Monday 1.15.24
SPECIAL: Night Train steps aside of an American Routes special reflecting on the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. in words and music. We’ll hear from music scholar Albert Murray, historian Julian Bond, and musicians Harry Belafonte and Mable John. Plus songs of freedom, deliverance and hope to commemorate the holiday, including selections from jazz artists Eddie Harris, Hank Jones, Louis Jordan, Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, Charlie Haden, Nina Simone, Louis Armstrong, and more.
Tuesday 1.16.24
SPECIAL: It’s ‘jazz classical’ tonight on the Night Train as we feature jazz reinventions of classical works from Brahms, Bach, Debussy, Dvorak and more. We’ll hear selections from Ike Quebec, Regina Carter, Art Tatum, Dorothy Donegan, and from our Featured New Release of the Week, the John Ellis Quartet’s Bizet: Carmen in Jazz. Then in hour two, it’s a closer look at Duke Ellington’s jazz symphony - Black, Brown and Beige.
Wednesday 1.17.24
Lots of great jazz piano tonight on the Night Train, as we mark birthdays of Cedar Walton and Cyrus Chestnut (including a ‘Piano Showdown’ concert special in hour two with solo and duo performances from Chestnut along with Christian Sands, Aaron Diehl, and Marcus Roberts). We’ll also hear January Featured artist Max Roach on a classic with Thelonious Monk, new music from pianist Michael Weiss and from the piano-trumpet-bass Affinity Trio (with a Cedar Walton composition), and another selection from our Featured New Release of the Week, Bizet: Carmen in Jazz from the John Ellis Quartet.
Thursday 1.18.24
Tonight on the Night Train, we have birthday salutes to Johnny DeFrancesco (son of Papa and brother of Joey – we’ll hear them together on a Miles Davis classic), pianist Russel Ferrante, drummer Al Foster (with McCoy Tyner), and guitarist Bobby Broom (featured in a concert special in hour two of the show). Plus January Featured Artist J.J. Johnson, our Featured New Release of the Week (the John Ellis Quartet – Bizet: Carmen in Jazz), and a couple of 2023 favorites – the last of the Emerald City Nights live albums from Ahmad Jamal, and Bobby Sanabria’s salute to the human voice on Vox Humana.
