The Mama Jazz Show

Phyllis Campbell was known to WMUB listeners as Mama Jazz and after almost 30 years behind the mic she was a raspy, gravel-voiced Cincinnati-area institution. She only stepped down in 2006 because if her declining health. She had developed chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,chronic bronchitis and emphysema. The same vice which led to her marvelous voice also led to the end of her life. Colin Fogarty of Oregon Public Broadcasting, then working nights at WMUB, recalled that smoking was allowed inside the building into the 1990s. [SOURCE] Her voice was compelling but still second to her love of jazz.

Campbell was born in 1922 in Eaton, OH. As a young lady fixated on jazz, she took the train to Cleveland and Chicago in the early 1940s to see artists like Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton and other jazz legends.  More here.

Campbell began working at Miami University, in Oxford, OH  in 1967 first as a secretary. Then jazz-head and WMUB staffer Lee Hay [LINK] asked Campbell to speak at a station fund-raiser about jazz. (Lee Hay is a legend in Ohio herself) Campbell spoke of all the musicians she had met and her love of jazz. This moment led to an invite to do a regular weekend two-hour program on WMUB starting in 1979. That show grew into a four-hour, weekday show by 1984. More here.

In December 2006 at the age of 85 she stopped doing original broadcasts due to her health. She was so beloved they ran re-runs into 2008 when they dropped the canned show for news and talk programs. The station itself only lasted about a year longer. [SOURCE]

DJ Baby Dodds

The drummer Warren "Baby" Dodds is best known for his jazz improvisations. He was one of the first drummers to be recorded improvising while performing. Furthermore, because improvisation is so core to jazz, Dodds is known for his role in the development of jazz as a genre and drum solos in general. In the book The Baby Dodds Story by Larry Gara (1959) includes references to some live radio broadcasts Dodds made in 1947.

Born in 1898, Dodds was almost 50 by the time that 1947 program aired. But he had been playing drums since he was 16, and recording since 1923, (with Louie Armstrong no less.) Much of his early catalog would be considered Dixieland, or ragtime. It was only later that as the genre developed, he played in swing and jazz bands... what at the time was called "hot jazz." He is considered by many to be one of the all-time greatest drummers alongside Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich. In 1947 Dodds had already recorded sessions for Victor, Circle, Steiner-Davis, American Music and Blue Note. The radio reference he makes in the book is short on details but enticing:

"In 1947, while I was broadcasting on Rudi Blesh's "This is Jazz" program, I made some records from the broadcast. I had also done some broadcasting years before, in 1927 when I played with Hughie Swift's band in Chicago's Jeffrey Tavern. We had a special broadcast show worked out which took a half hour every week. "

Ever the musician, Dodds recollection goes on to detail the arrangements and the players but not dates, times, or call letters.The program "This is Jazz" is well known. The program originated at WOR Studios in New York City. Known recorded sessions began in January and continued until 1947 of that year. [Discography here] The Jazzology label released most of those sides, and Dodds is all over "This Is Jazz: The Historic Broadcasts, Vol. 2" if you want to give a listen.

But that other 1927 show is quite obscure.The Hugh C. Swift band did play at the Jeffrey Tavern, other texts even list some of the personnel such as Ernest "Punch" Miller, Charlie Allen, and Roy Palmer. The book Jazz: New Perspectives on the History of Jazz by Nat Hentoff and Albert McCarthy, actually includes a claim attributed to Swift that these broadcasts were "the first South side group to have nightly remotes."  The claim is very narrow, but they do identify the call letters was WSBC-AM. That makes this one of the oldest black radio programs ever. Their appearance follows Jack Cooper by under 2 years. [SOURCE]

*It's worth noting that that at that same venue, Swift was followed by another jazz group led by Sammy Stewart with Ikey Robinson and Sid Catlett who have all the same claim to that particular radio first.

Jazzgrass

Some things obviously go together like chocolate and peanut butter, or broccoli raab and sharp provolone. Some of these pairings are as old as time immemorial. But Brian Aust's Woodwarblers Jazzgrass radio show was a "You got your chocolate in my peanut butter!" moment for me. The WGDR/WGDH website describes it thusly

"Often thematic and always illuminating, JazzGrass offers listeners fabulous sounds of bluegrass, jazz and artists that blend these along with other styles together.  If you’ve been craving a radio show featuring outstanding music that typically never receives airplay, tune in to WGDR on Monday evenings."

 I had never considered the pairing of bluegrass and jazz before. Country and jazz split away from each other on the tree a long time ago and represent different species of music today. The Jazzgrass program pairs them together in ways that are alternately unnatural and amazing. You can see some playlists here.

Here is an example hour with my annotations:

Alison Krauss and Union Station - My Love Follows You Wherever You Go (AAA)
Slavek Hanzlik - Summer Solstice (bluegrass)
The Wayfaring Strangers - June Apple (folk)
Béla Fleck & The Flecktones - Life In Eleven (bluegrass/fusion)
Bireli Lagrene - Viper's Dream (guitar jazz)
Bob Brozman, David Grisman & Mike Auldridge - Crazy Rhythm (solo banjo)
Brian Carpenter's Ghost Train Orchestra - Mojo Strut (dixieland)
Charles Mingus, Hampton Hawes & Danny Richmond - Summertime (bebop)
Errol Garner - You Made Me Love You (piano jazz)

Other shows have klezmer bands, Django, Stan Getz, Benny Goodman, Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, Medeski Martin & Wood, Johnny Cash, Calexico and of course Tom Waits. The program sometimes divides a two hour slot more cleanly into jazz and bluegrass dipping more deeply into the disparate sub-genres of each. But his programs are best served when the playlist develops, crescendos and maneuvers through the related dark corners and closets that they all share. If you find yourself in Barre, Vermont I'd advise you to tune to 91.1 or 91.7 on Monday nights and give it a listen.

Open Source Jazz Servicing

This is an experiment. If you don't already have a radio servicing list, and you can't buy one the only way to make one is the hard way. You make lists, you cross-out and you add...manually, pen and paper, excel and notepad.  There are no short cuts. 

I spent some real time making a jazz servicing list. This list includes the few full time jazz stations in the US, the entire Jazz week panel, CMJ panel, Jazz Services Panel, the old Hits panel, the old Gavin Panel, and every single jazz specialty program. I included only programs playing new releases, and excluded smooth jazz. I cross referenced the list with station websites and trade magazine data to see what existed and what did not. It includes easily a hundred non-reporting programs. This is the motherfucker of all jazz radio servicing lists.

I've collated it all in a .ods spreadsheet into the following  tabs:

Canada - Stations in Canada playing Jazz
Primary Jazz -  Stations that are airing Jazz for a substantial part of their music programming.
Specialty- Stand alone Jazz programs
Syndicated/Other -Network programs, Podcasts, Satellite Services etc.

 I am going to give this away. In return I ask that those that use it report back errors so that I can make corrections. If the idea gets traction I may share it in a more interactive format.  My total tally is 104 Primary Jazz stations, 221 Specialty Shows, 22 syndicated programs and 34 Canadian stations. You can download it all in .ods spreadsheet format:

HERE!