Monday 1.22.24
SPECIAL: Night Train marks the actual centennial birthday of January Featured Artist J.J. Johnson with a program devoted to his music. We’ll hear one of his earliest recordings as leader, his trombone duo with Kai Winding, adventurous later work, and guest appearances with Miles Davis, Coleman Hawkins, Sarah Vaughan, and Count Basie in hour one, and music from Johnson and other bebop innovators in a special in hour two of the show.
Tuesday 1.23.24
Night Train marks the birthday of Hot Club guitar great Django Reinhardt with a program devoted to the heirs of Django – contemporary artists and bands inspired by his distinctive swing style. In hour one, we’ll hear music from the new album from the Hot Club of Los Angeles, plus Hungary’s Canarro, the Hot Club of 52ndStreet, and Richard Galliano with a composition dedicated to Django; then in hour two it’s a concert performance from the Hot Club inspired band, Babik, appropriately enough, named after Reinhardt’s son. Plus a birthday salute to Gary Burton, Ellington’s first Carnegie Hall appearance (on this date in 1943), and our Featured New Release of the Week, a salute to Duke Pearson from Blue Moods.
Wednesday 1.24.24
SPECIAL: In conjunction with the January J.J. Johnson Centennial Feature, it’s a two-hour special tonight featuring the Jazz Trombone. We’ll hear selections from Johnson, along with music from Melba Liston Curtis Fuller. Slide Hampton, Steve Davis, Robin Eubanks, and more.
Thursday 1.25.24
More music tonight on the Night Train from January Featured Artists Max Roach and J.J. Johnson, and from our Featured New Release of the Week, a tribute to Duke Pearson from Blue Moods. We’ll also hear the last live recording from Dizzy Gillespie, done on this date in 1992. And it’s also the birthday today of Brazilian singer Leny Andrade (who passed away in 2023), Brazilian legend Antonio Carlos Jobim, and composer, saxophonist, and band leader Benny Golson. We’ll hear music from Golson’s tribute to Max Roach band mate Clifford Brown in hour one – and a special featuring more music and interviews with Golson in hour two of the show.
