Monday, June 30, 2014

Ray Smith has finally disappeared from the airwaves

Jazz collector extraordinaire Ray Smith passed away in 2010 at the age of 87, but his weekly radio show, "Jazz Decades," had been on the air for many, many years. I didn't become a fan until a year or so ago, when dar.fm made it possible for me to record online radio audio (a great service which I highly recommend, by the way).  His hour-long show became a weekly habit. I discovered many "new" artists through his show.  But the one radio station that broadcast his archives--KCSM in San Mateo--has apparently run out of past shows. They ceased broadcasting "Jazz Decades" about a month ago.  And I can't find the show listed anywhere else.  (WGBH has a handful of shows on their site, but nowhere near the thousands that Ray broadcast.)  Such a shame that this wonderful resource has been lost.

If you are a fan of Ray Smith, or perhaps know of where I might find some archived recordings of "Jazz Decades," feel free to post a comment.

No comments:

Post a Comment