Monday, November 21
Night Train marks the birthday of one of the greats of jazz saxophone, Coleman Hawkins. Since we're featuring Detroit Jazz this month, we'll hear Hawkins with Detroit pianists Tommy Flanagan and Hank Jones. Then in hour two, it's a Club McKenzie special that will look at the early years of Hawkins' career, including work he did with Fletcher Henderson, McKinney's Cotton Pickers, the Mound City Blue Blowers, Lionel Hampton's Orchestra, and with his own quintet. We'll also hear new music from Brazilian pianist and singer Eliane Elias, saxophonist Scott Hamilton, pianist Ben Sidran, and Kansas City guitarist Brian Baggett.
Tuesday, November 22
Night Train marks birthdays of Spanish composer Rodrigo (with a brilliant interpretation of his Concierto de Aranjuez by Jim Hall with an all-star group of musicians) and songwriter, composer, and actor Hoagy Carmichael, with several of his songs in hour one (from Bob Dorough, Joey DeFrancesco, and on a new album from singer Nica Carrington) and a special in hour two of the show. Detroit musicians featured tonight for the November feature include Ron Carter (from a new album with music from a recent documentary film about him), Tommy Flanagan, and Yusef Lateef (from his Yusef Lateef's Detroit album).
Wednesday, November 23
In conjunction with the November Detroit Jazz feature, Night Train presents specials that harken back to some earlier sounds in jazz. In hour one, it's a concert performance from The Hot Club of Detroit, a contemporary band inspired by The Hot Club of France, the groundbreaking swing group headed up by Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli. In hour two, a Club McKenzie special goes back to Twenties Detroit to celebrate the musicians and venues that made the Motor City a jazz hotspot.
Thursday, November 24
Night Train joins in with Global Village and Strange Currency tonight to serve up a musical feast for Thanksgiving. The musical menu is filled with songs about food – from the turkey and sweet potatoes to a host of holiday desserts – cooked up by such tasty artists as Bob Dorough, Jaco Pastorius, Gene Ammons, Cyrus Chestnut, Matt Wilson, Don Cherry, Sonny Rollins, Karrin Allyson, and more.