WRTC FM

Strictly Roots aired a two-part, four-hour tribute to Aston “Family Man” Barrett, the legendary bassist and founding member of Bob Marley’s Wailers, who passed away Feb. 3 at the age of 77.

Here’s archives for Part 1 and Part 2.

In addition to his work with Marley, Barrett was also part of Lee “Scratch” Perry’s in-house backing band as well as a member of the The Upsetters and The Aggrovators.

Barrett’s legacy shines bright as a prime example of how a humble musician’s mastery and message shaped and changed the music world. There is no doubt that “Family Man’s” technique and sound will continue to influence generations of musicians to come and listeners in the future.

Summing up the importance of the bass, Barrett once said: “The drum, it is the heartbeat, and the bass, it is the backbone,” He added,”If the bass is not right, the music is gonna have a bad back, so it would be crippled.”

Barrett joined the Wailers band in 1974. He was also known for collaborating with other international reggae acts like Burning Spear and Peter Tosh.

He was considered a reggae music ambassador and one of the most crucial bassists to help cultivate acceptance, growth and popularity during the subsequent explosion of reggae music on the international music scene in the 1970s with Marley serving as the primary catalyst.

Almost all of the Wailer’s albums have Barrett involved and nearly everyone of Marley’s most celebrated tracks include his killer bass lines, including “Could This Be Love”, “Jammin’”, “Lively Up Yourself”, “I Shot the Sheriff” and “Three Little Birds”.

Raymond Scott isn’t a household name compared to Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig or the Roadrunner, but the composer played a vital role in the groundbreaking work at Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies.

Scott’s legacy is kept alive and celebrated in the recent release of Playland at the Beach (Little Village Foundation) from Jeff Sanford’s Cartoon Jazz Orchestra which was spotlighted on the Jan. 6 edition of Greasy Tracks.

Here’s the archive, while a playlist is here. 

In addition to an interview with Sanford, there was a tribute to Les McCann who passed away at the age of 88 on Dec. 29, 2023.

Multi-instrumentalist Sanford, who moved to San Francisco from his native New York City in 1976, started playing clarinet at age nine and was heavily influenced by Benny Goodman and The Great American Songbook. The classic 1956 release, Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book, remains pivotal to his musical direction.

Sanford inherited 16 file cabinets of big band sheet music, including compositions by Scott whose work was admired by Carl Stalling, the musical director at Warner Brothers. Over the years, Stalling would adapt Scott’s material for more than 120 cartoons produced by Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies.

A half-dozen of Scott’s compositions appear on the new CD.

In the modern era, Scott’s compositions found their way onto a wide range of cartoons, including: The Ren & Stimpy Show, Bluey, The Oblongs and Duckman.

Sanford’s Cartoon Jazz Band formed in 2002 and has specialized in mastering the incredibly challenging style of music Scott was renowned for which proved to be very entertaining, yet tough to play.

Sanford shares insight on Scott and the task of making Playland at the Beach a reality.

Move over Billboard, here’s WRTC’s top 70 rock albums for 2023.

The Z3, the funky Connecticut trio dedicated to keeping the music of Frank Zappa alive and well, led the list with Filibuster For Frank.

The Who (Who’s Next: Life House (Super Deluxe); Low Cut Connie (Art Dealers); Peter Gabriel (I/O) and The Rolling Stones (Hackney Diamonds) made up the top five.

Richard Wright (Wet Dream (2023 Remix); Olivia Jean (Raving Ghost); RPWL (Crime Scene); Steven Wilson (The Harmony Codex) and The No Ones (My Best Evil Friend) rounded out the top 10.

Rankings were determined by “spins” as recorded by Spinitron which WRTC integrated on its web site on June 1.

Here’s the complete list:

1. The Z3 — Filibuster For Frank
2. The Who — Who’s Next: Life House (Super Deluxe)
3. Low Cut Connie — Art Dealers
4. Peter Gabriel — I/O
5. The Rolling Stones — Hackney Diamonds
6. Richard Wright — Wet Dream (2023 Remix)
7. Olivia Jean — Raving Ghost
8. RPWL — Crime Scene
9. Steven Wilson — The Harmony Codex
10. The No Ones — My Best Evil Friend
11. The Record Company — The 4th Album
12. Atomic Bronco — Bull in a China Shop
13. Deer Tick — Emotional Contracts
14. GUM — Saturnia
15. Jethro Tull — Broadsword & the Beast (Monster Edition)
16. Teenage Fanclub — Nothing Lasts Forever
17. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit — Weathervanes
18. Duran Duran — Danse Macabre
19. The Customers — Sweet Fatality
20. Fleetwood Mac — Rumours Live
21. Ian Hunter — Defiance Part 1
22. Sufjan Stevens — Javelin
23. The Beatles — Now And Then
24. Babe Rainbow — Fresh As A Head Of Lettuce
25. Jethro Tull — RökFlöte
26. Mario Ortiz All Star Band — 60th Anniversary Spectacular
27. Noah Gundersen — If This Is The End
28. Trevor Rabin — Rio
29. Wilco — Cousin
30. Hawkwind — The Future Never Waits
31. HUNNY — new planet heaven
32. Movements — RUCKUS!
33. Allah-Las — The Stuff / Zuma 85
34. Animal Scream — Heartbroke Motel
35. Bombay Bicycle Club — My Big Day
36. Delly Ranx — Wildfire Riddim
37. Nick Piunti — Jem Records Celebrates Ray Davies
38. Roger Waters — The Dark Side of the Moon Redux
39. Semisonic — Little Bit of Sun
40. The Damned — Darkadelic
41. The Mommyheads — Coney Island Kid
42. The Who — The Who With Orchestra: Live At Wembley
43. Assassin aka Agent Sasco — Boxing Around Riddim
44. Cowboy Junkies — Such Ferocious Beauty
45. Goose — Live at Radio City Music Hall
46. Graham Parker — Last Chance To Learn The Twist
47. Grateful Dead — RFK Stadium, Washington, DC, 6/10/73
48. Greta Van Fleet — Starcatcher
49. Jimmy Buffett — Equal Strain On All Parts
50. Juliana Hatfield — Juliana Hatfield Sings ELO
51. Love and Rockets — My Dark Twin
52. Lydia Loveless — Nothing’s Gonna Stand in My Way Again
53. SANDS — The World’s So Cruel
54. Sarah Terral — Le Morfil
55. sparkle*jets u.k. — Best of Friends
56. Stevie Face — Wildfire Riddim
57. The Groovy Nobody — Solarium
58. Babe Rainbow — Mushroom
59. Jenny Lewis — Joy’All
60. Jimi Hendrix — Live At The Hollywood Bowl: 8/18/1967
61. Joni Mitchell — Joni Mitchell at Newport (Live)
62. Lowest of the Low — Welcome to the Plunderdome
63. Marcus Miller — Candy Cane Lane
64. Molly Tuttle — City of Gold
65. Portugal. The Man — Chris Black Changed My Life
66. Pretenders — Relentless
67. Ringo Starr — Rewind Forward
68. Round Trip — Round Trip
69. The Baseball Project — Grand Salami Time!
70. The Lemon Twigs — Everything Harmony

The Dec. 23 edition of Greasy Tracks featured a three-hour spotlight on the legendary Jorma Kaukonen on his 83rd birthday.

Here’s the archive, while a playlist is here. 

Renowned for his work as a founding member and guitarist for the Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna, Kaukonen recently wrapped up Hot Tuna’s final electric tour with long-time bandmate bassist Jack Casady and drummer Justin Guip.

Although heavily influenced by Rev. Gary Davis — an iconic figure in the blues world that he has championed his entire career — Kaukonen is adept in rock, Americana and folk stylings.

The programwent deep and wide on the Kaukonen catalog and will also included portions of interviews with him from past appearances on Greasy Tracks.

Dean Farrell’s Roots Rock Radio returns to WRTC on Dec. 24 and will air each Sunday 4-6 p.m. for the next month.

Click here to listen live.

Farrell admits he had the time of his life hosting the show last summer and listener feedback was incredible.

It’s sock hop and soda pop time, daddy-o!

The Dec. 16 edition of Greasy Tracks featured an interview and in-depth feature on veteran bassist Bobby Vega who discussed his just-released What Cha Got (Little Village Foundation).

Here’s the archive, while a playlist is here. 

Vega’s earliest professional gigs as a teen included work with Bo Diddley and Sly Stone, but over the years he would be on the road or in studio with everyone from Etta James, Paul Butterfield, Billy Preston and Tower of Power to Zero, KVHW, Carlos Santana, Olatunji, Jerry Garcia and Kitaro, to name but a few.

The program also included a handful of Paul Butterfield tracks as Dec. 17 is the anniversary of his birth. Vega was part of the line-up that backed Butterfield on his first European tour in 1978.

The annual WRTC fundraising marathon concluded Nov. 11.

On behalf of the staff and management, we thank all of our generous listeners who pledged to support the station.

As the non-commercial radio station of Trinity College, we offer a diverse schedule of 60-plus programs on a weekly basis. Aside from two part-time employees, we’re an all-volunteer organization.

Much of our financial assistance comes from our loyal listeners and we rely on your backing to keep us on the air doing what we do best.

Those who pledged will receive a pledge/payment form in the mail. Just follow the simple instructions and return it to: WRTC Marathon, 300 Summit St., Hartford, CT 06106.

You can also still donate securely online, just click…

“Thank You” premiums will be mailed out in the near future.

For more information, or to make a pledge by phone, contact the station at 860-297-2450.

Thank you again for supporting WRTC!

The Nov. 3 edition of C on WRTC featured an interview with Tim Turner who discussed his work-in-progress project Orange Dog Club.

Here’s the archive.

Based in Buffalo, N.Y., Turner cites The Strokes, The Arctic Monkeys and Car Seat Headrest as inspirations based on their unique sounds and how each — much like Orange Dog Club — continue to evolve.

Learn more, as Turner talks about his background, groups that he looked up to and upcoming projects.

Don’t forget, it’s WRTC’s annual fundraising marathon. You can donate here.

The Oct. 26 edition of Fifty Shades of Jazz will featured the Gipsy Kings ahead of their appearance in Hartford.

Here’s the archive.

In addition to music from across their storied career, host Lou Pomales interviewed co-founder guitarist Tonino Baliardo. They play Nov. 7 at The Bushnell’s Mortensen Hall.

The group is at the tail end of its Renaissance Tour which began in April and was extended due to popular demand.

Known for their hybrid mix of flamenco, rumba and salsa stylings, the band traces its humble roots to Arles and Montpellier, France, where founding brothers brothers Nicolas and André Reyes and their cousin Baliardo hailed from. The group, initially called Los Reyes (“The Kings”) formed in 1978 and also featured Baliardo’s brothers Jacques and Maurice.

Despite their first few releases failing to garner much attention, they have sold more than 20 million albums and won two Grammy Awards while being nominated for four others.

The Oct. 14 edition of Greasy Tracks featured music by artists from Florida, Long Island, New Jersey, Ohio and Ireland along with live offerings from Friends of the Brothers ahead of their up-coming area appearance.

Here’s the archive, while a playlist is here. 

Friends of the Brothers bring their celebration of The Allman Brothers Band to The Broad Brook Opera House on Oct. 28. Here’s more info about tickets.

The band was founded in 2017 by Alan Paul, initially to play a one-off show to honor Allmans drummer Butch Trucks who died tragically. He enlisted the aid of a handful of musicians, including former members of the Dickey Betts, Jaimoe and Gregg Allman bands.

That one-off led to a longer-term endeavor keeping the music of the Allmans live on stage. Paul recently was on WRTC discussing his latest book, Brothers and Sisters: The Allman Brothers Band and the Inside Story of the Album That Defined the 70s (St. Martin’s Press).

So how were the locations determined? In the most haphazard way actually.

Florida was where the Allmans got their start, hence the connection to Friends of the Brothers. A set of music from Ireland was dedicated to the memory of WGBH’s Brian O’Donovan who recently passed away.

As far as Long Island, New Jersey and Ohio — those were completely random selections.