Todd E. Hill
Host of Café Jazz, Black Cats Jump and Diggin' DukeTodd E. Hill is the Director of Jazz Ensembles at Murray State University. He holds both the BMEd and MMEd degrees from MSU, and an EdD from Boise State University. He held positions in the public schools of Milan, Tennessee, Northwest Mississippi Community College, Boise State University, and University of the Cumberlands, where he served as Director of Bands before returning to his alma mater. He has been guest conductor for concert and jazz honor groups in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Idaho, Washington, Montana, Oregon and Nevada.
He leads his own well-known (The Todd Hill Quartet and Todd Hill and his Orchestra) throughout the southeast. The Orchestra’s CD Swingin’ and Singin’ Live! was released in 2007 and is presently in its second printing. He has performed with such diverse entertainers as Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Jr., Gary Morris, Alex Harvey, Denise LaSalle, Mike Snider, Stella Parton, and The Moody Blues in addition to notable jazz artists Wycliffe Gordon, Byron Stripling, Allen Vizzutti, Chris Vadala, Ron Wilkins, Jamey Aebersold, Denis DiBlasio, Buddy Childers and Rich Matteson. He has also been a featured soloist with the Paducah Symphony "Pops" Series.
Hill is included in Marquis’ “Who’s Who in America.” Todd is a member of the Murray Rotary Club, and is the Director of Music at First United Methodist Church in Murray.
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“The Biggest Little Band in the Land” and their classic line-up from 1940-1941. Charlie Shavers, Buster Bailey, Russell Procope, Billy Kyle, O’Neil Spencer and Kirby himself. Chamber-music meets jazz in tight, clever, and subtle arrangements. -
The greatest jazz pianist of all time in solo recording made in 1949, plus trio sessions with his working group of the time in 1953. With Everett Barksdale on guitar and Slam Stewart on bass. Additional tracks include some spectacular live tracks.
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All star small combinations from 1944-1945 with players not usually accorded their own sessions due to their close associations with big bandleaders like Cab Calloway, Jimmie Lunceford, and Duke Ellington.
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Billie in small group sessions with all-star players led mostly by Teddy Wilson. Features film soundtrack recording with Duke Ellington. Beautifully intimate jazz including Lester Young, Buck Clayton, Ben Webster, Benny Goodman recorded between 1933-1936.
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The audio for this episode has expired.Willie Bryant was an entertainer (later known as “The Mayor of Harlem’) who led a very exciting jazz-based big band briefly 1935-36. Star sidemen included Ben Webster, Edgar Battle, Benny Carter, Teddy Wilson and Cozy Cole!
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The audio for this episode has expired. Ep 164: DUKE ELLINGTON SMALL GROUPS, PART THREE. Small combinations drawn from the Famous Orchestra nominally led by Johnny Hodges, Cootie Williams, and Rex Stewart including a session recorded in Paris and featuring Rex and Barney Bigard with Django Reinhardt. 1938-1939.
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This episode has expiredEp 163: EDDIE SOUTH, DARK ANGEL OF THE VIOLIN, PART ONE. Virtuoso violinist Eddie South leaves Chicago and plays much of the late 1930s in Europe, making recordings in France and the Netherlands. Includes pairings with Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli. 1931-1938.
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This episode has expired. Ep 162: LOUIS ARMSTRONG: PUBLIC MELODY #1. Satchmo as popular entertainer, but always with that magnificent trumpet in his hands. 1935-1937 recordings with his own band and others including Jimmy Dorsey and Bunny Berigan.
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Originally aired in the 1980s, The Black Cats Jump celebrates the legacy and expansive repertoire of African American big bands such as Basie, Ellington,… -
Back in the 1980s, The Black Cats Jump was a thirteen part series of hour-long programs on big band music with host Bobby Bryan and co-producer Mark…
