Marty Ashby is joined by drummer and jazz historian Thomas Wendt for a look at one of the most remarkable ensembles of the 1950s: Dizzy Gillespie’s State Department Big Band.

The MCG Jazz Spotlight on WZUM - Friday and Sunday nights at 6, and Saturday afternoon at 1.

Kate Borger Plays Music She Loves on Rhythm-a-Ning

Sounds crossing many decades throughout the hour - Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Julie London, Mark Murphy, Samara Joy, and Pittsburgh’s Tony Campbell with vocalist Fred Pugh.

Join Kate Borger - Friday morning at 10, Saturday morning at 11, on WZUM.

An Emphasis on warmth and Jazz - and improvising through adversity. Plus, we celebrate the spread of jazz on the radio - including internationally with hosts like Willis Conover of Voice of America.

Music and stories and screens on the Scene - Thursday at 6, Sunday at 5, Friday and Saturday at noon.

"This is Triumphant Music" - Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Inaugural JazzFest Berlin, 1964.

Dr. King’s Essay on the importance of Jazz to humanity and the Civil Rights movement was not a speech, but it was written at the request of the festival organizers. The words are powerful .

An excerpt:

Much of the power of our Freedom Movement in the United States has come from this music. It has strengthened us with its sweet rhythms when courage began to fail. It has calmed us with its rich harmonies when spirits were down.

And now, Jazz is exported to the world.

Host Marty Ashby visits with Chris and Dan Brubeck, who performed and recorded with their father since the 1970s.

Chris and Dan Brubeck expand upon the compelling stories of their father, Dave, as well as their mother Iola that were shared during their concert at MCG Jazz in early 2022.

The MCGJazz Spotlight on WZUM - Friday and Sunday nights at 6, and Saturday afternoon at 1.

Kate Borger chronicles may ways to musically approach time - especially with lyrics!

Join Kate Borger Friday at 10 am and Saturday at 11 am on WZUM

We visit with Roger Humphries - grateful in NYC, Allan Harris - making music and building a new place in Pennsylvania (we have the scoop), a visit with Najee - on how he’s loved the flute, and didn’t really like the Soprano Sax at first (he’s at City Winery next Thursday, January 22).

And we hear about how Don Was, president of Blue Note Records, got back into playing music at the urging of the recently departed Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead.

The Scene - Thursday night at six, Friday and Saturday at noon, Sunday afternoon at 5 on WZUM.

The MCG Jazz Spotlight Show celebrates the artists we lost in 2025 by doing the one thing they’d all agree on: playing the music.

Hear Anthony Jackson, Andy Bey, Ray Drummond, Gordon Goodwin, George Freeman, Hal Galper, Jim Self, Eddie Palmieri, Chuck Mangione, and compositions of Alan Bergman. Friday and Sunday night at 6, and 1pm, Saturday on WZUM.