LIC Radio

Sonny Rollins, circa 1960 The big story this week, obviously, was the passing of the Saxophone Colossus himself, Sonny Rollins. Entering immortality on Monday at the age of 95, his brilliance and influence cannot be overemphasized. He may be gone, but the carnival will never stop.   Not much else to say. I’m still working my way through the dozens of albums I obtained in the last couple of months. Between that and the multifarious group of artists highlighted in today’s “history lesson,” today’s show was all over the place in the best possible way. From Benny Goodman to The Monkees to Blondie to a double-header of Radiohead, I think there is something for everyone.   Click here to check it out: LIC Radio 5/27/2026     Sonny Rollins Quartet “Don't Stop the Carnival” (Traditional) Live Under the Sky, Yomiuri Land/Open Theatre East, Tokyo, JP, 7/31/83   Sonny Rollins – tenor saxophone Pat Metheny – guitar Alphonso Johnson – electric bass Jack DeJohnette – drums ...

Dennis Locorriere Photo by Tom Hill Can you believe it’s been over two months since Brett joined me for a show? Man, life (and work) sure can get in the way sometimes.   As usual, Brett brought some cool stuff from left field, curious remixes, some “novelty” tunes. Personally, I hate that term, but it has become an accepted shorthand for songs based around a humorous premise. The definition is far too broad. It has been applied, undeniably accurately, to the songs of Ray Stevens and “Weird Al” Yankovic, but it also has been used in reference to songs by Randy Newman, Harry Nilsson, Johnny Cash, and Frank Zappa. Some novelty songs will hit the top 40, while others would only get airplay on the Dr. Demento show. I believe that often the determining factor has more to do with artist’s reputation than the actual content of the song, and there is a whole conversation to be had there. Mainly, I dislike the term because I believe it disparages the artist and the skill involved. (Then agai...

Peter Green, 2001 Photo by David Redfern I’m gonna be completely candid here: I should not have done a show today. I’ve been feeling pretty under the weather for more than a week now, but that didn’t stop me from going up to Massachusetts for my cousin’s wedding on Saturday. I spend the entire weekend pounding martinis while chugging Robitussin. Using the trip up to Boston to justify spending an irresponsible amount of money of albums was probably a side-effect of the accompanying diminishment of better judgement. Also, carrying all that vinyl around with my luggage might also be a reason my body hates me so much right now.   Consequently, I feel completely fried right now. I was completely surprised, however, when I took to the mic and heard that my voice sounded like a cross between Tom Waits and RFK Jr. I should have stopped the show right there, or at the very least shut the hell up and the let the music do the talking.   Click Here to check it out: LIC Radio 5/11/2026 ...

Georg Wadenius Photo by David Warner Ellis Did ya miss me? Yes, it’s been over a month since I did a show. A lot has happened in the last month such as changing jobs, family issues, some sad events, stressful stuff, as well as some hope for positive change. I was well into preparing a couple of shows in the last weeks that were skuttled at the last minute, so that was definitely a pain. That being said, I wasn’t even sure if today was going to happen, so even today was thrown together at the last minute. In any event, one good thing to come out of the upheaval of the past month is that I can now say that I will be able to return to doing the show on Mondays with some degree of consistency.   Now that I’m back in the saddle, I can continue to wade through all the vinyl that I accrued when ReMix Market in LIC closed down (only to reopen around the corner) and they were selling records by volume instead of by piece. It certainly allowed me to grab things out of passing curiosity that ...