"This is Triumphant Music" - Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Inaugural JazzFest Berlin, 1964.

Dr. King’s Essay on the importance of Jazz to humanity and the Civil Rights movement was not a speech, but it was written at the request of the festival organizers. The words are powerful .

An excerpt:

Much of the power of our Freedom Movement in the United States has come from this music. It has strengthened us with its sweet rhythms when courage began to fail. It has calmed us with its rich harmonies when spirits were down.

And now, Jazz is exported to the world.

This week, Marty Ashby is joined by Oliver Nelson Jr. - a jazz and classical flutist, teacher, lecturer, and son of the great Oliver Nelson. The two will be diving into the rich legacy of Oliver’s Dad.

Friday and Sunday night at 6, Saturday at 1pm on WZUM.

This week on "Rhythm-a-ning," Kate Borger shares sounds from various parings - including Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald; Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, alto jazz masters Phil Woods and Grace Kelly; Dr. John and Rickie Lee Jones, flutists Herbie Mann and Sam Most; pianists Eliane Elias and Chick Corea and many more.

Playing duos and pairs with Kate Borger on Rhythm-a-ning with Kate Borger.

Friday morning at 10:00 and Saturday a 11 on WZUM

We have a number of interviews and new things to share from the Jazz Congress in New York City, last week - and we’ll have more of those stories, soon.

But we also were telling friends in New York about what’s going on in Pittsburgh - and there are a lot of sounds and stories happening, here - and we’ll touch on just a bit of it.

The Scene - Thursday at 6pm, Sunday at 5pm, Friday and Saturday at noon on WZUM.

Marty Ashby honors Quincy Jones' remarkable legacy as a producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader extraordinaire.

Friday and Sunday night at 6, Saturday at 1pm on WZUM.

Almost live from New York on the Scene this week - as we visited with jazz folks from around the world for the 2025 Jazz Congress hosted by Jazz At Lincoln Center. As is usually the case - Pittsburgh was well represented.

The Scene - Thursday at 6pm, Sunday at 5pm, Friday and Saturday at noon on WZUM.

This week on "Rhythm-a-ning," Kate Borger goes from 1 to 10 - from solo piano jazz with Art Tatum to the Phil Norman Tentet.

It’s math AND it’s music this week with Kate Borger on Rhythm-a-ning with Kate Borger.

Friday morning at 10:00 and Saturday from 11 a.m. until 12 noon.

Louie Bellson - His Music and Stories in the MCG Jazz Spotlight

Hear why Duke Ellington deemed Bellson "the world's greatest musician" as Marty Ashby of MCG Jazz visits with Ken Kimery of the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian.

Friday and Sunday at 6, Saturday at 1pm.