Echoes of Indiana Avenue

Enjoy an hour of words and music with the great Naptown bass player Ricky Knox. He started playing music professionally as a child, and by the time he was in his teens, Knox was playing at famous Indiana Avenue nightclubs like the Sunset Terrace. Ricky has worked with some of the greatest performers in American music - from Babyface to Brother Jack McDuff.

During the 1960s, teenager Charlotte Bailey started singing rhythm and blues on Indiana Avenue, performing in some of the Avenue’s most famous clubs, and working alongside some of Naptown’s greatest musicians. In this episode, Charlotte shares her memories of those performances, as we listen to her 1976 single “Bang Bang”, recorded with the legendary Indianapolis saxophonist Jimmy Coe.

This week we’ll look back at the music of Earl Van Riper, an extraordinary pianist who worked with Wes Montgomery during the 1950s. Beyond his work with Wes Montgomery, Van Riper performed with an impressive list of local and national artists, including Dinah Washington, Lionel Hampton, Ida Cox, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, Jimmy Coe, and Larry Liggett.

This week we're celebrating the birthday of the Indiana Avenue jazz legend, Leroy Vinnegar. Leroy was known as “the walker”, a name he earned for his mastery of the walking bass jazz style. He recorded over 100 albums, working alongside some of the most important names in jazz history - from Sonny Rollins, to Roy Ayers.

This week we dig into the musical collaboration between the Indianapolis blues legend Scrapper Blackwell, and Thomas A. Dorsey, the father of gospel music. Blackwell and Dorsey recorded several tracks together, and some music historians have speculated that Blackwell played on Dorsey's 1932 single "If You See My Saviour", the first gospel record ever released.

Meet the trailblazing Hoosier journalist Eunice Trotter. She began writing for the Indianapolis Recorder as a teenager during the late 1960s, eventually becoming the paper’s editor-in-chief, and owner. Trotter also wrote for the Indianapolis Star, where she became the paper’s first Black editor. In 2017, she was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame.

The music of Indiana Avenue, including tracks by host Herman "Butch" Slaughter, has been sampled by some of the biggest rappers and producers in the hip-hop game including Kanye West, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, A Tribe Called Quest, Ice-T and many others. Discover some of the Avenue’s most sampled artists, and the rappers they inspired.

In a special Pride month episode, we look back at the history of drag queens and trans performers on the Avenue. The names of performers like Candy Laverne, Doris White, Valda Gray, and Tanya Dupree were commonplace on nightclub rosters. Nearly every club featured female impersonators, and nearly every Avenue musician worked alongside these entertainers - from Slide Hampton to Jimmy Coe.

Until the late 20th Century, Juneteenth was primarily a regional holiday. But on June 19, 1953, an all-star Juneteenth concert was staged at Indiana Avenue’s legendary Sunset Terrace nightclub. The event was sponsored by the Black firemen and policemen of Indianapolis and featured a line-up of notable 1950s R&B stars, including Johnny Otis, Marie Adams, Mel Walker, and Redd Lyte.

Johnny Dial began playing the Hammond organ at Indiana Avenue nightclubs during the 1960s. This week, we’ll be feature a special live session and interview with Johnny Dial and The Organ-Nizers, recorded live at the Jazz Kitchen in Indianapolis.

Earlier this month, the renowned jazz trombonist Curtis Fuller passed away at the age of 86. Though Curtis Fuller was born and raised in Detroit - he often performed with the jazz greats of Indiana Avenue, including Naptown legends like Virgil Jones, Freddie Hubbard, Slide Hampton, and James Spaulding.  On this week’s show,  we’ll celebrate the life and music of Curtis Fuller.

This week we're celebrating the music of the Fabulous Moonlighters, one of the hottest bands on Indiana Avenue during the 1960s. The Fabulous Moonlighters left behind a catalog of classic funk and soul releases on Indianapolis labels like Blue Eagle, and Lamp Records.

Last month, the prolific Grammy winning record producer Bob Porter passed away. Porter produced over 175 jazz and blues albums for labels including Prestige, and Eastbound Records. During the 1960s and ‘70s, Porter produced dozens of sessions featuring musicians connected to the Indiana Avenue scene, including Billy Wooten, Bill Jennings, Funk Inc., Caesar Frazier, Mad Harold Caldwell, and more.

Enjoy words and music from Reverend Dennis Freeman - one of the greatest living legends of Indianapolis gospel music. Rev. Freeman is a composer, bandleader and keyboardist. He’s performed alongside some of the biggest stars in gospel music, and his songs have been recorded by gospel artists across the United States.

Trombonist Slide Hampton is one of the greatest living legends of Indiana Avenue. This April marks the 89th anniversary of his birth. Slide Hampton has performed with some of the biggest names of jazz music, including Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Pharoah Sanders, Art Blakey, and Dexter Gordon. On this week’s show, we’ll be celebrating Slide’s birthday with a full hour dedicated to his music.

In April 1945, tragedy struck the Indiana Avenue music scene. A car crash in South Carolina took the life of Trevor Bacon, one of the brightest stars to emerge from Indiana Avenue. Trevor Bacon achieved national recognition as a vocalist and guitarist with the Lucky Millinder Orchestra. During his time in Millinder’s band, Bacon shared lead vocals with the gospel music icon Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

April is Jazz Appreciation Month. April is also the month we celebrate the birthday of jazz legend Freddie Hubbard, one of the most important musicians associated with the Indiana Avenue scene. On this week's show we'll celebrate Freddie Hubbard's birthday by listening to some of the classic jazz recordings he performed, including music from John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Art Blakey, and more.

Celebrate Indiana Avenue's legacy as the birthplace of Hoosier rock and roll. The first rock and roll concerts in the Hoosier state were in the neighborhood, including early performances from Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Fats Domino. The Avenue scene also produced some of Indiana’s first homegrown rock and roll stars, including Bobby Lewis, Thurston Harris, and The Counts.

The final installment of our tribute to the late great Indianapolis saxophonist and bandleader Jimmy Coe. March 20 of 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of Coe’s birth.

We continue our tribute to the late great Indianapolis saxophonist and bandleader Jimmy Coe. March 20 of 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of Coe’s birth. This episode focuses on Coe’s classic rhythm and blues recordings for the States record label during the early 1950s.

March 20, 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of saxophonist and bandleader Jimmy Coe, one of the greatest music legends to emerge from the Indiana Avenue scene. Jimmy Coe started and ended his career performing big band music, but his contributions to music extend much further than big band jazz. Coe was also an important pioneer of rhythm & blues, and rock & roll music in Nap...

Since the earliest days of Indiana Avenue, women have played a huge role in shaping the neighborhood’s musical legacy. In honor of Women’s History Month, on this week’s show we're exploring historic recordings from the women of Indiana Avenue, including selections from Nina Reeves, Dot Rice, Debbie Andrews, Alura Mack, The Hampton Sisters, Tiny Brown Lois Blaine, Flo Garvin, and many more.

John W. Bubbles and Todd Duncan had deep roots on the Indiana Avenue scene, and both were featured in the original cast of George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. John W. Bubbles was a street-wise song and dance man who created the role of Sportin’ Life in the opera. Duncan was a classically trained vocalist who broke racial barriers in the world of opera and starred as Gershwin’s original Porgy.

A special tribute to the late Chick Corea. Throughout his iconic career, the pianist collaborated with Naptown jazz masters like Freddie Hubbard, Virgil Jones, Phil Ranelin, and Slide Hampton. Corea passed away in February 2021 at the age of 79.