[Dixielandjazz] Jonathan Schwartz interviewed

[Robert Ringwald]

Not "Dixieland" but might be of interest to some listmates.  


Spinning the American Songbook
by Michael Wilson
New York Times ("Sunday Routine" feature), July 31, 2011
On Sunday afternoons for the past four decades, Jonathan Schwartz has been spinning
the wax and waxing poetic on all things Sinatra and American standard. Now 72, Mr.
Schwartz can be heard every day of the week on Sirius Satellite Radio -- Channel
71 -- but weekends still find him at his longtime home on the FM dial, WNYC. He lives
in Midtown Manhattan with the actress Zohra Lampert, whom he married last year. Mr.
Schwartz's daughter, Casey, 28, and son, Adam, 24, often join them for dinner.
Waking up: "About 8 o'clock, sometimes 7:30, somewhere in there. I go in the kitchen
and I make coffee for myself. I read the paper and I then stealthily creep into the
bedroom where Zohra is asleep, and I go to my computer, where I go to The Washington
Post, where I go to The Daily Beast, where I go to Boston.com. It has infinite information
on the Red Sox."
Ready for work: "I've thrown some CDs into a bag already. There are usually about
30 of them. They're new things, usually. I listen very carefully and lengthily to
new material that sounds to me like something I can use."
The collection: "I'd say I have 2,000 CDs. They're sent to me by people who aspire
to have me play them on the show. If there's something extraordinary, they go on
the air immediately. The thing that's so important to this music is the younger musicians,
and there are a lot of them. Tierney Sutton, John Pizzarelli, Jessica Molaskey, Diana
Krall. These are singers that really mean something to me, and they are dealing with
the American songbook."
Songbook parameters: "From about 1913 on to about 1960, and written by a group of
men and, for the most part, one woman, Dorothy Fields, and she called herself one
of the boys. Even my father was one of those guys: Arthur Schwartz."
Pick up lunch: "There's a health food store nearby, and I get basil tomato soup,
and there's a place across the street where I fill a little plastic container with
slices of avocado. That's it. The avocado dominates. I don't think I've ever gone
a day of my life without eating a whole avocado. It's one of the most nourishing
things. There's no taste better. They're the Sinatra of food."
At the studio: "There is a list of about 16,000 titles and versions of titles on
a machine called a Dalet. I scroll down to see what catches my eye for that day.
Let's say I see a Stan Getz album I haven't played in a long time, and I don't know
why. I move it into the 'show' area. The show is entirely improvised. I make it up
as I go along."
Biggest fan: "Zohra listens and calls during the program. She wants to tell me how
much she loved a certain thing. We met because she sent me a letter. She wondered
how to get a certain Sinatra record, because she couldn't get it anywhere. The envelope
said Zohra Lampert on it, and of course I knew who she was. I burned her a copy.
I suggested that we have a cup of coffee. We started to see each other. And at our
wedding, Tony Bennett sang 'I See Your Face Before Me,' a song with a melody by my
father."
After work: "Zohra picks me up and we drive up to Fairway. I double park. She jumps
out and goes into Fairway and gets what she wants. When she comes back, I go into
Citarella to get what I want. Osso buco. Salmon. Basically we eat salmon and salad.
It's no longer cheeseburgers."
Dinner with kids: "They talk to each other every two seconds. That's the biggest
blessing that I have. If the Red Sox are the Sunday night game, they show up and
we watch it together."
Day's end: "Some reading. Generally, I'm tired. I usually go to bed about 10 or so."
--Bob Ringwald
www.ringwald.com
Fulton Street Jazz Band
530/ 642-9551 Office
916/ 806-9551 Cell
Amateur (Ham) Radio K6YBV

WHY ARE HEMORRHOIDS CALLED "HEMORRHOIDS" INSTEAD OF "ASSTEROIDS"?


--Bob Ringwald
www.ringwald.com
Fulton Street Jazz Band
530/ 642-9551 Office
916/ 806-9551 Cell
Amateur (Ham) Radio K6YBV

WHY ARE HEMORRHOIDS CALLED "HEMORRHOIDS" INSTEAD OF "ASSTEROIDS"?
 a