WGTE Public Media Blog

Artemis: The State of the Art

Virtuosity runs so deep in the music that I instinctively rebel against the idea of a jazz “super group.” Pick a seemingly run-of-the-mill horn-and-rhythm-section recording date for which the group was composed with a flurry of last-minute calls, and you might bump into a real masterwork. Of course there’s something to be said for stable groups that meld and deepen over long stretches of playing together in performance, in the studio, and at practice. We all can name our favorites. Read More

Joe Henderson: So Near, So Far (Musing for Miles)

Jazz Spectrum

One way to think about jazz is as a dialogue between tradition and innovation. Read More

Connections Near and Far: Joe Henderson's Musings for Miles

Jazz Spectrum

Friday evening Jazz Spectrum will showcase Joe Henderson’s So Near, So Far (Musings for Miles). For this avid listener, it will be a chance to return to that record to ask questions once again of the music and its players. This time, I’m curious about the underappreciated (by me) side of Miles Davis that I discussed in this space on May 28 as I joined the world in celebrating the maestro’s centennial. As influential as Miles is, there are broad swaths of his music that I know too poorly. Read More

Andrew Hill’s Book of Compositions

Jazz Spectrum

Among the more audacious album titles in jazz is Genius of Modern Music (Vols. 1 & 2), applied to a pair of separate albums that Blue Note released in 1956, gathering the recordings from 1947 through 1952 of Thelonious Monk. I’ve always been happy the producers avoided leading with either “A” or “The”. “The” would been a smidge too bold, since around that time there were doubtless more than one genius mining the modern vein. But “A” would have been far too pallid – Thelonious was always too singular to be lumped with anyone else. So, “Genius” it was. And it was apt. Read More

WGTE Public Media Announces Learn and Play Treasure Chests

Media & Press

WGTE Public Media believes every child should begin school ready to learn. WGTE’s latest early learning initiative, Learn & Play Treasure Chests, is designed to provide teachers, parents and caregivers with tools and materials that set children up for success in school and beyond. The initiative employs an innovative approach to early childhood learning. Read More

Sasha Berliner – The State of the Vibraphone

Jazz Spectrum

I came to the vibraphone early in my jazz listening, and I’ve been there ever since, as the Jazz Spectrum archives document. And in this decade, the instrument has become ever more prevalent on the show, as it is on the current scene. Read More

Finding Sasha Berliner

Jazz Spectrum

In that winter of Lockdown, the Smalls/Mezzrow livestreams were my way of accessing at least some kind of live music performance. I hit a jackpot (on a pretty safe bet) with a band called Palladium promising to play Wayne Shorter’s Speak No Evil on Christmas Eve 2020, 56 years to the day after its original recording. This was also the first time I heard Nicole Glover who met the responsibility of playing tenor saxophone by being a fresh voice, very much her own, respectful but not too deferential. Read More

WGTE Announces Learn & Play Treasure Chests

Media & Press

Toledo, Ohio — WGTE Public Media believes every child should begin school ready to learn. WGTE’s latest early learning initiative, Learn & Play Treasure Chests, is designed to provide teachers, parents and caregivers with tools and materials that set children up for success in school and beyond. The initiative employs an innovative approach to early childhood learning. Each Learn & Play Treasure Chest includes books, hands-on activities and guided links to PBS KIDS content. Read More

WGTE Video Series The Living Wild Debuts

Media & Press

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