WTJU Jazz Marathon Hot Takes
By WTJU
The Jazz Marathon 2025 was one for the records! Be a part of this historic week by supporting WTJU and filling out this secure donation form.
If you missed any of the programs, they remain available for two weeks after broadcast in this recent shows archive. We also have some shows that will remain available in perpetuity as recommended by a few Jazz hosts (links below). Thank you from all of us at WTJU to all of you for sustaining the sound!
STEVE HARRIS: Wow, what a fun week of jazz that was. Thanks to everyone for their incredible generosity supporting the station. Remember, the donate button never sleeps. The marathon had more great music than anyone could digest, and I know we all missed many shows. I want to recommend the Jazz Meets the Middle East and North Africa show that DJLP (and Mr. DJLP) hosted on Thursday. The show focuses on the bassist and composer Ahmed Abdul-Malik, who blended Middle Eastern and African styles with American jazz. The compositions are powerful and the inclusion of instruments like the oud gave the music an exotic, otherworldly groove. DJLP includes some Coltrane and Monk to show how these international influences seeped into the jazz tradition. This is some great music from an artist who deserves to be discovered.
I also want to give a quick shoutout to the Here Comes the Sun show of Beatles Jazz that Mary Beth hosted on Tuesday. I was grinning during that entire show and Mary Beth had a fantastic playlist, including many covers I had never heard before. Stay tuned for recommendations from other jazz DJs.
RUS PERRY: The demise of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting left us in a big fiscal hole, but our passionate volunteer announcers and generous listeners conspired last week to take some of the sting out of the trauma. On Sunday, we had perfect early fall weather and I fear that some of our audience may have been following other muses and might have missed the wonderful Latin Jazz served up by DJ Jennifer G. She had us dancing for two hours remembering the powerful music of salsa pioneer Eddie Palmieri. If you were MIA, you’re in luck, there is still time to rectify that oversight as we keep all of our programs available for streaming for two weeks. Life doesn’t always offer up second chances, but this is one of those times. Cue up La Perfecta: A Tribute to Eddie Palmieri and shake thoise tail feathers.
DUFFY DILLINGER: I recommend Eight O’Clock Jump: European Big Bands. The brilliant arrangements of some Latin Jazz, familiar pop songs, jazz standards, tangos, the revamped classical pieces (by Beethoven and Tchaikovsky) as well as fresh, new material is truly remarkable and energizing. The playlist isn’t there to immediately help recall the individual bands, but I appreciate the variety of pieces, carefully selected to showcase the world music and talented musicians. They obviously have a good handle on Jazz music styles and improvisation. The European band leaders strike me as power houses of their disciplines via international music. I have literally played that show over and over again since it was aired on Wednesday morning!
BRIAN KEENA: There are so many programs to choose from; truly an embarrassment of riches! One show that really fired me up was the Friday 8-9pm live concert with The Jamal Milner 4. Jamal is, in my opinion, one of the most underrated, talented, generous, and humorous guitarist players ever. Check out this live performance and prepare to have your mind blown.
I also seriously recommend listening to the Duane Allman/Derek Trucks show with Peter Welch, as well as Dave Donahue’s Bill Evans: Master of Harmony and Melody show. During non-marathon weeks, Peter and Dave have back to back shows on Friday nights, and their chemistry together really worked during the marathon, not to mention the rare recordings they both featured. I was entertained and impressed by their preparation and knowledge.
DAVID EISENMAN: What a wonderful week of special programming with high entertainment value & passion by our djs and special guests. One of those guests were The Greenhorns, a relatively new funk band with killer horns, who played a live set on Saturday night. This band is led by tenor saxophonist, Tim Clark (Baby Jo Boogie Band) and although missing two key players for this performance, still brought a stellar cast of the area’s finest musicians to perform the gig. The cast included Sam Johnston on keyboards and Stuart Holme on bass (filling for Steve Riggs) from Mama Tried, jazz drummer Drex Weaver (Baby Jo Boogie Band), Max Hoecker on guitar (Cherry Red) but also part of the Greenhorns’ horn section when Ian Gilliam isn’t touring Scottland. Finally New Yorker Don Castellow on baritone sax filled the stage providing mostly New Orleans funk classics such as the Dirty Dozen’s “Unclean Water”, the Meters “Just Kissed My Baby”, and Allen Toussaint’s “On Your Way Down”. Highly Recommended and in my opinion, needs to return to the stage at WTJU as soon as possible!
