Joe Policastro brings Screen Sounds to the North Side

Thursday night, March 1, the Joe Policastro Trio comes to Alphabet City for a show to highlight their new release "Screen Sounds" (as heard on WZUM).

Bassist Joe Policastro is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, but has spent the past 15 years in Chicago. He's a much sought after sideman and arranger and composer, too, including a project highlighting the musical legacy of Gerry Mulligan with the Mulligan Mosaics Big Band.

The Trio is a creative, working unit, in residence 3 nights a week in Chicago at the club Pops for Champagne in Chicago, but touring widely, too.

The Joe Policastro Trio features Policastro on bass; Dave Miller, guitar; Mikel Avery, drums and auxiliary percussion. The show at Alphabet City is free, but visit the web site to RSVP.

101.1 FM Maintenance - On Air Interruptions over the next few days

WZUM AM/FM has three different transmitter sites, and they all need tending to from time to time. This week, our newest site for 101.1 FM in Pittsburgh is getting some attention, and that means there may be some times when we are temporarily off the air. We'll be back on as soon as possible. You can still listen via the internet at wzum.org.

Our apologies for the inconvenience.

Mandela, an Audio History, Sunday afternoon at 1 on WZUM

Sunday, February 25 at 1pm, join WZUM for an audio documentary from Radio Diaries. Mandela, an Audio History is the award-winning radio series documenting the struggle against apartheid through intimate first-person accounts of Nelson Mandela himself, as well as those who fought with him, and against him.

Recognized as one of the most comprehensive oral histories of apartheid ever broadcast, the series weaves together more than 50 first-person interviews with an unprecedented collection of rare archival recordings, some of which had never been heard before.

Here a special one-hour version, Sunday afternoon, February 25 at 1pm on WZUM. The complete 5 part series and other materials can be found at MANDELA: An Audio History - The Stories

A Cylon invasion?

Lorne Greene, 1969 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorne_Greene Public Domain

In the 1970's, there was the first iteration of the TV series "Battlestar Galactica." It starred Lorne Greene and a number of other fine actors. It also had cybernetic villains called Cylons. They were noted for being mean, and out for no-good for humankind.  

Cylons also had voices that sounded very digitized, warbling and disturbing.  

Today, when audio that uses digital technology starts to have problems - in digital feeds or video conferencing, for example, you may hear sometthing like this digitized warble that some of us in the tech realm call "Cyloning," in tribute, sort of, to that TV show from the times of the Rockford Files and Battlestar Galactica.

Unfortunately, periodically for the past few weeks, and very oppressively today, WZUM has had the CYLON experience with all of our audio. There is a problem one of our vendors for things digital is working to resolve, and we are very sorry for the inconvenience. It has to do with wires and such, and they will fix it for keeps, shortly. 

Lorne Greene, you were a fine actor with a marvelous set of pipes, but we hope to not revisit this part of your career again, ever!

Scott Hanley

General Manager

Broadcasting is about being on the air, and sometimes, in it.

WZUM 88.1 FM, Bethany, had a technical problem that took us of the air for a day.

We are back on, now, but we had to climb to do it.

While we have been developing backup systems for the most reliable service, possible, things can go wrong - even when it is very, very cold.

On a cold week like this one, finding and fixing problems in bad weather at the transmitter site is fraught with challenges. The winds were at least calm, and the sun was shining today, but climbing the tower is a challenge when it the wind-chill index is below 0. 

So, the warm sounds of jazz on the Pittsburgh Jazz Channel have returned to the Ohio Valley. To you and our stalwart technical team, we say, Welcome Home!

WZUM's signal is on at 101.1 FM from Pittsburgh's North Side!

The Press Release has more details.

This has been a dream, deferred, for many years, brought to life by the board of Pittsburgh Public Media (PPM) and more than a thousand donors and volunteers.

We are Pittsburgh Public Media, here to serve our community with music, information, education and partnerships. There's more connection and community-building to come.  

To succeed, we ask for your advice, your support and your enthusiasm:

• Share your ideas, questions and thoughts with an email to info@wzum.org
• "Like" our Facebook page
• Donate as generously as you can
• If you have connection with a business or nonprofit who'd benefit from on-air messages on WZUM through underwriting, please email us at info@wzum.org
• Check out Jazz Central as we work to bring artists, presenters and performers together.
• Spread the news of the growing service of the Pittsburgh Jazz Channel!

The Pittsburgh Jazz Channel WZUM can now be heard on 88.1 FM from Bethany, WV, on 1550 AM, Braddock and now on 101.1 FM from Pittsburgh’s north side. Streaming online via www.wzum.org. 

In 1787, on the other side of Pennsylvania, Benjamin Franklin was asked what the Constitutional Convention had just created. He reportedly said, "A Republic, if you can keep it."

In Pittsburgh, we've built a new public radio service. With your help, we will keep it and do great things for you and Pittsburgh for many years to come. 

WZUM is the Pittsburgh Jazz Channel. Welcome home!

Scott Hanley, General Manager, WZUM

Scott Hanley Returns to Pittsburgh, Joins Leadership Team of WZUM

Scott E. Hanley has returned to Pittsburgh and named general manager of WZUM 1550 AM/ 88.1 FM/ 101.1 FM, the public radio service licensed to Pittsburgh Public Media.

Pittsburgh-area listeners might remember Hanley from his years as director and general manager of WDUQ-FM from 1995 to 2011. In that time, the station pioneered digital services, enhanced news and cultural programming, and engaged in many partnerships and collaborations in the region and across the commonwealth. His tenure also saw record growth in listenership and financial support from the Pittsburgh community.

“Bringing Scott back to Pittsburgh, to WZUM, is huge. We really appreciate his experience,”relates Pittsburgh Public Media Board Chairman Ron Schuler. “Scott shares our mission, to use WZUM as a tool to build upon the region’s rich jazz heritage, providing a place where we not only present national artists, but showcase local artists, the overwhelming number of solid jazz students and educators who create superb sounds. We will be doing live interviews and concerts. Scott will be working with us to reach our goals.”

Hanley has spent the majority of his career in public broadcasting, including at various radio stations in Michigan, Texas and Iowa. Most recently, he served as general manager for NPR affiliate WBHM-FM, Birmingham, Al.

A trained musician, Hanley has performed widely as a vocalist and instrumentalist, as well as producing regional and national events and broadcasts. He has a strong affinity for jazz, serving for many years as the leader of the Jazz Radio Consortium, which encouraged communication and collaboration of hosts and stations across north America.

Hanley served on the NPR Board of Directors from 2002-2008. During his time on that board, he served on its executive, investment, membership, and strategic planning and technology committees. In addition, from 2003-2008, he was chair of the NPR distribution/interconnection committee, which oversees the Public Radio Satellite System (PRSS), the distribution network for public radio stations throughout the United States. In 2011, Hanley received the Public Radio Regional Organization PRRO Award for contributions on behalf of public radio stations nationwide.

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Hanley is member of the Board of Directors for the Association of Public Radio Engineers (APRE) and an active member of the Radio Television Digital News Directors Association. Currently, he teaches broadcasting, journalism, media sales and media management at LaRoche College, and offers consulting services across the U.S.