ed Love has a somewhat odd delivery style that not everyone loves (ie, has a tendency of talking over parts of tunes), but he freaking knows *everything* about jazz. Out of control.
posted by palindromic at 8:16 PM on July 23

Chuck Cecil's The Swingin' Years.
posted by Rash at 12:51 PM on July 24

I'll second Hot Jazz Saturday Night.

I just found a streaming site from WGBH via this blog post. Haven't listened to it long enough to form an opinion yet, though.

I am sad to hear about the KBCS issues, as I just discovered Al Barnes' Vintage Jazz (via a.b.s.78rpm-era), and I am very interested in Joannie Nelson's show as well. Is there an archive of old shows, or even the past week, that we can download or stream?
posted by fings at 6:31 PM on August 17