Phil Schaap

Phil Schaap (born April 6, 1951) is an American jazz disc jockey, historian, archivist and producer. He hosts a daily morning radio program on 89.9 FM New York, WKCR, the radio station of Columbia University, his alma mater, in New York City. The show, called Bird Flight, is broadcast from 8:20 am–9:30 am on weekdays and devoted to the music of Charlie Parker. Bird Flight has been running since 1981. Schaap also hosts the weekly Traditions In Swing on Saturday evenings from 6-9 pm, which likewise has been on the air for thirty-two years. He is a cousin of sports journalist Dick Schaap.

Early years

Schaap was raised by jazz-loving parents and the music's originators, particularly the members of the original Count Basie Orchestra. His father was Walter Schaap, one of the first jazz historians and discographers. Early in his career he managed the Basie alumni band, The Countsmen (featuring alto saxophonist Earle Warren and trombonist Dicky Wells) and doing sound for various Jazz events including George Wein's Newport Jazz Festival. For 17 years Schaap ran the Jazz at The West End jazz room on Broadway at 114th St in New York City, booking on a nightly basis such prominent swing-band alumni as Russell Procope's Ellingtonia, The Countsmen, Franc Williams, George Kelly, Eddie Barefield, Sonny Greer, Benny Waters, "Papa" Jo Jones, Buddy Tate, Vic Dickenson, Harold Ashby, Big Nick Nicholas, Ronnie Cole, Eddie Durham and "Doc" Cheatham, more modern jazzers such as Lee Konitz and Joe Albany, and blues artists such as Percy France and Big Joe Turner. Since February 2, 1970 he has broadcast Jazz on the radio (primarily on WKCR). He is known for his marathon festivals on one artist, birthday broadcasts, and memorials.

Jazz Archivist and Record Producer

From 1984 to 1991, Schaap was the archivist for the Savoy Jazz label. Schaap has been involved with the re-release of many archival recordings on CD, releases of artists including Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong, Machito and the Afro-Cubans and Duke Ellington. For his efforts in engineering, production, and liner notes, Schaap has won at least seven Grammy awards, including three for producing, three for historical writing, and two for audio engineering.^[1]

Grammy Awards

• Best Historical Recording 2000 (producer & engineer) for Louis Armstrong: The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings
• Best Historical Recording 1996 (producer & engineer) for Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings
• Best Album Notes 1996 (album notes writer) for Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings
• Best Audio Engineering 1996 (engineer) for Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings
• Best Historical Recording 1993 (producer) for The Complete Billie Holiday on Verve 1945-1959
• Best Album Notes 1993 (album notes writer) for The Complete Billie Holiday on Verve 1945-1959
• Best Album Notes 1989 (album notes writer) for Bird: The Complete Charlie Parker on Verve

Educator

As an educator Schaap has taught Jazz at the graduate level at Columbia University and Rutgers University. Schaap continues his academic teaching career at Princeton University and The Juilliard School, while running an adult Jazz education program for Jazz at Lincoln Center. Upon becoming Curator at Jazz at Lincoln Center he left a successful career producing, remastering, and writing for record companies such as Universal, Sony, and PolyGram.

Criticism

Schaap, on his Bird Flight radio program, is noted for his long and detailed discussions (in his "pontifical baritone") of Charlie Parker minutiae.^[2] Frank Foster has called him "a walking jazz history book".^[2]

Miscellaneous

In 1997 he married schoolteacher Ellen LaFurn.^[3] Schaap also contributed to a book by Wynton Marsalis, Jazz ABZ: An A to Z Collection of Jazz Portraits. Schaap appears prominently in Ken Burns' PBS 2001 documentary Jazz. He is the inspiration for Woody Allen's on-screen character in Allen's 1999 film Sweet and Lowdown.

The May 19, 2008 issue of The New Yorker includes a nine-page article about Schaap written by David Remnick.^[2] The article is a tribute to Schaap's unique, vast knowledge of jazz history and the unusual story of his lifelong friendships with many of jazz's greatest players, beginning when he was six years old and Jo Jones became his sometimes babysitter.

Schaap is a distinguished member of the Board of Directors Advisory committee of The Jazz Foundation of America.^[4]

Schaap co-stars as a radio announcer with Kurt Vonnegut in his radio opera, A Soldier's Story, with music composed by Dave Soldier.^[5]

References

Further reading

• Hond, Paul (Spring 2010). "Every Day Is Bird Day". Columbia. 
• Remnick, David (May 19, 2008). "Bird-Watcher". The New Yorker. 

External links

• WKCR
• Interview with Phil Schaap, on the history of jazz programming on WKCR
• Count Basie Centennial page on Phil Schaap
• Phil Schaap Jazz The new home of Schaap Shop jazz memorabilia and Schaap radio archives
• "In A Life of Jazz - a Jarring Note", The New York Times
• "Jazz Historian to Record His Memory’s Fading Notes", The New York Times
• Radio interview with Phil Schaap, on Vermont community radio.