Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition winner Kris Bowers, a pianist, was one of the first musicians to appear on Piano Jazz Rising Stars.
The program is modeled after Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz, which regularly welcomed top musicians for impromptu duets and interviews since 1979, when the first episode aired. Host Marian McPartland, who is 93 years old, stopped hosting new episodes in 2010. Archival episodes of Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz will continue to be available to NPR stations, and McPartland continues as artistic director of Piano Jazz Rising Stars.
McPartland selected fellow pianist Jon Weber as the host of Piano Jazz Rising Stars. Weber, now based in New York City after spending years in Chicago, was once a substitute host for McPartland, like fellow musicians Elvis Costello and Bill Charlap. Weber is known as a technical virtuoso with a keen sense of jazz history and an incredible capacity for both sight reading and remembering tunes.
The new program will focus on leading young performers of today musicians who are projected to be household names of tomorrow. Episodes began airing in January, and will continue through the end of March. So far, it has also featured musicians like pianists Taylor Eigsti and Kris Bowers. Episodes to come include vibraphonist Stefon Harris and pianist Aaron Diehl. A full calendar is available at the Piano Jazz Rising Stars homepage.
Another performance-and-conversation public radio series called Song Travels With Michael Feinstein will debut in April. Feinstein is a singer and pianist, and has also previously guest-hosted Piano Jazz. The program will rely on his deep knowledge of American popular song. Like their common predecessor, both Song Travels and Rising Stars are produced by South Carolina ETV, a public broadcasting network.
Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.
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