Afterglow

Series produced by WFIU

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Afterglow is a weekly, one-hour program of vocal jazz and popular song from the Great American Songbook, hosted by Mark Chilla.

Ella, Frank, Billie, Duke -- WFIU's Afterglow has them all.

Afterglow highlights the best of vocal jazz and popular song from the 1930s to today. Each episode explores a new topic about the greatest jazz singers. Whether it's the unlikely friendship between Frank Sinatra and songwriter Jimmy Van Heusen, the times trumpeter Clifford Brown worked with vocalists, or songs all about love, Afterglow tells the stories of the Great American Songbook.

Afterglow first aired on WFIU sometime in the late 1970s, hosted by a man named Dick Bishop, who gave the show its elegance, passion, laid-back expertise, congenial charm, and that "martini-moon" quality. After Bishop's retirement in 2005, the show was hosted by David Brent Johnson. In February 2015, Mark Chilla took the helm, continuing to bring an hour of the Great American Songbook to the airwaves in a high-quality production available every week.

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/afterglow/.

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

Ella, Frank, Billie, Duke -- WFIU's Afterglow has them all. Afterglow highlights the best of vocal jazz and popular song from the 1930s to today. Each episode explores a new topic about the greatest jazz singers. Whether it's the unlikely friendship between Frank Sinatra and songwriter Jimmy Van Heusen, the times trumpeter Clifford Brown worked with vocalists, or songs all about love, Afterglow tells the stories of the Great American Songbook. Afterglow first aired on WFIU sometime in the late 1970s, hosted by a man named Dick Bishop, who gave the show its elegance, passion, laid-back expertise, congenial charm, and that "martini-moon" quality. After Bishop's retirement in 2005, the show was hosted by David Brent Johnson. In February 2015, Mark Chilla took the helm, continuing to... Show full description


Additional Files

119 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
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Was “Heat Wave” an Irving Berlin song or a Martha and the Vandellas song? Was “In The Still of the Night” a Cole Porter song or a Five Satins song?...

  • Added: Dec 17, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
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Singers Lucy Reed and Lucy Ann Polk never spent time in the spotlight, but their output of songs from the 1950s are worthy of some close attention,...

  • Added: Dec 28, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
Caption: Carmen McRae's 1958 album "Birds Of A Feather", Credit: Album Cover
This week, “Baltimore Oriole,” “Skylark,” “A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square” and other songs about birds from the Great American Songbook.

  • Added: Jan 12, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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This week on Afterglow, we pay tribute to songwriter Billy Strayhorn. We’ll hear the sophisticated melancholy of Duke Ellington’s right-hand man in...

  • Added: Jan 14, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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The rich baritone of Lou Rawls could sing R&B, jazz, blues, gospel, and pop. This week, we’ll explore his early work for Capitol in the 1960s.

  • Added: Jan 27, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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This week on Afterglow, we explore the work of one of vocal jazz's first innovators, Connee Boswell, whose swinging and complex style influenced th...

  • Added: Feb 11, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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Join Afterglow for our annual salute to the Grammy nominees in the vocal jazz and traditional pop categories, ahead of the 2021 Grammy Awards. We’l...

  • Added: Feb 22, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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This week, for Women’s History Month, we explore the songs of Dorothy Fields, a Tin Pan Alley songwriter whose work stretched from the 1920s throug...

  • Added: Mar 03, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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This week, we salute jazz singer Nancy Wilson by featuring some of her best recordings from the 1960s, including “Someone To Watch Over Me” and “Gu...

  • Added: Mar 04, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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E.Y. “Yip” Harburg wrote words to some of the most memorable songs in American culture, including “Over The Rainbow” and “It’s Only A Paper Moon” a...

  • Added: Mar 17, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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This week on Afterglow, we’re celebrating the influential jazz singer Anita O’Day, exploring some of her monumental recordings for Clef and Verve r...

  • Added: Mar 17, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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This week, we explore the early artistry of the great Tony Bennett, listening to excerpts from the LPs he recorded for Columbia Records in the 1950...

  • Added: Apr 02, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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This week on Afterglow, we’re putting on a happy face as we explore songs about happiness from the Great American Songbook, sung by Ella Fitzgerald...

  • Added: Apr 02, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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It’s vocal jazz interpretations of the music of Bob Dylan, this week on Afterglow, including covers by Nina Simone, Madeleine Peyroux, and more.

  • Added: Apr 12, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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This week on Afterglow, we wish a happy 100th birthday to the late, great lyricist Hal David, known for his elegant pop songs with Burt Bacharach, ...

  • Added: May 07, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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From 1939 to 1945, as World War II raged on, American Popular Music responded. On Afterglow’s Memorial Day special this week, we look at the songs ...

  • Added: May 11, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
Caption: Nat King Cole and Nelson Riddle's 1953 album "Sings For Two In Love"
This week on Afterglow, we’re celebrating the 100th birthday of legendary arranger Nelson Riddle with the first in a series of shows about his work...

  • Added: May 12, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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We continue our 100th-birthday celebration of legendary arranger Nelson Riddle by exploring his most fruitful partnership with Frank Sinatra on ico...

  • Added: May 26, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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Our Nelson Riddle centennial celebration continues this week by exploring the famous arrangers’ work with singers like Ella Fitzgerald, Keely Smith...

  • Added: Jun 04, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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This week, Afterglow begins a deeper dive into some less-familiar voices in jazz music history. On this program, a look at the late 1950s/early 196...

  • Added: Jun 09, 2021
  • Length: 59:00