Jazz Unlimited

On the Sunday, February 3 Jazz Unlimited, we continue our series on urban centers that have brought great musicians to jazz by having teachers and institutions that bring them into the music at an early age.  The Jazz Cities series will feature musicians born in or nurtured early in their careers in Chicago.  Some of the musicians include Joe "King" Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Frank Trumbauer, Earl Hines, Nat "King" Cole, Denny Zeitlin, Johnny Griffin, Junior Mance, Eddie Harris, Henry Threadgill, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Herbie Hancock, Anita O'Day and Andrew Hill.

Jazz musicians occasionally use classical music themes for improvisation.  On the January 28, 2013 edition of Jazz Unlimited, the first hour will have music by Bach, Villa Lobos, Mozart, Pachelbel, Rachmaninov, Dvorak and Rodrigo played without horns.  The second hours will present new music with Dizzy Gillespie, Dena DeRose, Art Pepper, Marcus Roberts, Hal Russell and others.

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The January 20 Jazz Unlimited show will present musicians who have major birthdays.  Most have passed on, while some are still going strong in their careers.  The musicians and their ages are as follows: vibists Milt Jackson (90) and Gary Burton (70), trumpeters Henry "Red" Allen (105) and "Hot Lips" Page (105) , guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli (85), reed players Haywood Henry (100) and Billy Harper (70), violinist Stephane Grappelli (105),  bassists Steve Gilmore (70) and Curtis Counce (90), and drummers Barry Altschul (70) and Osie Johnson (90).

The Jazz Unlimited show for January 13 is part of a series on listening to musicians who were born or nurtured in specific urban centers.  This is the second of two parts on Detroit and its environs.  On tonight's show the featured musicians include pianists Johnny O'Neal, Ross Tompkins, Tommy Flanagan, Hank Jones, Carlos McKinney and Geri Allen, trumpeter and composer/arranger Thad Jones, saxophonists, Wardell Gray, Billy Mitchell, Pepper Adams and Hal Russell, drummers Louis Hayes, Alvester Garnett, Elvin Jones and Roy Brooks, violinist Regina Carter, bassists Ron Carter, Paul Chambers an

The Jazz Unlimited show for January 6 will begin a series on listening to musicians who were born or nurtured in specific urban centers.  This is the first of two parts on Detroit and its environs.  On tonight's show the featured musicians include guitarist Kenny Burrell.