The Urban Jazz Experience

Ed German's Urban Jazz Experience from Wednesday, November 4, 2026. Featuring the music of composer John Barry, who composed and arranged much of the James Bond film scores.

Ed German's Urban Jazz Experience from Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Featuring the music of Henry Grimes (November 3, 1935 – April 15, 2020), a leading bassist in free jazz who disappeared from music for many years and was presumed dead. He was discovered in 2002 and returned to playing.

Ed German's Urban Jazz Experience from Monday, November 2, 2026.

Ed German's Urban Jazz Experience from Thursday, October 29, 2026, featuring trumpeter Clifford Brown and saxophonist Illinois Jacquet.

Clifford Benjamin Brown (October 30, 1930 – June 26, 1956) was an American jazz trumpeter, pianist, and composer. He died at the age of 25 in a car crash, leaving behind four years' worth of recordings. His compositions "Sandu", "Joy Spring", and "Daahoud" have become jazz standards. Brown won the DownBeat magazine Critics' Poll for New Star of the Year in 1954; he was inducted into the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame in 1972.

Jean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet (October 30, 1922 – July 22, 2004) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, best remembered for his solo on "Flying Home", critically recognized as the first R&B saxophone solo. He is also known as one of the writers of the jazz standard "Don'cha Go 'Way Mad." Although he was a pioneer of the honking tenor saxophone that became a regular feature of jazz playing and a hallmark of early rock and roll, Jacquet was a skilled and melodic improviser, both on up-tempo tunes and ballads. He doubled on the bassoon, one of only a few jazz musicians to use the instrument.

Ed German's Urban Jazz Experience from Wednesday, October 29, 2026, featuring vocalist Andy Bey and saxophonist Zoot Sims.

Andrew Wideman Bey Jr. (October 28, 1939 – April 26, 2025) was an American jazz singer and pianist. Bey had a wide vocal range, with a four-octave baritone voice. Raised in Newark, New Jersey, Bey attended Newark Arts High School.

John Haley "Zoot" Sims (October 29, 1925 – March 23, 1985) was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor but also alto (and, later, soprano) saxophone. He first gained attention in the "Four Brothers" sax section of Woody Herman's big band, afterward enjoying a long solo career, often in partnership with fellow saxmen Gerry Mulligan and Al Cohn.

Ed German's Urban Jazz Experience from Tuesday, October 27, 2026, featuring saxophonist Jimmy Heath and vocalist/JazzPoet Babs Gonzales.

James Edward Heath (October 25, 1926 – January 19, 2020), nicknamed Little Bird, was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and big band leader. He was the brother of bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert Heath.

Babs Gonzales (October 27, 1919 – January 23, 1980), born Lee Brown, was an American bebop vocalist, poet, and self-published author. His books portrayed the jazz world that many black musicians struggled in, portraying disk jockeys, club owners, liquor, drugs, and racism.

Ed German's Urban Jazz Experience from Monday, October 26, 2026. Featuring vibraphonist and arranger Gary McFarland, vocalist Mahalia Jackson, and bassist Wendel Marshall.

Gary Ronald McFarland (October 23, 1933 – November 2, 1971) was an American composer, arranger, conductor, vibraphonist, and vocalist. He recorded for the jazz imprints Verve and Impulse! Records during the 1960s. DownBeat magazine said he made "one of the more significant contributors to orchestral jazz".

Mahalia Jackson (October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was integral to the development and spread of gospel blues in black churches throughout the U.S. During a time when racial segregation was pervasive in American society, she met considerable and unexpected success in a recording career, selling an estimated 22 million records and performing in front of integrated and secular audiences in concert halls around the world, making her one of the best-selling gospel music artists.

Wendell Lewis Marshall (October 24, 1920 – February 6, 2002) was an American jazz double-bassist. Marshall was Jimmy Blanton's cousin and studied with the noted Ellington bassist, inheriting Blanton's bass upon his death.

Ed German's Urban Jazz Experience from Thursday, October 22, 2026.

Ed German's Urban Jazz Experience from Wednesday, October 21, 2026.

Ed German's Urban Jazz Experience from Wednesday, October 14, 2026.