Charlie Ballantine Trio. Indianapolis based guitarist Charlie Ballantine returns to our stage and to our program – this time in front of a live audience. Charlie released two albums in 2021; Cold Coffee is a collection of his own works and Life is Brief – a Tribute to Bob Dylan, which landed on Jazziz Magazine’s Top Ten Best Releases list. His most recent release is 2024’s East by Midwest and he performs selections from it on this episode. Featuring Charlie Ballentine on Guitar, Quinn Sternberg on Bass and Paul Wells on Drums, and from April 10th, 2025 Daniel Peck is your host for the Charlie Ballantine Trio…Live at the Bop Stop.

Joe Zawinul and 50 Years of Weather Report. Hear an electric fusion set from keyboardist Joe Zawinul and The Zawinul Syndicate in concert from 2006. Plus, we celebrate 50 years of Weather Report with co-founder Wayne Shorter and other alumni.

Part 2. Jimmy Smith: The 1995 Verve Recordings. Hear the s tory organ giant Jimmy Smith in the company of Roy Hargrove, Nicholas Payton, Christian McBride, Arthur Taylor, Bernard Purdie, and more. Playing classic jazz standards never otherwise recorded by Jimmy. In solo, duo, trio, quartet, quintet, sextet, and septet instrumental combinations.

Actor, singer and writer Julie Benko made that exciting understudy to star journey we all love with her celebrated turn as Fanny Brice in the Broadway revival of Funny Girl in 2022 when she stepped in and wowed critics and audiences alike. Her performance earned a Dorothy Loudon Award for excellence in Theatre, and the NY Times named her The Breakout Star in Theater in 2022. I saw her onstage as Emma Goldman in the Broadway revival of Ragtime at Lincoln Center two days before this conversation, where we talked about her Broadway adventures and her latest CD Euphonic Gumbo, produced with her husband, jazz pianist Jason Yeager. Euphonic Gumbo celebrates Julie and Jason’s longtime love for New Orleans music.

Bassist Carlo De Rosa is a veteran of both the New York and Miami jazz scenes. The Michigan native performed on Yo-Yo Ma’s 2009 Grammy Award Winning Album Songs of Joy and Peace and anchored two other Grammy nominated albums. For this trio performance, he’s joined by Grammy wining Pianist Luis Perdomo, whose long relationship with Miguel Zenon has yielded 12 albums. They’re also joined by Drummer and Composer Adam Cruz. An in demand and critically acclaimed drummer, Adam’s most noteworthy work to date includes recording and touring with Chick Corea and Origin. From April 4th, 2025, Daniel Peck is you host for the Carlo de Rosa Trio…Live at the Bop Stop.

Jon Batiste: Late Show Farewell. On May 21st, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airs its final episode after 11 seasons. To mark the occasion, Jazz Night in America looks back at a 2020 portrait of Jon Batiste — the show's music director for seven seasons, who went on to win five Grammy Awards including Album of the Year. Featuring a live concert recorded in New York City on Jon's 33rd birthday, plus the deep history of jazz in late night television.

Coming Soon.

Pianist Dennis Luxion and vocalist Petra van Nuis are a fascinating pairing of two very different personalities with a shared purpose in the music they choose to make, and the message they want to impart with it. For the last six years, Petra and Dennis have had a weekly gig at Chicago’s Le Piano, an artsy club with a romantic vibe which perfectly suits what Dennis and Petra call the “Afterglow” set they play from 11:00pm to 1am. This time together has given them the chance to deepen their musical collaboration and broaden the repertoire they feel matches the late-night atmosphere, where listeners sometimes lay on the plush carpet under the piano, giving a whole other spin on getting into the music.

Reclamation Band. Founded in Chicago and Led by Bassist Kevin Robert Martinez, Reclamation Band is modern jazz with an open rural backdrop. Its unique combination of composed and improvised elements evokes an array of moods and styles such as Americana, Avante-Garde and Blues. A number of things make this group’s sound unique. The first is the equal division between a guitar and two saxophone leads versus a rhythm section that includes Bass and Bass Clarinet along with drums. I’m a sucker for the Bass Clarinet sound and Kevin really understands how to leverage that sound in a way few other composers do. The second is that the group functions more as a versatile collective than as a fixed unit. Some configurations exchange a saxophone for a trumpet while others exclude guitar. Kevin took eight months off from the band before regrouping for a tour in support of their recent release These Roads, and the new material shines as a result. Featuring Kevin Martinez on Bass, Anthony Tadeo on Percussion, Dan Bruce on Guitar, Tony Spicer on Bass Clarinet, Chris Coles on Alto Saxophone and Tim McDonald on Tenor Saxophone, and from a July 19th, 2025 performance, Daniel Peck is your host for the Reclamation Band…Live at the Bop Stop.

Jazz Fest in America. Summer is just around the corner, and with it comes sunshine, fresh air, and the music festival. This week, Jazz Night in America becomes Jazz Fest in America, with sets from Gabrielle Cavassa at Exit Zero, Cory Wong at the Newport Jazz Festival, and some of the greatest performances in the Montreal Jazz Festival's history, including Ella Fitzgerald, Pat Metheny and more.