Over the years, people have often asked how The Vocal Sound of Jazz came to be. In many ways, it traces back to my January 1979 monthly column for ”Metro Magazine”, where I wrote about the growing homogenization of local radio — and especially called out our public radio station WHRO for its lack of programming diversity.
Fast‑forward 46 years, and public radio in Southeastern Virginia now consists of two vibrant stations that have become hallmarks of musical diversity, embracing jazz, folk, classical, blues, and alternative music. I’d love to claim my column sparked that transformation, but as I learned just a few weeks after it was published, change was already underway.
I received a call from Joel Seguine, then General Manager of WHRO. I braced for criticism about my comments — but instead, he told me that major programming changes were in motion and to “stay tuned” for a more diverse station that would include jazz. I told him that if that happened, I had an idea for a show devoted entirely to vocal jazz.
About nine months later, I got a call from Joe Lowrey, who had been hired to build WHRO’s jazz programming. From that conversation, The Vocal Sound of Jazz was born — and it’s still here 46 years later.
2025 is a milestone year for The Vocal Sound of Jazz as it marks the beginning of my 45th year of producing the program. The opportunity to create and produce this show each week is something that I have never taken for granted. It’s an opportunity that came to me through a strange happenstance.
In the late 1970s, I wrote a column for “Metro Magazine”(RIP), a lifestyle publication covering Southeastern, Virginia. The column was lamenting the fact that public radio in our area was almost exclusively a classical music station, serving the same market that had a very vibrant and successful full-time commercial classical music station (WGH-FM). They aired no jazz, no alternative music, and very little folk music. Shortly after the column was published, I got a call from the station’s GM, and during our conversation, he mentioned that the station was making some changes and would be widening its musical scope. I mentioned to him that if that ended up happening, that I had an idea for a radio program – a show devoted entirely to jazz vocal music. About a year later, my phone rang, and the opportunity presented itself. In my wildest imagination, it never occurred to me that nearly 45 years later, I would still be at it and enjoying it more than ever.
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