Rusty Hassan is one of the more venerable and hippest enthusiasts on the DC-area jazz scene.  Dial up most any worthwhile jazz performance in the Washington-Baltimore area and you’re more than likely to find Rusty on the scene, sometimes with his eager young grandson in tow.  Friend and confidante of many musicians, and one of the warmest, most knowledgeable interviewers in jazz radio, Rusty Hassan is one of those cornerstones of the jazz cognoscenti in the DC area.  Rusty has also taught jazz history courses, at Georgetown University and American University, for many years; during the school year some evenings when you tune in his program Rusty will be playing selections that serve as quiz or test subjects for his students.  So its safe to say that many in DC have been educated by Rusty Hassan’s broadcasts, whether they were part of his formal classes, or part of his jazz university of the streets.

After WDCU, the former radio outlet of the University of the District of Columbia and a bastion of jazz radio, was hastily sold in the mid-90s by the university to CSpan Radio, leaving the once relatively jazz radio-rich nation’s capital region with WPFW as its sole jazz beacon, Rusty Hassan was the first of ‘DCU’s fine raft of programmers to land a show on ‘PFW.  He can currently be heard at 89.3 FM (or on wpfw.org) on Monday evenings 7-9pm, where he serves up scrumptious portions of classics and new releases and welcomes all manner of artist interview subjects onto the airways. 

The Independent Ear posed a simple question to Rusty about the whys & wherefores of his jazz broadcasting philosophy.  As you’ll read, it didn’t take much…

Before I get into how I program my show, I think some background would be appropriate.  I started broadcasting as a student at Georgetown University on WGTB-FM in the 1960s.  I became very involved with avant garde jazz, or as it was called then, The New Thing.  Noah Howard was one of the first artists that I interviewed.  I recently dug up the test pressing of his “Live at Judson Hall” Lp that he gave me to play, in tribute to his passing. 

I would play John Coltrane’s Ascension and Ornette Coleman’s Free Jazz without hesitation [on-air].  I was an early and ardent supporter of the AACM.  Joseph Jarman’s “As If It Were The Seasons” was something I played on WGTB before I went to Paris in 1969.  There I met a lot of cutting edge musicians, such as Anthony Braxton, Lester Bowie, Leroy Jenkins, and took their recordings back to the States to play on the air.

In the 1970s when I was on WAMU-FM I was part of a dramatic shift in music programming on radio from AM to FM.  I grew up listening to top 40 radio where there was talk and commercials between each song.  Jazz programmers such as Symphony Sid and Mort Fega in New York, and Felix Grant in DC, worked in this format.  On non-commercial FM stations we were allowed to play long pieces and blend sets of music in ways that could be very creative.  The so-called underground radio format worked as well for jazz as it did for rock.

When Duke Ellington passed, the program director asked me to do a four-hour special tribute.  I mixed in interviews with Duke that Jack Towers provided.  When Martin Williams called in to complement the show I knew I was doing something right. 

In the latter part of the decade WAMU asked me to submit program listings for the monthly guide.  Primarily using [artists’] birthdays I did a series of musical biographies of major artists; some, like Miles, would get two shows.  Then I did a parallel or contrasting careers of artists such as Gigi Gryce and Ernie Henry.  The one I did on James Moody and Sonny Stitt was aired just days before Stitt’s passing.  I gave Pam Stitt the tape of that show.  [Editor’s note: Sonny & Pam Stitt’s daughter Katea Stitt is Music Director at WPFW and a longtime station programmer.]

Interviews have been an important part of my programming.  On my show on WAMU in the 70s and 80s I interviewed Art Blakey, Dexter Gordon, Sun Ra, Kenny Burrell, Bobby Hutcherson, Red Rodney and Ira Sullivan among numerous others.  Although I started interviewing jazz greats before Fresh Air came on the air, I consider Terry Gross as a good role model on how to conduct an on-air interview, recognizing that hers are edited before they’re aired.  She knows how to elicit information that is masterful.  Check out her discussion with Sonny Rollins as an example.

One of the more memorable interviews I had on WAMU was with John Malachi, the pianist with Billy Eckstine in 1944/45.  He had a great story about jamming with Charlie Parker on “Cherokee” after a performance with the band as he was leaving the studio.  I thought I have to get more of these great stories from my close friend, but he died of a heart attack two days later.

WAMU dropped my show in 1987.  The next decade was a wonderful ten years on WDCU Jazz90.  The license for the station had been given to the University of the District of Columbia by Georgetown University when the Jesuits were upset with the radicals running WGTB.  So here I was broadcasting on the same spot on the dial, 90.1 FM, that I had been on in the 1960s.  Again I had complete freedom in choosing music and how I programmed it.

When WDCU went off the air in 1967 I was the first programmer to come over to WPFW.  I have had a strong connection with the station from the beginning.  I attended planning meetings before [WPFW] came on the air [33 years ago].  I was a frequent guest on the air and hosted fundraising concerts (WAMU management never made an issue of it).  Legendary WPFW programmers such as Jerry “The Bama” Washington and Nap Turner were friends of mine beforee they got shows on the station.  So WPFW has been an important part of my life for 33 years.

Next time: Rusty Hassan talks about how he programs his shows.

African Rhythms, the as-told-to autobiography of the NEA Jazz Master Randy Weston (composed by Randy Weston, arranged by Willard Jenkins; Duke University Press) is set for October release to the retail marketplace.  In the meantime we have embarked on the first in a series of forthcoming book signings and other book-related events coupled with Weston performances.  The series kicked-off on September 17 at the beautiful Rubin Museum in Manhattan, where Randy performed a trio concert followed by a book signing.  The Rubin quickly sold out of its allotment of books, cheerfully autographed by Weston following the concert.

Last weekend marked our first joint book signings as the arranger joined the composer at Eso Won Books in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles on September 25.  For those of you not familiar with the area, Eso Won Books is located directly across the street from the World Stage, the late drummer and NEA Jazz Master Billy Higgins legendary venue on Degnan Blvd.  When Randy and I arrived we were greeted by an array of his entire vinyl discography lined across the tops of the stacks — including several rarities even he hadn’t seen in ages.  Having artists like the great flutist James Newton, saxophonist (and bass clarinetist supremo) Bennie Maupin, and performance poet Kamau Daaood bellying up to the table with books in hand and kudos on lips was quite gratifying.

The store soon filled to an SRO audience that sat in rapt and appreciative attention as Randy detailed anecdotes from his journey, with the arranger interjecting questions and observations here and there.  Following our talk  book purchasers lined up nearly out the door into the sidewalk and we joyously signed about 100 books.  Later that afternoon we went over to the Watts Towers for the Watts Tower Arts Center’s annual day of the drum, the highlight of which was the trio of Ndugu, Munyungo Jackson, and Babatunde Lea calling the spirits in improvised ensemble.  Hypnosis came when all three sat down to essay on cajon, the Peruvian box drum.

The following day, back at Watts Tower (and what an amazing arts installation that series of Simon Rodia constructs is — smack dab in the middle of the ‘hood; pretty unprecedented and a real cultural treasure), it was the 34th annual Watts Tower Jazz Festival.

Hearing artists like pianist Harold Land Jr. with bassist Henry “The Skipper” Franklin, the burning Watts Tower Arts Center’s jazz mentors ensemble with Patrice Rushen, Bennie Maupin, Bobby Rodriguez, Munyungo and Ndugu, reprising Maupin’s “Butterfly”.   Babatunde Lea’s spiritual Umbo Weti with vocalist Dwight Tribble successfully channeling Leon Thomas, Ernie Watts on tenor, Patrice, and bassist Jeff Littleton was  uplifting, giving one greater appreciation for the brilliance and abundant fruits of SoCal’s jazz artist community.  Randy closed the festival in duo with the great hand drummer, and his long time cohort, Big Black — another rare sighting for those of us east of the Mississippi.  And what a treat it was to hear the youth of the UC-Berkeley Jazz Ensemble, under the tutelage of Patrice Rushen and Ndugu.

Earlier that day, through the good graces of Watts Tower Arts Center director Rosie Lee Hooks, we were set up at a shaded table — L.A. was in the midst of an unusual fall heat wave — signing more books and greeting well-wishers.  I couldn’t think of a better kick-off to our series of book events.  Our next book signing event takes place Saturday, October 9 in Brooklyn (details below).  Stay tuned to The Independent Ear for other upcoming book events, including New York, Chicago, Washington, DC and more.