Hank Williams

Tuesday 1/7/2019 Show: Winter Jazz Fest/James Blood Ulmer

Photo:  James Blood Ulmer at the 19th Annual Vision Festival | Credit: Joyce Jones/Sugabowl Photography.

Program note: We’re back on air for our final show on WBAI Radio!

The next show will air on Tuesday January 7, 2019 from 10:00 PM – 12 Midnight Eastern Standard Time on WBAI, 99.5 FM in the NYC metro area or streaming online at wbai.org. This broadcast will feature a 2016 rebroadcast of an interview with composer, guitarist and Harmolodic Blues man James Blood Ulmer, who is one of the artists lined up to be featured during the 2020 Winter Jazz Festival on January 11 along with the super ensemble Harriet Tubman. This will be our FINAL Suga’ broadcast over WBAI-FM.

James “Blood” Ulmer is one of the few exceptions — an outside guitarist who has forged a style based largely on the traditions of African-American vernacular music. Ulmer is an adherent of saxophonist/composer Ornette Coleman’s vaguely defined Harmolodic theory, which essentially subverts jazz’s harmonic component in favor of freely improvised, non-tonal, or quasi-modal counterpoint. Ulmer plays with a stuttering, vocalic attack; his lines are frequently texturally and chordally based, inflected with the accent of a soul-jazz tenor saxophonist. That’s not to say his sound is untouched by the rock tradition — the influence of Jimi Hendrix on Ulmer is strong — but it’s mixed with blues, funk, and free jazz elements. The resultant music is an expressive, hard-edged, loudly amplified hybrid that is, at its best, on a level with the finest of the Harmolodic school.

Ulmer began his career playing in funk bands, first in Pittsburgh (1959-1964) and later around Columbus, OH (1964-1967). Ulmer spent four years in Detroit before moving to New York in 1971. He landed a nine-month gig at the famed birthplace of bop, Minton’s Playhouse, and played very briefly with Art Blakey. In 1973, he recorded with the ex-John Coltrane drummer Rashied Ali and his Quintet on the Survival label. That same year, he hooked up with Ornette Coleman, whose concept affected Ulmer’s music thereafter. The guitarist’s recordings from the late ’70s and early ’80s exhibit a unique take on his mentor’s aesthetic. His blues and rock-tinged art was, if anything, more raw and aggressive than Coleman’s free jazz and funk-derived music (a reflection, no doubt, of Ulmer’s chosen instrument), but no less compelling from either an intellectual or an emotional standpoint. In 1981, Ulmer led the first of three record dates for Columbia, which helped to expose his music to a wider public. Around this time Ulmer began an association with tenor saxophonist David Murray, bassist Amin Ali, and drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson. As the Music Revelation Ensemble, this intermittent assemblage (with various other members added and subtracted) would produce a number of intense, free-blowing albums over a span of almost two decades.

Ulmer’s work has varied in quality over the years. In 1987, with the cooperative group Phalanx (George Adams, tenor sax; Sirone, bass; and Rashied Ali, drums), Ulmer drew successfully on the free jazz expressionism that made his name. His ’90s recordings with the Music Revelation Ensemble showed him still capable of playing convincingly in that vein.

Blood dug deeply into an investigation of the blues as the century turned. First he recorded Memphis Blood: The Sun Sessions with guitarist Veron Reid both performing and producing. The album also starred veteran Ulmer sideman Charles Burnham on violin. In 2003, Ulmer issued No Escape From the Blues, recorded at Electric Lady studio. A thoroughly psychedlic funky take on the genre, Reid and Burnham were present in the same roles once more, and old friend Olu Dara stopped in to contribute as well. In 2005, Blood released Birthright, on Joel Dorn’s Hyena label. It is easily his most intimate recording. Completely solo in the studio (Reid once again produced), it contains ten orignals and two covers of classic reportoire and takes Blood’s blues journey to an entirely new level.

(Bio adapted from Allmusic.)

James Blood Ulmer will take the stage at the Winter Jazz Festival on Saturday, January 11, with doors opening at 7:00 p.m. at the Sultan Room, 234 Starr Street, Brooklyn. Follow our blog for a preview and additional Winter Jazz Fest coverage.

This program is hosted, engineered, produced, and edited by Joyce Jones. Listen for our On the Bandstand segment with NYC metro area appearances of Suga’ guests at the end of the first hour with Associate Producer Hank Williams.

Web Extra:

Watch Ulmer in this 2019 live performance with bassist Bill Laswell!

Tuesday 12/24/2019 Show: Brandee Younger

Photo: Brandee Younger at the 2019 Charlie Parker Jazz Festival | Credit: Joyce Jones/Sugabowl Photography.

Program note: We’re back on air after a long hiatus for WBAI’s Fall Fund Drive, but will be pre-empted on New Year’s Eve for special programming.

The next show will air on Tuesday December 24, 2019 from 10:00 PM – 12 Midnight Eastern Standard Time on WBAI, 99.5 FM in the NYC metro area or streaming online at wbai.org. This installment of “Suga’ In My Bowl” we will close out 2019 with harpist Brandee A. Younger. We’re going to revisit an interview from 2011 when we focused on harpist Dorothy Ashby. In the second hour, we’ll present an updated discussion to learn more about Ms. Younger and prepare for some upcoming events.

Harpist Brandee Younger defies genres as a classically-trained musician playing in the avant-garde tradition of her musical predecessors Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane. Ms. Younger delivers a fresh take on the instrument as an educator, curator, solo artist and leader of her own ensemble, The Brandee Younger Quartet. She has produced an impressive body of work since the 2011 debut of her Prelude EP. Her discography includes Brandee Younger Live @ The Breeding Ground, Bluenote Records and Revive Music’s 2015 album Supreme Sonacy Vol. 1, the critically-acclaimed 2016 album Wax & Wane and a 2018 appearance as a featured artist on the Impulse tribute to The Beatles titled A Day in the Life: Impressions of Pepper. Her most recent album Soul Awakening is the first full-length recorded by Younger.

Known for expressive interpretations of traditional harp repertoire as well as her continued work with a diverse
cross-section of musical talents, Ms. Younger is widely recognized as a creative linchpin whose nuanced presence
and willingness to push boundaries have made her irreplaceable on record and in performance. She has shared the stage with jazz leaders and popular hip-hop and r&b titans including Ravi Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Jack Dejohnette, Reggie Workman, Common, Maxwell, John Legend and Lauryn Hill. Most recently, her original composition “Hortense” was featured in the documentary “Homecoming” by Beyoncé Knowles.

(Bio adapted from Younger’s website.)

Brandee Younger will participate in a tribute to Turiya Alice Coltrane as a member of Brooklyn Raga Massive on December 27 at the Rubin Museum. She’ll also be at the Winter Jazz Festival’s first Marathon Night on January 11 to present her latest release “Soul Awakening” along with other selections and on another stage with Makaya McCraven. Follow our blog for a preview and additional Winter Jazz Fest coverage.

This program is hosted, engineered, produced, and edited by Joyce Jones. Listen for our On the Bandstand segment with NYC metro area appearances of Suga’ guests at the end of the first hour with Associate Producer Hank Williams.

Web Extra:

Watch Younger perform Alice Coltrane’s “Rama Rama” in this live clip.

Tuesday 11/19/2019 Show: Eric Alexander

Photo: Eric Alexander | Credit: Antonio Porcar for HighNote Records

Program note: We’re back on air after having the station’s fund drive and programming disrupted by an attempted shutdown by a faction of the Pacifica Network’s national board. WBAI now has an even more urgent need for donations and monthly subscribers to help it recover. We ask that you give anything you can right now and would appreciate that you name our show when doing so. The money goes to support the station’s operating expenses: we don’t get anything from this. Thanks in advance.

The next show will air on Tuesday November 19, 2019 from 10:00 PM – 12 Midnight Eastern Standard Time on WBAI, 99.5 FM in the NYC metro area or streaming online at wbai.org. In this installment of “Suga’ In My Bowl,” we will continue to honor Harold Mabern by recognizing his favorite student: tenor saxophonist, composer and instructor Eric Alexander.

Eric Alexander started out on piano as a six-year-old, took up clarinet at nine, switched to alto sax when he was 12, and converted to tenor when jazz became his obsession during his one year at the University of Indiana, Bloomington (1986-87). At William Paterson College in New Jersey he advanced his studies under the tutelage of Harold Mabern, Joe Lovano, Rufus Reid, and others.

Alexander has appeared in many capacities on record, including leader, sideman, producer as well as composing a number of the tunes he records. By now, Alexander has lost count of how many albums feature his playing; he guesses 80 or 90. While he has garnered critical acclaim from every corner, what has mattered most has been to establish his own voice within the illustrious bop-based jazz tradition.

Alexander’s most recent release is “Leap of Faith” (Giant Step Arts, 2019). “Eric Alexander with Strings” is scheduled to release December 6, 2019 on HighNote Records.

(Bio adapted from Alexander’s website.)

We will also briefly talk to Diane Armesto, the Executive Producer of “Eric Alexander with Strings.”

This program is hosted, engineered, produced, and edited by Joyce Jones. Listen for our On the Bandstand segment with NYC metro area appearances of Suga’ guests at the end of the first hour with Associate Producer Hank Williams.

Web Extra:

Watch Alexander and pianist Mabern’s rendition of “Embraceable You” with the New York All Stars in this live clip.

Tuesday 11/12/2019 Show: Harold Mabern Memorial Broadcast

Photo: Harold Mabern and SUga’ host Joyce Jones 

Program note: We’re back on air after having the station’s fund drive and programming disrupted by an attempted shutdown by a faction of the Pacifica Network’s national board. WBAI now has an even more urgent need for donations and monthly subscribers to help it recover. We ask that you give anything you can right now and would appreciate that you name our show when doing so. The money goes to support the station’s operating expenses: we don’t get anything from this. Thanks in advance.

The next show will air on Tuesday November 12, 2019 from 10:00 PM – 12 Midnight Eastern Standard Time on WBAI, 99.5 FM in the NYC metro area or streaming online at wbai.org. This installment of “Suga’ In My Bowl,” we will be a memorial broadcast for pianist, composer, educator Harold Mabern, who’s also father of Michael Mabern, a former Producer of WBAI’s “Creative Unity Collective.”

Harold Mabern (born March 20, 1936), one of jazz’s most enduring and dazzlingly skilled pianists, was born in Memphis, a city that produced saxophonists George Coleman and Charles Lloyd, pianist Phineas Newborn Jr. and trumpeter Booker Little. He was an unsung hero of the 1960s hardbop scene, performing and recording with many of its finest artists, and only in recent years has he begun to garner appreciation for his long-running legacy in jazz and the understated power of his talent; as critic Gary Giddins has written, “With the wind at his back, he can sound like an ocean roar.”

During his over half-century on the scene as sideman and leader, he has played and recorded with such greats as Lee Morgan, Sonny Rollins, Hank Mobley, Freddie Hubbard and Miles Davis, just to name a few. “I was never concerned with being a leader, I just always wanted to be the best sideman I could be. Be in the background so you can shine through.”

In more recent years, he toured and recorded extensively with tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander: his former William Paterson University student. Mabern and Alexander appeared on over twenty CDs together. A longtime faculty member at William Paterson University since 1981, Mabern was also a frequent instructor at the Stanford Jazz Workshop.

Mabern was also a mainstay of the New York City jazz scene, leading a trio in monthly gigs at Smalls and equally frequent appearances at Smoke, often as part of Eric Alexander’s ensembles.

When this program originally aired, Mabern’s “Mr. Lucky: A Tribute to Sammy Davis Jr.” released 2012 on HighNote Records. Harold Mabern is now an ancestor. He transitioned on September 19, 2019.

This program is engineered, produced, hosted and edited by Joyce Jones. Listen for our “On the Bandstand” segment with NYC metro area appearances of Suga’ guests at the end of the first hour with Associate Producer Hank Williams.

Web Extra:

Tuesday 10/1/2019 Show: The Brazilian Journey

The next show will air on Tuesday October 1, 2019 from 10:00 PM – 12 Midnight Eastern Standard Time on WBAI, 99.5 FM in the NYC metro area or streaming online at wbai.org. This installment of the program will feature an encore presentation of “The Brazilian Journey” presented by Dr. Judith King-Calnek. Join us as we do our part to continue an educational component of the Pacifica mission during the Fall Membership Drive.

As Suga’ in My Bowl did with “The Journey” with Bobby Sanabria and “The Blues Journey” with Dr. Guthrie Ramsey, we tapped an expert to walk listeners through the presentation. “The Brazilian Journey” will take listeners on a trip through the development of the various styles of music that come from Brazil. While popularity in the US was spurred on by the Bossa Nova invasion and the legendary soundtrack of the film Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus), there’s much more history and context and King-Calnek presents a lot of it. In signature Suga’ style, it’s accompanied by an infectious soundtrack and shaped by Joyce Jones’s meticulous editing.

The entire Brazilian Journey is a multi-CD set that listeners can receive as a gift for pledging to WBAI and will serve as a gateway to the music, culture, and history of Brazil for curious listeners. Even then, it presents a challenge for Dr. King-Calnek, who warns that she’s “just offering a very small taste, the tip of the iceberg, if you will, to whet your appetite for the delicious world of Things Brazil”. To get a little more insight on what the special covers, you can read a short interview we did earlier this year with Dr. King-Calnek that’s on our blog.

This show will present highlights of “The Brazilian Journey” while attempting to raise badly needed funds for WBAI. Join us on this journey. Donate to WBAI or pledge for the CD set if you can, but be sure to join us for Suga’ in My Bowl’s latest musical trip!

Judith King-Calnek teaches anthropology, theory of knowledge, and history at the United Nations International School, where she is the Head of the Humanities Department. She has taught anthropology at Manhattanville College in Purchase, NY. Her publications have focused on education and citizenship in various contexts (international schools, Brazil and the United States). Her most recent publications on free people of color in 19th Century Virginia reflect her continued interest in the intersection of race/color and citizenship in socially stratified societies. King-Calnek holds a Ph.D. in comparative education and anthropology from Teachers College Columbia University as well as two master’s degrees (curriculum and teaching and anthropology and education) from the same institution, and a BA from Pomona College. In addition to her teaching and researching, Judith King-Calnek pursues her long time love of Brazilian music and jazz as a radio programmer and producer in the New York area, for which she has received numerous awards. Dr. King-Calnek also hosted a program on the Pacifica sister station WPFW-FM. She is fluent in Portuguese and Spanish.

Hosted, produced, engineered, and edited by Joyce Jones. Special presentation by Dr. Judith King-Calnek.

Extra: Read a brief Q&A on the process of making the special with Dr. King-Calnek

Tuesday 9/24/2019 Show: ABIAH

Photo: ABIAH | @ Joyce Jones/Suga’ Bowl Photography. Used with permission.

Program note: we’re in a new weekly Tuesday night slot from 10-12 midnight!

The next show will air on Tuesday September 24, 2019 from 10:00 PM – 12 Midnight Eastern Standard Time on WBAI, 99.5 FM in the NYC metro area or streaming online at wbai.org. This installment of the program will feature the vocalist ABIAH.

A consummate artist with an astounding vocal range and a wealth of songwriting credits, Jeremiah Abiah is not only a vocal practitioner of the highest order, but he is also a master of the craft of vocal performance.

His many recordings and live performances, under the name ABIAH, serve as seminars in technique, control, range, and sonority. These skills have made him one of the most renowned celebrity vocal coaches in the music and entertainment business and an esteemed Professor of Voice at Berklee College of Music.

Jeremiah Abiah’s mastery of his craft, his meticulous attention to detail, and his desire to help other artists led him to formulate The ABIAH Way, his successful Artist Development and Vocal Coaching Firm.

Also, he has been signed as a solo recording artist for Universal Republic Records and has released a number of projects on that label and independently. Abiah’s music has become synonymous with exquisite vocals, meticulous interpretation, and unique compositions.

(Bio adapted from Abiah’s website)

This program is hosted, engineered, produced, and edited by Joyce Jones. Listen for our On the Bandstand segment with NYC metro area appearances of Suga’ guests at the end of the first hour with Associate Producer Hank Williams.

ABIAH Sings Madonna returns to Joe’s Pub on Monday, October 7, at 9:30 p.m. ABIAH presents exquisite arrangements of Madonna songs such as “Into The Groove” and “Secret.”

Web Extras:

Watch ABIAH sing Nina Simone’s “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” recorded live at New York’s Joe’s Pub

Hank Williams is assistant producer for Suga’ in My Bowl and produces the weekly “On the Bandstand” segment as well as running the show’s website and blog, where he has reviewed several jazz festivals. His writing has also appeared in Left Turn magazine and American Music Review. He teaches at Lehman College in the City University of New York system.

Tuesday 9/17/2019 Show: Howard Johnson

Photo: Howard Johnson at Winter Jazz Festival 10 | @Suga’ Bowl Photography. Used with permission.

Program note: we’re in a new weekly Tuesday night slot from 10-12 midnight!

The next show will air on Tuesday September 17, 2019 from 10:00 PM – 12 Midnight Eastern Standard Time on WBAI, 99.5 FM in the NYC metro area or streaming online at wbai.org. This installment of the program will feature tubist, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and composer Howard Johnson.

One of the top tuba soloists since the early ’60s, Howard Johnson is a very versatile player who not only plays tuba and baritone but other reeds and trumpet. He moved to New York in 1963, where he worked with Charles Mingus (1964-1966), Hank Crawford, and Archie Shepp. In 1966, he started a 20-year off-and-on association with Gil Evans. Johnson’s four-tuba group Substructure performed with Taj Mahal, and, in the late ’70s, he formed a different tuba band called Gravity that, in 1996, finally had the opportunity to record (plus play at the Monterey Jazz Festival). Howard Johnson’s résumé is extensive and includes recording stints with Crawford (1983-1984), Jack DeJohnette’s Special Edition, Jimmy Heath, John Lennon, Bob Moses, and George Gruntz’s Concert Jazz Band. He performed with The Band during the 1970s, appearing on both “Rock of Ages” and “The Last Waltz,” and his association with Levon Helm extended into the 2000s, during which period he often toured alongside the drummer.

(Bio adapted from Johnson’s website)

This program is hosted, engineered, produced, and edited by Joyce Jones. Listen for our On the Bandstand segment with NYC metro area appearances of Suga’ guests at the end of the first hour with Associate Producer Hank Williams.

Merkin Hall is hosting a tribute to Johnson on September 18 featuring a performance by his band Gravity.

Web Extras:

Watch Johnson and Gravity take on McCoy Tyner’s standard “Fly With the Wind,” recorded live at New York’s Winter Jazz Fest

Hank Williams is assistant producer for Suga’ in My Bowl and produces the weekly “On the Bandstand” segment as well as running the show’s website and blog, where he has reviewed several jazz festivals. His writing has also appeared in Left Turn magazine and American Music Review. He teaches at Lehman College in the City University of New York system.

Tuesday 9/10/2019 Show: Keyon Harrold

Photo: Keyon Harrold at 2018 Charlie Parker Jazz Festival | @Suga’ Bowl Photography. Used with permission.

Program note: we’re in a new weekly Tuesday night slot from 10-12 midnight!

The next show will air on Tuesday September 10, 2019 from 10:00 PM – 12 Midnight Eastern Standard Time on WBAI, 99.5 FM in the NYC metro area or streaming online at wbai.org. This installment of the program puts a spotlight on trumpeter, composer, and Grammy winner for “Miles Ahead” Keyon Harrold.

Keyon Harrold grew up one of 16 children in a family that prioritized music and community across generations. His grandfather was a police officer who retired from the force to found a drum and bugle corps for local youth, both of his parents were pastors, and nearly all of his siblings sing and perform music today. Culture shock hit Harrold hard at 18, when he left Ferguson for New York City to enroll in The New School. In New York, he landed his first major gig with Common, an experience which he says broadened his musical horizons beyond jazz to include funk, Afrobeat, R&B, and hip hop. Soon he was performing with stars like Snoop Dogg, Jay Z, Beyonce, Rihanna, Eminem, Maxwell, and Anthony Hamilton.

In 2009, he released his solo debut, Introducing Keyon Harrold and then won wide acclaim for his trumpet performances in Don Cheadle’s Miles Davis biopic Miles Ahead. The Mugician is a portmanteau of “musician” and “magician, a nod to a nickname Cheadle bestowed upon the young virtuoso, and it’s an apt descriptor for a record that pushes beyond the traditional boundaries of jazz trumpet.

(Bio adapted from Harrold’s website)

Keyon Harrold will be at the White Plains Jazz Festival for a free performance on September 12 and have a run at the Blue Note from Monday through Wednesday, September 23-25, 2019.

This program is hosted, engineered, produced, and edited by Joyce Jones. Listen for our On the Bandstand segment with NYC metro area appearances of Suga’ guests at the end of the first hour with Associate Producer Hank Williams.

Web Extras:

Read the profile of Harrold’s mother, Shirley Harrold, in the St. Louis American. 

Watch Harrold play “The Mugician” live.

Hank Williams is assistant producer for Suga’ in My Bowl and produces the weekly “On the Bandstand” segment as well as running the show’s website and blog, where he has reviewed several jazz festivals. His writing has also appeared in Left Turn magazine and American Music Review. He teaches at Lehman College in the City University of New York system.

Tuesday 9/3/2019 Show: Bob Cranshaw Memorial Broadcast

Photo: Bob Cranshaw | © Tom_Marcello | 52nd Street Jazz Fair NYC | July 6, 1976.

Program note: we’re in a new weekly Tuesday night slot from 10-12 midnight!

The next show will air on Tuesday September 3, 2019 from 10:00 PM – 12 Midnight Eastern Standard Time on WBAI, 99.5 FM in the NYC metro area or streaming online at wbai.org. This installment of the program is a rebroadcast of an interview from July 2010 is in memoriam to bassist and Local 802, musicians’ advocate Bob Cranshaw. We’ll also hear a few thoughts from Bob’s son Tom Barney, who is also an established bassist and composer. We have over ten years of show archives, so it’s always good to be able to revisit programs many might not have heard when it originally aired.

Bob Cranshaw is the bass equivalent of a seasoned saxophone veteran who’s never been a giant, but is well-respected for consistent excellence. Bob Cranshaw has worked steadily with several top jazz musicians. Despite having a light tone, Cranshaw’s timing, musical knowledge, and versatility have been featured in an impressive array of recording sessions and tours since the late ’50s. Cranshaw played piano and drums before switching to bass and tuba in high school. He was a founding member of Walter Perkins’ MJT +3 band in 1957. Cranshaw went to New York with the group in 1960 and joined Sonny Rollins when they disbanded in 1962.

Cranshaw has also worked extensively on Broadway and television, including memorable stints as the bassist in Billy Taylor’s Orchestra on the David Frost Show, on Sesame Street, and on the original version of Saturday Night Live in the late 70s.

Cranshaw and others organized a Jazz Advisory Committee at Local 802 Musicians Union in New York in an attempt to redress some of the Local’s inconsistent advocacy on behalf of jazz musicians and to find ways to organize and educate the NYC jazz community.

(Originally adapted from Allmusic in 2010)

Bob Cranshaw died of cancer at his home in Manhattan in November 2016 at the age of 83.

This program is hosted, engineered, produced, and edited by Joyce Jones. Listen for our On the Bandstand segment with NYC metro area appearances of Suga’ guests at the end of the first hour with Associate Producer Hank Williams.

Web Extras:

Watch Cranshaw talk about restoring his bass.

Hank Williams is assistant producer for Suga’ in My Bowl and produces the weekly “On the Bandstand” segment as well as running the show’s website and blog, where he has reviewed several jazz festivals. His writing has also appeared in Left Turn magazine and American Music Review. He teaches at Lehman College in the City University of New York system.

Tuesday 8/27/2019 Show: Dee Dee Bridgewater

Photo: Dee Dee Bridgewater | © Joyce Jones/SugaBowl Photography. Used with permission.

Program note: we’re in a new weekly Tuesday night slot from 10-12 midnight!

The next show will air on Tuesday August 27, 2019 from 10:00 PM – 12 Midnight Eastern Standard Time on WBAI, 99.5 FM in the NYC metro area or streaming online at wbai.org. This installment of the program is a rebroadcast of a program of an interview with Ms. Dee Dee Bridgewater. Ms. Bridgewater was a headliner during the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival this past weekend.

Ms. Bridgewater made her phenomenal New York debut in 1970 as the lead vocalist for the band led by Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, one of the premier jazz orchestras of the time. These New York years marked an early career in concerts and on recordings with such giants as Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Max Roach and Roland Kirk, and rich experiences with Norman Connors, Stanley Clarke and the recently departed Frank Foster’s “Loud Minority.”

Ms. Bridgewater doesn’t care much for labels, and in 1974 she jumped at the chance to act and sing on Broadway where her voice, beauty and stage presence won her great success and a Tony Award for her role as Glinda the Good Witch in The Wiz. This began a long line of awards and accolades as well as opportunities to work in Tokyo, Los Angeles, Paris and in London where she garnered the coveted “Laurence Olivier” Award nomination as Best Actress for her tour de force portrayal of jazz legend Billie Holiday in Stephen Stahl’s Lady Day.

Tune in to hear more about this extraordinary song stylist, actress and entertainer. When this program originally aired in August 2011, WBAI offered a sneak preview of Ms. Bridgewater’s release “Midnight Sun.” Ms. Bridgewater was also scheduled to be featured in a tribute to bassist Ray Brown at the Blue Note.

This program is hosted, engineered, produced, and edited by Joyce Jones. Listen for our On the Bandstand segment with NYC metro area appearances of Suga’ guests at the end of the first hour with Associate Producer Hank Williams.

Web Extras:

Watch Ms. Bridgewater perform the Mongo Santamaria classic “Afro Blue” live in Brooklyn.

Hank Williams is assistant producer for Suga’ in My Bowl and produces the weekly “On the Bandstand” segment as well as running the show’s website and blog, where he has reviewed several jazz festivals. His writing has also appeared in Left Turn magazine and American Music Review. He teaches at Lehman College in the City University of New York system.