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davidbrentjohnson.bsky.social
WFIU-Bloomington, IN jazz director, host of the thematic historical jazz program Night Lights (wfiu.org/nightlights). Writer when I write.
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Happy #Bloomsday all

submitted 7 days ago • 0 comments

One for pianist and composer Chick Corea on what would have been his 84th birthday. #ChickCorea #JazzSky

submitted 11 days ago • 0 comments

A Night Lights for Memorial Day, featuring jazz elegies by Charles Mingus, Woody Shaw, Miles Davis and others, all recorded in the 1970s and 80s.

submitted 28 days ago • 0 comments

"Stars Of Jazz" was a visually innovative 1950s TV show hosted by "Route 66" songwriter Bobby Troup that featured performances by artists such as Art Pepper, Billie Holiday, & the Lighthouse All-Stars, as well as segments that sought to illuminate both jazz history & the modern jazz scene. #JazzSky

submitted 31 days ago • 1 comment

Long before it became a center of the psychedelic counterculture and its attendant rock groups, San Francisco was a West Coast haven for the development of jazz. A Night Lights tribute to the mid-20th century San Francisco jazz scene w/music from Dave Brubeck, Vince Guaraldi, John Handy and others:

submitted 47 days ago • 0 comments

Andy Bey was a treasure, and it feels right to sing his praises on International Jazz Day, even as we mourn. Read more at The Gig.

submitted 54 days ago • 0 comments

A new Night Lights for #DukeEllington on his birthday, diving into the fascinating small-group catalogue of Duke’s own Mercer label. #Jazzsky

submitted 55 days ago • 0 comments

I've been enjoying this set a great deal--it's especially valuable if you're a bit of a naif to this era and scene, as I have been. JazzWax's Marc Myers puts his lived perspective on it here. #BritishJazz

submitted 69 days ago • 1 comment

“From the jump, our goal was to introduce kids to the wide world of jazz music, and we do that both from an audio and visual perspective,” says “Acoustic Rooster” EP Julius Harper. current.org/2025/04/acou...

submitted 73 days ago • 0 comments

I’m generally not a #RecordStoreDay guy, given my preference for CDs. But how could I resist this LP-only comp of Moodsville sides titled “Night Lights”? (I did a couple of shows long ago about Moodsville, but I doubt that was the inspiration for this release.)

submitted 72 days ago • 1 comment

An excellent New Yorker profile of Bluesky CEO Jay Graber.

submitted 74 days ago • 0 comments

One from the archives for the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, a dynamic, hard-swinging all-women big band of the 1940s. #Jazzwomen

submitted 84 days ago • 0 comments

Sunday afternoon still-life with cat.

submitted 85 days ago • 0 comments

also worth a look - Moody's Oral History interview for the Smithsonian's Jazz Oral History Project. There's a link to a PDF transcript of the whole interview; it's 120 pages long. americanhistory.si.edu/explore/proj...

submitted 89 days ago • 0 comments

Sending this 2011 tribute program out today in honor of saxophonist and flutist James Moody's centennial. #JamesMoody #Jazzsky

submitted 89 days ago • 0 comments

James Moody was born 100 years ago today on March 26, 1925! The great saxophonist recorded two Blue Note sessions with His Bop Men in 1948. Hear “Moody’s All Frantic” on our “Bebop” playlist: bluenote.lnk.to/bebop

submitted 89 days ago • 5 comments

It’s the centennial today of American writer Flannery O’Connor. Check out the Library of America’s tribute, including a piece on her unfinished novel Why Do The Heathen Rage.

submitted 90 days ago • 0 comments

Now more than ever.

submitted 90 days ago • 0 comments

Oh yeah, Bobby Hutcherson in the 1970s! If you ever see the Mosaic Select around that gathered much of his mid-1970s Blue Note material, jump on it. (Or listen to it on Spotify: open.spotify.com/album/2fArNs...)

submitted 91 days ago • 1 comment

Hope despite the times: when R.E.M. came to my college town to record Lifes Rich Pageant in 1986. #R.E.M. #Bloomington #LifesRichPageant #collegerock #1980s

submitted 91 days ago • 0 comments

Hope despite the times: when R.E.M. came to my college town to record Lifes Rich Pageant in 1986. #R.E.M. #Bloomington #LifesRichPageant #collegerock #1980s

submitted 91 days ago • 0 comments

Sunday rainy-day listening. When it comes to jazz violin, friend & fellow Hoosier Sara Caswell’s my modern-day fave, but Stuff Smith takes historical honors. Nobody swung #jazzviolin more beautifully than #StuffSmith.

submitted 92 days ago • 0 comments

Joni Mitchell’s 1970s jazz turn, with a supporting cast of Jaco Pastorius, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and others. #JoniMitchell #WomensHistoryMonth #Jazzsky

submitted 92 days ago • 0 comments

Late to the party today, but the great soul-jazz organist Shirley Scott was born on this date (March 14) in 1934. A Night Lights tribute episode: #WomensHistoryMonth #Souljazz #JazzOrgan

submitted 100 days ago • 0 comments