In a Mellow Tone

Charlie "Yardbird" Parker's music is a mainstay on WRTI, so obviously our jazz hosts get to hear a lot of his music ona regular basis. We've asked them to weigh in on their favorite songs from Bird, or favorite interpretation of his music from another artist. Here's what they had to say.

August 10, 2020. When legendary saxophonist Jimmy Heath passed away on January 19th, Philadelphia lost one of our upper-echelon of jazz—a high priest, if you will. Less than two months later, we lost McCoy Tyner and Danny Ray Thompson.

May 4, 2020. Mother’s Day will be a lot different this year. The jazz brunches that would normally be packed will be replaced by curbside pickup and listening to Sunday Jazz Brunch with Bob Perkins on WRTI 90.1 (not too shabby) while chatting with family via Zoom.

We are so sad to report that Philadelphia jazz legend, Robert "Bootsie" Barnes—tenor sax player extraordinaire—passed this morning of COVID-19 at age 82. "The man with the tenor touch," he was beloved by so many in our jazz community and beyond. Read obituary here.

March 9, 2020. Grammy-winning pianist Bill Cunliffe has worked on all different types of projects, and is known for having an affinity for Latin jazz. On Sunrise Over Moloka’i, Bill deviates from the predictable, and sets his musical sights on Hawaii, even completing his trio with Bruce Hamada (bass) and Darryl Pellegrini (drums), who both call Hawaii home.

August 19, 2019. It would’ve been more than understandable for pianist George Cables to call it quits; retirement almost certainly would’ve been the prudent, pragmatic course for the 74-year-old pianist after losing most of his left leg to a deathly serious health scare.

April is Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM), and this year marks the 60th anniversary of the most influential year in jazz, 1959. Each week we've highlighted one of the game-changing albums that left an indelible mark in jazz history, and changed the course of its future.

April 15, 2019. On trumpeter Josh Lawrence’s latest, Triptych, it’s hard to see the forest through the "threes." Of the album’s 10 tracks, nine of them are divided into three distinct suites of three-movements apiece.