Where can you find the perfect jazz soundtrack to add comfort and joy to your holiday season? You guessed it! As we inch closer to Christmas, you'll hear more and more of the classic holiday jazz you love on WRTI.
We have festive hits from Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole and the rest of your favorites. There are also plenty of amazing new holiday releases this year, including music from Tony Bennett and Diana Krall, Laura Dickinson, Beegie Adair and more.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day will feature all holiday music. Ryan Gottleib and Courtney Blue will bring you musical warmth, both old and new, for a wonderful soundtrack for your dinners and gatherings. The holiday cheer all night long theough the 26th.
If you have little ones, Christmas Day will probably have you awake before the sun. Be sure to tune in with the family at 5 am for a special hour of Songs To Open Presents To. Ryan Gottlieb will bring you tunes the kids will love, like Frosty, Rudolph, the Grinch, and, of course, the big man in the red suit!
Leading up to New Year's, WRTI will present music each hour from some of this year's Jazz Albums of the Week. Tune in to revisit some of the artists that set 2018 to an amazing soundtrack.
New Year's Eve on WRTI 90.1 will be truly special. Here's what we have going on:
7:30 to 9:30 pm - The Philadelphia Orchestra LIVE from Verizon Hall with Host Gregg Whiteside
Waltz and sing into 2019! It’s New Year’s Eve LIVE from Verizon Hall with The Philadelphia Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts and Gregg Whiteside is your host.
9:30 pm to 1:00 am - Jazz Vocalist Laurin Talese LIVE from South Jazz Club and Kitchen with Host J. Michael Harrison
Ring in the New Year at South Jazz Club LIVE on WRTI with vocalist Laurin Talese and her band. J. Michael Harrison is your host.
1:00 am - Toast of the Nation
An NPR tradition every New Year's Eve since the 1970s, Toast of the Nation is the perfect audio complement for the occasion. It's festive jazz you can party to, all night long. Spirited, improvised, and swinging, each segment stops in a Blue Note venue throughout the country and the world. Hear sets from Buika,The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Joshua Redman and Brad Meldau, pianist Fred Hersch, Ron Carter, and Dee Dee Bridgewater.