WSIE 88.7

Giants of the jazz world will be visiting our fair city for Jazz St. Louis’ 18th season. People like Sonny Rollins, Bela Fleck, Chick Corea and Dr. Lonnie Smith to mention a few. The Jazz station is proud to keep you informed of all the great acts coming to town!

Radiothon

Jason — Wed, 30 May 2012 20:43:43 +0000

A great time was had by all, and we helped keep the jazz alive for a little while longer!

We spent The later part of Friday, All of Saturday and most of sunday begging you, our loyal listeners, to help keep the jazz alive during our fund raiser radiothon.

With your support, we were able to raise over two thousand dollars.

We cannot thank you enough!

The money raised will go toward the purchase of a new server, which will replace the decrepid PC that is currently used as our on-air machine. We’re in the big leagues now, and our equipment is slowly reaching the level of performance to reflect just how serious we are about bringing you the best programming possible.

Thanks again for all the support and we look forward to bringing you the music you love for years to come!

Spring Fund Drive is Approaching!

Jason — Mon, 07 May 2012 15:06:04 +0000

We are closing in on THAT time again. Friday Afternoon, may 18th through Sunday evening, May 20th will be our first spring fund drive. As before, we will be hosting a number of guests as well as maintaining your favorite programming

The Jazz station is dedicated to bringing you, our loyal listeners, the best programming available. Since our winter fund drive, we have acquired new music, and produced new shows like Big Band & Swing, with volunteer host Ryan Sheehan. On top of that, we had made necessary modifications and modernizations to our studios, but there is still SO MUCH work to be done. We appreciate the support.

The Schedule goes as follows: More guests will come and go throughout the weekend! Tune in and please give what you can.

4:30pm to 8:00 pm	Soft Kick-off and Live Hosting (Special Guest Pat Hundley)
Saturday, May 19, 2012
8:00 am to 10:00 am10:00 am to 10:30 10:30 am to 11:30 am	Live hosting 10 am special guest Delano RedmanJD Campbell show
11:30 am to 12:45 pm	phone lines are open during regular jazz programming
12:45 – 4:00 pm	Cougar Sports – Ball Game with Joe Pot
4:00 pm to 5:00 pm	Live hosting with Dick Ulett and Greg Conroy- introduce the upcoming shows
5:00 pm to 7:00 pm	Big Band and Swing with Ryan Sheehan.
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm	Rat Pack Show with Justin Wingerter (special Guest: Dean Christopher)
9:00 pm – all night	Regular programming phones closed


Sunday, May 20, 2012
8:30 am to 9:00 am	Live Jazz With Jason Valentine, Dick Ulett and Greg Conroy
9:00 am to 9:30 am	Recorded Segue with Dean Romero
9:30 am to 10:00 am	Live with special guest Dean Romero
10:00 am to 1:00 pm	NPR regular programming Phone Lines are open!
1:00 pm to 5:00 pm ***	Live music and announcements wih Dick Ulett, Jason Valentine and Greg Conroy

Welcome Back Tom Dehner

Jason — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:52:34 +0000

WSIE is proud to see Tom Dehner back at the station. He will provide insight and commentaries on Tuesdays and Thursdays following the 8:30 and 3:30 news. A veteran with 40 years of broadcasting experience, he is an excellent example for the young adults involved with WSIE to emulate. “From the Sidelines” will provide commentary on a wide variety of subjects and promises to be an interesting addition to the WSIE cannon.

http://www.stltoday.com/suburban-journals/illinois/news/business-news-siue-jazz-station-begins-new-program/article_36c88045-71c3-5e57-8b07-4821656e89a9.html

Now that the real information is laid out, it’s time to tell you my story about Tom Dehner – and how he (unknowingly) helped me attain my radio voice.

Tom is a pacer. When he ran the news department here at WSIE, he would read the paper and pace back and forth in front of the window to the production room, which was adjacent to his news department. Being a complete beginner to radio announcing and voice-work, I sounded meek and timid because I was speaking into the microphone as if nobody was around to hear me. I felt goofy and out of place talking to myself.

Dick Ulett gave me the suggestion to imagine someone from the audience (preferably someone from the demographic) was there. This would make me project my voice in a more casual and conversational way.

Tom Dehner was just what I needed. As I read my scripts, I would follow him back and forth and read to him from behind the sound proof glass. Of course, he had no idea that I was watching him. He was busy reading the paper, preparing metro talk, and of course, pacing. One afternoon, however, Tom caught me in the act. He glanced up from his paper just in time for me to deliver the line as I was staring right at him. He did a quick double-take and his expression went from his usual pensive into total confusion.

I immediately averted my eyes and pretended to be working on the screen in front of me, but through my peripheral vision, I could tell that Tom was made uneasy by my smiling stare as I spoke over the radio.

So, now that it’s common knowledge, thanks Tom for helping me find my voice; and I’m sorry for staring!

Redman & Meldau

Jason — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 14:23:16 +0000

I had the pleasure of watching two prodigies in their craft on April 7th. Jazz at the Bistro hosted Joshua Redman and Brad Mehldau over Easter / Passover Weekend. Brad Mehldau, I assumed, would provide a decent accompaniment to Redman’s both Melodic and rhythmic style. Frankly, I thought there would not be enough room on stage for both of them. Joshua Redman has such a vast sound that it would be difficult for Mehldau to get a note in. How wrong I was. These men provided one of the best jazz shows I had ever seen. We should not be surprised if we see a recording appear of the two of them. Here’s why they were such a great combination:

To my delight, Mehldau’s choice of piano voicings cradled the sax part, rather than antagonizing it, limiting it to a certain range, certain rhythmic slot. Mehldau and Redman had a conversation on that stage, not just when trading phrases throughout their respective solos, but also communicated the directions of their melody lines so that when they played variances of the head of the chart, they were still together and not in each other’s way at all. I credit most of this to Brad Mehldau’s keen observation and almost prophetic ability to predict Redman’s phrasing, which is by no means formulaic.

I didn’t even mention the solos! I mean, granted, these men are professional musicians, of course their work is going to sound good, but there is a difference between good and legendary. Meldau’s hands work totally independantly. One can focus on rhythmically complex phrases while sticking to just a few tones while the other switches between melody, chord voice exploration, and back again. My table mates, both piano players themselves, commented on Meldau’s classical influences during the first fugue-like solo. Perhaps it is because I am not a piano player that this concept baffles me so much. I was astounded at how just piano and saxophone could fill the space so beautifully.

Redman’s abilities, however, were not to be outmatched. If Mehldau was an entire rhythm section, Joshua Redman was an entire horn line. He gracefully strides from one end of the horn’s range to the next, and sometimes just jumps from one end to the other, to the muffled exclamations and under-breath “daaaamns” of the audience. . . or maybe it was just me who said that. How does he come up with the intricate lines that he plays? It seems like he has a book in his back pocket of licks that could stand alone, but he just links them together to create a solo that makes you want to give up playing altogether, because you know you’ll never be able to do THAT.

If you see a CD come out with duets between Brad Mehldau and Joshua Redman, buy it. You will never regret it.

To read yet another rant about these two, and find the source of the photo above: http://andrewjshields.blogspot.com/2010/05/mehldau-redman-basel-may-16-2010.html

CD offerings for the WSIE fundraiser

Jason — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 04:32:21 +0000

The December 2 radio fund drive offers a CD gift with a 50$ pledge to WSIE! Here is the list of 10 pick CDs, donated from the good folks at MAXJAZZ label

Vocal

1. Carla Cook “It’s All About Love”

2. Rene Marie “How Can I Keep From Singing?”

3. LaVerne Butler “A Foolish Thing To Do”

Piano

4. Jessica Williams “This Side Up”

5. Bruce Barth “Live at the Village Vanguard”

Holiday

6. Various Artists “MAXJAZZ Holiday”

7. Eric Reed “Merry Magic”

Horn

8. Jeremy Pelt “Close To My Heart”

Vocalpiano

9. Dena DeRose “A Walk In The Park”

String

10. Russell Malone “Playground”

Sharky’s On The River

Jason — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 21:38:50 +0000

It’s That time again!!! WSIE and The Original Sharky’s on the River host the Benefit performances right on the river in St. Charles, Mo.

Come on out to see us on Sunday, October 23. The fall colors should be stunning, the environment is always fun at sharky’s on the river, and -of course- the music!

Tom Byrne and Erika Johnson start us off at 2 O’clock.

The SIUE Jazz studies Combo

Then Have U Heard takes us to the finale!

The benefit for WSIE will surely be a great success and we hope to see all of our friends out there for another great afternoon.

http://sharkysontheriver.com/sharkys_calendar.html

WSIE 88.7

Jazz Preview–2010

Jazz Preview–2011

From The Sidelines–2012

Jazz St. Louis has been busy