Big Joe Daddy in the studio, on Listening Lyrics, May 27, 2022

Joey Wisgirda (Big Joe Daddy) has been playing trumpet since the age of 9. He has studied jazz theory and composition with jazz legend John Tchicai, and performed throughout California with a diverse range of players that includes Joe Craven and Rick Montgomery (David Grisman Quintet), Fully Fullwood (Peter Tosh), reggae superstar Alton Ellis, Hamsa Lila, and John Tchicai. He has opened for such acts as John Scofield,  Galactic, Charlie Hunter, Bassnectar, Kraddy, and Tipper.

For the past decade, Joey has extended his musical efforts into the computer realm, using  soft- and hardware synths, and tying it all together with a Morrison Digital Trumpet (MDT) to morph from jazz and funk to breakbeats and dub. His live performances on Ableton and the MDT are cutting edge.

Jazz After Dark, May 24, 2022

From the 1930s and '40s, we’ll hear Lester Young & The Kansas City Six, Louis Armstrong, The RCA All-Stars: Tommy Dorsey, Bunny Berigan, Fats Waller, Dick McDonough, and "Georgia" Wettling. Then Doris Day, Red Garland, and Dinah Washington, followed by a bossa nova set with Nara Leão, Charlie Rouse, and Ella Fitzgerald. From the 1970s, we’ll hear Gerry Mulligan and Earl Hines, and then take it out with Waverly Seven.

The Folk Brothers for May 18, 2022: Alice DiMicele comes to Davis

Southern Oregon-based singer-songwriter and environmentalist Alice DiMicele has a new album -- Every Seed We Plant -- and she will bring the songs to the N Street Commons Cohousing Complex this Saturday, May 21, at 6 p.m. This morning, we played Alice's song about her home state: New Jersey.

Davisville, May 16, 2022: The lost town of Monticello

Have you heard about Monticello, the small town west of Winters? In the 1950s it was destroyed and flooded to make room for Lake Berryessa, the reservoir created by Monticello Dam. This vanished town is the subject of the current exhibit at the Winters Museum. Today’s guests talk about why Monticello existed and how it emptied, and share stories about people who lived there.

Our guests are Woody Fridae, president of the Historical Society of Winters and a former mayor of Winters, and Carol Fitzpatrick, whose family lived in Monticello. She tells an interesting story about meeting a man in his 80s who, decades earlier, had been visiting Monticello at what turned out to be a critically important moment for her family.

Billy Larkin, Pianist/Composer, to Share His Music on Listening Lyrics, Friday June 3, 2022, at 4 p.m.

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KDRT, Billy Larkin, Listening Lyrics, Pieter Pastoor

Billy Larkin, who lives in Davis, is an award-winning pianist/composer/arranger who has been bringing his individual brand of musical artistry to audiences for over 40 years. He defies easy categorization and helps define true expression through the collaborative process.

From his website: "Following his studies in piano, music theory, and composition at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Billy worked in New York City as music director for cabarets, and wrote and performed music for the modern dance company Cheryl Wallace Dance Works. He went on to co-found Stone Street Foundation for the Arts in Cincinnati, which received numerous grants from the Ohio Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts for large-scale original productions featuring dance and live music.