This Monday, Just Plain Jazz tackles the serious subject of Humor in jazz. I'll be wearing my jester's cap -a modified fez- for two straight (?) hours as we investigate the lighter side. Funny sounds, amusing lyrics, wry juxtapositions - if not laugh-out-loud, it'll at least coax a smile or two out of you. Good humor can be contagious and yet it's also claimed that it makes you healthier! Go figure...

Q: Why is jazz like comic books?

A: Well, they're both totally American art forms (with roots and antecedents in other cultures, of course) that have been embraced/expanded/modified globally, but I was thinking along different lines. I think it was Harvey Pekar who pointed out that comic books are words and pictures; you can tell any story with words and pictures! Jazz, at root, is about improvisation; you can express any human feeling through improvisation!

Q: I don't like comic books and I don't like jazz.  read more »

Take it or leaf it--

it's

OFF THE SUBJECT

with

Therese Cummiskey & Diana Flynn

Tuesday June 12

7am CST