Jazz on the JNote Airs this Sunday, September 11th, 2022 at 7:30Pm on WNYE 91.5FM with your host Stephanie Jeannot

I will never forget that sad day in 2001 when chaos took over New York City.

 

I just sat at my desk sipping on my Venti cup filled with dark roast coffee. It was not shortly after the freshness of it got me all jittered up for the day ahead of me that I heard the news of a plane crashing into the first of the Twin Towers.

I was in my office building in mid-town and everybody ascended to the top floor of the building so that they could see from the windows what was going on. The sites I saw that day, I hope to never see again.

It was like a movie and so unreal. Who would have thought something like this could have been happening right before our eyes.  And the craziest part about it all is that it happened 21 years ago and it is still very fresh in my mind like it was yesterday, when my friends and I walked along the thoroughfares of Manhattan, over the Williamsburg Bridge to Brooklyn; I still remember seeing burnt paper from the World Trade Center showering over the streets of Flatbush as I approached the comfort of home and the quietness that took over the city that never sleeps thereafter.

Twenty-One years later, we remember the tragedy, the lives lost, the beautiful skyline, the shopping center that was in the building, and just all the things that was pre-9/11. I want to encapsulate the memory of these very things in this Sunday’s episode of my radio show Jazz on the JNote which will air Sunday, September 11, 2022 from 7:30PM to 8PM, as part of the Medgar Ever’s College Community Radio Stream over the airwaves of  WNYE 91.5 FM, hosted by show host & producer Stephanie Jeannot.  

The show traditionally plays jazz and has commentaries throughout the show that relate the songs to the topic at hand. This week in particular is to celebrate the lives lost on the tragic day back in 2001. Hope that you will join us this Sunday at 7:30PM on WNYE 91.5 FM for Jazz on the JNote with your host Stephanie Jeannot.

Until then, Peace!

Jazz on the Jnote Featuring Professor Roman G Mitchell Airs This Sunday, January 24, 2021 at 7:30PM on WNYE 91.5FM

 

Music has always made a difference in my life. Ever since I was little, music has been like the coziest blanket someone could sleep on when they are seeking maximum comfort.

I remember being at an awards ceremony at Medgar Evers College and seeing Professor Roman Mitchell with his singer on the stage, directing her through her song from start to finish. I was impressed for a few reasons. 

First, it takes incredible courage to get up on anybody’s stage to perform song selections and I noticed that the singer didn’t seem scared or worried at all. She just honorably worked. I had always dreamt of the day when the butterflies in my stomach wouldn’t be a thing; but it was. The thought that I could one day rise above my jitters, started to come to my mind.  

Second, the selection was not an easy one to sing but for some reason, I couldn’t help but to feel mesmerized by her vocal approach and skill. I can’t tell you how many magical moments I pulled out of the song that the singer had been singing. She even came up for air appropriately between vocal phrases and it made me wonder if maybe, I could join forces with her director one day, to help me along in my own vocal journey.

A few months later, I was coming from one of my late-night classes at Medgar Evers College, and I saw Professor Mitchel at the front desk, I walked up to him and said, “I want to sing.” It took a while to get the response that I wanted out of him but a few months later, he called on me and invited me to come and be a part of his jazz ensemble, and I started working under his wing, getting vocal stretches, exercises and performance opportunities that were way beyond my expectation.

One thing that made Professor Mitchell stand out was his ability to help one to understand 

what they were doing with their instrument. He had a way of getting his point across with his sunny temperament, that is both witty and fun. When he plays the piano, you are reveling in sounds of brilliance. He blows his trumpet with freshness and delight. And then this man can sing, very well.  But the most important thing about him is that he likes to challenge those people who are under his wing to go beyond their comfort level and to try things that are both musically and lyrically complex, which can only make them stronger in skill.

Not only am I glad that I got to have him as a mentor at my alma mater, but I am excited that I will be sitting down to discuss a wide breadth of topics with this educator, musician, musical director and all-around talent such as, teaching music to college students during the pandemic via remote learning, the culture of jazz, the Dr Umolu Jazzy Jazz Festival at Medgar Evers College and more. 

Jazz on the JNote is a jazz-based radio show that stems from Medgar Evers College Community Radio Station and is hosted and produced by Stephanie Jeannot. The fact that Professor Mitchell was willing to sit with me to share bits of his life, speaks value to me.

On Sunday evening, January 24, 2021 at 7:30PM EST, I invite you to turn your radio dial to WNYE 91.5FM for the latest edition of Jazz on the JNote with your host Stephanie Jeannot, featuring Professor Roman G Mitchell. You can also listen by logging on the http://theenglishconnectionmedia.com and pushing play to start the online radio version of this show.

Listening to him speak will definitely inspire you in some way because he has a lot of good things to say. Turning your radio dial to 7:30PMEST this Sunday, January 24, 2021, will be a good investment of your time. Hope that you’ll join us this Sunday evening.

Jazz on the JNote: Taking Chances Tonight at 7:30 PM on WNYE 91..5FM

It's August and I am smiling because we still have a lot of 

summer left before the weather starts changing and we are 

back to wearing sweaters again. But Thank God for the days 

we can chill outside, barbecue or swim in the pool with 

family and friends.  But even on those days, it is a chance 

that we take on going outside because you  never know 

what each day will bring.  

Today brings Jazz on the JNote which will air on WNYE 91.5 

as part of the Medgar Evers College Communty Radio flow 

on WNYE 91.5FM and I'd like to invite you to listen in today 

at 7:30PM for Jazz on the JNote which will be on the topic of 

taking chances. For those in NY, NJ and CT, tune in on 

WNYE 91.5FM. Anywhere else you are in the world, use this 

link for mixlr: http://mixlr.com/the-english-connection-media/ 

to listen to this week's show.


Hope that you will join us and thank you in advance for 

sharing your time with me. Have a wonderful day! 

June 2016 Celebrates One Year of Jazz on the JNote

I am experiencing tender feelings today, with the knowledge that this month makes a year since I started my show Jazz on the JNote.

It was never planned. My role in this situation sort of just happened and from the jumping off point of embarking on this task of creating a show featuring jazz music in hopes to keep jazz music alive, I can honestly say that it has added value to my world.

My humble beginning started without a clue of how but the why was always there. I loved jazz music and I had a goal of conducting research on the topic to write about it. My first show in June of 2015 was a tribute to Sarah Vaughan. I was never in a radio studio until that day and never knew how to operate the equipment but, I did it, just a few months shy of using those examples to build my internship which from, I came up with a thesis topic. I am thankful to Fitz Richardson who is the station manager of Medgar Evers College Radio, for allowing me the opportunity.

I finally found a way to apply my professional writing skills of creating a timeline and script and applying it to something. I sounded nervous in the final mix but, I did it and overnight I became a radio show host. A year later, I have decided to do another tribute to my favorite singer of all time, but this time, with a year of radio hosting and producing which now enables me to operate from the grounds of experience.

When I was in high school, my sister introduced me to jazz music, telling me that it helped to retain information if listened to while studying. That trendy thought was so easy for me to believe as a spoken truth and I started listening to Miles Davis and since then, have more jazz in my music collection than any other genre. I take comfort in the knowledge that jazz music has impacted change on everything about who I am.

And so, with my mission in mind to discover aspects of jazz and racism, I made it a matter for the crowd and I am thankful for the process as well as all those who took time to listen to my ramblings of what I’ve discovered about this culture that has become a part of the blood that runs through my veins. You have been a part of my succeeding in gaining this information.

I must mention however that history is not always the whole truth and though you may gain bits and pieces of valid data, one may never know that total authenticity of what has been mentioned about any topic you think of researching. Sometimes, we research and find conflicting stories compressed in metaphor.  Author of the book, Magical Realism, Maggie Ann Bowers said, “reality is built on prejudices, misconceptions and ignorance as well as on our perceptiveness and knowledge” (Bowers). If at times, you feel the urge to question history, it is because the conventional truth might not seem right.

History may not always be flawless in execution. Remember that heresy, even when written in a book featuring historical data still can be compared to the telephone game when I say something and you repeat what you think you heard which may not always be what was said. I wrote 44 pages for my thesis on jazz and racism based on books, scholarly journals, articles and more. I started my show with a mission to develop my knowledge on understanding on the culture. 

I began with a show on Sarah Vaughan the day after one door closed. And with the new door that opened, I presented it to the most respectable body of people to have ever allowed me placement in their good hearts. Today, I will pay tribute to Sarah Vaughan again, which can be heard this evening, June 5, 2016 at 7:30PM on WNYE 91.5 FM. And to think it has been a year already makes me see how time truly does fly at the speed of light. Where did the year go?

Thank you for making my year purposeful.