Jazz Break at Noon - April 2025

March 31 - April 4

Community Requests and Other Favorites
This week on The Jazz Break at Noon, it's all about you, our incredible community! To celebrate our Spring Membership Drive, we're sharing the love with a special week of "Community Requests and Other Favorites." We'll feature those tunes you've been asking for, along with some of our own frequently requested gems, creating a setlist that's a true reflection of our shared passion for jazz. It's a way to say thank you for your generous support during the Spring Membership Drive. Become a member today here.

April 7 - 11 

Jazz Appreciation Month Special Honors: NEA Masters, DownBeat Stars & The AACM
Kick off Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) with hosts JJ Lopez and Bria Woods as we celebrate jazz excellence! This week honors the 2025 NEA Jazz Masters – the nation's highest jazz award recipients – Marshall Allen, Marilyn Crispell, and Chucho Valdes, exploring their groundbreaking contributions through their recordings. We also spotlight saxophone giant and DownBeat Hall of Famer, Charles Lloyd, who dominated the 2024 DownBeat Critics Poll, and pianist Renee Rosnes, leader of the DownBeat Readers' Choice Jazz Group, Artemis. Plus, join us in marking 60 years of the influential Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), Chicago-born pioneers dedicated to musical experimentation and innovation since 1965. It’s a tribute to the heritage and ongoing vibrancy of jazz!

April 14 - 18 

Everybody Loves the Sunshine: Remembering Roy Ayers
Continue celebrating Jazz Appreciation Month with JJ Lopez as we remember the legendary vibraphonist Roy Ayers. Starting in the 1960s with Bop greats like Herbie Mann and David ‘Fathead’ Newman, Ayers exploded in the 1970s with his iconic group Ubiquity, creating an infectious blend of soulful, funky jazz that fluidly explored R&B territory. This week, we honor the late Roy Ayers by diving deep into his influential Polydor years, featuring gems from Ubiquity and related projects like RAMP.

April 21 - 25 

Jazz-Poetry Week with Jim LaVilla-Havelin
April is both Jazz Appreciation Month and National Poetry Month and host Bria Woods welcomes special guest co-host Jim LaVilla-Havelin, Coordinator for National Poetry Month San Antonio (NPMSA). Continuing KRTU's long-standing partnership with NPMSA, Bria and Jim will spend the week exploring the vibrant intersection of jazz and poetry. Tune in for insightful discussions and treat your ears to special live readings and performances right here in the KRTU studio!

April 28 - May 2 

This week on the Jazz Break at Noon, we bring our Jazz Appreciation Month celebration to a close with a deep dive into Texas Jazz. From the earliest days of blues and jazz, the Lone Star State has fostered a unique spirit of creativity and independence, gifting the world with truly legendary and innovative musicians.
We'll explore the vibrant sounds of Southwest territory bands from the 1920s and 30s, and spotlight the Texas jazz legends who shaped Swing and Bebop well into the 1960s. Our journey includes a survey of works from across the Lone Star State, with a special focus on San Antonio's own jazz heritage.

Tune in for early selections from Troy Floyd, Boots and His Buddies, Don Albert, Charlie Christian, Jack Teagarden, and Ernie and Emilio Caceres plus The Jim Cullum Happy Jazz Band. We'll spotlight Texas Tenors like Arnett Cobb and David "Fathead" Newman plus trumpeter Kenny Dorham, guitarist Herb Ellis, and saxophonist Ornette Coleman.

We’ll conclude our week-long feature in the present day with music from Elias Haslanger, Helen Sung, Houston’s own Robert Glasper and Walter Smith III, plus local legends Aaron Prado, Adrian Ruiz, Audra Menconi, and many many more.