Bringing Us The Tapestry That Is Jazz
WPKN’s Lisa Sahulka weaves the familiar and the novel into compelling radio
Lisa Sahulka weaves a tapestry of classical jazz, new jazz, and new takes on the classics, every Tuesday afternoon from 1-4 on WPKN. (photo courtesy Lisa Sahulka)
Can everybody reading this recall where they were when they first heard a song that changed their lives, or is that just for the geekiest of music geeks?
I certainly can, and I can also tell you that song – the Beach Boys’ “Shut Down” when I was 6 – was brought to me by a radio disc jockey.
Musical programming algorithms do a fine job of feeding us music similar to songs we have actively searched for ourselves, but there is something missing; the human element of acting as a guide to sonic areas we may not have explored ourselves yet. And mixing up the familiar and the unknown in jazz may be the most complex, and rewarding, area for programmers to do that.
Lisa Sahulka, who hosts Afternoon Jazz every Tuesday from 1-4 pm on WPKN, is just such a guide. She wants to bring listeners “driveway moments,” where you’re listening to something so compelling you just have to sit in the car after you’ve gotten home to finish the song. And, given the wide latitude WPKN gives its programmers, she can weave a show that features everything from Duke Ellington to the University of Hartford’s Javon Jackson to Joni Mitchell. She can bring us unexpected segues from The Association’s “Along Comes Mary” to Horace Silver’s “Sister Sadie” (and we can nod our heads as we shift from third to fourth gear on the back roads and say to ourselves “Nice…”).
“Harry Minot, the former general manager of PKN, once said to me radio is like a tapestry, and that meant something to me,” Lisa told 8495Jazz. “You are creating something that comes together, but also its parts are beautiful. That’s the thing PKN allows people to do.”
WPKN broadcasts from Bridgeport, CT at 89.5 FM and wpkn.org on the Internet. Mostly run by volunteers like Lisa, it is a fully independent listener-supported station with one of the most eclectic lineups a station can have. She figures at any given time, there may be 30,000 people tuning in to her show – a figure that would likely make a commercial radio program director with ratings pressures tear their hair out, but not so for her or her colleagues. She has the benefit of needing to program just three hours a week, so she can take her time in building a set list. And she can make those set lists a mix of the familiar and the novel with no promotional kibitzing.
“I don’t really care about labels because we don’t cater to that,” she said. “That doesn’t mean I don’t love the Blue Note label or the ECM label, and so on. But they’re not calling me up and telling me to play a piece of music I don’t want to play. And I wouldn’t embarrass WPKN or the audience. I think we have a very sophisticated audience. These aren’t people who want to hear songs they would listen to on their own.”
On the other hand, she said, she is careful not to challenge her listeners too much. A non-profit executive in her day job as chief operating officer of the Century Foundation, she is actually on her second stint as a WPKN programmer, returning in 2017 from jobs in the South.
“My show has definitely evolved, no question about it,” she said. “I think, to be fair, I play more recognizable music than I might have done when I was younger. I want an audience. I want people to listen to it and I am more sensitive about making things so hard on the ear. Especially in a radio format. I have to think about these things. People are getting in and out of their car. They’re cooking dinner. How much attention are they really giving to what they are listening to?”
At the same time, she realizes jazz is a language and appreciating it fully is akin to studying French or Spanish.
“I still believe you can introduce people to jazz in a certain way, that if you put the breadcrumbs down, they will love it the way you love it. But it takes time.”
Her “shortcut” to introducing her listeners to compelling new songs is, fittingly, language-related.
“I am a lyrics person, even if a song has no lyrics. I’ll use Lee Morgan as an example. If you go back to ‘Sidewinder,’ that kind of sound. That is a song without lyrics that sounds like it in fact has them. There is something you can follow about it. When I am doing my show I am always thinking about that.
“There is beautiful avant garde jazz, but let’s be honest with ourselves – it’s over most people’s heads. If you’re not a musician and haven’t studied, it’s very tough to follow that.”
The solitude/community paradox
Jazz, even the most accessible jazz, is best appreciated through what we might call active listening, and Lisa acknowledges that. Yet she also thinks that, especially in these fraught political times, the solitude of listening and the sense of community jazz can inspire are very simpatico.
“This will make you laugh. but my ideal listener would be somebody sitting in a chair with headphones on, doing nothing else but listening to my show and I am sure that almost never happens,” she said. “To really cut out, and there is a meditative private space that people who love music get into when they are listening.”
She hopes that her curation of the jazz soundscape can both encourage that private sense of fulfillment as well as a sense of community in times when political norms are being tested to the extreme.
“These art forms are there to help us grow, and I feel like I am a part of that for other people,” she said. “That is really a privilege, that I am giving them the space to grow but to also take a step back from this world that can be very frightening right now.
“I think jazz is a political art form. I can say that with some confidence, as I have felt the United States is looking a little bit like 1938 Germany – and they banned jazz. It’s kind of subversive, and what is subversive about it? It’s improvisational. It’s free thought. It’s exactly what people who are fascists don’t want the population to be. Don’t I enjoy that every time I am doing my radio show?”
Lisa Sahulka brings her listeners a wide variety of jazz every week. In a recent show, she featured Cassandra Wilson’ 2003 take on a Bob Dylan classic.
In the air and on the network
8495Jazz introduces a new feature this week, Jazz radio in the 8495, with links to regional stations with dedicated jazz-oriented shows.
WWUH (91.3 FM, wwuh.org), West Hartford, CT
As one might expect from a station affiliated with The University of Hartford, home of the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz, WWUH, which bills itself as public alternative radio, features plenty of jazz programming: Monday-Friday from 9 am – noon is a dedicated jazz slot, as is 9 pm – midnight Tuesday-Friday.
WPKN (89.5 FM, wpkn.org), Bridgeport, CT
New Yorker writer David Owen called PKN “the greatest radio station in the world,” and though the 8495Jazz staff has enough friends at other stations we won’t throw ourselves on that grenade – it is really, really good. In addition to Lisa Sahulka’s Tuesday afternoon jazz show, other jazz hosts include pro bassist Rick Petrone (whose resume includes stints with Buddy Rich, Marian McPartland and Maynard Ferguson) Mondays from 1-4 pm, Malcolm C. Dankner’s Jazz and Standards show the fifth Tuesday of every month from 1-4 pm, and others. And there is a lot of fluidity in PKN’s free-form programming – you’ll never know exactly when you may hear a jump blues classic after a jazz song. Radio like it used to be when we all wanted to be DJ’s.
NEPM (88.5 FM, nepm.org), Springfield, MA
NEPM, or New England Public Media, hosts the venerable Jazz a la Mode Monday-Thursday from 8-11 pm and Friday from 8-10 pm, and carries Christian McBride’s syndicated Jazz Night in America show at 10 pm on Fridays, among other stellar jazz programs.
WRTC (89.3 FM, wrtcfm.com), Hartford, CT
Not to be outdone by its neighbor in West Hartford, Trinity College’s radio station also hosts ample jazz shows, including the 6-9 am slot Monday-Friday and 3-6 pm Monday-Wednesday.
Out and About with 8495Jazz
To alleviate confusion, ticket prices quoted now mention service fees as included or as additional; if fees are not mentioned, there are none to our knowledge. Because fees differ according to ticket type, service fee amounts are not included here but are available on venue web sites.
These listings are a curated sampling of shows in the region. As an independent resource for jazz news, 8495Jazz does not receive any consideration, free tickets, or affiliate fees for these listings. Please confirm events are still happening directly with the venue.
8495Jazz Wild Card Gig of the Week
Arlington Jazz Festival, Arlington, MA
Mix of free and ticketed shows, today through Sunday, April 6. Mike Stern (guitar) headlines, Sunday, April 6, 7:30 pm.
8495Jazz Spur of the Moment Gig TODAY
Hartford Public Library Baby Grand Jazz Series, Hartford, CT
Naledi (vocals, combo), today, 3 pm. Free.
Other Shows This Week
SHU Community Theater, Fairfield, CT
Jobimfest 2025 (celebrating Anotonio Carlos Jobim) Wednesday, April 2, 8 pm. GA $10.
University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI
In The Pocket Jazz Choir and Jazz Voice Studio Recital, Thursday, April 3, 7:30 pm. Free.
VFW Post 399, Westport, CT
Alex Pope Norris (trumpet, combo), Thursday, April 3, 7:30 and 8:45 pm. 7:30 show $20.76 adult, $15.76 students, 8:45 show $10.76.
Elicit Brewing Co., Manchester, CT
Hartford Jazz Orchestra, Monday, March 31, 7:30 pm. Free.
Firehouse 12, New Haven, CT
Joe Morris Counter Spectacle (bass, combo), Friday, April 4. 8:30 pm ($20) and 10 pm ($15).
Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT
Faculty Jazz Trio, Wednesday, April 2, 7:30 pm. Free.
Jazz Forum Arts, Tarrytown, NY
Salute to Freddie Hubbard and Cannonball Adderley w/Jeremy Pelt and Vincent Herring (trumpet, saxophone, combo), Friday, April 4 and Saturday, April 5, 7 and 9:30 pm. GA $35 plus service fee, student $30 plus service fee.
The Side Door, Old Lyme, CT
Etienne Charles Sextet (trumpet, combo) Friday, April 4, GA $59.75 including service fee, students $27.98 including service fee.
Jams
Cafe Nine, New Haven CT
New Haven Jazz Underground jam, usually 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month: free admission
Saturday jazz jam most Saturdays, 4 pm. Free.
Blackeyed Sally’s, Hartford, CT
Jazz Wednesdays, featured set 7 pm, jam session afterward.
Carmine’s, East Hartford, CT
Paisley’s All Star Memorial Jam, 3rd Tuesday of the month, 7:30 pm. House band set followed by jam. Free.
Jazz Societies and Organizations (great info on events, festivals, and more)
Jazz Society of Fairfield County
Jazz Fridays at Three Sheets New Haven 1st/3rd Fridays from 6-9pm
Jazz Thursdays at The Cannon New Haven every other Thurs from 7-9pm.
8495Jazz takes its name from the two Interstate highways that cross our region, I-84 and I-95. Within short driving distances from either, you can find incredible entertainment, from local jams to world-famous festivals in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. 8495Jazz: From Newburgh to Newport!
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