
Jazz Unlimited ended on December 29, 2019 with host Dennis Owsley's retirement. The weekly radio show covered the continuum of jazz from Louis Armstrong to Lester Bowie. Each show was scripted and based on a theme to provide the broadest coverage of the music.
Host Dennis Owsley has been a jazz album collector, aficionado, and historian since 1958 and has seen most of the major artists in jazz in live performance. April 2018 marks his 35th anniversary presenting jazz on St. Louis Public Radio. He celebrated his 25th anniversary with a mayoral proclamation of a Dennis Owsley Day on January 24, 2008. He received the Millard S. Cohen Lifetime Achievement Award from St. Louis Public Radio in 2010 and was named a Jazz Hero of St. Louis by the Jazz Journalists Association. Jazz Unlimited won the Riverfront Times' Best of St. Louis Award in the "Best Jazz Show" category six times.
Nearly all the music heard on Jazz Unlimited is from Owsley's personal collection. He has an international reputation as a photographer of jazz musicians as well. >> See his photographs.
Owsley wrote an award-winning book, City of Gabriels—The Jazz History of St. Louis 1895-1973.
He produced a radio documentary in 1986 that led to that book. That documentary was produced again and expanded in 2013, the second-longest music documentary in radio history. >> Listen to all of the interviews.
Listen to the most recent two episodes of Jazz Unlimited:
View playlists from past episodes of Jazz Unlimited:
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Jazz Unlimited for Sunday, August 11, 2019, presents “The Career of Kenny Burrell.” Guitarist Kenny Burrell is one of the many jazz musicians who came out…
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Jazz Unlimited for August 4, 2019 will present “Kansas City.” The music of Kansas City was side open and inventive in the late 1920’s, the 1930’s and…
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Jazz Unlimited for July 28, 2019, will present “The Keys and Strings Hour Plus New Music.” The quieter side of jazz will present duos, trios and quartets…
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Jazz Unlimited for Sunday, July 21, 2019, will present “Jazzoo-Part 2.” A friend challenged me to put together a show featuring with tunes featuring…
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Jazz Unlimited for Sunday, July 14, 2019 will present “Jazzoo-Part 1.” A friend challenged me to put together a show featuring with tunes featuring…
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Jazz Unlimited for June 30, 2019 will be “Jazz Giants for May and June.” Throughout its history, certain key players have heavily influenced the course of…
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Jazz Unlimited for June 23, 2019, will present “Real Traditional Jazz Plus New Music.” Traditional jazz combos did not use tubas for their bass…
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Jazz Unlimited for June 16, 2019, will present “The Compositions of Antonio Carlos Jobim.” Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim was the one who brought…
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Jazz Unlimited for June 9, 2019, will present “The Career of Chris Potter.” Downbeat Award winner Chris Potter was born in Chicago, but was raised in…