What makes the ideal jazz soundtrack for a Thanksgiving holiday? You could tuck into a lesser-known main course by Thelonious Monk, or a classic, grooving soundtrack to a Peanuts special. The jazz team at WRTI will lean into the holiday with these and other restorative sounds, a fine accompaniment whether you’re keeping it mellow or entertaining a house full of guests.
On Evening Jazz with Greg Bryant, from 6 to 9 p.m., the focus is on soul-sustaining “earfood” — a term coined by trumpeter Roy Hargrove, who once released an album by that title. As a nod to the late Hargrove, who has a fine new archival album out this year, Greg will spin one of his songs during each hour of the show. (What songs? That’s for you to find out, though the smart money says at least one of those hours will have you humming along to “Strasbourg / St. Denis.”
Elsewhere on Evening Jazz, you’ll hear tunes with either food, family or fellowship at the center — classics by Peanuts composer Vince Guaraldi, singer Nancy Wilson, soul-jazz organ maestro Jimmy Smith, trumpeter Lee Morgan and more.
On Late Evening Jazz, from 9 p.m. to Midnight, Josh Jackson will serve “Second Helpings” — a series of twofers by beloved jazz artists like Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan, Bill Evans, Ella Fitzgerald and John Coltrane.
Josh will also toast a handful of the legends we've lost this year, like Benny Golson, Roy Haynes, Quincy Jones and Russell Malone. Their departures are a source of sadness, but their music and the lives they led will always be cause for gratitude.
Tuning in earlier in the day? Don't miss our Thanksgiving Classical Programming.