Hey, y’all! Hope you’re doing your best. It’s Tuesday again, and we’re back on the air this week with two all-new programs and two fresh new write-ups! Read on down to learn more about what we’re playing tonight on datafruits.fm!
Talkie Time : 21st Precinct - The Nolen Brothers (07.07.1953) / Case Of The Young Incorrigible (07.14.1953)
"hey there sonny would you mind turnin that there Jazz Program up a bit? you know, i say, i do like that Piper gal's radio show" -- Grampa Captain Kennelly, probably
(This program schedule was originally aired June 20, 2023.)
Like most other members of the fourth estate and basically every other kitty cat you’ve ever met, my photojournalist cat ass does not care much for cops. I do, however (as you’ve probably picked up on, if you’ve listened to this show at all) enjoy a good-old-fashioned police procedural program, and you don’t get a more by-the-book police procedural than what the 21st Precinct has to offer.
(Well, without getting Jim Walls involved, anyways.)
Based on “true” stories contributed by members of the NY Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, The 21st Precinct strove for realism and stark, gritty detail, even while ratcheting up the drama as much as they could. Starting from the initial phone call to emergency services and ending with the police report on the commissioner’s desk, this show covers the action from start to finish.
The 21st Precinct’s head honcho is New York’s finest Captain Frank Kennelly, played by Everett Sloan (at least for the first hundred or so episodes). Kennely’s the man who heads the police precinct that covers the humble nine-tenths of a square mile between Fifth Avenue and the East River, and he sure is a stickler for that book he keeps doing things by.
Only 92 episodes of the over 150 ever aired survived, sadly. Interestingly enough, we seem to have exactly one loving old time radio fan to thank for what does survive: nearly all of the episodes we have hanging around today were said to be recorded by one very dedicated collector as they were broadcast, according to the OTRR.
We’ll be taking a listen to some of the first episodes in the series, both aired in July of 1953–“The Nolen Brothers” aired on July 7, and “Case Of The Young Incorrigible”, which aired the following week on July 14.
The Jazz Program: DJ Spooky - Celestial Mechanix: The Blue Series Mastermix (2004)
(This program schedule was originally aired June 20, 2023 .)
Another fantastic DJ Spooky release. We'll save this one for another time...probably around Halloween. Y'know, spooky season.
Paul Miller, known to heads worldwide as DJ Spooky, is one of my favorite DJs of all time for an absurd amount of reasons, not least of which are his works released on strange jazz label Thirsty Ear.
Of those records, one stands out due to its sheer scope alone. Celestial Mechanix functions as a chopped, screwed, re-sampled, and re-purposed walkthrough of the entirety of Thirsty Ear’s “Blue Series” set of releases up to this point in the timeline. “The Shape Of Jazz To Come”, indeed.
No other records, no distractions; I’ll be ceding the entire show to this one two-hour masterwork, from start to finish.
Oh, and if you want to get more into DJ Spooky’s other jazz-adjacent records…We aren’t playing them tonight (although I do intend on revisiting the Subliminal Kid’s work another time on this show) I genuinely recommend picking up "Optometry" (pictured here) and his collab with Dave Lombardo, "Drums Of Death".
He does have quite a few other fantastic albums outside The Jazz Program’s usual fare, too, and I’d highly recommend doing a deep dive into Spooky’s discography if you can. We’ll be seeing him back on the air again this October, so if nothing else be sure to tune in this spooky season for even more of our spooky friend.
Aaand that’s it for this week! We’re back to reruns once again; I’m finally packing the car for (hopefully very close to) the last time before I am officially a Chicago cat, and did not have time to write much in the way of new programming. They’re still good reruns, though, and I do hope you tune in!
If you’re reading this the day of, and you can make it in tonight, come hang out in the chat with us on Datafruits! We’ve got a good crowd of folks in the chat every week, and whether you have a suggestion for a future show or just want to hang out and chat with fellow jazz enjoyers, you’re welcome here with us.
You’re all amazing and don’t let anyone tell you that you’re not. Stay safe out there, and I’ll see you back again next week. Same time, same station.