Jazz Lives on Radio Catskill

Jazz has been thriving on Radio Catskill for decades, and Jazz Lives! continues that tradition. This two-hour weekly program explores the full 100-year history of jazz—from Louis Armstrong to John Zorn—while spotlighting the incredible jazz talent of the Catskills and Poconos.

Host David Dann draws from his vast archive of nearly 10,000 records and CDs, taking listeners on a musical journey through America’s “classical music.”

When to listen: Saturdays, 12–2 p.m.

About the Host:
David Dann grew up in Chicago and Boston and discovered jazz in college while working at a record store, learning the music’s history from a Miles Davis–devoted mentor. In the 1970s, while at the University of Chicago, he was influenced by the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and later moved to New York, connecting with jazz greats like Leroy Jenkins, Anthony Braxton, Leo Smith, Henry Threadgill, and Butch Morris. His extensive record collection has even supplied rare recordings to the Smithsonian and the Museum of Modern Art.

After moving to the Catskills in 1990, David joined Radio Catskill, hosting Crosscurrents and the weekly live show Live from Studio B, featuring local jazz artists.

In addition to music, David is a commercial artist and illustrator, as well as an author. His biography Guitar King: Michael Bloomfield’s Life in the Blues was named one of the ten best music books of 2019 by Rolling Stone.

He lives in White Sulphur Springs and can be reached at divadnnad@yahoo.com. Explore his jazz blog, Gems of Jazz, at gemsofjazz.blogspot.com, or listen to his podcast, The Jazz Archive, at archive.org.