LEGENDS OF JAZZ with Ramsey Lewis will start airing this weekend in markets across the country! The show actually debuted last summer with a one-hour special titled Legends of Jazz: The Jazz Masters, spotlighting five NEA Jazz Masters, namely vocalist Nancy Wilson, saxophonist James Moody, vocalist Jon Hendricks, Latin jazz artist Paquito D’Rivera, and Newport Jazz Festival founder George Wein. It must have been successful, because now thirteen half-hour episodes are ready to run on a PBS station near you.
The first episode is slated to be The Golden Horns featuring “three of the finest trumpet players in jazz – the romantic, intimate sound of Chris Botti, the hard bopping Roy Hargrove, and the legendary Clark Terry.” I saw a clip from this at IAJE — CT was doing mumbles, as great as ever. Great Guitars featuring dad and Pat Metheny is slated to be episoide #3, but you never know about these schedules so check your local listings for the day/time in your area and then watch all of the episodes:
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The Golden Horns with Clark Terry, Chris Botti, and Roy Hargrove
The Jazz Singers with Al Jarreau and Kurt Elling
The Great Guitars with Pat Metheny and Jim Hall
Contemporary Jazz with George Duke, Lee Ritenour, and Marcus Miller
The Altos with David Sanborn and Phil Woods
The Piano Masters with Dave Brubeck and Billy Taylor
Roots: The Blues with Robert Cray and Keb’ Mo’
American Songbook with Jane Monheit and John Pizzarelli
Latin Jazz with Eddie Palmieri and Dave Valentin
The Tenors with Benny Golson, Chris Potter and Marcus Strickland
Brazilian Jazz with Ivan Lins and Oscar Castro-Neves
The Killer Bs with Joey DeFrancesco and Dr. Lonnie Smith
NEA Jazz Masters 2006 with Tony Bennett, Chick Corea, and Ray Barretto
Okay, maybe not each and every episode will interest you, but it’s jazz on network television and we need to support it. By the way, the show has a very nice looking web site with some video snippets and still photos from each episode.