For Immediate Release
Friday, October 3, 2014
Local Jazz Radio Program on WSIU Radio to
Celebrate Fifth Anniversary
Contact: John Hochheimer, Host, Rhythm & Bloom, (618) 453-6950, hoch@siu.edu; Jeff Williams, WSIU Radio General Manager, (618) 453-6164, jeff.williams@wsiu.org
Carbondale, Ill. – Rhythm in Bloom, a one-hour jazz program that airs Sunday nights at 8pm on WSIU 91.9 FM & 91.9 HD, the public radio stations of Southern Illinois University Carbondale, will celebrate it’s fifth anniversary on the air on Sunday, October 12. Listeners can also hear the program on WSIU Radio’s second HD channel, WSIU 91.9 HD2, on Saturdays at 9pm and Sundays at 11pm.
Hosted by SIU Radio-TV-Digital Media Professor John Hochheimer, Rhythm in Bloom is a weekly radio program featuring jazz in all of its forms, with some world music and R&B selections. Hochheimer will kick off the fifth anniversary episode of the series on Sunday, October 12 with the first song he played when the series debuted on WSIU Radio, along with personal and fan favorites.
“The first tune I ever played on the program was ‘West End Blues’ by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five, which was recorded in the mid-1920s,” says Hochheimer. “The clarion call of his horn announces that something good is about to come. It’s been the lead-off tune for each anniversary program, and it will be so again for the fifth anniversary.”
Rhythm in Bloom paints a musical landscape that is quite different from what most listeners hear on the radio, says Hochheimer. “The program is unique in its focus on how different musical genres compare and contrast with each other,” he says. “I consciously juxtapose tunes so that there is some connection between the two in terms of key, rhythm, chord progression, beat, and lyrics, and I want the listener to hear (that) juxtaposition.”
Listeners have responded well to Rhythm in Bloom over the past five years, sending Hochheimer numerous emails and letters in support of the program. “One letter in particular came from the from the father of a young girl near Mt. Vernon,” says Hochheimer. “(He) wrote that the music had inspired his daughter to keep playing and practicing her saxophone.”
Though Hochheimer has spent most of his professional life as a college professor, he has worked in many aspects of radio since he was a teenager, including as a disc jockey in major markets, and has rubbed elbows with famous musicians like B.B. King, whom Hochheimer knew for 20 years, as well as Rod Stewart, David Bowie, Elton John, and Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead.
“I spent five hours in on again/off again conversation with David Bowie on my radio show,” says Hochheimer. “His career was in a tailspin, and he was returning to England to rethink his career. But, he did have a vision of turning bland concerts into full 3-D performances with costumes, lights, smoke, and acrobats. He set the tone for the concert extravaganzas of today.”
Hochheimer was influenced by many people in his early radio career, in particular by Augie Blume, who was the national promotion director for RCA Records when Hochheimer, then a 19-year-old DJ in Boston, first met him. Their friendship spanned 40 years and when Blume passed away in 2009, he left his large jazz record collection to Hochheimer, who decided to honor his friend by including Blume’s name in the title of his radio program.
“(Augie) taught me to respect my listeners, leading them from what they listened to and liked toward fresh sounds, fresh ideas,” says Hochheimer. “This helped form the foundation of my teaching practice, which I have been working on for more than 35 years now. He also taught me how to hear underlying connections between differing pieces and genres of music, and to lead my listeners in this continuing discovery.”
Blume’s influence extends to Hochheimer’s goals for Rhythm in Bloom and the impact he hopes it has on listeners. “I hope to inspire a love of music and the enjoyment to be derived from relaxed listening,” he says. “I hope to share what I have learned about the music and the socio-cultural moment within which it emerged, so that people can feel more connected with the music and the people who made it.”
About WSIU Public Broadcasting
WSIU Public Broadcasting is licensed to the Board of Trustees of Southern Illinois University and is an integral part of the College of Mass Communication & Media Arts on the Carbondale campus. The WSIU stations reach more than three million people across five states and beyond through three digital public television channels, three public radio stations, a radio information service, a website, and an education and community outreach department.
WSIU's mission is to improve the quality of life of the people they serve. The WSIU stations partner with other community organizations to promote positive change and to support the academic and public service missions of Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Learn more and get the latest station news online at wsiu.org and on WSIU's Facebook and Twitter pages.
WSIU's programs and services are partially funded by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.
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