Shows will be posted on the "List of Shows" page for streaming and download two days after first air date.
Bill Mays 7/13-19
Jazz pianist, Bill Mays is one of the most energetic, joyful people around. The jazz world is filled with cranky musicians because it’s a cranky business. But not Bill Mays. At seventy-five, he’s going strong, playing classical and jazz concerts, recording, playing tennis three times a week and pouring good energy into the world. His influences range from Earl Hines and Art Tatum to Horace Silver and Wynton Kelly and his musical associations range even further, from his work with Art Pepper and Stan Kenton to Tom Scott’s L.A. Express to Frank Zappa to rock and roll with a drag queen group in the 1970s at the Whiskey A Go-Go. Judy and Bill talk about it all.
John Altman 7/20-26
British film composer, John Altman grew up with an illustrious musical family. His Uncle Woolf Phillips arranged and conducted for the Marx Brothers, Frank Sinatra and Laurel and Hardy and his Uncle Sid Phillips, led Britain's best know Dixieland band.
John has arranged for everyone from Rod Stewart to George Michael, played sax with Jimmy Hendrix and Eric Clapton and written for films as diverse as Titanic and Goldeneye. He and Judy talk about it all.
Ben Sidran One 7/27-8/2
Pianist/singer/songwriter/author: Ben Sidran is all of these things and more. He’s played with or produced artists as diverse as Mose Allison, Diana Ross, Boz Scaggs, Jon Hendricks and Richie Cole and for years hosted the Peabody Award winning NPR series, Jazz Alive.
Ben holds a PhD in American Studies but in his own words, has studiously avoided the academic life, preferring instead to spend his time performing, producing and writing. This is the first half of Judy’s conversation with Ben about his long career and his book, There Was A Fire, Jews, Music and the American Dream, a fascinating study of the enormous Jewish contribution to popular music and how and why that developed.
Ben Sidran Two 8/3-9
Second half of Judy’s conversation with Ben.
Julia Keefe 8/10-16
Vocalist and actress, Julia Keefe, is an old soul, connecting more with the music and performers of the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s than what followed. Julia thought her passion for jazz and theater made a Musical Theater Major a natural, until a year into it, when she realized that contemporary musical theater is more Hamilton than Kiss Me Kate.
Julia honors her love of early jazz in her tribute shows to fellow Native American, vocalist, Mildred Bailey. Judy talked with Julia Keefe in Manhattan a few days after she received her Masters Degree from the Manhattan School of Music and when she was still celebrating her first red carpet experience for her first feature film, Virginia Minnesota.
Bruce McGill 8/17-23
Stage, film and television actor, Bruce McGill, first came to fame as the motorcycle-riding, bad boy character, D-Day, in National Lampoon’s Animal House. McGill’s rugged looks led to more tough guy roles, but also to a wide range of everything from Shakespeare to voice acting on Family Guy, to long runs on MacGyver, Shades of Blue and Rizzoli and Isles.
Bruce McGill is an accomplished musician and golfer as well, and has used these skills to enhance or influence his take on multiple characters through the years, most notably, playing golf great, Walter Hagen in the film The Legend of Badger Vance.
Bruce and Judy met on Crystal Symphony on a Hollywood-themed cruise, where Judy was there to play a concert and Bruce to lecture about his long film career. One thing led to another and this fascinating conversation was recorded.
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