Night Lights

Series produced by WFIU

Series image

Night Lights, is a weekly thematic one-hour jazz radio program hosted by jazz aficionado David Brent Johnson, focusing on jazz from the 1945-1990 era.

Night Lights, is a weekly one-hour jazz radio program hosted by David Brent Johnson, focusing on jazz from the 1945-1990 era—a timespan that, as Johnson notes, “weirdly parallels Miles Davis on record and the Cold War.”

Covering artists such as Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, and Nina Simone, and themes ranging from jazz in the movies and television to the music’s connection to the civil-rights movement, Night Lights also features many lesser-known talents of post-1945 jazz. “Night Lights is a program of jazz in sound, story, and song,” says Johnson. “I try to make each show a sort of cultural narrative about whatever artist or theme I’m highlighting. It’s great music and interesting history, and I want the program to reflect that.”

"Each week, David sheds light on jazz artists and little-known corners of jazz history through smart research and interviews, dramatic narration and thoughtfully selected recordings. The result is an indispensable educational resource that is engaging and illuminating. Through David’s soothing and intelligent voice, Night Lights provides a rewarding gateway to the music for curious listeners unfamiliar with jazz as well as those who are seasoned jazz fans. I’ve listened to David for years and always learn something new."—Marc Myers, a Wall Street Journal contributor, JazzWax.com founder and author of Why Jazz Happened and Anatomy of a Song

“One of public radio's real multi-platform pioneers.”—Patrick Jarenwattananon, NPR’s A Blog Supreme

“In an era of uninformed radio presenters and borderline music, David Brent Johnson’s well-researched and delightfully eclectic Night Lights program stands out.”—Jazz writer and producer Chris Albertson

“David Brent Johnson is a bright light of American cultural life.”—Loren Schoenberg, author of The NPR Curious Listener’s Guide To Jazz and founding director of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem.

Night Lights made its debut on WFIU in July 2004 and can now be heard on stations across the country.

For syndication information, please contact LuAnn Johnson at lujohnso@indiana.edu.

For help subscribing please email prxhelp@prx.org.

Find us at http://indianapublicmedia.org/nightlights/.

Click here to watch and download our video teaser for Night Lights.

Night Lights is a production of WFIU at Indiana University in Bloomington. Hide full description

Night Lights, is a weekly one-hour jazz radio program hosted by David Brent Johnson, focusing on jazz from the 1945-1990 era—a timespan that, as Johnson notes, “weirdly parallels Miles Davis on record and the Cold War.” Covering artists such as Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, and Nina Simone, and themes ranging from jazz in the movies and television to the music’s connection to the civil-rights movement, Night Lights also features many lesser-known talents of post-1945 jazz. “Night Lights is a program of jazz in sound, story, and song,” says Johnson. “I try to make each show a sort of cultural narrative about whatever artist or theme I’m highlighting. It’s great music and interesting history, and I want the program to reflect that.” "Each week, David sheds light on jazz artists and... Show full description


Additional Files

227 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Piece image
In the autumn of 1960 saxophonist John Coltrane played his final gigs with Miles Davis. Davis spent the next three years searching for a new lineup...

  • Added: May 20, 2020
  • Length: 59:03
Piece image
Another in our ongoing series of musical tributes to jazz artists who have passed.

  • Added: May 14, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
Piece image
At the dawn of the 1960s saxophonist Ornette Coleman shook the jazz world with his revolutionary approach to music. This program features some of t...

  • Added: Apr 30, 2020
  • Length: 59:03
Piece image
Alto saxophonist Lee Konitz was a longtime master of melodic improvisation who played a part in some of jazz's most momentous acts of the 1950s and...

  • Added: Apr 16, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
Piece image
Anita O’Day was a dynamic and independent singer from the moment she burst onto the big-band scene in the 1940s. We’ll hear her with Gene Krupa, S...

  • Added: Apr 09, 2020
  • Length: 58:59
Piece image
In the 1960s Herbie Hancock seemed to be everywhere on the jazz scene, recording both as a leader for Blue Note and as a sideman with Miles Davis a...

  • Added: Apr 02, 2020
  • Length: 58:59
Piece image
We take a look at Ella Fitzgerald in 1957, one of the singer's busiest and most memorable years on record.

  • Added: Mar 21, 2020
  • Length: 59:04
Piece image
In 1952 Billie Holiday began her last great period on record with a series of small-group sessions that capture the twilight glow of a jazz star.

  • Added: Mar 12, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
Piece image
Ted Gioia, author of book The Birth (and Death) of the Cool, (who's also the author of The History of Jazz and West Coast Jazz), joins us on this e...

  • Added: Feb 28, 2020
  • Length: 58:59
Piece image
Saxophonist Jimmy Heath spent much of the 1950s off of the jazz scene, but when he returned, he made a string of albums for the Riverside label tha...

  • Added: Jan 24, 2020
  • Length: 59:01
Piece image
With the centennial of Prohibition at hand, we dive into the impact of the 18th Amendment on the emerging jazz scene of the 1920s with historian Mi...

  • Added: Jan 10, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
Piece image
Night Lights’ highly subjective annual review of the year’s most compelling reissues and historical discoveries, including music from Nat King Cole...

  • Added: Dec 29, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
Piece image
In the 1960s, Mary Lou Williams, Duke Ellington, and some other jazz artists began to write religious or so-called “sacred jazz,” to be performed i...

  • Added: Nov 14, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
Piece image
Night Lights celebrates the holiday season with from Paul Bley, Duke Ellington, Wes Montgomery, June Christy, and more.

  • Added: Dec 12, 2019
  • Length: 58:57
Piece image
A 90th-birthday-week salute to two veteran pianists influenced by bebop piano master Bud Powell.

  • Added: Nov 14, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
Piece image
A program featuring the 1950s hardbop and progressive-jazz recordings of producer Tom Wilson’s Transition label, including music by John Coltrane...

  • Added: Oct 24, 2019
  • Length: 58:59
Piece image
Music of the pianist and composer-arranger who left his stamp on the bebop and hardbop era, as well as an interview with Dameron biographer Paul Co...

  • Added: Sep 23, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
Piece image
A program featuring live broadcasts of the great bebop pianist Bud Powell in the prime of his career.

  • Added: Sep 19, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
Piece image
At the beginning of the 1960s saxophonist Stanley Turrentine and pianist Horace Parlan teamed up to make some dynamic recordings for the Blue Note ...

  • Added: Sep 08, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
Piece image
Earlyrecordings of pianist Bill Evans, including records he made with George Russell, Tony Scott, and Charles Mingus.

  • Added: Jul 12, 2019
  • Length: 58:59