This ongoing series of 1:30 - 2:00 jazz performer snapshots are both a kick and a delight. While they aren't intended to change the world, they will brighten up your station's sound in the mornings and could fit pretty much anywhere else throughout the day.

The latest entry into the series features harmonica virtuoso Toots Thielemans -- and what happened to this innocent and easily bemused Belgian musician on his first night in NYC.

Others in the series worth your consideration, Marian McPartland Discusses Her Conversations with Duke Ellington and Thelonius Monk, Shirley Horn on Working with Miles Davis and Phil Woods On Meeting Saxophonist Charlie Parker. Please don't think of these pieces as a bridge between shows -- they are shows in themselves.

In addition to enhancing your jazz programming, the NEA Jazz Master series could also be a nice flash of light on your News-Information station. They're a nice, quick way to entertain and inform your listeners and to promote your jazz programming and jazz brand. They have station fundraising applications as well.

Others in the series (Ramsey Lewis, Slide Hampton and Buddy Defranco) were reviewed in April 2008. The Dave Brubeck pieces in the series are wonderful, but have an April 2008 Brubeck Festival reference at the end.