Chicago Smooth

Jazz Streets

The Alabama native spent most of her too-short life in Chicago

Chicago does has a street named Honore (and sometimes pronounced "honorary"), but it is not to be confused with the over 1500 honorary streets that have been named for people who have contributed to life in Chicago. The wide brown signs hang under the green ones to give a nod of gratitude to people who have added memorable threads to the fabric of Chicago.

Joining the ranks of musicians like Sam Cooke, Muddy Waters, Sammy Davis Junior and Lou Rawls will be Dinah Washington, The Queen of Blues.  Although we haven't heard her voice since her passing in 1963, she has not been forgotten. On what would have been her 85th birthday, August 29th, the block at 3800 to 3900 of South Prairie Avenue in Bronzeville will become Dinah Washington Way thanks to the persistence of jazz lover Al Carter Bey. 

Miss Washington's first hit was, "What a Difference A Day Makes."  Now we can point to the sign and wonder what a difference would it have made to her to have her own street.   

~Lydia Barnes ([email protected])

Our Smooth Video of the Day:  Dinah Washington's signature song.

 

The Comfort of Smooth... and The Sounds of Brazil!

Isn’t it just amazing how ‘smooth’ stays with us? And while the world of radio is always changing, it remains one of the most intimate ways of making musical connections. That's one of the things I love the most about it.

We’re all learning how important those connections are these days, and the value of the relationships that our smooth format continues to grow – even after 25 years. And while our favorite radio sounds are currently on hiatus, I can’t help but think that there’s still more to come.

So first, thank you so much for all of your messages: the past weeks have been absolutely amazing with your thoughts, questions and words of support. They are a testament to the power of the music we love and the role it plays in our daily lives.

Happily, The Sounds of Brazil hasn’t lost a step: We’ve been streaming the show since 2000 in crystal clear digital and you can enjoy it anytime, anywhere – we have apps for that!

We’re ‘Crossing Borders’ and celebrating birthdays with Bebel Gilberto and Tania Maria this week, and there’s a rare peek into the birth of Bossa Nova when our Brazilian Minute captures the story of Carlos Lyra. Plus Jorge Vercilo and sax great Leo Gandelman with our video of the week when you dive into our webstream 24/7 at www.connectbrazil.com

You’re more than welcome to stop by anytime, and I hope you will. You’ll see me here frequently, too - along with Rick O'Dell, Loni Taylor, Bill Cochran and Alicia - and I’ll be sure to post a ‘Tuesday Rewind’ every week – so we can look forward to sharing a smile – and a song! (Scott Adams)

Can I just say it's an honor to be the first to post?

It's hard to imagine that it was only a week ago that I had gotten the news that WLFM was closing its doors on Smooth Jazz. But I find myself picking myself up and dusting myself off and starting all over again. And I can tell you that what keeps me going is the knowledge that there's a community of fans in Chicago that sorely miss what that radio station and WNUA before it delivered on a daily basis. It was music that made a difference in people's lives. And that's why I'm here, soon to be joined by my peers, to keep the spirit of that music alive in this city. It's the first post in what I hope will be an ongoing series for untold days, weeks, and months to come. 

And what better place to start than with the song that seems to bookend this format wherever it appears?

--Bill Cochran