CD Selections

Songs for the Soul
Organist Radam Schwartz and Conspiracy for Positivity
Featuring Vocalist Miles Griffith

The voice was the first instrument. The ear, by logical progression, ranks second. Drums were used to communicate over long distances, so they're third. The fourth is the Hammond B-3 organ, with roots that are firmly embedded in the church. During the 1950s and '60s, it became the main voice for "soul jazz," providing a hand-clapping, feet-tapping, rise-up-out-of-your-seat-and-celebrate style that commands your attention. Read More...
 

Stephen Tirpak - Musician, Composer, Arranger is a WRTI Member

A New Jersey-based trumpet and trombone player, Stephen has toured worldwide playing with John Legend since 2007 as the horn section leader and arranger. He's appeared on Good Morning America, Late Show with David Letterman, Jay Leno Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brian, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Ellen DeGeneres Show, The View, NBA All-Star Halftime Show, the Super Bowl Tailgate Party, and more.

Alondra De La Parra, conductor
Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas

Mexico celebrated 200 years of independence on September 16, 2010. To mark the occasion, Sony Classical released this thoroughly enjoyable two-disc sampling of orchestral music written by Mexican composers over the last two centuries. Okay, 125 years, to be precise. The program was assembled by the young, Mexican-born, New York-based conductor Alondra de la Parra, who founded the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas in 2004 at age 23.

Bill Cosby Wins Marian Anderson Award - Requests His Favorite Radio Host to Emcee Jazz Performances at April 6th Ceremony

BP Reflects on the Experience...

In the 1950s heyday of network television - some call it TV's "Golden Age"- there were many people prepared to write radio's obituary. Everyone from Ozzie and Harriet to The Lone Ranger had migrated to the living room screens. Yet radio survived, and thrived.

Now, through the first decade of the 21st century, radio is still with us, and in many ways, more flexible, more valuable, and as ubiquitous as ever. Read More...

The 30 Rock Actor Has a New Gig with the New York Philharmonic

Have you noticed anything slightly unusual when listening to WRTI's Sunday Afternoon Concert broadcasts of the New York Philharmonic? A familiar voice, perhaps? But not one you'd associate with Mendelssohn or Mahler or Mozart? Yes, that's the Emmy Award-winning actor Alec Baldwin you're hearing - he's now the official announcer of the New York Philharmonic's weekly radio broadcasts.

New York Magazine recently covered the breaking-news story. Read more...

Are you curious about the legendary "BP with the GM" who keeps you company throughout the week? Read all about the life and times of our beloved Mr. Perkins in a very interesting article on the popular jazz website All About Jazz.