Category Archives: Playlists

XXV and counting

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It’s amazing to think that five years have passed since we moved into our new studios; that move roughly coincided with the twentieth anniversary of the beginning of my association with the WNUR jazz show. That means that I must now have clocked up a quater of a century of jazz shows! So that such a milestone did not pass totally without notice I did a couple of week’s shows (1, 2) entirely comprised of music from 1987 or before (I briefly considered making it only 1987, but that seemed a little restricting). Shades of the, now seemingly defunct, WNUR Dillo Day tradition of the Flashback Weekend when the station would play nothing recorded after 1970 (at least that was the date when I started, though the cutoff moved forward over the years).

A Holiday Feast

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Too many details from the playlist for 12/23/2011:

  1. The Wassail Song 2:33 Tanner, Phil Folk 15 of 30 World Library of Folk and Primitive Music, Vol. 1: England Rounder Select – Alan Lomax Collection
  2. Oy Chanukah, Oy Chanukah 3:03 Klezmer Conservatory Band Klezmer 23 of 23 Oy Chanukah! Rounder / Umgd
  3. Sandwiches & Brandy 5:01 Moore, Michael / Fred Hersch Jazz 9 of 11 This We Know Palmetto – Michael Moore, cl, as; Fred Hersch, p. Recorded in Haarlem, NL, October 2003
  4. Rabbits 6:22 The Flatlands Collective Jazz Bishop 7 Gnomade Skycap – Jorrit Dijkstra; Jeb Bishop; Jim Baker; Kent Kessler. Dec 12, 2005
  5. Cornet Chop Suey 3:08 Armstrong, Louis Jazz 7 of 16 The Hot Fives, Volume 1 Columbia – Louis Armstrong, cornet and vocals; Kid Ory, trombone and vocals; Johnny Dodds, cl and alto; Lil Armstrong, p and vocals; Johnny St. Cyr, banjo; Clarence Babcock, vocals. Recorded 1925-26 in Chicago.
  6. Hodge Podge 5:16 The Harper Brothers Jazz 2 of 12 Remembrance – Live at the Village Vanguard Verve – Philip Harper, t; Winard Harper, d; Justin Robinson, as; Stephen Scott, p; Kiyoshi Kitagawa, b. “Recorded live direct to two-track digital on Friday and Saturday, September 8 & 9, 1989, at the Village Vanguard.”
  7. Slop 4:41 Mingus, Charles Jazz 1 of 8 5 of 10 Charles Mingus Columbia Legacy – This is Jazz, vol 6.
  8. Salt 2:20 Bolleter, Ross Jazz 3 of 14 Night Kitchen: An Hour of Ruined Piano Emanem
  9. Red Hot Pepper Stomp – Jelly Roll Morton & His Hot Peppers 3:10 Morton, Jelly Roll Jazz 18 of 23 Jelly Roll Morton – Doctor Jazz Bluebird
  10. Cookin’ 3:16 Brown, Clifford Jazz Lou Donaldson 1 of 4 5 of 18 The Complete Blue Note and Pacific Jazz Recordings Blue Note / Pacific Jazz
  11. One Mint Julep 3:07 Charles, Ray Jazz 3 of 17 Berlin 1962 Pablo. 6 March 1962. With: Marcus Belgrave, Wallace Davenport, Hank Crawford, Rudy Powwell, David Newman, Don Wilkerson, Leroy Cooper, Sonny Forrest, Edgar Willis…
  12. Scotch & Soul 5:06 Harley, Rufus Jazz 3 of 9 The Pied Piper Of Jazz Label M
  13. Black & Tan Fantasy 4:53 Iyer, Vijay Jazz 1 of 1 4 of 11 Solo ACT – 16-17 May 2010, OTR Studios, Belmont CA
  14. Gin for Christmas 2:31 Hampton, Lionel Jazz Lionel Hampton 5 Tempo and Swing: The All-Star Groups, Vol. 3 (1939-40) Bluebird
  15. Everybody Eats When They Come To My House 2:47 Calloway, Cab Jazz Jeannie Burns 1 of 1 4 of 22 Are You Hep To The Jive? Columbia/Legacy
  16. Hold Tight (Want Some Sea Food, Mama) 2:16 Waller, Fats Jazz Lenny Kent-Dick Brandow-George Robinson-Leonard Ware-Willie Spottswood 2 of 3 9 of 22 A Good Man Is Hard to Find: the Middle Years, Part 2 (1938-40) Bluebird
  17. Shrimp And Gumbo 2:37 Rebirth Brass Band Jazz 1 of 1 9 of 11 Rebirth Of New Orleans Basin Street –
  18. The Lobster Parade 5:56 Microscopic Septet Jazz Forrester 2 of 2 1 of 11 Seven Men in Neckties: History of the Micros, Vol. 1 Cuneiform – Philip Johnston, ss; Don Davis, as; Paul Shapiro, ts; Dave Sewelson, bari; Joel Forrester, p; Dave Hofstra, b, tub; Richard Dworkin, d. From Take the Z Train (1983), Let’s Flip! (1985)
  19. Wilted Salad In the Parlor 6:23 Dutz, Brad Jazz 11 of 14 Obliteration Percussion Quartet s/r – Brad Dutz, Dan Morris, John Holmes, Joseph Berardi. Recorded 7/99 – 8/01
  20. Carvin’ The Bird 2:47 Parker, Charlie Jazz McGhee 1 of 4 25 of 26 Boss Bird (Studio Recordings 1944 – 1951): Ornithology Proper Records
  21. Ain’t The Gravy Good? 3:13 Cootie Williams & His Rug Cutters Jazz D. Heywood 2 of 2 17 of 21 The Duke’s Men: Small Groups, Vol. 2 1938 – 1939 Columbia Jazz Masterpieces
  22. Tulip or Turnip (Tell Me, Tell Me, Dream Face) 3:07 Ellington, Duke Jazz Don George/Duke Ellington 8 Happy Birthday, Duke! the Birthday Sessions, Vol. 4 Laserlight – April 29th birthday sessions, 1953 and 1954 at McElroy’s Ballroom in Portland, OR.
  23. Sno’ Peas 5:56 Evans, Bill Jazz Phil Markowitz 1 of 1 2 of 9 Affinity Warner Bros. – Bill Evans, p, el. p; Toots Thielemans,harm.; Larry Schneider ts, ss, fl; Marc Johnson, b; Eliot Zigmund, d. Oct 30, 1978-Nov 2, 1978
  24. 18 Carrots For Baby Rabbit 5:17 Mulligan, Gerry Jazz 4 of 10 The Silver Collection: Gerry Mulligan Meets The Saxophonists Verve – Tracks 1-2 with Ben Webster, 3-4 with Johnny Hodges, 5-6 with Zoot Simms, 7-8 with Stan Getz, 9-10 with Paul Desmond.
  25. Cheese Cake 6:34 Gordon, Dexter Jazz Dexter Gordon 1 of 1 1 of 6 Go! Blue Note – Dexter Gordon, tx; Sonny Clark, p; Butch Warren, b; Billy Higgins, d. Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 27 Aug 1962.
  26. Pound Cake 2:44 Basie, Count Jazz 15 of 16 The Essential Count Basie, Volume 1 Jazz ensembles and big band music featuring Count Basie, piano and organ; in part with vocals. Recorded 1936 (1st work) and 1939 (remainder).
  27. Pine Apple Rag (1908) 4:00 Zimmerman, Richard Ragtime 4 of 5 4 of 14 The Complete Works of Scott Joplin Vol. 4 Music first published 1895-1902. LaserLight, p1993.
  28. Peaches 2:38 Cole, Nat “King” Jazz Terry Gibbs 1 of 1 18 of 18 The Best Of The Nat King Cole Trio: The Instrumental Classics Capitol – Nat Cole, p; Oscar Moore (1-15), Irving Ashby (16-18), g; Johnny Miller (1-15), Joe Comfort (16-18), b; Jack Costanza, bongos, conga (16-18)
  29. Orange Stomp 3:05 Wills, Bob Western 1 of 1 1 of 40 The Very Best Of Goldenlane
  30. Nutty 5:04 Monk, Thelonious Jazz 4 of 9 Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall Blue Note – Thelonious Monk, p; John Coltrane, ts; Ahmed Abdul-Malik, b; Shadow Wilson, d. Recorded by VOA 29 November 1957
  31. Tea for Two 3:37 Takase, Aki / Rudi Mahall Jazz 1 of 1 4 of 14 Evergreen Intakt – Rudi Mahall, bass clar.; Aki Takase, p. Recorded 4 & 5 July 2008, AudioCue Berlin.
  32. Black coffee 3:42 Granz, Norman Jazz 9 of 10 25 of 25 The Complete Jazz at the Philharmonic on Verve 1944 -1949
  33. Jellybeans 3:55 Kessel, Barney jazz 8 of 9 Solo Concord – Recorded April 1981, Coast Recorders, San Franciso.
  34. Sippin’ At Bells 4:08 Braxton, Anthony Jazz Miles Davis 2 of 2 9 of 10 Charlie Parker Project 1993 Hat Art – Anthony Braxton, as, sopranino & contra b cl; Ari Brown, ts, ss; Paul Smoker, t; Misha mengelberg, p; Joe Fonda, b; Han Bennink (CD1)/Pheeroan AkLaff (CD2), d. CD1: Zurich, 21 Oct 1993; CD2: Köln, 22&23 Oct 1993.
  35. We Free Kings 4:47 Kirk, Roland Jazz 7 We Free Kings Mercury

WNUR Playlists

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For the first ten or so years of my tenure at WNUR DJs recorded the playlists for their shows in ratty spiral bound notebooks or three ring binders. When the notebooks were full, or at other random times, the old playlist would disappear and a new book would take its place. I’m not sure what happened to the old books; they may be filed away carefully in an archive somewhere, but knowing the station, this seems unlikely. More probably they are taking up space in some landfill or other. Eventually the station installed a computer in the control room and we started entering playlist information into a either a word processing document or a spreadsheet. There wasn’t any great consistency, and every now and then a computer crash would take all the playlists with it.

Around 2002 things got a little better organized. The PC was added to the network and the playlists were saved more securely and they started standardizing the format. At about the same time I decided to put my playlists on-line here on my website in a nice easy to find and view format during my show. There was talk of putting them on the station’s website too, but I decided not to wait for that. Eventually some of the playlists made it on- line at wnur.org either as rtf documents or simple html, but it was a manual process. It was all very messy and not very listener or DJ friendly, and was no reason for me to change how I was keeping my own playlists. There was talk of providing a nice web-based entry system; easier for the DJs and real-time information for the public, but nobody got as far as implementing it.

Fast forward to today — finally there is an on-line real-time playlist system at WNUR! Not all DJs have got with the program yet, but for those that have, playlist information is showing up on the station’s home page as the updates occur (with luck the time might actually match reality too!). There is also a way to pull up old shows by DJ, show, and date. I have started using the new system, so my playlists are showing up correctly on the WNUR home page, updated as I play each track — much easier for anybody who has a question about what’s on air.

What about this site? The short answer is that it’s not going anywhere. One of the things that my playlist system has done for me for the last seven years is to give me the ability to search over all my old playlists. I really like this as it helps stop me from getting into ruts, playing the same few tunes over and over, and it reminds me of artists whom I might otherwise neglect — too useful a featue to lose. So I have written a little script that copies the data from the new system onto my private site, so the two systems will continue in parallel for the foreseeable future. If you are used to coming here for the playlists there’s no need to change your habits; for everybody else the station’s website is an easy access point for my, and everybody else’s, playlists.