by Kile Smith | May 22, 2018 | Choral music, Jazz, new music, Spirituality
2020 Grammy nomination, Best Choral Performance, The Crossing. Text by Robert Lax. Music by Kile Smith. SATB, unaccompanied. Duration, 65 minutes. Commissioned for The Crossing, Donald Nally, conductor. Premiered June 30th, 2018, at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut...
by Kile Smith | May 24, 2016 | Classical music, Jazz, Radio
“I haven’t heard you on the air for a while. Did they fire you?” she asked. “It’s worse than that,” I said. “They promoted me.” Day One of my new job as Director of Content at WRTI is in the books; I officially started...
by Kile Smith | Feb 22, 2016 | Jazz, WRTI Arts Desk
[First published 22 Feb 2016 in WRTI’s Arts Desk and reprinted by permission.] This week it’s the 99th anniversary of an important first for the WRTI family. It happened in South Jersey, and the significance of it extends to this day....
by Kile Smith | Dec 11, 2015 | Jazz, Pop Music, WRTI Arts Desk
[First published in WRTI’s Arts Desk 4 Dec 2015.] Frank Sinatra was born 100 years ago on December 12th, and there have been any number of stars in the entertainment world during that century. But WRTI’s Kile Smith looks at what truly sets him apart from all the...
by Kile Smith | Nov 30, 2015 | Jazz, WRTI Arts Desk
[First published in WRTI’s Arts Desk, 30 Nov 2015.] December 6th is Dave Brubeck’s birthday, and WRTI’s Kile Smith looks at the secret behind the legacy of this giant of jazz. Dave Brubeck may be the most unlikely of jazz pianists. He almost was tossed from...
by Kile Smith | Oct 5, 2015 | Jazz, WRTI, WRTI Arts Desk
[First published in WRTI’s Arts Desk 5 Oct 2015] Two Englishmen, Guy Wood and Robert Mellin, slipped it into the Great American Songbook just before it closed, just as rock rolled over sophistication. It begins from below, a slowly twisting Roman candle of a tune, and...
