The Next Set: Live From Jazz St. Louis from Travis Estes on Vimeo.
St. Louis Public Radio is partnering with Jazz St. Louis to create something ma-jazz-stic.
The two organizations are launching The Next Set: Live from Jazz St. Louis, a show that seeks to bring the “improvisational art of live jazz music” to eardrums across the region. With a premiere date of October 3, the show will broadcast on Friday and Sunday nights at 8 p.m. on 90.7 FM KWMU and stlpr.org.
Gene Dobbs Bradford, Jazz St. Louis' president, hosts the radio’s ode to jazz and will conduct interviews with performers. Two performances are scheduled each night, with a roster ranging from local to national artists. Names include Anita Jackson, Erika Johnson, Hip Grease, the Kendrick Smith Trio and more.
Bradford describes jazz’s nature in a press release as being about “what’s next.” He adds that jazz is built on great artists, with many being from St. Louis like Miles Davis and Willie Akins, but that was just the beginning.
“Every note, every day, every generation builds on what came before. And that’s what we’re talking about on The Next Set. You may be the biggest Lester Bowie fan, or have no idea who he was, and that’s okay, it really is,” Bradford says in the press release. “You don’t need special knowledge to listen to jazz. These traditions are thriving and ever-expanding in today’s artists, and that is what we want to share with this show.”
St. Louis Public Radio’s interim general manager Tom Livingston says in the press release that his organization is proud to partner with Jazz St. Louis and “expand their vibrant venue for jazz out to the airwaves.” The partnership, Livingston continues, will carry on the radio’s commitment to share the arts with the public.
“The Next Set is appointment listening that will bring you into the club, from wherever you are, when you tune in on Friday or Sunday nights,” Livingston says.
Full episode descriptions can be found on stlpr.org/nextset.
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