Expansions
Expansions is a weekly two-hour jazz show, broadcast on Sunday nights from 8pm - 10pm ET on jazzradiowetf.org - an NPR station broadcasting from South Bend, Indiana. Since that station does not have an archive, I am providing the most recent two episodes for people who weren’t able to catch the broadcast (or wish to hear them again).
Conceptually, Expansions is a celebration of the breadth and beauty of the jazz tent and a voyage from the foundational center of the music in the first hour to the more diverse and experimental corners of the tent in the second hour.
Episode 80
Hour 1 features a number of modern trumpeters from Terrell Stafford to Dave Douglas to Wallace Roney and Ambrose Akinmusire with other recordings from Geri Allen, Orrin Evans and more
Hour 2 ventures towards the edges of the jazz tent with performances from Hasaan Ibn Ali, Albert Ayler, Eric Dolphy and Odean Pope before landing gently with ballads by John Hicks/David Murray and Don Pullen
Original airdate: October 18, 2026
Episode 79
Hour 1 starts way back with Sidney Bechet and Benny Moten's Kansas City Orchestra and moves forward to the present through Don Byas, Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Craig Handy, Fieldwork and more
Hour 2 explores the influence of various regional folk music on the evolution of jazz starting with Michel Camilo and David Virelles and moving through Bheki Mseleku, Rez Abbasi, Tomas Stanko and Jan Garbarek before landing gently with Kenny Garrett's version of Lonnie's Lament
Original airdate: October 11, 2026