Jazz88 KBEM brings back old time radio drama

Ah, the good old days of radio... the family gathering around the Zenith console in the living room after dinner, getting ready for the evening line-up of news, comedy and drama. On some nights you could hear your whole neighborhood laugh to the same jokes.

Jazz88 KBEM seeks to bring back some of that old time radio feel with Jazz Noir, a new radio series starring local acting talent.

The first episode, "Charles & Avon," is slated to be recorded live at the Artists' Quarter in downtown St. Paul on April 28. The Playwrights' Center and the American Composers' Forum both helped with this initial production, which features a score composed and performed by George Maurer.

According to a release, "Charles & Avon" is set in the Rondo neighborhood of St. Paul in the 1920s. Avon Davis, a self-taught savant jazz pianist, has spent her entire life helping her father run his boarding house. The boarding house soon becomes a focal point for the burgeoning Twin Cities jazz scene.

More details about the series will be forthcoming on the Jazz88 website.

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