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"The Bridge" on WRTI with Special Guests! Friday, March 10th at 10 PM

Violinist and pianist Ben Sutin is on of the special guests on The Bridge, Friday at 10 pm.

We have a great night in store for you on The Bridge! During the first half of the 10 pm hour, violinist and pianist Ben Sutin chats about his latest exploits, and then trumpeter Chris Stevens (who just made his film debut in La La Land) and Grammy-nominated vocalist Yocontalie Jackson will be in the studio to close out the hour. The 11 pm hour brings an encore broadcast of a 2015 conversation with the late Grammy-winning vocalist Al Jarreau.

The conversation with Al touched on a couple of Georges; he spoke about how influential and important George Duke and George Benson were to him. George Duke had recently passed around the time we recorded the interview, and Al had just released a recording paying homage to George Duke.

The setting for our conversation was the Philadelphia Clef Club. Al had just complete a three-day stint of master classes involving students from arts-focused high schools in Philadelphia and NJ. There's also a segment that speaks to Al's collegiate struggles that included the loss of an academic scholarship, which ultimately ends well.

A little more about Chris Stevens...he made his big-screen debut in the film La La Land, which garnered both Oscar and Golden Globe recognition. At the age of 34, this Temple University graduate has become an in-demand trumpeter and composer in the genres of jazz, R&B, and gospel, with impressive career credits on several dozen recordings, including Jazmine Sullivan’s latest album Reality Show and Faith Evans’ Incomparable. When not in the studio, Chris can likely be found on stage leading his bands, The Chris Stevens Quartet and Vertical Current, or touring with John Legend, The Roots, Eric Roberson, and Tye Tribbett.
 

J. Michael Harrison’s first radio show, WPEB’s “Is That Jazz” launched in June of 1993. In 1994 he began volunteering with WRTI as a production assistant. In 1996, J. Michael debuted his own program, The Bridge, which continues to air Friday evenings on WRTI.