About TFR
The Friday Riff is an ongoing analysis of the debates about what jazz music is or should be, approached from a historical and scholarly perspective. Beginning with the assumptions that jazz is a constantly evolving art form, and that it is always in flux as to what it “is” in essence, our show seeks to both interrogate current and historical arguments surrounding jazz as well present musical examples of a diverse range of music that is (or is in the orbit of) “jazz.” Not merely an issue of aesthetics, the debates about jazz offer a window into the broader implications of the role of race, class, gender, and nationalism in American and global culture.
The Friday Riff is produced by KCSB Chief Engineer Bryan Brown and co-hosted by UCSB Ph.D candidate in English, Rob Wallace. It airs weekly – every Friday from 12pm (noon) to 1pm PDT on 91.9 KCSB-FM in Santa Barbara.