Live New Year's Eve Broadcast!

We've handpicked an evening's worth of classic jazz for your New Year's Eve entertainment.

We will start broadcasting live and commercial free at, or around, 6:00 p.m. EST.

Jazz Message #2

Just added Hank Mobley's Jazz Message #2 to the playlist. Released on the Savoy label, this incredible recording features Hank Mobley, Lee Morgan, Donald Byrd, Hank Jones, Barry Harris and Doug Watkins.

Louis Smith

We continue to add cuts to our expanded playlist. Recently we added cuts from Sonny Rollins and Charlie Parker from some 10" EPs.

And, today we added Here Comes Louis Smith. This is one sweet LP. It was recorded in 1957 in NYC. The personnel on the recording are: Louis Smith, trumpet, Cannonball Adderly, alto sax, Duke Jordan and Tommy Flanagan, piano, Doug Watkins, bass and Art Taylor, drums.

Indy Jazzmen

This one time Bop City is breaking format. We are featuring cuts from a local (Indianapolis) jazz band, Indy Jazzmen, on our broadcast. Their new independently released CD, Tell Somebody, is a fine effort and features an excellent cross section of jazz based in the classic tradition.

You can get their great new album from iTunes and CDBaby.com. Check it out. More information, and the group's history, can be found on their MySpace page and their Facebook page.

And for you local (Indianapolis) listeners, their CD can be purchased at the following locations: Borders bookstore - Castleton Square, 6020 E. 82nd Street, AJ’s Lounge 551 North Senate Avenue and LUNA Records at 5202 North College Avenue.

Members of the Indy Jazzmen:
Alfred L. Finnell, Jr. - Bass
Carl Hines - Piano
Bill Penick - Sax
Craig Hicks - Piano
Steve Weakley - Guitar
Clifford Ratliff - Trumpet
Mary Moss - Vocals
Vincent Finnell - Drums
Barbra Randall - Vocals

Good News, Bad News

Good News - We will be adding eighteen more hours of classic jazz to our playlist very soon. This will result in providing more variety of music within a total playlist of 54 hours.

Bad News - We are at a crossroads with Bop City. While our station is enjoyed by jazz enthusiasts around the world, we are not generating enough revenue to pay for our broadcasting costs. Yes this is a hobby and hobbies cost money, but as the economy continues to erode, which is directly affecting me, every dollar saved is helpful.

Since inception our station has received over 103,000 listener hours. We've been able to accomplish this two ways - one, with a grassroots promotion effort and, two, by providing excellent content. We are disappointed that Live365 has never featured us on their website which would drive listeners our way; especially since we pay them to broadcast. After all, we are the highest rated classic jazz station on Live365. We've been on the air for three years. At this point we have no reason to believe that Live365 will promote our station.

So, we have four months to decide what to do. We would really hate to see Bop City go by the wayside, especially since classic jazz continues to lose broadcasting outlets. But, that may very well be what happens.

More Updates

Just added, to the playlist, Johnny Griffin's Little Giant and Oliver Nelson's Screamin' the Blues and Straight Ahead.

Updates

Over the week we'll be updating the playlist with some great tunes. So far we've added Hank Mobley's, Messages, Jackie McLean's, 4, 5 and 6 and Little Giant by Johnny Griffin.

Playlist Update

We've updated our playlist with rare and classic cuts from Curtis Counce Quintet, Gene Ammons, Jackie McLean, Jon Eardley, Lee Konitz, Phil Woods, Gene Quill, John Jenkins, Hal McKusick and Sopnny Rollins.

Really Big Playlist Update

New rare cuts from Booker Ervin, Cannonball Adderley, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, John Wright, Kenny Dorham, Paul Gonsalves, Benny Golson, Stanley Turrentine and Rene Thomas added today! Thanks for listening to Bop City.

Playlist Update

We've added Joe Gordon's LP, Lookin' Good! and the Art Farmer Quintet Featuring Gigi Gryce LP.

Playlist Update

We've added cuts from Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers' albums Live in Stockholm 1959 and A Night In Tunisia. Also added, cuts from Art Pepper's Complete Pacific Jazz Recordings and Gene Ammons' The Happy Blues.

Huge Playlist Update

We've updated the playlist with 100 cuts of excellent jazz from the following artists:

Thad Jones, Sonny Red, Phil Woods, Lee Morgan, Gil Melle, George Wallington, Frank Strozier, Eric Dolphy and Booker Little, Charlie Mariano, Charles Mingus and Max Roach, Carmell Jones, Blue Mitchell, Bill Evans and Benny Golson.

Many of the cuts are nice and rare and from critically acclaimed records. We believe this update adds yet another dimension to our broadcast.

Enjoy!

Listeners From All Over the World

Often we are asked, where does Bop City get all of its listeners? Our answer is always, "from all over the world!" So, to illustrate our answer, we are posting all of the countries that have listened to Bop City's broadcast in the past 30 days in order of the most listening hours to the least. It is incredibly satisfying that Bop City has such a world-wide outreach. Here's the list:

United States, Canada, Netherlands, Japan, United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, Taiwan, Uruguay, Sweden, Mexico, Italy, France, Israel, Spain, Finland, Indonesia, Denmark, Greece, Bermuda, Colombia, Poland, Norway, China, Hong Kong, India, Costa Rica, Singapore, Macedonia, Former Yugoslav Republic, Ecuador, Korea, Chile, Switzerland, Turkey, Australia, Argentina, Panama, Belgium, Ireland, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia/Hrvatska, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Philippines, Hungary, Austria, Jamaica,Saudi Arabia, Albania, Thailand, Paraguay, Slovak Republic, Russia, South Africa, Moldova, Rwanda, New Zealand, Romania,Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Georgia, Ukraine

Playlist Update and News

We had the good fortune this past Saturday to attend the local Indianapolis International Association of Jazz Record Collectors (IAJRC) convention.* This gathering of jazz lovers, that has been held for the past 22 years, is organized by Duncan Schiedt, the incomparable jazz photographer. The event's agenda is comprised of educational films and lectures, listening parties, jam sessions and a record and ephemera sale. Traditional jazz is the main focus of the group.

The record sale was well attended. 78's were definitely the focus of the collectors. We were able to obtain a couple of gems, a King Oliver LP on Riverside and an Earl Hines 10" LP on Dial.

The jam session that we attended was great fun and the playing was very nice. The ages of the performers spanned from the twenties to the eighties. It was obvious that the performers were passionate about playing. For a group of folks that don't regularly play together the off the cuff arrangements and soloing were top-notch.

We met some very nice folks, among them Andy "Jazzman" Smith that has a show on Murray State's radio station from 3 - 4 PM EST on Sundays. The room was filled with lovers of jazz that promote the art of jazz through festival promotion, playing, collecting and education. Thanks to people like this that are dedicated to the art of jazz, our greatest American art form will be preserved.

The highlight of the short time we were able to attend was meeting Duncan Schiedt and procuring an inscribed copy of his amazing book of photography. (There's a link to purchase the book below this post.)

Thanks to Gerry Ruark for turning us on to this event. Gerry and his wife Nan have kept music alive in the Midwest by hosting record collector conventions for at least 25 years.

In honor of this event we have added several cuts of traditional jazz to our playlist. We've hauled out some rare digitized recordings of some 78's and LP's that feature Charlie Parker and Louis Armstrong in sidemen roles. Also added to the playlist are cuts from Art Pepper's Savoy sessions, George Russell's Stratusphunk and Pepper Adams' 10 to 4 at the 5 Spot.

Thanks for listening and enjoy the jazz and be sure to pick up Duncan Schiedt's book.


*The annual Indianapolis IAJRC convention is not formally affiliated with The International Association of Jazz Record Collectors.

Special Holiday Broadcasts

To thank its loyal listeners the world over, Bop City will be broadcasting live and commercial free on Christmas Day, December 25th and on New Year's Day.

And, Bop City's Sister Station, The Sound Cellar will be hosting its annual Holiday live and commercial free broadcast of offbeat and classic Christmas music will be on Christmas Eve, December 24th, from 5:00 PM EST until 10:00 PM EST. The Sound Cellar typically features Classic Rock, Oldies, Rhythm and Blues and Soul. The Sound Cellar also broadcasts live shows of many types of music.

Playlist Update

We've updated our playlist with cuts from Dexter Gordon and Coleman Hawkins.  And, we've added a few Christmas songs for your Holiday enjoyment.  Thanks for listening.

Kind of Blue - 50th Anniversary

The jazz world is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Miles Davis' classic LP, Kind of Blue. Bop City has updated its playlist with the entire LP.

Kind of Blue, an album that sounds like it's never been in a good mood it didn't consider fleeting or a bad one it couldn't brood its way out of. When Davis and his band commenced recording in 1959, they settled on a new form of "modal" jazz that called for improvising through scales as opposed to preordained chord changes. And even if that doesn't sound apparent to an untrained musical ear, it's suggested by a spectral sense of wandering-- an ease with uncertainty that comes across in no uncertain terms. Artists playing with Miles on Kind of Blue were Cannonball Adderly, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb.

Sony's Legacy Recordings has released a fabulous 50th anniversary edition of Kind of Blue. This will make a holiday gift that will never be forgotten for the jazz lovers in your life. You can help support Bop City's broadcast by purchasing this box set through the link below the box set's description.

The SUPER-DELUXE 12-INCH SLIPCASE BOX SET CONTAINS:

• Two CDs (original album plus studio sequences, false starts, and alternate takes from 1958-59 sessions, plus 17-minute “So What” live in Holland, 1960)
• DVD: newly-produced documentary featuring superstars of jazz
• 60-page ‘perfect-bound’ 12x12 full-color book, tons of photos
AND
• 180-gram blue vinyl 12-inch LP– first time ever in a Legacy box set!

In-depth liner note essays written by award-winning Miles Davis authorities Francis Davis and Gerald Early; session transcripts by Ashley Kahn; detailed 1957-60 quintet/sextet timeline by Bob Belden and Ken Vail

Box set memorabilia: 3-page hand-written liner notes by Bill Evans; reproduction of 1959 Columbia promo brochure; six 8"x10" photos; and 22"x 33" foldout poster.

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Playlist Update - Donald Byrd's Free Form

We've just updated the broadcast with Donald Byrd's Free Form LP.

Busy Summer

We haven't posted anything for a while. We've been very busy over the summer. Lately we've been updating the playlist with a nice variety of classic jazz and more will be coming soon.

Broadcast costs are continuing escalate. You can help us out by becoming a Live365 VIP by clicking on the link in the right margin. By becoming a VIP you can listen commercial free. And, you can listen to Bop City via Radio365, a free program that will play the mp3pro stream in excellent quality.

Thanks to everybody for listening to Bop City.

Franz Jackson 1912 - 2008

Bop City honors the great Chicago jazz artist Franz Jackson with the addition of cuts from his Riverside LP, Chicago, The Living Legends. Jackson passed away on May 6, 2008. He played and recorded with many legendary players.

We invite you to go to his website and read some excellent articles about Jackson's life in jazz. We have also posted information on the Bop City Jazz Archive.