Radio Daze - Ben Vaughan, Nick Spitzer and Jonathan Schwartz

Back in the day – meaning any day in 1970 – what was then called “progressive radio” was a place for constant discovery. “Hosts” with unconventional voices and quirky tastes held forth on FM radio shows that boldly mixed artists and styles, juxtaposing the Beatles with Satie, Dylan with Coltrane, Stevie Wonder with Laura Nyro. 

For better of worse, this is where I got my musical education, from DJ’s who played the Chicago blues the Stones purloined, explained the lineage of the “super-groups” of the day and spun the long indulgent tracks of that era.  In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida anyone?

Think all of that is gone for good? Guess again.  There are still a few exceptions -- contemporary radio shows serving up eclectic musical stews that entertain, educate and truly surprise:

The Many Moods of Ben Vaughan – Vaughan is a Los Angeles-based musician who spins a wildly varied hour-long playlist, bouncing from bachelor pad kitsch to doo-wop.  This is a conversation with an eccentric friend who has great, if unconventional, taste.    Vaughan loves the idea – hell, the magic – of radio: musical sounds streamed from far away in endless variety.  In an hour with Vaughan you’ll hear Willie Nelson, Slim Harpo, the Kinks and Nino Rota and all of it will somehow fit. Listen live or streamed from his archive.

http://benvaughn.net/radio/index.htm

American Routes with Nick Spitzer – Uh oh, public radio.  Spitzer, who can be a little didactic, organizes his two-hour shows thematically and peppers them with interviews with the well- and little-known.  Broadcasting from Tulane, this is a show firmly rooted in the South, but casting a wide eye to all forms of what has come to be called “roots” music. Spitzer connects the dots expertly, sometimes just by juxtaposition so that the discovery feels like yours.   Listen on NPR stations or to an on-line archive spanning 15 years. 

http://americanroutes.wwno.org/

The Sunday Show with Jonathan Schwartz – As much as I enjoy this, I hesitate ever so slightly to recommend it.  Touch down on the wrong day and you will conclude that Schwartz is a bloviating windbag.  But on the right day, you will find this a captivating master class in the American Songbook. Schwartz, the son of composer Arthur Schwartz, has an encyclopedic knowledge of Gershwin, Porter, Hammerstein, Rogers and Hart, and Sondheim.  He worships at the altar of Sinatra and Bennett.  But what he loves most of all is the songwriter’s craft, which equally makes room for Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell.  Listen live from Noon to four on Sundays on WNEW and SiriusXM. 

Give any of these shows a listen on a Sunday afternoon, after the newspaper winds down and before you’re tempted by a nap.  They will make you feel happier, smarter and resolutely American.  No small thing.