MCG Jazz Staff Picks - the MCG Jazz Spotlight Hour

MCG Jazz Staff Picks on the Spotlight Show

With the MCG Jazz 39th season just around the corner, our staff join Marty Ashby in the studio to talk about the artists performing this coming season. You'll hear our favorites by Kurt Elling, Bela Fleck, Mindi Abair, Endea Owens, and more!

Friday and Sunday nights at 6, Saturday afternoon at 1 on WZUM

Kate Borger Hearing Double - "Rhythm-a-ning" on WZUM

Kate Borger shares sounds from various parings - including Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald; Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, alto jazz masters Phil Woods and Grace Kelly; Dr. John and Rickie Lee Jones, flutists Herbie Mann and Sam Most; pianists Eliane Elias and Chick Corea and many more.

Playing duos and pairs with Kate Borger on Rhythm-a-ning with Kate Borger.

Friday morning at 10:00 and Saturday a 11 on WZUM

Dee Dee Bridgewater on Broadway, in Pittsburgh and Remembering Sheila Jordan on the Scene on WZUM

An extended interview and listening session with The Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival headliner, Dee Dee Bridgewater.

The day before our interview, NEA jazz master vocalist Sheila Jordan died at age 96. Dee Dee Bridgewater and Sheila had become good friends over the past 4 decades. We talk about Sheila, Dee Dee and much more - including important advice Dee Dee received early on from trumpeter and bandleader Thad Jones.

The Scene - Thursday night at 6, Friday and Saturday at noon, Sunday at 5 on WZUM

Keith David Sings on the Scene on WZUM

The Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival is just a little more than a month away. The lineup is filled with new faces and players and voices and well known favorites, too.

One of the headliners is well known, but not so much as a singer of jazz. Keith David has been seen on Broadway, on film and television. Keith David also narrated the permanent August Wilson exhibit, The Writer’s Landscape, at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center. He also will be honored in 2026 with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

We visit with Keith David on his Pittsburgh appearance in September and on his new album, “Between Takes.”

The Scene - Thursday night at 6, Friday and Saturday at noon, Sunday at 5 on WZUM

Chuck Mangione in the MCG Jazz Spotlight

Chuck Mangione in the MCG Jazz Spotlight

Trumpeter / Flugelhorn star Chuck Mangione died in Rochester, NY July 22nd at the age of 84.

To celebrate the life and music of trumpeter, flugelhornist, composer and bandleader Chuck Mangione, we are airing a very special archival episode of the MCG Jazz Spotlight Show. This weekend, Marty Ashby reaches back to the rich trove of interviews from the MCG Jazz stage - featuring highlights from a 1996 interview with Tony Mowod.

Music and memories with Chuck Mangione from the stage of MCG Jazz - and on the radio in the MCG Jazz Spotlight. The MCG Jazz Spotlight on WZUM - Friday and Sunday nights at 6, and Saturday afternoon at 1.