Friday, March 19, 2010

My March Jazztime with Don show

My next Jazztime with Don show is Thursday, March 25th, 8:00 to 11:00 PM on Aspen Public Radio.

Hi Jazz Fans,

My March 25th jazz show will be another all Request Night. I have already had requests for Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Ella Fitzgerald, Glenn Miller, Modern Jazz Quartet, Artie Shaw, Billie Holiday, Chet Baker, Duke Ellington and Local Walt Smith. I’ll be taking some requests on the phone at 970-920-4429 also.


You can listen live locally on your FM dial at 91.5, 91.1, 90.9, 90.1, 89.3 (NEW Snowmass Canyon + GWS), 89.7, 88.9 and Comcast cable TV Ch 8 or world wide on the Internet at www.AspenPublicRadio.org.


Happy Listening, Don, the Jazzman


Where to listen to Aspen Public Radio:

ASPEN LOCAL AREA
Independence Pass…….......88.9 FM
Downtown Aspen………........91.5 FM
Aspen Business Center.........91.1 FM

Snowmass Village…......90.9,91.1 FM
Woody Creek…………....…..89.7 FM
Aspen Village…………….......89.7 FM
‘Old’ Snowmass………….......89.7 FM
Snowmass Canyon……….....89.7 FM
Basalt…………....…..…90.1, 88.9 FM
El Jebel…………....………….88.9 FM
Missouri Heights….....………88.9 FM
Carbondale, Redstone….......88.9 FM
Meredith, Thomasville…........88.9 FM
Glenwood Springs……..89.3,88.9 FM
New Castle……………..89.3,88.9 FM
Silt…………………….....89.3,88.9 FM
Rifle……………………..89.3,88.9 FM
Gypsum………………....89.3,88.9 FM
Eagle…………………….89.3,88.9 FM
Edwards………………....89.3,88.9 FM
Avon……………………..89.3,88.9 FM
Comcast Cable TV…….......Channel 8
NON-LOCAL ASPEN AREA
www.AspenPublicRadio.org …Internet
_____________________________________
The next Jazztime with Don show is April 29th.
Call 970-920-4429 to talk to me during my broadcasts.

Friday, February 12, 2010

The Saints vs the Colts Super Bowl Followup

There was a great HIGHPOINTS column by Paul E. Anna entitled "Super Saints" in the 02/12/2010 Aspen Times that I'd like to share with you so you don't have to go elsewhere to read it at this time.

I'm going to tell you about the highlights of the column instead of reprinting it word for word here.

First of all, the New Orleans Saints' 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts was viewed by the largest audience in the history of television. The giant snow storm that hit the mid-Atlantic states during the game helped to set the record, being that it was a lot more comfortable to be inside watching the tube than outside in a blizzard. About a third of the people in the U.S. watched the Saints come from behind by 10 points to win their first Super Bowl game in 42 years, even though the Colts were a 5 point favorite. I guess that meant if you bet $10 on the Saints you won $50.

If you watched the game (as you probably did) you saw the turning point in the game when the Colts were moving the ball toward a tying touchdown. They needed a 5 yard first down when the Colt's Payton Manning, who was born and raised in New Oleans, threw a pass to his top receiver, Reggie Wayne. Reading the play perfectly, Saints' cornerback, Terry Porter jumped past Wayne and picked off the pass and sprinted 74 yards down the field for enough points to seal the victory!

Porter's story is a great one in itself. He was raised in Lousiana, but went to Indiana University, so he had roots in both teams' home states. Like the city of New Orleans, he too had come back from adversity, having injured his knee during the regular season, he had been pronounced out for the year before his return for the playoffs. When it mattered the most, he made the critical aggresive move that won the game.

Or was it Manning who was the key? Anyone who knows anything about Payton Manning knows that he is an intense competitor who has an extremely strong sense of determination to win; that he could never be accused of making such a mistake at such a critical time as he did with that pass. But... it is possible that being a son of the city that raised him; if you think about it, in that brief moment, the soul of New Orleans that resides in him rose up and took just this much off that pass... The pass was slighty inside... Maybe he couldn't help himself and, as a result, gave one up for the City of New Orleans.

I guess we'll never know, will we?  It's just something we can ponder.

By the way, Drew Brees (Saints' QB) is another great story, but I don't have time to get into it now. so...

Catch you later, Don V the Jazzman

PS: It looks like Leslie and I will be visiting New Orleans in April for a few days.

Monday, February 8, 2010

NFL's Super Bowl on February 7, 2010

On January 19th I posted my forecast about which National Football League teams would be playing in the Super Bowl and who would win it on my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=name&id=1075776281 .

I said the New Orleans Saints would beat the Indy Colts. Last evenings Super Bowl was a very exciting game with the first half belonging to the Colts as they scored first and second with the score at 10 for the Colts and 0 for the Saints.

The second half, as it turned out, belonged to the Saints. They opened the half having  to kick off to the Colts, but wait - The Saints pulled off a surprise onside short kick. The ball traveled the required 10 yards and when the ball was touched by a Colt's player who could not catch it, the ball was up for grabs. A Saint's player got to it next, but it looked like he couldn't hold onto it either. The pile of players grew over the ball, to what looked like the entire 22 players were on top of the ball. I think it took close to 10 minutes for the ref's to get down to the bottom of the pile and decide that it was the Saint's ball. From then on things went from bad to worse for the Colts.

With score at Colts 17 and Saints 16 the Saint's offense hogged the playing field, not letting Payton Manning and his offense back on the field for long periods of time. The Saints scored to take over the lead and kept the Colts out of the end zone when Saint's Tracy Porter intercepted a Manning pass and took off for a 70+ yard run to the end zone. The game wasn't  over yet as there was more than 5 minutes left to play in the game, however, the score looked good for the Saints who now were ahead by 14 points, 31 to 17. The Saints defense played well for the rest of the game and the dreaded Colt's offense couldn't get the job done and the score ended up 31 to 17 to the Saint's delight!

Drew Brees won the game's Most Valueable Player award with 29 of 32 (91%) pass completions, 288 passing yards and 2 touchdowns. Payton Manning stats were 31 of 45 (69%) pass completions, 333 passing yards and 1 touchdown.

Congratulations to the Saints for their first Super Bowl win and since on January 19th I picked the Saints to win I can brag that I knew they'd win all the time!

Stay tuned for my next blog.

Don V the Jazzman

Friday, January 29, 2010

My love of jazz for 59 years (as of 2010)

I got hooked on jazz as a teenager when I purchased my first 33rpm LP, "Benny Goodman Live at Carnegie Hall 1938" soon after Columbia released it in 1950. In the 50s I began looking for deals on old jazz 78s. I ended up giving my collection to my fraternity, Delta Tau Delta, at Michigan State University when I left after my junior year to serve in the Army.

I was purchasing vinyl 33s, all I could afford at the time. I also started working on a jazz musician’s database that lists the bands and small groups that the various jazz musicians played in. My database project has been moving along very slowly for about ten years now because it is so time consuming. I still have about 200 LPs that I have been slowly recording as mp3 files on my computer. 

In February 1998 I began broadcasting my monthy three hour "Jazztime with Don" radio show on Aspen Public Radio. The station is an NPR affiliate. My monthly show is normally on the last Thursday of the month with the next show on February 25th from 8 to 11 PM (Aspen time). The theme of my February show will be all about "Love and Jazz". I send out an e-mail about a week before each monthly show that reminds you to tune in and about what I will be playing. If you want to get these e-mails you can e-mail me at dvoltmer@yahoo.com and tell me to put you on my monthly jazz newsletter list. You can listen to our radio station live 24/7 on the internet at http://www.aspenpublicradio.org/ - just click "Listen Now" and/or "Play".

My show was being podcasted for over a year until December 2009 when the demand for the station's podcasts could not be handled by the host server. We had to remove all the station's jazz podcasts except for one. I'm working hard to get my show podcasted again but at this time I can't say when it will happen.

That's all I have time for now. Come back again.
 Don V the Jazzman