Hosts
Tom Banyai
Bluegrass Junction
Tom Banyai grew up in a household exposed to all sorts of wonderful music, especially classical and jazz. When he went to his first music festival (Newport ’66) he was captivated by live acoustic performance. Coffee houses and small clubs from New Haven to New York City were a hotbed of folk and roots music where he grew to love the energy and immediacy of live performance. The early days of FM radio in the city and on Connecticut colleges recreated some of this same excitement. After hearing radio tributes to Joe Val, he attended his first Bluegrass Festival (WinterHawk ’85) and was captured by the heart & soul of the music. Tom still prefers a live concert or festival, but when he discovered Bluegrass on the radio on stations like WICN, he became a huge fan. When WICN put out a call for volunteers, Tom was already well known to the Bluegrass DJs through his financial backing and persistent calls for requests. After volunteering at the station, it was natural that Tom would end up as a regular host behind the microphone sharing his love of the music. He has been doing a weekly Bluegrass show on WICN since October, 1989. “Being a DJ is like getting to play some of your favorite songs for a friend – except that you have a huge library of songs and the friend is always there for 4 hours every Tuesday night.”
Jim Benitez
Latin Jazz Beat
A self-taught Latin percussionist since the age of 12 whenhis father handed him Cal Tjader’s 1960 “Latino” albumfeaturing Mongo Santamaria and Willie Bobo back in 1966, and an LP fiberglassconga and told him, “Here, learn to play right with these”,he’s been living and breathing Latin Jazz since. A computer networkengineer during the day, Jim keeps busy as part of a team overseeing the healthand security of the computer network of a major Massachusetts retail corporation. Jim isalso a US Army Vietnam Era veteran and served as an Air Traffic Controllerwhere he admits, “That was my first real foray out in radio broadcasting,directing all those aircraft”. Although the real commercial radioexperience began at Worcester’s GoisBroadcasting Inc.’s WORC 1310 AM in 2006 co-hosting with his friend EdwinCancel, the first Latin Jazz show in Worcestercalled “Ran KanKan”.The show lasted about six or so months when his friend resigned and Jim tookover the show and renamed it “Latin Jazz Sundays”. Jim also hosteda Salsa show at the same time on Saturdays called “Salsa DuraSabados”, that’s “Hard Salsa Saturdays” and again onSundays with his friend Alex Vega on “Salsa Na’ Ma”. Bothbecame major hit shows in Worcester’sLatin community and achieved a 2.5 rating in the Arbitron radio charts for twoyears. Although short-lived, but well remembered by his listeners, an opportunityopened up in Hartford Connecticut under the Gois Broadcasting group of stationsat WNEZ 1230 AM and a fusion of the two shows became and all Spanish languageshow called “Jazz Latino Ahora”, or “Latin JazzNow!”. To all this Jim developed a following reaching NewYork, Florida, California,Hawaii, Canada,and Milan Italy,thanks to the show being streamed across the internet to listeners outside of Worcester. “I amhonored to be here at WICN surrounded by the finest and most supportive groupof radio professionals in the world. Latin Jazz has a home here on public radioand here in Worcester, and its called WICN 90.5FM, New England’s Jazz and Folk Station and on Friday nights its New England’s Latin Jazz Station”.
Dee Dee Bridgewater
JazzSet
Vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater shares her knowledge and enthusiasm about jazz as host of National Public Radio’s popular series JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater. The weekly, hour-long program of live jazz recordings is produced by WBGO 88.3 FM/Newark, New Jersey. Only a handful of entertainers have ever commanded such depth of artistry in every medium. Fewer still have won a Tony, two Grammys, and the top musical honor in France -- the Victoire de la Musique -- plus been nominated for London theater's Laurence Olivier Award. Dee Dee captured the hearts of audiences worldwide in The Wiz with her signature song, "If You Believe." As a sparkling ambassador for jazz, she bathed in its music before she could walk. Her mother played the greatest albums of Ella Fitzgerald, whose artistry provided an inspiration for Dee Dee throughout her career. Her father was a trumpeter who taught music to Booker Little, Charles Lloyd and George Coleman, among others. It's the kind of background that leaves its mark on an adolescent, especially one who appeared solo and with a trio as soon as she was able. Dee Dee's other vocation, that of globetrotter, reared its head when she toured the Soviet Union in 1969 with the University of Illinois Big Band. A year later, she followed her then husband, Cecil Bridgewater, to New York. Dee Dee made her phenomenal New York debut in 1970 as the lead vocalist for the band led by Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, one of the premier jazz orchestras of the time. These New York years marked an early career in concerts and on recordings with such giants as Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Max Roach and Roland Kirk, and rich experiences with Norman Connors, Stanley Clarke and Frank Foster's Loud Minority. Dee Dee doesn't care much for labels, and in 1974 she jumped at the chance to act and sing on Broadway where her voice, beauty and stage presence won her great success and a Tony Award for her role as Glinda the Good Witch in The Wiz. This began a long line of awards and accolades as well as opportunities to work in Tokyo, Los Angeles, Paris and in London where she garnered the coveted Laurence Olivier Award nomination as Best Actress for her portrayal of jazz legend Billie Holiday in Stephen Stahl's Lady Day. Performing the lead in equally demanding acting/singing roles as Sophisticated Ladies, Cosmopolitan Greetings, Black Ballad, Carmen Jazz and the musical Cabaret (as the first black actress to star as Sally Bowles), she secured her reputation as a consummate entertainer.
Ken Campbell
JazzWorks
Ken Campbell is on staff at WSKG - in Binghamton, NY and is approaching his 10th anniversary. While he's hosted every kind of musical program on the station's schedule, his first reason for pursuing work in public radio was his love of jazz. A native of Bloomington, Indiana, and the son of a classical music devotee, Ken didn't hear a lot of jazz growing up. He began to discover the music when he picked up the saxophone during his days at Denison University, in Granville, OH. His growing passion for jazz led to him hosting a show on the college radio station. He graduated in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts in Music, and has been involved in radio since then, having spent a year with WHCU/Lite 97 in Ithaca, NY, followed by WSKG, starting in 1991. In 1995, WSKG added a jazz radio service, WSQX 91.5, and Ken was assigned almost exclusively to the new station. With the advent of JazzWorks, he's been switched to morning announcer on WSKG's primary service, but remains Music Director for WSQX. Ken has, when his schedule permits, continued to pursue his saxophone playing since graduation. He's played with the Harpur Jazz Ensemble (Binghamton University) and the Cornell University Lab Ensembles, as a "community member". In his times with those bands he's had the thrill of sharing the stage with the likes of Donald Byrd, Dr. Billy Taylor, Toshiko Akiyoshi and McCoy Tyner.
Howard Caplan
The Saturday Swing Session
Howard grew up the son of a swing-era big-band drummer, but his dad’s love of swing and jazz took some time to rub off on him. An admitted “Top 40/Adult Contemporary refugee”, Howard came to his senses a few years ago when, in a fit of trying to find quality music, he discovered WICN on his car radio coming home from work on the Mass. Pike. Since that moment, he's become addicted to all variations of jazz and swing. He’s a huge fan of all types of music. He enjoys everything from the blues to rock to opera, to yes, even Top-40. A lawyer by trade, Howard practiced law in Boston and taught at Suffolk University Law School before joining the Massachusetts Medicaid agency, MassHealth, where he currently serves as Director of External Communications and Training for Special Initiatives. Howard also has an extensive radio background. He has hosted political talk shows on five Worcester and Boston-area talk stations. He's also produced and hosted with his wife, Mirick O’Connell attorney Patricia Davidson, the syndicated cable television talk show “Night at the Round Table” for 13 years. He's delighted to help his listeners get their weekends off to a great start by presenting the legendary sounds of Ella, Ellington, Sinatra and Bennett on The Saturday Swing Session every Saturday morning from 8 to 10.
Steve D'Agostino
The Business Beat
Steve began hosting The Business Beat in 1995. The show was born out of his passion for reporting and paralleled his duties as Editor of Worcester Business Journal (1992-2004), a regional business-to-business newspaper serving Central Massachusetts and Metrowest. Prior to that, Steve was Managing Editor of WBJ from 1990 to 1992 and of its immediate predecessor, Business Worcester, from 1987 to 1990. He also served as a Staff Reporter for Worcester Magazine, an alternative newspaper serving Greater Worcester, from 1992 to 1997. He is a Board Member of Junior Achievement of Central Massachusetts, a member of the Steering Committee of Common Pathways' Community Indicators Project, which is co-sponsored by the United Way of Central Massachusetts, and a Corporator, Past President, Past Board Member and Past Grant Committee Chair of Regatta Point Community Sailing. Steve is presently also Principal of Best Rate of Climb - Local Connections & Immediate Actions to Help Your Corporate Relations Take Off & Fly, a marketing and communications consulting firm based in Worcester. In his spare time, Steve enjoys traveling with his wife Lana Jones, who is a news reporter anchor for WBZ/1030 AM in Boston - particularly to coastal Maine and to Central America. His other pastimes include taking flying lessons, sailing, bicycling, roller-blading, hiking, ice skating, cross-country skiing and, whenever possible, just plain goofing off.
Al Dean
The Jazz Matinee
Following retirement in 1998 from the automobile world as a Volkswagen dealer, regional manager for Subaru of America and Midas franchisee, Al became an on air announcer at WICN in 1999. This was his first experience in the broadcasting field and allowed him to dig into his closet of old vinyl's and share them with his audience on the Sunday afternoon edition of The Jazz Matinee. He continually enjoys talking with and meeting the listeners and entertainers who all make the music possible. During his time away from the station, Al flies his airplane (which he constructed himself) up and down the East Coast to visit friends and family. He is also assisting other builders in the construction of their own planes. Al's other hobbies include rebuilding his 1955 VW Bug, the restoration of old radios and model work.
Nick DiBiasio
Against The Grain
Listening to music on the radio has been a big part of Nick's life since he was a young boy. His mother had the radio in their console stereo playing every weekend, and the sounds of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin would fill the house. Nick was presented with his first record player at the age of 5, and listened to a 45 of "You Go, I Go" over and over. It wasn't until recently that he discovered that the song was actually "The March of The Siamese Children" from the Broadway musical "The King and I"! The event that literally changed 9 year-old Nick's life was The Beatles' first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964. He begged his mother to buy his first long playing record "Meet The Beatles", the very next day. From that day on, radio became an even bigger part of Nick's life. Listening to AM stations on a portable transistor radio was now a daily event, and in those days there was no boundaries. You could hear all kinds of music on one radio station all the time... pop, country, folk, blues and good old rock & roll. In the early 1970's Nick discovered FM radio, and his passion for music grew even stronger. After graduating high school, Nick bought a reel-to-reel tape recorder, and by then his record collection was also becoming quite impressive, so he spent time stringing songs together on tape to present to his friends. He attended Providence College until his guidance counselor told him he belonged in the entertainment business, so off he went to study recording techniques at Normandy Sound in Warren, RI. He then spent some time as sound engineer for several RI bands, until he was invited to be a guest DJ on a Providence classic rock station on February 9, 1994, the 30th anniversary of the afore mentioned Beatles TV appearance, and he was hooked. Nick's goal on Against The Grain is to present music the way it was heard on AM and early FM, with no boundaries. He hosted his first show for WICN on December 6, 1996.
Jeff Fox
Jazz with Jeff Fox / JazzWorks
Jeff is an Associate Professor of English and Japanese at the College of Southern Idaho, and he is also a working musician who plays guitar, bass, and saxophone. He has played in the CSI Jazz Orchestra, which played at the Montreux Jazz Festival and has appeared in New York City at the International Association of Jazz Educators conference in 2001. He has fronted several jazz groups over the years ranging from an eight-piece little big band to a duo featuring sax and guitar. Jeff has also performed on and produced several CDs for local jazz artists. Jeff has been involved off and on in jazz radio for over twenty years. In addition to being a producer and host of the nationally broadcast JazzWorks, he also hosts a local show which airs on public radio stations in Idaho. Jeff's goal in his musical performance has always been attracting young players to jazz, and through his radio shows, he hopes more people will come to know jazz as an accessible and enjoyable art
Marty Friedman
Sunday Jazz Brunch
Born in the Bronx, New York, Marty Friedman has loved jazz since he was 17. "I was at the New York Public Library looking through the LPs, realizing that I had already borrowed all the rock albums of interest. So I decided to branch out. That's when I saw a two-LP set on Prestige called 'The Hawk Flies.' It had a really cool picture on the cover, but it was the Bean's music that really grabbed me." In college at the City University of New York, Marty ran the arts department at the school newspaper, and was able to meet and interview various jazz musicians and record producers in the New York area. Today, as an amateur guitarist, Marty jams with friends at parties and the occasional informal gig. "Doing the Sunday Jazz Brunch is a real thrill because it keeps me current with the latest releases and allows me to share my passion for music with the listeners."
Scott Hanley
JazzWorks
Scott Hanley has experience in most aspects of broadcasting, especially public radio, in a twenty-plus year career. A former reporter, arts producer, music director, news director and program director, he is active with a number of influential public broadcasting organizations and is a regular leader or panelist at national conferences. In a recent addition to his busy schedule, he has been appointed to an advisory committee for future internet activities of National Public Radio. Scott has a special affinity for jazz-oriented radio. He has been a session leader or panelist for many national conferences specifically related to jazz music and has experience as a concert and festival producer/promoter. Mr. Hanley also serves as volunteer coordinator of the Jazz Radio Consortium, an ongoing collaboration between public radio stations intent on improving jazz programming nationwide. A trained musician, Hanley had an active performing career in years past, including vocal work in choral, operatic, musical theater and jazz combo settings, plus instrumental work as a trombonist. Although he performs infrequently, he is most likely to be heard these days singing jazz in a small group setting.
Mark Lynch
Inquiry
Mark has been with WICN in some capacity since the very early 1970s, when the fledgling station started at WPI. His early shows included the bizarre Psychic Journal and the extremely questionable Put Your Head On My Shoulder, WICN’s only “advice to the lovelorn” show. Not content with these short strange spots, he heard “Never Mind The Bullocks” and immediately joined the Rock Department in the late 1970s. He and Bob Mercer soon became the department heads and together they rapidly turned WICN’s alternative take on contemporary rock into one of the most cutting edge shows in New England. The late nightly show Positive Noise garnered recognition and praise from bands and press all over the world by being the first on any radio station to play bands like The Galloping Coroners from Hungary and promoting artists like Laurie Anderson. All the while that Mark was on the air till 3 a.m., he was simultaneously getting up early to study birds and to teach at the Worcester Art Museum. This schedule could only go on for so long, and he retired from Positive Noise in the mid-1980s. It was then that he decided that the best way to understand his bifurcated life in art and science was to listen to artists and scientists speak, and so Inquiry was born and has been on the air ever since. Besides hosting Inquiry, Mark still teaches (and is a docent) at the Worcester Art Museum, typically offering classes on Contemporary and Modern Art. He is an ecological monitor, teacher and trip leader at the Massachusetts Audubon Society at Broad Meadow Brook and is currently writing an ornithogeography of the Blackstone National Corridor. He is the Book Review Editor at the ornithology journal "Bird Observer".
Marian McPartland
Piano Jazz
The fact that an individual born in a small English village near Windsor Castle should become one of the leading proponents of America’s Great Musical Idiom is, actually, not as ironic as it may seem to be. A musical prodigy from the time she could sit at the piano, she studied classical music, mastered the violin as well, and simply worshipped jazz, taking Duke, Teddy Wilson, and others to heart while looking to Mary Lou Williams, Lil Hardin, and Hazel Scott as trailblazers she’d likely follow. In 1938 McPartland was enrolled at the Guildhall School of Music in London when Billy Mayerl, a well-known music hall entertainer, asked her to join The Claviers, his four-piano stage act, and despite a thousand pound counter-offer from her father to stay in school, the young pianist assumed the stage name of “Marian Page” and hit the vaudeville circuit with Mayerl. Subsequent work in a piano duo with Roma Clarke undoubtedly enhanced McPartland’s skill in sympathetic accompaniment—and, one could say, paved the way for the duets featured on her Piano Jazz radio program. In 1944, while entertaining British and American troops in Belgium, she met Jimmy McPartland, a prominent traditional-style cornetist from Chicago (and eleven years her senior). The two musicians fell in love and the following year they were married at a military base in Germany. After the war Jimmy McPartland brought his young wife to the Windy City, where the couple worked until they moved to Manhattan in 1949. Although the McPartlands divorced in 1970, they continued to work together, stayed friends, and eventually remarried. To this day Marian McPartland credits her late husband for helping to establish her professional career in the U. S. and for encouraging her broader musicianship through jobs with other bandleaders and instrumentalists. From 1952 to 1960 Marian McPartland led a trio at the Hickory House, a restaurant-cum-nightclub on Manhattan’s legendary 52nd Street, and it was there that the pianist grew in stature among her peers and legions of jazz fans, the casual and cognoscenti alike. On any given night those in attendance to hear McPartland play might include Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Steve Allen, Oscar Peterson, Artie Shaw, and all kinds of celebrities from Broadway to Hollywood, along with musicians like Bucky Pizzarelli and Paul Bley hoping to sit in with the band. She hosted a radio show on the Pacifica Radio Network station WBAI-FM in New York City, and also helped to develop and participated in a jazz education program for Washington, DC, schoolchildren that ended up becoming a model for similar endeavors around the country. On top of it all, McPartland, who’d supplied Down Beat with some concert reviews back in 1949, took up the pen occasionally to write witty and prescient appreciations and remembrance-filled essays for different magazines, which were collected in a volume titled "All in Good Time" in 1987. The book was reissued by the University of Illinois Press in February 2003 as "Marian McPartland’s Jazz World" with new postscripts from the author. The best-known forum for her enthusiastic advocacy of the improviser’s art, however, has been, and continues to be, Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz, the radio program heard weekly on NPR for the past 25 years, making the series NPR’s longest-running cultural program. Developed and presented by South Carolina Educational Radio, Piano Jazz today reaches listeners in 45 states and 24 foreign countries. Featuring intimate piano duets and impromptu conversation, twenty-six new installments of the hour-long show are taped each year with guests who have included nearly all the important jazz artists of the age and other musical luminaries like Ray Charles, Tony Bennett, and the members of Steely Dan. McPartland has released over 60 albums on Concord Records, and her twenty-five-year-long tenure at the label represents quite an enviable milestone in itself. On March 20, 2003, Marian McPartland turned 85, but fans and interviewers should wisely refrain from using the word “octogenarian” in her presence. She continues to perform for audiences around the world, and, needless to say, talk of retirement confounds the seemingly indefatigable pianist, entertainer and legend who has guests booked for Piano Jazz two years from now.
Wynton Marsalis
Jazz at Lincoln Center
Jazz musician, trumpeter, composer, bandleader, advocate for the arts, and educator, Wynton Marsalis has helped propel jazz to the forefront of American culture. His prominent position in American culture was solidified in April 1997, when he became the first jazz artist to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize in music for his work Blood on the Fields, which was commissioned by Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has served as the world-renowned arts organization’s artistic director as well as music director of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (formerly known as the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra since its inception). In 1982, Marsalis made his recording debut as a leader, and over the last two decades, he has produced a catalogue of more than 40 jazz and classical recordings for Columbia Jazz and Sony Classical, which have won him nine Grammy Awards. In 1983, he became the first and only artist to win both classical and jazz Grammy Awards in one year, and repeated this feat in 1984. Marsalis’s commitment to improving people’s lives through music and his contributions to the arts paint a portrait of his character and humanity. He is internationally respected as a teacher and a spokesman for music education, having received honorary degrees from 29 of the nation's leading academic institutions, including Columbia, Brown, Princeton, and Yale universities. As Jazz at Lincoln Center’s artistic director, music director of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and now host of Jazz at Lincoln Center Radio, Marsalis continues to spread the spirit of swing and raise awareness of jazz in the consciousness of the American public and the world.
Tony Mowod
JazzWorks
In addition to hosting his nightly show (which can be heard around the country on the JazzWorks Network) Tony Mowod is the Executive Producer of Jazz at WDUQ-FM 90.5, the President and Founder of the Pittsburgh Jazz Society, and has been one of Pittsburgh's most enduring champions of jazz for over four decades. Even as a teenager, Tony, dazzled by the tremendous number of jazz greats from his native Pittsburgh, responded to them not only as a fan does, but as a young musician himself. (The vibraphone was his instrument of choice after studying classical piano as a youngster.) Tony has also been involved in theater. Appearing off-Broadway and on TV, as well as local pursuits in professional summer stock, the Pittsburgh Playhouse, Pittsburgh Children's Theater, and Duquesne University's Red Masquers, among others. Mowod also serves on the board of the American Federation of Jazz Societies. Tony's ongoing love affair with jazz music is rekindled each night as he reminds listeners to "...keep a bit of love in your heart, and a taste of jazz in your soul." More than words to Tony Mowod, they are his philosophy.
Karen Mungal
Tonal Vision and A Tasteful Blend
Karen Mungal first came to WICN in 2000 as a volunteer, answering phones for a WICN fund-raising event. In the fall of 2003, the opportunity arose to host Tonal Vision on a bi-weekly basis. Karen offered to fill that position and quickly found her stride. Shortly thereafter, she became the full-time host of Tonal Vision, sharing her eclectic selections of New Age and World music with listeners every week. A native of Trinidad, Karen moved to Boston in 1989 to attend Suffolk University where she was deeply involved with the international student community, mentoring incoming students, and touring Europe in 1992. Karen brings her worldly perspective and unique ear for music to Tonal Vision, where the mix of songs is always evolving. In addition to her radio host responsibilities, Karen practices Shaolin Kempo Karate and Tai' Chi, and enjoys raising her daughter.
Nick Noble
Folk Revival
A long-time educator (he has taught middle school and highschool history for twenty-six years), Nick Nobleis a big fan of folk music, especially the folk revival period of the 50s and60s. He enjoys sharing this passion with the radio audience, and he alwayslikes hearing from listeners with ideas, suggestions, information,conversation, and requests. A resident of Worcester, Nick writes books in hisspare time, with five published to date—all on obscure historical topicsof very specific or local interest, with a sixth (on folk music and “theGreat Folk music scare” from 1959-1964) at the publisher now—and heloves to read (others’ work, not his own). He is also a sometime singer (thirtyyears ago he belonged to one of the last collegiate folk groups before acapella became the rage), a part-time poet, and a full-time husband and father.Nick is also a loyal WICN member and an active WICN volunteer.
..Send an e-mail to Nick
Tyra Penn
A Tasteful Blend / Jazz New England
Tyra Penn started as Development Coordinator for WICN in January of 2003. In that role, she was active in supporting and promoting New England’s jazz, folk and blues music venues; organizing volunteers; and serving as the permanent on-air substitute host for all of WICN’s musical genres. As Jazz Coordinator, she is now taking on the additional role of host of two of WICN's programs: A Tasteful Blend and the popular Jazz New England. She received her education in musical theatre at the Hartt School of Music and the Boston Conservatory. Outside of WICN, Tyra is a jazz and blues vocalist with a number of local ensembles: The Paul Combs Pocket Big Band out of Haverhill; Worcester-based jump blues and swing band The Red Riders; and two eponymous jazz quartets of her own, featuring Paul Courchaine on guitar and Sai Ghose on piano, respectively.
John Pizzarelli
Radio Deluxe with John Pizzarelli
John Pizzarelli has had a multi-faceted career as a jazz guitarist, vocalist and bandleader. Internationally known for classic standards, late-night ballads, and the cool jazz flavor he brings to his performances and recordings, he has recently established himself as the consummate entertainer and radio program host with the launch of Radio Deluxe with John Pizzarelli a nationally-syndicated radio program co-hosted with his wife, Broadway star Jessica Molaskey. Born on April 6, 1960, in Paterson, New Jersey, Pizzarelli has been playing guitar since age six, following in the tradition of his father, guitar legend Bucky Pizzarelli. Hanging out with his father, John was exposed to all the great jazz music of the era, from Erroll Garner and Les Paul to Django Reinhardt. He began playing with his father at age 20, before going out on his own. A veteran radio personality, Pizzarelli hosted New York Tonight on WNEW from 1984-1988. Now, with the launch of Radio Deluxe with John Pizzarelli, he brings warmth, humor and that long-lost "live" feel back to radio. The show takes place in their "deluxe living room," where he and his guests play live and recorded music, and enjoy conversation that is relaxed, candid, and off-the-cuff. Recent guests include Regis Philbin, Liza Minnelli, Peter Cincotti, Keely Smith, Steve Tyrell and Tony Danza.
Dave Radlauer
Jazz Rhythm
For 20 years producer Dave Radlauer has presented classic jazz on public radio hosting over 150 hours of live and recorded jazz concerts on KALW in San Francisco. His interviews with jazz veterans are preserved in a special collection of the San Francisco Traditional Jazz Foundation archive. Dave is a professional audio engineer specializing in recording classic jazz, audio restoration, and spoken word programs. His broadcasts and research have led to collaborations with an international network of jazz collectors, musicians, and enthusiasts. Dave worked with Antenna Audio Tours producing an award-winning self-guided audio tour of Alcatraz Island and the interpretive tape guides to major museum art exhibitions. He has directed such celebrity narrators as Meryl Streep, Richard Gere, and Edward James Olmos. His two cats are named Bix and Jelly.
Dana Robbins
Jazz Rocks
Dana Robbins grew up in the small town of Millbury, MA with musical influence from his father as he listened and watched him play the guitar at various family functions through the years. After graduating from GTE Sylvania Technical School in Waltham, MA in 1983, Dana worked as an electronics technician with natural gas detection equipment for 4 years while he took up guitar and drumming as a hobby. After moving into the newspaper business in 1987 with the Middlesex News in Framingham, Robbins relocated to Florida in 1989 and worked for theTampa Tribune while also putting his self-taught drumming skills to use in a local blues band called Borderline. Robbins then married, and moved his wife and two kids back to good ol' Millbury where he began his 13-year tenure at the Worcester Telegram & Gazette as a manager in the circulation department. Since returning to Massachusetts in 1993, Dana has dabbled in a few different musical projects including a brief stint with a local blues band and producer for Starry Nights Entertainment. Now a grandfather, Robbins' musical tastes have migrated from blues through fusion and settled into a healthy obsession with jazz. His spin on jazz can be heard late Friday nights with co-host Walter St. Denis on Jazz Rocks.
Norm Rosen
Saturday Night Fish Fry
Norm Rosen grew up in the New York City and Washington, D.C. areas as a kid where he was surrounded by a vibrant Blues and Rockabilly scene. As a teenager, he would sneak into many of the area clubs to see some of the top musicians perform. One of his earliest concerts was a free show at American University featuring B.B. King. Norm spent some time as a booking agent and music critic in New York where he worked closely with groups like The Johnny Copeland Band, Larry Davis, and Jimmy Dawkins. In 1989 Norm got his first on-air radio experience at an alternative station in Pittsburgh. Since then he has worked his way through the New England radio network with stops at WRIU, WATD, WHOB, WGBH and now WICN where he educates and entertains his listeners with the various styles of the Blues.
Tom Shaker
Soul Serenade
Tom Shaker is a professor at Dean College where he directs the Communications Program. He grew up in Poughkeepsie, NY, the son of a plumbing contractor who was a jazz nut. They fought like cats and dogs over the one stereo in the house until Tom realized his Dad was right, Billie Holiday IS better than Grand Funk Railroad. He spends his weekends saving diners for the American Diner Museum and listening to all kinds of music. In addition to international travel, Tom loves hitting the road to visit music festivals, diners, drive-ins and oddball museums. He has an extensive collection of not only jazz, country, soul and gospel, but Hawaiian, hillbilly and early 1920s dance band music. Over the years, Tom worked in radio, television and film production, before pursuing his academic career, receiving a masters degree from UMASS and a doctorate degree from Boston University. He is currently working on a book and documentary about the history of jazz in Rhode Island. Tom’s also on the Board of Directors of the New England Jazz Alliance.
Joe Slezik
The Jazz Matinee
Joe was born in Concord, MA but grew up in Bellingham. Coming from a musical family he was often appointed "booking agent" in providing music for school dances. Following high school he attended Dean College in Franklin and later Graduated from Northeast Broadcasting School in Boston and at the age of 18 was hired by WMRC in Milford as an evening disc jockey seven nights a week. In a 17-year period Joe was employed by various radio stations in over a dozen towns including Providence, Springfield, Worcester and many in between. The deterioration of popular music forced him out of the radio business and in 1978 he became an antiques auctioneer. After hearing WICN in 1985, Joe became the host of Thursday morning's "A Tasteful Blend" and later the Saturday "Jazz Matinee" (upon the retirement of his good friend Mary Mardirossian). Joe and his wife Pat now live in Paxton and have 3 children and 6 grandchildren. They continue their romance with antiques, old houses and most of all...music.
Walter St. Denis
Jazz Rocks
Walter E. St. Denis is a resident of Millbury, MA and has lived in the area most of his life. He spent 2 years in Denver, CO where he finished his 15-year career in the financial services industry. Upon returning to Massachusetts, he earned an Associates Degree from Quinsigamond Community College. He is currently employed as a medical coder for St. Vincent Hospital at Worcester Medical Center. Walter was exposed to jazz at an early age. His father was a jazz buff with a penchant for Dixieland and big band. His mother was a jazz and classical pianist. Walter played the clarinet in his youth and the drums in his teens and twenties. His passion for jazz includes trips to New York clubs, including Birdland and Sweet Rhythm, where he had the opportunity to personally speak with artists such as Lenny White, Michael Brecker, Michel Camilo, Joe Lovano, Dave Holland and Vijay Iyer. Along with co-host Dana Robbins, he brings that same passion to their program Jazz Rocks, heard Friday nights from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Bob Studebaker
JazzWorks
Bob Studebaker is the host of WDUQ's morning jazz program, Monday through Fridays from 9 a.m. to Noon, and also serves as the station's production director. Bob is a Pittsburgh native. In addition to his independent work in audio production, he has worked since 1980 with various radio stations in the Pittsburgh market including WNUF, WWCL, WXXP, WORD, WQKB, WMXP, and WJJJ. With an avid interest in history, Bob has taught the "History of Jazz" at Carnegie Mellon University's Academy for Lifelong Learning, tracing the roots of jazz from 17th century West Africa to the many influences and experiences that have contributed to the evolution of "America's classical music." Bob has also hosted high school students in the Professional Experience Program at Penn Hills, teaching them about and giving hands-on experience with recording and editing for radio.
Al Vuona
The Public Eye
For over a decade Al Vuona has been the host of "The Public Eye". His love of interviewing guests with diverse backgrounds and experiences has made for some great talk radio. From celebrities an dauthors to CEO's and politicians, the show has continued to cross boundries while at the same time informing and entertaining the audience.
Al's background in sales, marketing and entreprenurship has given him a unique perspective on people and issues. In addition he spent 8 years as License Commissioner for the city of Worcester gaining valuable experience on the inner workings of state and local government.
A public speaker with degrees in business and economics, Al enjoys interacting with an audience. He has given presentations and workshops on effective communications, marketing, sales and customer service. His love of food, wine and culture has been a mainstay, and over the years has continued to grow.
He is a freelance writer who has been published in local and national publications such as Wine Enthusiast, Sales and Marketing Management Magazine. Al considers wine, music, a good book and movies as his passions.
Nancy Wilson
Jazz Profiles
Nancy Wilson has hosted NPR's Jazz Profiles, radio's first and only jazz documentary series, since its debut in 1996. An Emmy and Grammy Award winner, Wilson is a vocalist and all-around performer. She has performed with a wide range of stellar entertainers from Nat King Cole, Billy Eckstein, Cannonball Adderley and Louis Jordan to LaVerne Baker, Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Ruth Brown. She has had over thirty albums on the Billboard charts and produced a slew of hit records such as "Tell Me The Truth," "How Glad I Am," "Peace Of Mind," and "Now, I'm A Woman." She continues to tour and record and released her 60th album on the Columbia label in 1997. For more than three decades and over the course of more than 50 albums, Nancy has remained at the forefront of her craft. Her ability to inject a lyric with a certain magic that breathes life into a song has been the key to satisfying legions of life-long fans, while waking up the ears of a whole new audience year after year. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s Nancy earned a reputation as an acclaimed entertainer through her live performances and television appearances, including a stint with her own Emmy Award-winning NBC-TV series, The Nancy Wilson Show, a music variety series which guest-starred the best performers of the era. She also appeared on other variety shows including the Flip Wilson Show, The Carol Burnett Show, and the Andy Williams Show. In addition, she has appeared on other major television shows such as The Tonight Show, The Lou Rawls' Parade of Stars, and the Arsenio Hall Show. Wilson also had recurring roles on The Cosby Show and the Fox sitcom Sinbad. Born in Chillicothe, OH, Nancy began honing her craft as a child while singing ballads such as "I’ll Walk Alone" at eight-years-old and later listening to Nat King Cole, Billy Eckstine, Dinah Washington, and Little Jimmy Scott. It was her association with Cannonball Adderley in 1962 that led to her first hit, "Save Your Love for Me." Since then she has won numerous awards and honors, including a Grammy, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a United Negro College Fund Award, the Paul Robeson Humanitarian Award, an Image Award, and an Essence Award. She is also the recipient of numerous other honors from such organizations as CORE and the Urban League. A community activist as well as musical genius, Nancy has been a major force behind several charitable causes and organizations. She has worked with inner city youth to provide them with opportunities they wouldn’t have been able to experience and has contributed time and energy to the Martin Luther King Center for Social Change, the Cancer Society, the Minority Aids Project, Breast and Ovarian Cancer and NARAS's Musicares.
