Category: Uncategorized

WRTC hosts began airing Jeff Beck tributes following the confirmation of the passing of the innovative guitarist at the age of 78 on Jan. 10.

The Jan. 21 edition of Greasy Tracks presented a three-hour spotlight on Beck, including interviews with some of those who knew and worked with him as well as music from across his diverse catalog.

Check out the archive, while playlists are here. The Hartford Courant reported how WRTC and others in the local music community responded to Beck’s passing.

There were interviews with Johnny A, Jennifer Batten, Vinnie Colaiuta, Steve Cropper, Jan Hammer and Don Nix. Mambo Sons guitarist Tom Guerra guest hosted.

Beck’s ability on the fretboard garnered widespread attention when he joined the Yardbirds in 1965 as Eric Clapton exited to join John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. Before leaving in 1966, Beck’s remarkable playing had fostered a whole new, more varied and certainly genre-bending sound for the Yardbirds.

Like many of Beck’s musical relationships, his term with the Yardbirds was short-lived as he was dismissed from the band while on tour in the United States. Despite the crushing low of being without a band and technically jobless, Beck would go on to do what would be characteristic of him over the next five-plus decades: reinvent himself as a player.

After releasing a handful of singles, he linked up with out-of-a-job singer Rod Stewart, Beck would assemble a new band including the highly sought after session pianist Nicky Hopkins along with Ronnie Wood (bass) and Micky Waller (drums). He released his debut solo album, Truth, in July 1968, ushering in a new, heavy blues sound that would jumpstart such bands as Led Zeppelin who released their debut the following year.

The bulk of that line-up released Beck-ola a year later as the Jeff Beck Group, but by 1970, Beck had changed the line-up. Continuing on the blues-based path, but one accented by a hint of things to come as Beck started incorporating a more soulful and funky feel to his sound.

Spurred by Billy Cobham’s Spectrum, Beck entered the mid-1970s with the heavy blues sound well in the past as he now favored jazz fusion.

His curiosity would lead him to blaze new trails as a guitarist, collaborate with scores of top musicians over the year and ultimately, be awarded eight Grammy Awards.

The sounds of Stax Records have recently been all over the airwaves as Greasy Tracks presented a six-hour, two-part tribute to Jim Stewart — the co-founder of the iconic label — who passed away at age 92 on Dec. 5.

Part 1 aired on Dec. 24. Check out the archive by clicking here.  Part 2 aired Jan. 7. Listen here, while playlists are here. 

Included was music from across the history of the label as well as interviews with some of those who worked with and knew Stewart, including William Bell, Steve Cropper, Robert Gordon, Don Nix, Deanie Parker, Tim Sampson and Vaneese Thomas.

Sam Phillips, who founded Memphis Recording Service — later known as Sun Studio — in 1950, is the one who got the recording studio ball rolling in the city and where the likes of Ike Turner, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Milton, Johnny Cash, Bobby Bland and Roy Orbison all recorded.

Joined by his sister, Estelle Axton, Stewart — heavily influenced by hearing Ray Charles’ “What’d I Say” — ultimately followed the influential Phillips with Satellite Records.

Taking over an old movie theater, the former Capitol Theatre, at 926 East McLemore Ave., in South Memphis, in 1957. Prior to the label’s formation, Axton ran Satellite Records, a record shop, adjacent the movie house. It was probably named after Sputnik which was launched the year before. In the years that followed, such legendary studios as American Sound, Ardent and Royal were formed.

“I was converted, immediately,” Stewart said of hearing the Charles track. “I had never heard anything like that before. It allowed me to expand from country into R&B, into jazz, into gospel, wrapped all in one. That’s what Stax is!”

Perhaps not a household word like Motown, Stax proved over its often-turbulent history that it could more than keep pace with Detroit’s “Hitsville U.S.A.” Under Stewart’s direction in the studio and boosted by the likes of Booker T & the MG’s as its primary house band, the label would create “The Memphis Sound” while churning out innumerable classic hit singles as it introduced the world to some of the most captivating soul and blues artists ever to grace the stage or the airwaves.

Bell along with Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Albert King, Sam & Dave, Rufus and Carla Thomas, The Staple Singers, Eddie Floyd and Johnnie Taylor each made an indelible mark on music, but also enjoyed their greatest success while at Stax Records.

Guests on the program include the veritable who’s who when it comes to Stax- and Memphis-related go-to people.

William Bell, the first male solo artist signed to Stax, released his classic debut single, “You Don’t Miss Your Water”, in 1961. Guitarist Steve Cropper was part of The Mar-Keys and Booker T & the MGs as well as doing A&R, production, engineering and songwriting. Memphis-based Robert Gordon is a Grammy/Emmy-winning author/director/producer who has written six books and been involved with eight documentaries.

Don Nix was a member of The Mar-Keys, the label’s first house band. He later went on to a solo recording career as well as a producer. Deanie Parker first recorded at Stax as a high school student, but over the years would sign to the label as an artist and writer before leading the label’s publicity department. Tim Sampson is the communications director for the Soulsville Foundation, the nonprofit organization that operates the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, Stax Music Academy and The Soulsville Charter School. Vaneese Thomas is a recording artist who contributed to many sessions at Stax, often in the studio with her father Rufus Thomas and sister Carla and brother Marvel who was the first piano player at the label.

The Dec. 16 edition of Crashing The Ether featured the new Waka/Wazoo box set — a five-CD collection covering Frank Zappa‘s legendary Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo eras — and special guest Scott Parker, a noted Zappa historian who penned the liner notes for the new release.

The program, which coincided with the actual release date, can be heard on the archive by clicking here

Parker, who has written a number of books about Zappa, is the host of ZappaCast, the official Frank Zappa podcast. In addition to taking a deep dive into Waka/Wazoo, Parker discussed several recent archival Zappa releases, including Mothers 1971, Zappa/Erie and Zappa ’75. 

Recent releases by The Weight Band and Maurice Tani as well as a tribute to Christine McVie were featured on the Dec. 3 edition of Greasy Tracks.

Check out the archive by clicking here, while a playlist is here. 

The Weight Band appears at The Warehouse at FTC in Fairfield on Dec. 16 and Infinity Music Hall in Hartford on Dec. 17. They recently released Shines Like Gold, their first studio effort since their debut, World Gone Mad in 2018. Keyboardist/vocalist Brian Mitchell discusses the album and up-coming shows in an interview that will air during the program. There will be tickets given away to the Infinity Hall appearance.

Based in the San Francisco Bay area, Tani’s latest release is All In! (Little Village Foundation) where the veteran guitarist, singer and composer goes for a more soulful country sound with hints of rock on his album of original tracks, minus a superb rendition “I Forgot To Be Your Lover” — the Booker T. Jones/William Bell chestnut. Highlighting the album are appearances by The Sons Of The Soul Revivers who add a gospel influence to a pair of tracks.

Formed nearly a decade ago by musicians who traced their lineage to The Band and Levon Helm’s Midnight Ramble Band, The Weight Band specialized in keepingThe Band’s catalog alive and well on stage, but over the years, began to incorporate original material. Their latest effort maintains their traditional Band-influence sound, but runs the gamut from Americana/roots rock to blues and a couple of ballads. The lone cover is a wonderful rendition of Willie Dixon’s “It Don’t Make Sense (If You Can’t Make Peace)”.

Just as The Band featured a versatile collection of singers and players, The Weight Band follows suit with Mitchell, bassist Albert Rogers, drummer Michael Bram and keyboardist Matt Zeiner all handling vocal duties while guitarist Jim Weider, who spent 15 years in The Band, rounds out the lineup.

McVie, a long-time member of Fleetwood Mac, passed away at the age of 79 on Nov. 30. The program avoided playing standard FM fare when it comes to the McVie tribute.

The annual WRTC fundraising marathon concluded Nov. 11.

On behalf of the staff and management, we thank all of our generous listeners who pledged to support the station.

As the non-commercial radio station of Trinity College, we offer a diverse schedule of 60-plus programs on a weekly basis. Aside from two part-time employees, we’re an all-volunteer organization.

Much of our financial assistance comes from our loyal listeners and we rely on your backing to keep us on the air doing what we do best.

Those who pledged will receive a pledge/payment form in the mail. Just follow the simple instructions and return it to: WRTC Marathon, 300 Summit St., Hartford, CT 06106.

You can also still donate securely online, just click…

“Thank You” premiums will be mailed out in the near future.

For more information, or to make a pledge by phone, contact the station at 860-297-2450.

Thank you again for supporting WRTC!

There are very few drummers who even come close to racking up the number of sessions that the legendary Bernard “Pretty” Purdie has done and the Nov. 5 edition of Greasy Tracks at least scratched the surface of the drummer’s fascinating career.

Check out the archive by clicking here, while a playlist is here. 

Purdie appears at Telefunken Soundstage in South Windsor on Nov. 13 where he will perform as well as conduct a clinic and interview session with Rick Beato. He caps a two-day musical fundraiser to benefit Asperger/Autism Network.

Dating to the late 1950s, Purdie — once known as “the house drummer of Atlantic Records” — played nearly 30,000 sessions, has appeared on more than 4,000 albums and recorded with 2,500-plus different artists, including a deep catalog of solo releases.

Artists he has appeared with, running the gamut from jazz to rock, include Miles Davis, James Brown, Steely Dan, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Louis Armstrong, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, BB King, Joe Cocker, Bob Marley, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Mongo Santamaria, Peter Frampton, Hall & Oats, Hank Crawford and Jimmy McGriff to name only a few.

Employing an innovative use of triplets against a half-time backbeat, Purdie developed an immensely distinct and impactful technique known universally as “the Purdie Shuffle”.

On Oct. 19, WRTC hosted the New Haven-based experimental improvisatory duo, Tongue Depressor, to play in the unique and resonant Crypt Chapel downstairs in the Trinity College Chapel.

You can enjoy the concert yourself with this video. They played the small pipe organ there as well as double bass and bag pipes. Entirely acoustic, their music resonated and reverberated in the enclosed stone space in a wonderful and satisfying way.

The Oct. 15 edition Greasy Tracks featured music from Zero as well as interviews with founding members Greg Anton and Steve Kimock.

Check out the archive by clicking here, while a playlist is here. 

Zero is at Infinity Music Hall in Hartford on Nov. 3, marking the band’s first appearance in the city since 1995 when they played multiple dates at The Blue Star Café.

While the band is finally able to do an east coast run of shows following the shelving of dates due to the pandemic, it’s been a busy year for drummer Anton and guitarist Kimock.

In addition to west coast Zero gigs, Anton released his debut solo album, Starfire, a one-off live recoding he did at TELEFUNKEN Soundstage in South Windsor. He is also working on his second book following the publishing of Face The Music. Kimock has been on the road with Steve Kimock & Friends and will do a handful of dates with Oteil & Friends this month. In January, Kimock is touring with Jazz Is Dead.

And then there was the May release of Naught Again, a live offering featuring tracks recorded during a three-night run at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco in 1992. Anton and Kimock discussed the album on the May 21 edition of Greasy Tracks.

Hartford native Anton and Kimock trace their collaboration roots to early 1980 and The Heart of Gold Band, a short-lived line-up featuring ex-Grateful Dead members husband/wife Keith and Donna Godchaux along with bassist John Kahn.

The passing of Keith Godchaux, only days after the band’s debut appearance, hastened the breakup of the group, but Anton and Kimock continued working together in the studio and by 1984, with a somewhat loose aggregation of players, made their first appearance as Zero.

The early edition of the band featured guitarist John Cipollina who remained with Zero until his death in 1989. Core members over the years included bassist Bobby Vega, saxophonist Martin Fierro, keyboardists Banana, John Farey and Chip Roland amongst others.

They released their debut studio album, Here Goes Nothing in 1987, followed by Nothing Goes Here (1989).

In 1992, the band, which had primarily played instrumentals since forming, started working with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. Vocalist Judge Murphy soon joined and Zero became a regular go-to for Hunter’s material.

Joined by a handful of special guests, Zero performed at the Great American Music Hall Oct. 14-16, 1992. A portion of those shows was released in 1994 on Chance In A Million. With keyboardist Pete Sears part of Zero during this period, the band also had Nicky Hopkins and Vince Welnick alternating on piano during the run.

In addition to Anton and Kimock, the latest edition of Zero includes Pete Sears (bass), Hadi Al-Sadoon (trumpet) and Spencer Burrows (keyboards), but the Infinity appearance will also include Robert Somerville (saxophone).

The band St. Lucia was featured on the Oct. 10 edition of the Devo Rock Show, including an interview with lead singer and songwriter Jean-Philip Grobler.

Click here to listen to an archive.

St. Lucia just released their fourth album, Utopia (Netwerk Records). The band features Grobler’s wife, Patti Beranek, on vocals and keyboards, Ross Clark (bass), Nick Paul (keyboards) and Dustin Kaufman (drums). They have a distinctly 80s sound with lots of rocking guitars and synthesizers.

Grobler was born and raised in South Africa and currently resides in Germany, but spends a lot of time in the United States focusing on his own music and production work with other artists including, Foster The People, Passion Pit and Wykclef Jean.

His current album is an upbeat take on the sound of the 80s with impeccable production and stunning vocals. Devo caught up with the band at the opening night of their tour, Oct. 7, at The Paradise in Boston. In the interview, Grobler describes his journey through the pandemic and how his new album came to be.

Interviews with noted author Marc Myers and Grammy-winning trumpeter Arturo Sandoval were featured on the Oct. 6 edition of Fifty Shades of Jazz with Lou Pomales.

Check out the archive by clicking here .

Sandoval appearrs at Eastern Connecticut State University on Oct. 15 for a pair of concerts with David Foster & The Shaboo All-Stars supporting.

Myers, who posts daily at  JazzWax, is a regular contributor to The Wall Street Journal where he writes about music and the arts. His books include: Anatomy of 55 More Songs (Grove Press), Rock Concert (Grove Press), Anatomy of a Song (Grove Press) and Why Jazz Happened (University of California Press). Based in New York City, Myers is a three-time winner of the Jazz Journalists Association’s award for Jazz Blog of the Year.

A protégé of Dizzy Gillespie, Sandoval recently released Rhythm & Soul (MetaJAX Entertainment). He has won 10 Grammy Awards, six Billboard Music Awards and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.