Miles Davis at 100 – Part 4: Why His Music Matters
Here at Jazz Spectrum Central, it’s Miles Davis week in honor of the centenary of his birth. Read More
WGTE Public Media Blog
The Underappreciated Miles Davis
‘Tis the season to celebrate Miles Davis’s massive contributions to jazz. He is our Picasso, reimagining himself and what the music could be time after time. For many of us, he was our introduction to jazz, providing so many pathways to explore. He defined repertoire, how ensembles should work together, how the trumpet sounds, and what cool is. Since most of these essays for his 100th birthday are discussing favorite moments in the music, let me instead confess some of what I have missed so far in his canon. Read More
Miles Davis at 100 – Part 2: Miles and Friends
In yesterday's post, I noted something striking about Miles Davis at nineteen: even while playing in Charlie Parker's quintet, alongside the most revered innovator in jazz, and while still absorbing the methods and challenge of bebop, Miles was already forging his own aesthetic in his own sound, his own relationship with silence, his own sense of where a melody wanted to go. The point warrants a second look because it illuminates something that would define Miles's entire career. Even in his apprenticeship, Miles treated Bird as a collaborator. Not as a superior. Read More
Miles Davis at 100 – Part 1: The Six Revolutions of Miles
Today is the centenary of the birth of Miles Davis. Born in 1926, he passed in 1991 at the age of 65. He made his first important recordings when he was about twenty. By many sane reckonings, he made his last radical records when he was about fifty. So, thirty years of transcendent art. Let me give you one more number – he changed music six times. I don’t mean he changed his music six times; or that he constantly grew and evolved, burnishing his sound and expanding the range of his tastes. Most important jazz musicians have done that, and more. Read More
WGTE Honored with Four 2026 Telly Awards
WGTE Public Media has once again been recognized for excellence in television production as four programs have been honored in the 47th annual Telly Awards. Listening with Keith Burris: Fighting Parkinsons won a Gold Telly Award and Taking Ownership of Your Future won a Silver Telly Award. Read More
Roscoe Mitchell in Performance
Roscoe Mitchell with K. Curtis Lyle, Damon Scott and Shuggie
Dissonant Works, St. Louis Read More
How Public Media Funding Affects Classical Music
Public media funding has long been a quiet but essential support for cultural life in the United States, especially for classical music on the radio. Today, as the media landscape shifts and federal support faces new challenges, that future is increasingly uncertain.Classical music broadcasting in the U.S. Read More
Meet the New Host of Morning Classics
I am so excited to join the team at WGTE! What a privilege to give back to the media communities that have shaped me. A bit of background about me for our listeners: I grew up in a loud home in Kansas City, with a percussionist brother, a bluegrass guitarist mother, and a very patient father. I have always loved singing, but I obeyed my mother and studied violin for as many Suzuki exercises as I could. I gladly put the instrument down and went on to study classical voice at Mizzou, LSU and BGSU. On stage, I’m happiest in choir. Read More