The children tucked in to their beds. Stories read. Prayers said. I walked to the kitchen and turned on the radio. A reward for getting the children to bed on schedule. If everything was on time, than I heard Bob Parlocha introduce his radio broadcast. Jazz with Bob Parlocha began at the top of the hour, eight o’clock, on the local public radio station. I washed the dishes, figured out bill payments, or some other domestic chore while listening to music.

That was a different time. And in a different place. The local public radio station signal received is full of static. Their evening programming does not include Jazz with Bob Parlocha. That is understandable. He died almost a decade ago.

The Sageza Group archives jazz radio broadcasts. On their web site, jazzstreams.org, they collect Bob Parlocha’s original broadcasts that were digitized. “Commercial jazz radio is just about gone from North America,” they write.

On evenings like tonight, when the radio reception is poor and the needle for the record player needs to be replaced, I find the Jazz with Bob Parlocha archives.^[1] What was Bob broadcasting ten years ago on this date? Or eleven years ago? I select the date of a broadcast^[2] and I am transported to a different time and a different place.

_NOTES:

_{[1] The Sageza Group, Jazz with Bob Parlocha archives accessed April 16, 2024 http://jazzstreams.org/JwBP/JwBP-index.php}

_{[2] Jazz with Bob Parlocha, April 16, 2013 broadcast accessed April 16, 2024 http://jazzstreams.ddns.net:8808/JwBP/Jazz-with-Bob-Parlocha-(2013-04-16).mp3}