Instrumental Invasion, 9/14/25, 12AM (Homecoming Weekend) September 21, 2025
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Computer, Internet, Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Livestream, Media, Music, Personal, Pop, Radio, smooth jazz, Technology, Video Games.add a comment
Other posts: 9/12 12PM live show recap, comprehensive Homecoming Weekend recap
The prerecorded edition of Instrumental Invasion for WCWP‘s alumni-run Homecoming Weekend programming block aired at midnight on Sunday, September 14. Unlike last year, this show was only two hours.
Let’s get the scoped aircheck out of the way before I detail how the show came to be.
I said in the live show recap that I knew well in advance I’d have that and the prerecord.
The playlist was created July 29 and 30 with two hours in mind. That duration was confirmed to me on August 5. There wasn’t much poaching from older playlists, meaning less copying and pasting of annotations. The annotations were drafted July 30 and August 1 and 4. The first draft of the script was written August 5 and 6. I wanted to get as much pre-production out of the way before Long Island Retro Gaming Expo.
Little did I know the consequences of referencing Casiopea‘s fifth era with a new keyboardist, Jun Abe, and tying Brian Simpson‘s “Wonderland” to Taylor Swift‘s namesake from 1989 D.L.X. On August 12, Taylor announced a new album, The Life of a Showgirl, in an episode of New Heights, a podcast hosted by the Kelce brothers, Travis (her boyfriend) and Jason. Then, a few days later, I found out T-Square released an album called Turn the Page! and that Casiopea was about to release True Blue. That led to script revisions on August 15 and 17. Then, August 20, the playlist, annotations, and script were all tweaked to accommodate song replacements.
I planned on recording one hour per day – August 28 and 29 – during livestreams on my Twitch channel, just as I had done for last year’s prerecord and the final regular Instrumental Invasion. To save time during the streams, I prepared the Adobe Audition multitrack sessions for each hour on August 25. That’s when I realized I’d made a timing error for both hours! I was four minutes over in hour 1 and two minutes under in hour 2. So, I had to make further tweaks to the playlist, annotations, and script with different songs to make up for the oversights.
But I still wasn’t finished! I mistakenly thought one minute and 55 seconds was enough time to assign talk breaks. Unfortunately, most talk breaks were overly wordy. When I reached hour 1’s last talk break, I noticed I was well over. Drastic cuts had to be made to the talk breaks. The plan worked.
To avoid the same problem with hour 2, I cut back on that hour’s talk breaks before the August 29 Twitch stream, and worked in a congratulations to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce on their engagement (earlier that week). It still wasn’t enough! Not only did I have to make further cuts; I also had to fade songs out early or have them start underneath a liner and the end of the last talk break. I recorded that last talk break first, knowing it would be the longest of the hour. Somehow, my cutbacks worked again, and each hour – or 59:59 – flowed smoothly. Unless you’ve read this post or watched my Twitch streams, you’d never know all the work that went into this show.
Here are screenshots of each hour’s multitrack session:
Only one pickup was necessary, recorded on the morning of August 30. For any talk break preceded by a liner that only acknowledged WCWP, I started with “and WXBA,” to reflect the merger and subsequent rebranding. I neglected to do that coming out of David Benoit‘s liner. David hosts a jazz show on another 88.1 FM, K-Jazz (KKJZ) at Cal State Long Beach. So, the pickup was for one more “and WXBA,” and to rerecord the first few sentences of the talk break to maintain its total run time.
On the Twitch side, I broadcast my streams with a program called OBS Studio. Once per day, there was a brief server disconnection. Friday’s outage happened while recording the fourth talk break of hour 2 (the last recorded that day). Rather than stop until OBS reconnected, I soldiered on. It made for this funny outtake:
And I did.
Read about my elaborate Twitch setup here.
Below is what the two recording session streams looked like at 65x speed, set to “Sweat It Off” by Casiopea:
Now that you know the story of this show, get back to the main recap, picking up with The Dad Rock Show hosted live at 6AM by Tom.
Instrumental Invasion, 9/12/25, 12PM (Homecoming Weekend) (Live!) September 21, 2025
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Football, Internet, Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Radio, smooth jazz, Sports, Travel, Video.add a comment
Other posts: 9/14 12AM prerecorded show recap, comprehensive Homecoming Weekend recap
The live edition of Instrumental Invasion kicked off the 2025 edition of WCWP‘s alumni-run Homecoming Weekend programming block aired at 12PM Friday. (More like 12:03, but I dwell on that enough in the aircheck below.) Whereas last year’s live show was immediately followed by Strictly Jazz, Jeff and Pat Kroll bridged the gap to 4PM with their 2PM show. This was my introduction to new station branding, thanks to a merger with WXBA in Brentwood: “Long Island’s 88.1 FM, WCWP Brookville and WXBA Brentwood, LIU Public Radio.”
Before I get into how this Instrumental Invasion show was made and share photos taken during the show, let’s get the scoped aircheck out of the way…
…along with video synced to the scope.
You’ll notice I edited the opening talk break and that it lacks video. I was so ashamed of what happened behind the scenes before playing “InsInvShowOpen” in Zetta that I deleted the raw video file six days after exporting it from the SD card. The important thing is I passed the figurative trial by fire and will know what to do next time. I’ll also try my hardest to follow the advice I forgot in the moment: don’t acknowledge (or dwell on) a mistake. Carry on like nothing happened and handle any issues off-mic.
The playlist for the live Instrumental Invasion was created July 28. This year, I knew would have a second prerecorded show and started working on that playlist the next day. The live playlist was tweaked on August 1 and 17. Annotations were drafted on July 30; August 1, 2, 4, 5, and 17; and once more on September 10. For the sake of spontaneity, I do not make scripts for live shows. I read the annotations cold after each set and otherwise ad-libbed.
Again, the live theme was a 60-year musical journey, coincidentally tying in with WCWP-FM’s 60th anniversary. The August 17 playlist tweak was for the 2025 portion. I found about T-Square‘s new Turn the Page! album (post-announcement Reddit thread), and replaced a different 2025 song (I won’t name the artist) with “Front Runner.”
All programming not involving the LIU Sharks’ Homecoming football game against the Sacred Heart Pioneers emanated from studio 2 at the Abrams Communications Center. Sharks football pre- and postgame shows, and the halftime report, were based in studio 3.
Here are photos I took in studio 2 during hour 2:
My playlist and annotation pages 
Zetta, which I quickly acclimated to
Thanks to Pat Kroll for this photo of me at the board:
Read about this year’s prerecorded two-hour Instrumental Invasion here.
SJFS 2025 Night 2 recap May 15, 2025
Posted by Mike C. in Education, Food, Health, Internet, Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Livestream, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, smooth jazz, Technology, Travel, Wrestling.add a comment
Jay Rowe‘s 22nd annual Smooth Jazz for Scholars continued on Saturday, May 3, with five headliners, including Jay himself.
It bears repeating that Scholars benefits the Milford, Connecticut, Public Schools music department.
I edited 112 of Friday’s 304 photos on my laptop Saturday morning and afternoon. Some of that editing was during an impromptu livestream on my Twitch channel. A bandwidth test in OBS proved streaming was possible without dropped frames and major interference. At last, hotel premium Wi-Fi is strong enough to stream from your room, my room being at the Milford Hampton Inn on Plains Road. I streamed for an hour before raiding out, and would continue editing on and off stream in my first six days back home. Then, I picked 179 photos to use in the Friday recap, and 198 for this Saturday recap.
My parents and I ate dinner at Chili’s on Boston Post Road (U.S. 1), which is where we ate the first time I attended SJFS in 2007.
Again, we returned to the hotel for an hour before leaving at 7PM for Veterans Memorial Auditorium at the Parsons Complex with all my equipment.
Reiterating what I said in Friday’s post, my photographer fellowship down in the orchestra pit were Katherine Gilraine, Kenny Combs, Andrew James, and Ron Hancox.
My equipment was as follows:
- Canon EOS R7 with RF-S 18-150mm lens, plus a Speedlite 430 EX II flash attachment (only used for photos of the audience)
- Dual Panasonic HC-X1500 camcorders
- “A” camcorder has a VW-HU1 and Rode VideoMic GO II attached, and is connected to a Magnus VT-300 tripod
- “B” camcorder was used for a static wide view and had nothing attached except for an Amazon Basics tripod
- EOS R7 has two 128GB SanDisk Extreme PRO UHS-I SDXC cards (I only ever need one of them) while the two HC-X1500 camcorders have one 256GB equivalent each
With hellos out of the way and 8:00 upon us, we shouted “good evening!” to Kevin McCabe:
Leading off on Saturday was the Joseph A. Foran High School Jazz Ensemble, directed by Jessica Turner. (I couldn’t catch the names of the songs, but the second was by Earth, Wind & Fire.)
Jay Rowe‘s opening remarks were in two parts. First, he complimented the Foran Jazz Ensemble for their EWF cover. Then, he came back out after the chairs were removed and Kevin McCabe introduced the house band and headliners.
To paraphrase the late HairClub founder Sy Sperling, Jay Rowe isn’t just a smooth jazz sideman; he’s also a fan. And he was even a headliner on Saturday!
The first of Jay’s fellow headliners was Lindsey Webster:
Lindsey’s collaborator Keith Slattery was on keyboards for her songs:
The remaining headliners were Jeff Kashiwa on tenor sax:
…and flute:
Marion Meadows on soprano sax:
…and two for one, Four80East. Rob DeBoer was on keyboards:
…with percussion by Tony Grace:
Jay’s house band was made up of Trever Somerville on drums:
Andy Abel on guitar:
…and Dave Anderson on bass:
SET LIST (updated with videos on 6/20/25)
1. That’s What I Know (Jay Rowe) (tribute to Rohn [“ron”] Lawrence; expression Rohn inherited from his father and used on his son)
2024 single
Featured musician: Jay Rowe (keyboards)
If you don’t take out the garbage and mow the lawn, you’re not gonna borrow the car this weekend. That’s what I know.
-Jay Rowe, channeling Rohn Lawrence’s father
2. Every Woman, Every Man (Jay Rowe)
Originally heard on: Smooth Ride (2016)
Featured musician: Jay Rowe (keyboards)
3. Starlight Kisses (Jay Rowe)
Originally heard on: Groove Reflections (2021)
Featured musicians: Jay Rowe (keyboards), Jeff Kashiwa (tenor sax)
4. Let It Ride (Jeff Kashiwa)
Originally heard on: Let It Ride (2012)
Featured musicians: Jeff Kashiwa (tenor sax); Four80East: Rob DeBoer (keyboards), Tony Grace (percussion)
5. Upa Neguinho (Keep Up Little One) (Jeff Kashiwa; cover of Edu e Bethânia song)
Originally heard on: Luminoso (2024)
Featured musicians: Jeff Kashiwa (tenor sax); Four80East: Rob DeBoer (keyboards), Tony Grace (percussion)
6. Noodle Soup (Four80East)
Originally heard on: En Route (2007); Barn Sessions, Volume 1 (2025)
Featured musicians: Four80East: Rob DeBoer (keyboards), Tony Grace (percussion); Jeff Kashiwa (flute)
7. Cinco Cinco Seis (Four80East)
Originally heard on: Four on the Floor (2018)
Featured musician: Four80East: Rob DeBoer (keyboards, with voice sample [“uno, dos, tres, quatro, cinco, cinco, seis”]), Tony Grace (percussion); Jeff Kashiwa (flute)
8. I’m OK (Lindsey Webster)
Originally heard on: Reasons (2022)
Featured musicians: Lindsey Webster (vocals), Keith Slattery (keyboards)
Keith played keyboards in place of Jay Rowe on Lindsey’s songs.
9. I Got You (I Feel Good) (Lindsey Webster) (James Brown cover)
Featured musicians: Lindsey Webster (vocals), Keith Slattery (keyboards)
50/50 RAFFLE ($1,350 pot) (won by Denise)
10. The Lift (Marion Meadows)
Originally heard on: Body Rhythm (1995)
Featured musician: Marion Meadows (soprano sax) (started in audience)
11. South Beach (Marion Meadows)
Originally heard on: Body Rhythm (1995)
Featured musician: Marion Meadows (soprano sax)
12. Romantica (Marion Meadows)
Originally heard on: Player’s Club (2004)
Featured musicians: Marion Meadows (soprano sax) (walked off stage at the end), Tony Grace (percussion)
13. 3-Day Weekend (Jeff Kashiwa)
Originally heard on: Simple Truth (2002)
Featured musicians: Jeff Kashiwa (tenor sax), Tony Grace (percussion)
14. The Walker (Four80East)
Originally heard on: Off Duty (2012)
Featured musicians: Four80East: Rob DeBoer (keyboards, with voice samples [“funking nasty,” “to the east side, to the west side”]), Tony Grace (percussion); Jeff Kashiwa (flute)
Included audience participation (right side shouted “to the east side,” left side shouted “to the west side”), “flute battle” between Rob’s synth flute and Jeff’s real flute
15. Over the Rainbow (Lindsey Webster) (sung by Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz)
Originally heard on: A Woman Like Me (2020)
Featured musicians: Lindsey Webster (vocals, with comedic pause before last note), Keith Slattery (keyboards)
Jay Rowe did not play on “The Walker” or “Over the Rainbow.”
Before the finale, Lindsey sang a snippet of the title track to her upcoming album.
16 (Finale). Ain’t Nobody (Lindsey Webster) (Rufus and Chaka Khan cover)
Featured musicians: Everyone; Lindsey Webster (vocals)
Photo galleries of each musician begin with Jay Rowe‘s “South Beach” solo:
“Jay Rowe, y’all!”
I appreciated the “Mas que nada” phrasing at the end, calling back to Lani Hall‘s Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 medley I saw during Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass & Other Delights on April 1.
Jeff Kashiwa on tenor sax:
Jeff on flute:
Marion Meadows started “The Lift” in the audience:
Marion on stage:
Marion’s exit at the end of “Romantica”:
Four80East:
Rob DeBoer:
Tony Grace:
Trever Somerville:
Andy Abel:
…and Dave Anderson:
Lindsey and Dave are in this first of my medium shots:
Marion, Trever and Dave:
Marion, Tony and Andy:
Tony and Trever’s “3-Day Weekend” duet (with Andy and Jeff in the middle):
Jeff and Rob’s “The Walker” flute battle:
Wide shots start with two from “Let It Ride“:
The end of “I Got You (I Feel Good)“:
“South Beach“:
Marion watching Jay’s solo 
“Romantica“:
“The Walker“:
The end of “Over the Rainbow“:
The audience has their turn now, seen first dancing to “Noodle Soup” (Dolly Moye and Jay Dobbins are to the right of Norma):
“The Walker”:
Rob’s instructions to the audience 
Their cue 
“To the east side!” 
“To the west side!”
The 50/50 raffle (won by Denise):
Another kiss for Jay and Deborah 
The winning number 
Denise received her prize
The finale: “Ain’t Nobody” (Rufus and Chaka Khan song):
The end:
“Thank you all! See you again real soon.”
-Jay Rowe
I’ll admit things got overwhelming in the lobby afterward. (It comes with being on the autism spectrum.) There was a large crowd meeting and greeting and I was too bashful to go ahead of anyone. When the wait seemed interminable, I sat down at an elevated round table and started to cry. A woman noticed me and asked if I was okay (of all things to ask after a show featuring “I’m OK”), and then Jay Rowe noticed me and brought Lindsey Webster over to sign my copy of Reasons. Marion Meadows soon followed. (A man named Sal told me afterward it was his idea to invite Marion to where I was seated.) Marion signed my copying of Just Doing Me. Then, as my tears subsided, Jay took our photo.
Simply writing that paragraph made me cry a little.
Jay then took a photo of me and Rob DeBoer with my signed copy of Barn Sessions, Volume 1:
And Michelle from the merchandise table took a photo of me and Jeff Kashiwa with my newly purchased and signed copy of Luminoso:
I said my goodbyes to everyone – including Mia DiStasi (Jay’s mom), Kevin McCabe, and Steve Lewis – and walked out to the parking lot for the ride back to Hampton Inn. Yet again, I unloaded the contents off all the SD cards to my laptop.
Unfortunately, the last 11 minutes of Saturday’s show are missing from my “A” camcorder. When reaching for the handle unit light switch after panning to the audience’s post-“Over the Rainbow” standing ovation, the middle of my thumb grazed the record button. Gotta remember to lock that next time. That’s why the freeze frame at the end of the finale is from the “B” camcorder. The on-board audio from that camcorder was disappointingly distant. So, I’m taking my Takstar SGC-598 out of retirement for use with the “B” going forward.
That was the only wrinkle to what was otherwise a great weekend, both at the Parsons Complex and Hampton Inn. I caught up with musicians and fellow fans that I hadn’t seen since last year or longer, and met others for the first time, including Joe Green, Rick Pascal, Bill McLaughlin, and Chip Paris.
I spent hours in the hotel lobby with my laptop, mingling while editing and eating breakfast.
Here I am on Saturday with Hap Carpenter:
And I got a selfie with Estella Taylor-Greene and Norma Rohadfox before we all checked out:
My parents and I left Hampton Inn at 10:35 AM on Sunday, May 4. The ride back to Wantagh was 20 minutes shorter than the ride from there on Friday! We were home by 12:08 PM.
Along the way, I took a photo of the current WWE headquarters off southbound I-95 in Stamford:
Thank you to everyone for a memorable weekend in Milford. See you all again next year!
I’ll conclude this post with a 100x speed montage of the nine photo editing livestreams on my Twitch channel, from May 3 in my hotel room to May 11 (Mother’s Day) at home. (WARNING: There will be flashing effects at times from going back and forth between apps.)
P.S. Wednesday was my 350th Twitch stream, and marked a return to video games, my channel’s main focus.
January 19 snow, January 20 aftermath January 23, 2025
Posted by Mike C. in Internet, Jazz Fusion, Music, Personal, Photography, smooth jazz, Weather.add a comment
After glancing blows from snowstorms in the first four weeks of winter, Long Island finally got a storm that left more than two inches of snow on the ground.
As day turned to night on Sunday, January 19, air temperatures fell from the upper 30s Fahrenheit to below freezing, turning rain to snow. The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory for Long Island, calling for 3 to 5 inches of snow with the potential for up to 6 inches in stronger bands. (Points north and west were under a winter storm warning.) Thankfully, according to my 12-inch ruler , only 3.4 inches of snow accumulated on my front lawn, and only about an inch on the pavement. Official totals can be found here. The NWS practice of reporting by whole number and tenth decimal point is why converted from fractions (3 7/16″) to decimals (3.4375″) and rounded off to the nearest tenth (3.4″).
Below is a photographic timeline from start to finish on January 19, or at least up to the point where I went to bed.
1:58 PM 
3:13 PM 
5:03 PM 
7:15 PM 
9:10 PM 
10:13 PM 
10:56 PM
At 9:04 AM on Monday, January 20, with the sun shining and no clouds in the sky, I took photos of the snow-covered driveway, front yard, and backyard.
At 10AM, I bundled up, put on my snow boots, and went out the front door to begin shoveling. I also had in earbuds to listen to Tom Schuman’s I Am Schuman album on my phone, which I stored in my coat’s inner breast pocket. Within 57 minutes and 28 seconds, according to my watch, I had cleared my mom’s car (with a brush), the left side of the house up to the oil tank cap, the front porch steps, the entire driveway, the curb, and the sidewalk up to the property lines. I had prepped to listen to Kirk Whalum’s Epic Cool album (a Christmas present), but barely finished the first track – “Bah-De-Yah!” – by the time I put the shovel against the wall and went back in the house.
While it has remained quite cold in the aftermath of Sunday’s snowstorm, no snow is in the 7-day forecast as of publication on Thursday, January 23. However, I am mentally prepared for more snowstorms this winter, and with more snow than we’ve seen in four years.
Until the next storm, I’ll leave you with a post-shoveling photographic timeline:
11:04 AM 
1:56 PM (It may have been cold, but the sun still did its job.)
2024 LIU Post & WCWP Homecoming Weekend October 4, 2024
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Baseball, Books, Football, Internet, Interviews, Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Pop, Radio, Rock, smooth jazz, Sports, Travel, Video.add a comment
Last year, due to ongoing renovation of the Abrams Communications Center on the campus of LIU Post, WCWP‘s Homecoming Weekend programming block was cancelled. This year, it was back, running from September 20 at noon through September 22 at midnight. Coinciding with the LIU Sharks football team‘s Homecoming game against the University of Rhode Island Rams, this was the first Homecoming Weekend block overseen by returning station manager Dan Cox since 2021 and first coordinated by alumni Jeff and Pat Kroll since 2019.
Those who attended the WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony on June 1 were given a tour of the Abrams renovation afterward. More alumni would have a chance to see the changes this time.
As the unofficial station historian, a title bestowed upon me by Bill Mozer, I would document this weekend from start to finish, through videos, photos, and airchecks. The airchecks were mostly recorded off the FM internet stream at my Wantagh home via desktop PCs in my bedroom and the guest room. Exceptions are the first four hours of programming Friday and Bernie Bernard’s show after the football game Saturday. For those, I recorded at WCWP using Adobe Audition on my laptop, which was connected to USB phono preamp connected via a Y-adapter to a Sangean radio’s aux out port. The home recordings were done through Audacity and edited in Adobe Audition.
I always seem to develop anxiety ahead of an impending workload, and that was again the case on Thursday, September 19. I had temporarily limited my Twitch streaming schedule to one stream a week to focus on covering Homecoming Weekend and all the post-production to follow. I also, muted all the Discord chat servers I was in and turned off notifications on the many channels I followed and/or subscribed to. I needed to be calm going into the weekend and focus on the task at hand.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20
With all my batteries charged and equipment packed, my mother Lisa drove me up to LIU Post just after 11AM. Once I arrived and entered WCWP, I unpacked and began setting up in studio 3 for the first show of Homecoming Weekend. Project Independence and You! was wrapping up its regularly-scheduled show in studio 2.
Homecoming Weekend led off at noon with Art Beltrone’s interview show.
Art was the first student voice heard on WCWP after its carrier-current station sign-on at noon on October 18, 1961.
Jeff Kroll was the engineer and co-host.
Art’s first alumni guests were Bill Rozea… 
…and Bill’s wife April, members of C.W. Post first graduating class in 1959. 
Art Beltrone presented April Rozea with a bouquet of roses. (Art’s wife Lee is seated in the background.) 
Between interviews, Jeff played “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley, to the delight of the Bill and April Rozea.
Bill Rozea speaking with Art’s next guest, Vinnie Salamone:
Art’s interview with Vinnie Salamone:
Bernie Bernard was next:
She also received a bouquet of flowers. 
Jeff led the interview with Bernie. 
The next four photos are courtesy of Ted David while he dropped by studio 3:
Jeff’s wife Pat Kroll produced and coordinated Art’s show.
Art Beltrone’s other guests included Stewart Ain, via Zoom (a fifth photo by Ted David)…
John LiBretto and Hank Neimark…
Hank was the first voice on WCWP-FM when it signed on at 4PM on March 16, 1965. 
…and Steve Radoff, via Zoom:
After Hank, John, and Steve were interviewed, I gathered my equipment and headed for studio 2 to set up for my live edition of Instrumental Invasion at 2PM.
Here is Art’s full show, minus most of “Can’t Help Falling in Love”:
Aside from the guests listed above, Art spoke to Jon Benson (via Zoom) and Greg Tarone.
Portions of the above aircheck were synced to video I shot on a pair of Panasonic HC-X1500 camcorders, with occasional photo cutaways.
Click here for a recap of my live Instrumental Invasion, with corresponding photos, scoped aircheck, and video. (The link to the midnight prerecorded show comes later in this post.)
Hank Neimark and John LiBretto returned to the airwaves at 4PM to host Strictly Jazz. Jon Korkes served as the third host, appearing via Zoom, and Jeff Kroll was once again engineer.
Jon Korkes’s Zoom window (the text below him is burned in to the monitor)
Here are Jeff, John, and Hank after the show:
Now for the scoped aircheck of Strictly Jazz:
As you’ll see in the composite aircheck video, Hank and John interviewed me at one point:
After becoming obsessed with “My Attorney Bernie” by Dave Frishberg during the drafting of this post, I realized I left the end of the song from the scoped aircheck in the video before jumping to my interview.
As Strictly Jazz proceeded in studio 2, I took two other photos in the lobby:
WCWP station manager Dan Cox (center) with LIU senior philanthropic advisor Charles Rasberry (left) and Neil Marks (right) 
Neil Marks, John Zoni, Andrew Scarpaci, and Travis Demers prepping for the Homecoming game broadcast
John Zoni had the next show at 7PM Friday:
Jay Mirabile followed at 9PM with a special edition of The DFK Show. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a photo of him while I was on campus and he didn’t take one during his show. So, here’s a photo from 2013:
The scoped aircheck is from this year.
There are more alumni hosts below who were not individually photographed (Chris MacIntosh is in a two-shot) by me or anyone else this weekend, and I will include a photo if I have one to go along with their scopes.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21
As the clock struck midnight, my prerecorded three-hour edition of Instrumental Invasion commenced. Click here for that show’s recap, but I’ll say here it was the first time I’d hosted a three-hour show since filling in for Martin Phillips on Thursday Night Jazz in October 2009.
At 3AM, there was Magick Mike Hendryx, seen here live in 2016 following my live Instrumental Invasion:
John Commins was the last of the prerecorded shows early Saturday, airing at 5AM. This was John in 2017:
Jeff Jensen had Saturday’s first live show at 7AM back in studio 2. He’s seen here in 2019:
We now jump ahead to later in the morning atop the Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium prior to the LIU Sharks-Rhode Island Rams game.
This set of photos were taken by Pat Kroll:
Jeff and Pat Kroll 
Jeff Kroll and Neil Marks 
Travis Demers handled play-by-play in the 2nd and 3rd quarters while Jeff
Kroll took the 1st and 4th quarters. Neil Marks analyzed.
The Homecoming game kicked off at noon, and I arrived on campus about half an hour later, setting down my equipment at the Abrams Communications Center.
Then, I took out my Canon EOS R7 and swapped the RF-S 18-150mm lens (a replacement after the Long Island Retro Gaming Expo mishap) with an RF 100-400mm lens. That plan worked for photos of the football field, but for everything else, I’d have to back up a long way for anything close to me.
First, a photo in the parking lot:
And one by the entrance:
When I arrived, it was halftime, and Vinnie Salamone got his second interview of Homecoming Weekend.
Listen to the interview here:
As halftime wound down, Jeff Kroll, Neil Marks, and Travis Demers recapped the first half, told stories, and remarked on the state of WCWP.
My photos atop the press box alternated between my EOS R7 and iPhone 13 Pro.
The LIU marching band’s halftime performance 
The opposite end of the stadium 
Until ten nights earlier at Freeport’s 9/11 memorial ceremony, I was unaware that Bronko Pearsall was one of the 343 FDNY firefighters lost that September morning in 2001. Pearsall was among the names read by Amanda Muldowney, sister-in-law of Richie Muldowney. 
Practice kicks… 
The LIU marching band gets back in position in the stands. 
The LIU Sharks returned to the field… 
…followed by the Rams of URI. 
Jeff Kroll always managed to spot me taking a candid shot, leading to a posed photo. 
Travis Demers, Neil Marks, and Jeff Kroll prepare for the second half, as heard in the earlier clip. 
The second half kickoff 
Travis Demers calling the action with Jeff Kroll analyzing and Pat Kroll producing 
Neil Marks watched on during the third quarter, and would rejoin Jeff and Travis in the fourth. 
Travis’s view of the field 
A final photo at the stadium before returning to WCWP
The Sharks led the Rams 21-14, but went on to lose 28-21. The key moment came late in the fourth quarter. One play after the Sharks recovered a Rams fumble at the 1-yard line, the Sharks fumbled the ball back to Rhode Island at the 5. The Rams tied, and went ahead on their next possession. At least it was an exciting game for Jeff, Neil, and Travis to call.
“Highlights” were run during the postgame show, emanating from studio 3 and atop the stadium press box.
John Zoni handled the out-of-town scoreboard…
…and Andrew Scarpaci narrated the highlights:
Programming returned to studio 2 at 3PM with Bernie Bernard. Here are photos taken while setting up:
To the left of Bernie is Jett Lightning. Bobby Guthenberg (a.k.a. Bobby G.) and Larry Brodsky are to the right of her. 
Bobby G. helped Bernie set up (Photo by Hugh Hammill) 
Photo by Hugh Hammill
The photos were taken after Bernie’s show began.
Hugh Hammill is pictured talking to WCWP station manager Dan Cox with Bernie Bernard prepping the next CD to play. Jeff Kroll is standing on the right and Bernie’s sister Melissa is seating facing away in the foreground. 
Ward Henry and Bernie Bernard (Photo by Hugh Hammill) 
Bernie’s view of Wavecart (Photo by Hugh Hammill) 
Larry Brodsky and Jeff Kroll (after Jeff spotted me taking a candid) 
Travis Demers, Frank Iemitti (capital I; with his back to the camera), John Zoni, John Mullen, Dave Fleischer
I neglected to shoot video, but WCWP station manager Dan Cox addressed the gathered alumni outside at the barbecue.
Dan was joined by Kerry Kruckel, LIU vice president for university advancement. 
This photo includes Joan Yonke (center), LIU director of development and
annual fund, and Art and Lee Beltrone to the right of Joan.
Grandfather Rock Chris MacIntosh and Dan Cox listen to Ms. Kruckel’s complimentary remarks. 
Dan was equally complimentary. 
Back inside studio 2…
Bernie Bernard at the board 
Chris MacIntosh joined Jett, Ward, Bernie, Melissa, and Hugh. 
Me with my Panasonic HC-X1500 camcorders. One had a handle unit attachment, and a great shotgun mic and tripod. The other had an okay tripod and no external mic or handle unit. 
Unfortunately, I forgot to hit record on those camcorders before Bernie interviewed me. Thankfully, Melissa Bernard took the next three photos that I used in the video you’ll see in a little while. 
“I was born in the ’80s!” 
Tony and Winnie Traguardo also dropped by. 
Before Mike Riccio and Bobby G.’s radio show, Bernie tried to stump Mike on who sang covers of two songs. 
Mike went 1 for 2. 
John Zoni told me a story about he came to be involved in coverage of the C.W. Post Pioneers/LIU Sharks Homecoming game, as well as encountering Bill Mozer immediately before and after the university fired Bill as station manager in 1990.
As John and I continued to talk, I could hear Bernie wrapping up her show. So, I rushed back into studio 2 to record camcorder videos.
Here is a scope of the entire show:
And a composite aircheck video:
Outside the studio, a photo of Dan Cox (right) with Winnie and Tony Traguardo:
A candid shot of Bobby G. and Jeff Kroll:
Bobby took a photo of me and Jeff:
I should note I bought that blue and gold LIU polo on my way out of the stadium. I chose to wear a green and gold LIU Post shirt that predated the “One LIU” athletics merger and move to NCAA Division I, but it felt wrong wearing that shirt. I changed into the new one when I got back to WCWP.
Pat Kroll took this photo of me and John Zoni:
She also found a CD in my name in one of the station mail slots, per this photo taken over a week later:
The artist said there was one instrumental track for me to play on Instrumental Invasion, unaware that my weekly run ended last November.
Anyway, it was on to Mike Riccio and Bobby G. at 6:02 PM. The theme this year was songs from 1961 to 1989 albums that have been streamed the most on Spotify. Bobby, Jett Lightning, and Bernie Bernard had to guess what the most-streamed song was before Mike began each set.
Mike Riccio 
Bobby G. 
Jett Lightning 
A posed photo of Jett Lightning 
Bernie Bernard returned to studio 2 by the 1970s portion of the show. 
Before I packed up my equipment and left for home, I got a photo of Mike Riccio and Bobby G.:
Here is a scope of most of their show. I edited out a talk break I intruded on and would like to forget.
And a composite aircheck video of all but that one talk break during their first 82 minutes:
Vince Randazzo came on at 9:03 PM with Alternative Jukebox. Yet again, I dip into the archives for a photo of him, taken at the 2022 WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony:
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22
Photos from Sunday are courtesy of Pat Kroll and Ted David.
I airchecked the last 18 hours of the weekend, beginning at 6AM with a pre-record of The Aural Fix Transmission with Mike Ferrari:
From here on out, everything was live, beginning at 8AM with Jay LaPrise:
The Ladies of Prison Break Radio, Jamie Mazzo and Sara Dorchak were next at 10:02 AM.
At 12:01 PM, it was Joe “Joseph P.” Honerkamp:
Photo by Ted David 
Jeff Kroll, Ted David, Joe Honerkamp (photo by Pat Kroll)
It was Ted David’s turn at 1:59 PM:
Thank you, Ted, for complimenting me and Travis Demers.
Ted, in turn, was followed by Lew Scharfberg at 4PM (photos by Pat Kroll):
Lew’s show was one of many on Homecoming Weekend engineered by Jeff Kroll.
Alana (seen below in 2022) hosted a special edition of The Rockin’ Sunday Show at 6:01 PM:
Grandfather Rock Chris MacIntosh was here with Rock ‘N’ Soul Gospel at 7:59 PM:
And Billy the Kid closed out Homecoming Weekend at 10:02 PM with Masters of Metal.
Post-production, no pun intended, began on the morning of September 23 and concluded on the morning of October 4 with publication of this post and the Instrumental Invasion posts.
Thank you very much for reading all the way to the end. In spite of any anxiety and stress, documenting events like this is a labor of love. I’m already looking forward to next Homecoming Weekend, but before then, WCWP celebrates its 60th anniversary as an FM station this March. I’ll surely have a recap of that.
Cheers to WCWP, the Abrams Communications Center, LIU Post, my fellow alumni, and the faculty I’ve gotten to know. I’ll see you soon.
10/5 UPDATE: I have a public Google Drive folder with airchecks and scopes of the Homecoming Weekend programs I recorded, while station manager Dan Cox has a folder with unscoped airchecks of all programming.
Instrumental Invasion, 9/21/24, 12AM (Homecoming Weekend) October 4, 2024
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Internet, Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Livestream, Media, Music, Personal, Radio, smooth jazz, Video Games.add a comment
Other posts: 9/20 2PM live show recap, comprehensive Homecoming Weekend recap
The prerecorded edition of Instrumental Invasion for WCWP‘s alumni-run Homecoming Weekend programming block aired at midnight on Saturday, September 21, eight hours after the live show concluded.
Again, let’s get the scoped aircheck out of the way before the behind-the-scenes details.
Just before my unscheduled Twitch stream on Tuesday, September 3, Homecoming Weekend co-coordinator Jeff Kroll called to ask if I could do record a second show to air in the early mornings on September 21 or 22. It was to be a three-hour show, the first time hosting a three-hour since I filled in for Martin Phillips on Thursday Night Jazz on October 29, 2009.
Since I had used up my 60-year musical journey format on the live show, this prerecord would adhere to the segment formats I used when Instrumental Invasion aired weekly. As a refresher, the final version of those segment formats was:
- 1984 and earlier
- 1985-97
- 1998-2009
- 2010-20
- 2021-present
To make things easier, I recycled songs (and one whole set!) from various weekly shows when creating the playlist on September 4. Annotations and the script draft were adapted from original annotations and scripts, except for songs I’d never played before. I wrote new material for those. Annotations continued into the 5th while the script was drafted from the 4th to the morning of the 6th.
Inspired four of my early Twitch streams before the push to video gaming, I streamed recording sessions on Twitch from September 6 to 8. All the while I had no idea when the show would air, though I assumed it would air Sunday morning. I don’t regret the “Friday” references despite the show airing mere hours after I was live. One pickup was seen on stream on the 8th, a slower reading of hour 2’s first talk break. Another pickup was done on the morning of the 9th prior to submission lest anyone think the Casiopea-P4 song I played was stylized as “Dreamers’ Dream” rather than “Dreamer’s Dream.” The show featured three songs by Casiopea from their 1st, 2nd, and P4 eras; along with two by T-Square (one as The Square). (I also played one song each by Casiopea and T-Square in the live show; back-to-back, at that.)
Upon completion, the Adobe Audition multitrack session looked like this:
For good measure, I present the three recording session Twitch streams at 75x speed set to “Mid-Manhattan,” the second song of the show.
And that’s the story of this show. Now, get back to the main recap, picking up with Magick Mike Hendryx at 3AM.
Instrumental Invasion, 9/20/24, 2PM (Homecoming Weekend) (Live!) October 4, 2024
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Internet, Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Livestream, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Radio, smooth jazz, Travel, Video.add a comment
Other posts: 9/21 12AM prerecorded show recap, comprehensive Homecoming Weekend recap
The live edition of Instrumental Invasion for WCWP‘s alumni-run Homecoming Weekend programming block aired at 2PM Friday, between Art Beltrone’s interview show and Strictly Jazz, WCWP’s longest-running program, dating back to the pre-FM carrier-current days when it was hosted by John March. The hosts of Strictly Jazz that followed me were Hank Neimark (“NEE-mark”), John LiBretto, and Jon Korkes (“CORE-kiss”) (via Zoom). You’ll see Hank and engineer Jeff Kroll at the end of the video below.
Before I get into how this Instrumental Invasion show was made and share photos taken during the show, let’s get the scoped aircheck out of the way…
…along with the aforementioned video.
The playlist for the live Instrumental Invasion was created July 24, long before a rough schedule was announced by Jeff and Pat Kroll, the Homecoming Weekend coordinators. I assumed I would be hosting one live show – intended for music from new releases – and one prerecord – the 60-year musical journey. So, I figured I’d get the presumed prerecord playlist out of the way and would work on the presumed live show playlist as the weekend approached.
The initial schedule was announced on August 12. I’d be live at 2PM, but didn’t see my name in an overnight slot. In a first for Homecoming Weekend, I made the 60-year musical journey the playlist for the live show, tweaking it slightly. I tweaked further on August 23. There would still be one song each between 1964 and ’89, and two songs for 1994 to 2004, but I scrapped the old plan of three songs each from 2009, ’14, and ’19. The 2024 song to close the remained, preceded by a set of three more songs from this year. 2009, ’14, and ’19 were winnowed down to pairs.
Annotations began August 23 after printing out the playlist, continuing on the 25th, 28th, and September 16. As in 2022, I didn’t make a script. I read the annotations, adding a Dancing with the Stars reference during the set with “Tropical Rain” by Jessy J (in that show’s Ray Chew Live house band). Otherwise, I spoke off the cuff. (It’s a shame that 1982 Weather Report video was pulled from YouTube after I watched it.)
I was the first show of the weekend to air from studio 2 at the renovated Abrams Communications Center. Here are photos I took during the first set of hour 2:
As “Beat Street” by David Benoit and Spice Fusion Big Band played, I had Jeff Kroll take a photo of me at the controls, just as he would be moments later.
Hank Neimark is seen phoning Jon Korkes to set him up on Zoom.
My only regret about the show is that my remix of the WCWP Oldtimers Weekend liner was not in Wavecart. The original was in there and played “Machine Gun” by The Commodores at a slower speed. This is “Machine Gun” (excerpted portion at 1:32):
And this is my remixed liner:
(The Homecoming Weekend moniker was adopted once the programming block coincided with then-C.W. Post‘s Homecoming.)
That aside, dragging and dropping liners in was easy, and I enjoyed using the “WCWP Remembers [year]” liners.
Just when I thought this would be the only show I’d have on Homecoming Weekend, Jeff Kroll called me September 3 to say he needed a three-hour prerecord to fill time early Saturday or Sunday morning. You can read about that show here.
SJFS 2024 Night 2 recap May 2, 2024
Posted by Mike C. in Audio, Classical, Health, Internet, Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Livestream, Music, Personal, Pets, Photography, Pop, Radio, smooth jazz, Travel, Video.add a comment
The night of Saturday, April 20, would bring the second set of Jay Rowe‘s 20th Smooth Jazz for Scholars, benefiting the Milford Public Schools music department. Before I recap that, I have another long preamble listing how my day went before the show itself. (Scroll down to Kevin McCabe’s first photo if you don’t want to read it.)
I got six hours of sleep, waking up around 7:30 AM. I neglected to pack mouthwash and could only rinse with warm water on Friday evening. My room at Hampton Inn – room 144 – lacked a bottle of complimentary mouthwash. Upon returning to the hotel from Veterans Memorial Auditorium at Parsons Complex, I asked the front desk if they had any, since a message in my bathroom said to ask there. The clerk had bad news: no mouthwash there, either. Thus, upon waking up Saturday morning and doing a few sets of push-ups, I got dressed, put on my jacket with a sun visor to keep the jacket’s hood from drooping below my forehead, and walked to a nearby supermarket on Boston Post Road (U.S. 1). The approximately quarter-mile walk took me across Plains Road, through a shopping center that featured an Aldi, and to Big Y. Once inside Big Y, I bought pairs of Cool Mint and Total Care Listerine travel-size bottles, a three-pack of ChapStick Medicated (the tube I had was almost finished), and a $1 reusable bag. That should hold me over for the next year or so.
Once back at Hampton Inn, I entered from the south side with my key card and went back to my room. I showered, got dressed in clean clothes, and brought my laptop to the lobby for breakfast and mingling with any musicians or fans I happened to see. Estella Taylor-Greene and Norma Rohadfox were there, Rob and Mel Hoogenboom were there with their dog Olive (third photo below), Mark and Phyllis Abrams had their dog Cody (first and second photos), and Friday night headliner Althea René was there (fourth and fifth photos with Rob, Mel, and Estella).
All the while, I sat at the elevated table with my laptop, eating banana muffins and drinking apple juice. (I didn’t feel like eggs or waffles and it was too late for cereal.) On the laptop, I went through the 401 photos I kept from Friday night, deleting anything overly blurry or where Althea wasn’t blowing into her flute’s lip plate or fellow headliner Marcus Anderson wasn’t on his alto saxophone’s mouthpiece. I struck up a conversation with a young couple who were in town for a friend’s wedding as the boyfriend marveled at the photos I was going through. Diane Roth and her partner Rich said hello and I spoke them for a bit, as I did with John and Theresa Monteverde. I’ve seen John and Theresa since the Houndstooth Pub shows in the early 2010s. They live in Merrick here on Long Island and John was retired from working at the Citibank in Freeport, near my day job. There wasn’t any caffeine free tea available in the lobby; only black tea, which has caffeine. So, John offered a green tea bag from his room and I drank from that instead.
My parents Lisa and Bill came down to check out of their room around 9:30 and said goodbye before driving back to Long Island. My dad is in the Freeport Fire Department (in Truck Co. 1) and they were holding their annual installation dinner Saturday night at a hotel in Melville. It was there that fellow Truck 1 member Joe Falco was named honorary chief for his 50 years of service. (Joe is a 9/11 survivor, and was the focus of a documentary that served as my college senior project.)
Saturday headliner Steve Cole came down to the lobby at one point and I struck up a conversation with him and another fan that was seated next to him.
By 11:30, the lobby began to thin out, so I brought my laptop back to my room. Before finishing up winnowing Friday’s photos, I walked to the fitness center to lift weights. As I exercised, I listened (on my phone) to the remaining “from the vault” tracks on the redone 1989 (Taylor’s Version), one of the CDs I bought when building my Taylor Swift studio album collection earlier in April. “Is It Over Now?” accompanied me back to my room where I completed the winnowing process. 280 of the 401 photos remained.
After eating a protein bar, I used a newly discovered time-saving tool to easily rename the photos from my Canon EOS R7‘s filename system to my date specific names. The old way was long and tedious. Since these photos were taken April 19, 2024, the filenames would begin with “MC41924” and follow with 001 and beyond. A My Life in Gaming video (released exactly two months earlier) introduced me to Advanced Renamer. Thankfully, my task did not require paying for registration. I imported the files, typed “MC41924” in the “new name” section, clicked on “<Inc Nr> – Incrementing Number,” clicked “start batch,” and “start” in the prompt. Immediately, all photos were renamed, from MC41924001 to MC41924280. The process was just as easy for renaming the watermarked photos chosen for the blog posts. Watch this clip from my April 27 photo editing Twitch stream to see how that went. (I streamed most of the photo editing process on my Twitch channel over a seven-day period before going back to video games.)
With the renaming taken care of, I began editing Friday’s remaining 280 photos. I wasn’t going to get them all done, but I did as much as I could. I also jumped ahead to the meet and greet photos since they’d be easier to edit. I listened to various tracks in iTunes by Casiopea, the Chick Corea Elektric Band, and the Dave Brubeck Quartet until around 2:00 when Courtney Visser and Cerian (“kerry ann”) began their Twitch streams. They guided me through the next two hours (and 85 photos) until a second shower and a walk back to Pasquale Pizza for another pasta dinner. I went from rigatoni with meat sauce on Friday to tortellini with meat sauce on Saturday. After paying the check, I went to Cumberland Farms for the same ice cream pints as Friday: Twix Cookie Dough and Snickers. Approaching Hampton Inn’s south entrance, I thought about a line in Taylor Swift’s “Is It Over Now?”: “you search in every model’s bed for something greater.” I joked to myself, yeah, like I have access to models – model cars I made when I was a teenager. (I showed off those cars in the second SJFS photo editing stream.)
My friend Kelly Dacey arrived in the parking lot at 7:00 to drive me to the auditorium. I carried all my gear from my room to her Kia Sportage and put them in the front seat with me. That gear again:
- Canon EOS R7 with RF-S 18-150mm lens
- Panasonic HC-X1500 with VW-HU1 and Rode VideoMic GO II
- GoPro HERO7 with YOLOtek Juicebank
- Magnus VT-300 tripod
- Targus tripod (model number unknown; yes, I said “model”)
We briefly spoke to Steve Cole as he stood outside before his trip to the auditorium. He remembered Kelly from a 2013 Houndstooth Pub gig where she brought her saxophone lesson book with her. After one song, he joked to her “that’s page [I forget the number] in your book.”
Kelly parked in the lot adjacent to Wasson Field, a baseball field where a game was in progress. We walked in to Veterans Memorial Auditorium and I set up my equipment in the orchestra pit. Then, I went back to the lobby to buy a copy of Saturday headliner Blake Aaron‘s latest CD, Love and Rhythm, from Michelle at the merchandise table. I said hello to Jay Rowe’s mother Mia DiStasi who stood at a table next to the 50/50 raffle table. It was there that I bought three tickets for $10. I didn’t expect to win, but I figured I’d take a chance.
On my way back in, I said hello to usher Steve Lewis and his daughter Jen, and to Paul, another usher.
I saw Kevin McCabe and asked if he had a set list for that night, he said no and quickly moved on. There were a lot of things to take care of before the show, after all. Fortunately, I came across Jay Rowe who was able to forward me his e-mail to Kevin with both night’s set lists. So, in the pit, I wrote down the songs on my stenographer pad.
As I was copying the set list, John Monteverde approached me to ask if he and Theresa could drive me back to Wantagh on Sunday morning so my parents wouldn’t have to drive back from Melville to get me in the afternoon. After talking it over with my mom, I agreed. It was set: John, Theresa, and I would check out of our rooms around 9AM, they’d drive me to Wantagh and then drive to their home in Merrick. And that’s why my photo editing streams began Sunday afternoon at my usual approximate 2:00 start time instead of Monday afternoon at around 5:30.
Most of the photographers were the same as Friday night: me, Katherine Gilraine, and Kenny Combs. Dolly Moye’s friend Rick joined us in the pit along with Bill, a friend of Saturday headliner Marion Meadows. Andrew James could only make the sound check, while Ron Hancox couldn’t make it at all. He and his wife Nydia were flying to Greece at midnight.
8:00 finally came, and Kevin McCabe walked on stage to greet the audience:
He introduced the Jonathan Law High School Jazz Ensemble, directed by Dave Pelaggi. Mr. P’s ensemble performed “Blue Moon” and “Cry Me a River.”
Like Friday night, after the crew removed the chairs for the student performers, Kevin returned to thank sponsors and Milford officials…
…and again, showed off a work of art by Marion Meadows.
Then, he introduced the house band, led by Jay Rowe. (Pardon the sheet music tablet.)
In order of appearance, Saturday’s headliners were Blake Aaron:
…and Alex Bugnon:
The four-piece house band was made up of Trever Somerville on drums:
Dave Anderson on bass:
Andy Abel on guitar:
And music director Jay Rowe on keyboards:
This time, I put my earplugs in sooner, during the ensemble performance, and took them out after the finale.
SET LIST (Updated with videos on 5/25/24)
1. City Groove (Jay Rowe)
2023 single
Featured musician: Jay Rowe (keyboards)
2. Groovers and Shakers (Blake Aaron)
Originally heard on: Color and Passion (2020)
Featured musicians: Blake Aaron (guitar), Steve Cole (tenor sax)
3. Crush (Blake Aaron)
Originally heard on: Love and Rhythm (2024)
Featured musicians: Blake Aaron (guitar), Steve Cole (tenor sax)
Blake and Steve both had their share of jokes, but Steve had me in stitches. Before the next song, he said “Alexa…play Steve Cole.”
4. C’mon Y’all (Steve Cole)
Originally heard on: Without a Doubt (2023)
Featured musician: Steve Cole (tenor sax)
Ahead of Steve’s second song, he went from Amazon to Apple: “Hey Siri! (pause) All your phones just went nuts, didn’t they? Play ‘Mirage’!”
5. Mirage (Steve Cole)
Originally heard on: Turn It Up (2016)
Featured musician: Steve Cole (tenor sax)
6. Something About You (Timmy Maia)
Featured musician: Timmy Maia (vocals)
7. Don’t You Worry ’bout a Thing (Timmy Maia) (Stevie Wonder cover)
Featured musician: Timmy Maia (vocals)
8. Wishing on a Star (Marion Meadows)
Originally heard on: Player’s Club (2004)
Featured musician: Marion Meadows (soprano sax) (started in audience)
9. Marcosinho (Marion Meadows; Dave Valentin cover)
Originally heard on: Whisper (2013)
Featured musician: Marion Meadows (soprano sax)
10. Night Groove (Alex Bugnon)
Originally heard on: Soul Purpose (2001)
Featured musicians: Alex Bugnon (keyboards), Marion Meadows (soprano sax)
Jay Rowe did not play.
11. Spellbound (Alex Bugnon) (Joe Sample cover)
Featured musician: Alex Bugnon (keyboards)
The story behind Alex’s cover of “Spellbound” involved filling in for an ailing Joe Sample at Yoshi’s in 2013. Spellbound was the first jazz album I ever bought, in the summer of 1998.
Jay Rowe did not play.
12. Europa (Blake Aaron) (Santana cover)
Originally heard on: Soul Stories (2015)
Featured musician: Blake Aaron (guitar) (played through audience at midpoint)
13. Attitude (Steve Cole)
Originally heard on: Without a Doubt (2023)
Featured musician: Steve Cole (tenor sax)
14. Southern Living (Alex Bugnon)
Originally heard on: Southern Living (2003)
Featured musician: Alex Bugnon (keyboards)
Jay Rowe did not play.
15. Romantica (Marion Meadows)
Originally heard on: Player’s Club (2004)
Featured musicians: Marion Meadows (soprano sax), Blake Aaron (guitar)
16. Can We Talk (Timmy Maia) (Tevin Campbell cover)
Featured musician: Timmy Maia (vocals)
17 (Finale). Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground) (The Jacksons cover)
Featured musicians: Everyone
Photo galleries of the headliners, starting with Blake Aaron:
On to the house band, beginning with drummer Trever Somerville:
Bassist Dave Anderson:
Guitarist Andy Abel:
And Jay Rowe on keyboards:
On to medium shots. First, Steve and Blake’s “Groovers and Shakers” call and response:
Blake and Andy:
Marion and Alex:
Marion and Blake:
Steve and Marion:
Wide shots, led by the end of “Don’t Your Worry ’bout a Thing”:
End of “Wishing on a Star”:
End of “Marcosinho”:
End of “Europa”:
The ovation after “Europa”:
More audience shots during “Marcosinho”…
…and the finale, “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)”:
There’ll be more finale photos after shots of the 50/50 raffle.
Saturday’s pot was $1,250, $400 higher than Friday. As noted earlier, I bought three tickets for $10.
The winner was a photographer in the orchestra pit, but not me. That honor went to my fellow photographer Kenny Combs.
I congratulated Kenny when he returned to the pit.
That leaves the finale, “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground).” Coincidentally, that song closed the first Smooth Jazz for Scholars I attended in 2007, also featuring Timmy Maia as a headliner. Here are Saturday’s finale photos:
I balked at an opportunity to speak (and pose for photos) with Steve Cole and Alex Bugnon inside the auditorium, but did get a couple of photos in the lobby. Kelly was waiting for me there. She’d been talking to Jeff, a trombonist who got to play in a band with Steve Davis, another trombonist that Jeff considers his favorite.
As for the artists seen Saturday night, here I am with Blake Aaron:
I told Blake I’d played several tracks from his prior album, Color and Passion, on Instrumental Invasion. In turn, he noted he also hosted a radio show for a while.
The other photo taken in the lobby was with Marion Meadows:
Kevin McCabe finally got a copy of the set lists for both nights and handed it to me right before Kelly took the above photo.
My last photo of the night was a photo of a photo. Estella posed with Marion and his signed artwork (he signed the back of the print):
I briefly said hello to Timmy Maia before he left for the after party. I spoke to Jay Dobbins, Janet Abel, and Dolly Moye. Then, Kelly and I went back to the parking lot, into her SUV, and back to Hampton Inn. I hugged her goodbye until next year and thanked her for her friendship.
I was greeted in the lobby by Estella, Mark and Phyllis, Rob and Mel, their dogs Cody and Olive, and Bennett. Bennett is a loyal concertgoer who’s brought an acoustic guitar to all the shows he attends – including Smooth Jazz for Scholars – and has musicians sign that guitar. Taylor Swift is among those to sign his guitar!
Here is Bennett’s guitar, as seen Friday night:
To the chagrin of the hotel clerk at the front desk, Cody and Olive barked happily at their new friend Bennett. After she politely asked for the dogs to be quiet or brought back to their rooms, I bid everyone good night and went back to my room. I then repeated the process of unloading the photos and videos onto my laptop, and converting the RAW files to JPGs – 440 of them on Saturday – in Adobe Lightroom. All the while, Emily McVicker and her community kept me company on Twitch. For the second time that weekend, my stream viewership coincided with a resub; the start of my fourth month with Emily.
I’m not sure how much sleep I got, but it was at least four hours. I was awakened around 5:30 AM Sunday by chirping birds outside my room. It was too close to sunrise to bother putting in earplugs and trying to sleep a little more. So, I turned my laptop on and took a figurative machete to the 440 photos moved from my camera. 305 remained, and I swiftly (no pun intended) renamed them with Advanced Renamer.
I did not bother editing anymore photos. Instead, I backed up all photos and some videos to the portable hard drive I brought with me. I took a shower, got dressed, and packed up all but the laptop. Then, I went to the lobby for breakfast sans laptop. There was cereal this time, and I ate one small bowl each of Honey Nut Cheerios, Froot Loops, and Rice Krispies, adding a little milk for the first two. I had to eat very carefully because of my hand tremor, but eat I did. I complemented the cereal with two cups of apple juice. I spoke to Diane and Rich, Phyllis, and John and Theresa.
When I finished eating, I went back to my room. There, I packed up the laptop, gathered all my belongings, and trudged them all to the lobby for checkout. It was shortly after 9AM by then, but John and Theresa had yet to check out. So, I sat in the lobby behind the TV as CNN’s State of the Union aired. Within 15 or 20 minutes, they had checked out and we headed to the parking lot to load up their Toyota RAV4.
According to my watch, we left at 9:31. The ride flew by in time and conversation. With SiriusXM Watercolors on in the background, we spent the whole time talking about Smooth Jazz for Scholars, the other events we’ve attended (or they’ve attended), and other things in our lives. I forgot to check my watch when John pulled up to my house in Wantagh, but I assume at was around 10:51. It only took an hour and 20 minutes, shorter than any return trip from Milford since 2007. I recall fast return trips with my parents taking an hour and 50 minutes, but that’s because we would leave around 11AM. There was even less traffic earlier in the morning. I thanked John and Theresa for their generosity and we vowed to keep in touch. In fact, as I type this, I’m due to write back to John.
Now that I’m a Twitch streamer, I vowed to use my stream time to edit photos from Smooth Jazz for Scholars, and will do so again with later events like the WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony and Long Island Retro Gaming Expo. From Sunday afternoon to Saturday afternoon, April 21 to 27, I streamed 15 hours of editing and picking photos to watermark for use in these blog posts. Since I didn’t want to get copyright strikes, I downloaded classic video game soundtracks off YouTube and played those in the background. I talked about my experience in Milford, about my progress listening to Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, and anything else on my mind. I even picked up three photo editing stream followers along the way. I enjoyed sharing the process on Twitch and look forward to doing it again in June with my next event. Until then, it’s back to gaming.
I was in my element at Smooth Jazz for Scholars. I’m honored and privileged to document the event each year and to be surrounded by my fellow fans and musician acquaintances. Thank you very much to Jay Rowe, Kevin McCabe, the headliners, and all my friends. And thank you for reading one or both of my 20th Smooth Jazz for Scholars blog posts.
Until next year, I leave you with a montage of all seven photo editing streams at 100x speed, set to the Wurttemberg Chamber Orchestra performance of Bach’s “Concerto in A minor, BWV 1044 for Flute, Violin, Harpischord and Basso continuo: Allegro.”
SJFS 2024 Night 1 recap May 2, 2024
Posted by Mike C. in Audio, Health, Internet, Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Livestream, Music, Personal, Photography, Pop, Rap, smooth jazz, Travel, Video.add a comment
Friday, April 19, was the first of two nights of the 2024 Smooth Jazz for Scholars, hosted by keyboardist Jay Rowe in his hometown of Milford, Connecticut. It was the 21st anniversary, but 20th overall (postponed by COVID in 2020 and ’21). Each year, this two-night event (one night prior to 2012) benefits the Milford Public Schools music department. And as with most years, each night opens with a performance by student musicians under the direction of their music teacher. The “smooth jazz” part comes from the four to five headliners each night. I’ll name Friday’s four headliners after my preamble. (Scroll down to Kevin McCabe’s first photo if you don’t want to read it.)
A lot has changed in my life since last year (night 1, night 2). A chance browse of Twitch on the evening of May 9 sent me down another rabbit hole: the wonderful world of music streamers. As if my horizons hadn’t been broadened enough by Japanese city pop, idol music, and anime thanks to the likes of Caitlin Myers, I was now exposed to female vocalists from the United States, Canada, and even the UK (England, Ireland). Most have written and performed original songs, but others just do covers. Those covers exposed me to the likes of Maisie Peters, Olivia Rodrigo, and Taylor Swift. Over the last few months, I have become a Swiftie, and after buying her CDs, a savant that can name what album a given song appeared on. It’s weird looking in iTunes and seeing Taylor, Cerian (“kerry ann”), Katie Seto, and Steph La Rochelle juxtaposed with all my instrumentals. (I’ve been on a McCoy Tyner kick in recent months.)
On November 3, I joined the ranks of Twitch streamers, primarily playing video games, but occasionally breaking for media production. At first, that involved recording what part of what became the penultimate Instrumental Invasion show and then recording the finale. That was it until all of last week when I edited most of the photos from both nights of the 20th Smooth Jazz for Scholars, all while listening to video game music soundtracks. (I didn’t want to risk copyright strikes for playing music by the SJFS headliners.) Even though I’m not a music streamer, I raid out to (end by sending my audience to) music streams more often than any other category. My road as a streamer and a stream viewer has not been flawless. I’ve had my share of self-inflicted bumps and costly errors, which I won’t get into. On the whole, however, I’m satisfied with the path I’ve taken.
Unlike last year, I wasn’t the least bit anxious about the workload at the Parsons Complex Veterans Memorial Auditorium. I only feared having a meltdown while in Milford as I’d had at prior events like last year’s New York Comic Con (which I’ll never go to again) or various parties where I was out of my comfort zone. Miraculously, there were no meltdowns. I was in my comfort zone all throughout. Nothing broke me. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
I spent parts of Thursday and Friday morning packing up for my journey to Milford. I would be staying at the Hampton Inn on Plains Road, I-95 exit 36. My parents Lisa and Bill would stay until Saturday morning, return to Long Island for the Freeport Fire Department installation dinner, and drive back to Connecticut to pick me up by Sunday afternoon. (SPOILER: They wouldn’t have to come back for me. Read about that in the Saturday recap.)
We left our house in Dad’s Ford Explorer at 1:02 PM Friday. Despite pockets of traffic on the Northern State Parkway, Lakeville Road, and the Throgs Neck Expressway (I-295), we reached the Hampton Inn parking lot at 3:19, only two hours and 17 minutes later. SiriusXM’s Watercolors smooth jazz channel was on the car stereo, but I watched Twitch streams on my phone with earbuds. I started with Gillian Hayek‘s fishing game stream, then moved on to Natalie Paige‘s last stream before moving to Connecticut (can’t say where) from the Seattle, Washington, area. The stream coincided with my six-month renewal, and I chose Norah Jones‘s sinister-sounding “Miriam” for Natalie to cover.
At check-in, I had my dad request rooms facing the parking lot rather than I-95. I was in room 144, near the south entrance accessible by key card. Once my laptop was unpacked and I’d paid for two days of guest Wi-Fi, I returned to Natalie Paige’s stream and put on Ellie Fier‘s stream after 4:00. Ellie is the reason I became a Swiftie in the first place. Friday was a big day for Taylor Swift fans: release day for the latest album, The Tortured Poets Department. I’d already bought Taylor’s prior albums on CD earlier in the month and would be sure to rip the tracks from my TTPD CD (The Manuscript Edition) once I got home. (Yes, there’s The Anthology. I accessed those additional 14 tracks via YouTube Music.) As noted in my photo editing Twitch streams, I wouldn’t listen to all 31 tracks until the following Tuesday, finishing on the treadmill three mornings later. My only exposure to any track prior to then was Ellie’s rendition of “So High School,” track 22 on The Anthology.
At 5:30, like last year, my parents and I drove a short distance to Pasquale Pizza for a pasta dinner, preceded by garlic knots. When I was finished, I left my parents and walked back to Hampton Inn, stopping at Cumberland Farms along the way to buy two low-calorie pints of Mars candy flavored ice cream to eat in my room. One was Twix Cookie Dough and the other was Snickers. By this time, I paired Natalie’s stream with Katie O’Flaherty. I watched until shortly before 7:00, at which I packed my equipment to bring to the auditorium.
The Canon EOS R7 with RF-S 18-150mm lens was in my backpack with a stenographer pad (the same one I bought at the Milford CVS a year ago) and battery charger with spare battery attached. I kept the Panasonic HC-X1500 with VW-HU1 and Rode VideoMic GO II in a travel bag along with a spare battery, but that wasn’t all. I decided to bring my GoPro HERO7 with YOLOtek Juicebank attached for wide cutaway shots when repositioning the HC-X1500. That meant I brought a second tripod, by Targus (I forget the model number), aside from the Magnus VT-300 for the camcorder.
My parents dropped me off adjacent to the auditorium and I lugged my equipment in. It was all surprisingly lightweight. In the lobby, I stopped at the merchandise table where I bought a CD of Friday headliner Althea René‘s Live in Detroit from Michelle. Then, I proceeded to the orchestra pit, limboed under the rope on the right side, and set up in the center. Jay Rowe didn’t e-mail me the set lists for each night beforehand. So, I had to rely on what was said on stage. I only blanked on one song out of 15, but figured out what it was Saturday morning.
As 8:00 approached, I mingled with fellow photographers Katherine Gilraine, Keith McDonald, Ron Hancox, and Andrew James, and with fellow fans like Robin Morin Stewart, Judy Raphael, Mary Jane Manna, Rob and Mel Hoogenboom, and Mark and Phyllis Abrams.
At last, it was time for the house lights to dim and Kevin McCabe bid us “good evening” (and have us repeat it louder):
He introduced the John F. Kennedy Elementary School Select Grade 4 Chorus, under the direction of Theresa Voss.
I saw a stack of jackets on right side of orchestra pit when I arrived. They belonged to members of the chorus.
Kevin returned to thank sponsors and Milford officials:
Showing off one of Marion Meadows’ artworks, on sale in lobby
(Marion Meadows would be one of Saturday’s headliners.)
Jay Rowe had opening remarks, then went into first track – “City Groove,” his latest single. (The full set list follows introductory photos.)
In order of appearance, Friday’s headliners were Vincent Ingala:
…and Marcus Anderson:
Steve Scales was absent this year, but the rest of Jay’s house band was intact from last year.
Trever Somerville on drums:
Dave Anderson on bass:
Andy Abel on guitar (rhythm during Steve Oliver songs):
And directing at all, Jay Rowe on keyboards:
I forgot to put in my earplugs until the first song below. I took them out when the house lights went up after the finale.
SET LIST (Updated with videos on 5/22/24)
1. City Groove (Jay Rowe)
2023 single
Featured musician: Jay Rowe (keyboards)
2. Rosemary’s Tune (Jay Rowe)
Originally heard on: Live at Daniel Street (2011), Smooth Ride (2016)
Featured musicians: Jay Rowe (keyboards), Vincent Ingala (tenor sax)
3. Snap, Crackle, Pop (Vincent Ingala)
Originally heard on: Personal Touch (2018)
Featured musician: Vincent Ingala (tenor sax)
4. High Noon (Steve Oliver)
Originally heard on: Positive Energy (2002)
Featured musician: Steve Oliver (guitar, vocal sounds)
5. Skyway (Steve Oliver)
Originally heard on: A New Light (2023)
Featured musician: Steve Oliver (guitar, vocal sounds)
6. Pastel Leather (Althea René)
Originally heard on: Pastel Leather (2022)
Featured musician: Althea René (flute)
7. Life on Mars (Althea René) (Dexter Wansel cover)
Originally heard on: Flawsome (2019)
Featured musician: Althea René (flute, “flute talk” while playing through audience at midpoint)
8. Reverse (Marcus Anderson)
Originally heard on: Reverse (2022)
Featured musician: Marcus Anderson (alto sax)
9. Understanding (Marcus Anderson)
Originally heard on: Limited Edition (2017)
Featured musician: Marcus Anderson (alto sax)
10. Chips and Salsa (Steve Oliver)
Originally heard on: 3D (2004)
Featured musician: Steve Oliver (guitar, vocal sounds)
11. GoGo Bootz (Althea René)
Originally heard on: Pastel Leather (2022)
Featured musicians: Althea René (flute), Marcus Anderson (alto sax)
12. Care for You (Marcus Anderson)
Originally heard on: Reverse (2022)
Featured musician: Marcus Anderson (alto sax, rap interlude)
13. Personal Touch (Vincent Ingala)
Originally heard on: Personal Touch (2018)
Featured musician: Vincent Ingala (tenor sax)
14. On the Move (Vincent Ingala)
Originally heard on: Fire & Desire (2021)
Featured musician: Vincent Ingala (tenor sax)
15 (Finale). Miss You (The Rolling Stones cover)
Featured musicians: Everyone; Steve Oliver (vocals, vocal sounds)
Here are photo galleries of the headliners, starting with Vincent Ingala:
Now, the house band, beginning with drummer Trever Somerville:
Bassist Dave Anderson’s “Life on Mars” solo:
Guitarist Andy Abel:
Finally, Jay Rowe on keyboards:
On to medium shots, starting with Vincent and Jay:
Vincent and Dave:
Vincent, Andy and Trever:
Marcus and Jay:
Althea and Marcus on “GoGo Bootz”:
Wide shots from the end of “Life on Mars”:
End of “Chips and Salsa”:
“GoGo Bootz”:
End of “Care for You”:
Audience dancing during “GoGo Bootz”:
After “Care for You,” Kevin McCabe presented the basket of 50/50 raffle tickets.
I didn’t buy tickets on Friday night, but would on Saturday. 
Jay revealed he was in between cataract surgeries and will no longer need glasses. 
Jay picked the winning ticket. 
The $850 winner was Karen Russillo.
The finale, “Miss You“:
As I packed up, Phyllis Abrams showed me the rose she caught from Marcus Anderson, going so far as putting up to my nose. I said it smelled like fabric softener, but I meant carpet cleaner. Then, I introduced myself to photographer Kenny Combs, and said hello to Jay Dobbins, Janet Abel (Andy’s sister), and Dolly Moye. Dolly introduced me to her high school friend Rick. My friend Kelly Dacey was there and we spoke briefly in the auditorium, but more in the lobby during the meet and greet. Below are photos from the meet and greet.
Estella and Steve reprising the “Chips and Salsa” vocal sounds:
The next two photos are by Andrew James: me with the headliners – Steve, Marcus, Vincent, Althea:
Then, Jay Rowe joined in:
Dolly Moye let me have a pair of dancing sunglasses, as seen in this selfie, my last photo of the night:
At least that was the last photo taken that night on the EOS R7. Andrew wanted photos with the headliners and Jay, and Mark (a different Mark) wanted a photo with Marcus.
Kelly helped me bring the equipment to her, then we drove back to Hampton Inn where she dropped me off. She went to the after party, and I went back to my room to unload the photos and videos onto my laptop, and convert all the RAW files to JPGs in Adobe Lightroom. I had SashiBOOM and her dog Perry keeping me company on Twitch until that process was complete. Then, off to sleep.
Instrumental Invasion, 11/17/23: Finale November 18, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Computer, Internet, Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Livestream, Media, Music, New Age, Personal, Radio, smooth jazz, Video.add a comment
The final prime time Instrumental Invasion on WCWP began life the same way the prior night did: as a Wednesday night show to air following what I assumed to be a short renovation programming hiatus. I hadn’t recorded this one yet, though. The playlist, annotations, and script were completed, but I wanted to work on more playlists before recording 181 or 182. I made 183 the Christmas show and 184 the third Three-of-a-Kind Showcase special. I’d work on 185 and 186 when I was ready.
The playlist was created on October 20 and 22. Annotations began on October 25, but were put on hold due to uncertainty over the hiatus and lineup change that was to follow. I finished those annotations and drafted the script on November 1. I figured I would record 181, then move on to 182.
After making tweaks to show 181 on the evening of November 6, I tweaked all components of 182: playlist, annotations, and script. Obviously, I’d have to redo the intro and outro, including a proper goodbye on the latter. These are the changes made:
- Extracurricular info about “The Secret Drawer” by Bob James was thrown out to allow more time for the goodbye.
- “This Time Around” by Four80East was replaced with “The End of Our Season” by David Benoit and Russ Freeman, the same song that closed The Instrumental Invasion on WGBB back on May 5, 2005.
- “Fellowship” by Justin-Lee Schultz was replaced by “Wrong Side (instrumental, no backing vocals)” by Cerian (kerry-anne), fulfilling my promise to her in the Twitch stream I raided on November 4.
- Annotations were updated to include the replacement songs, and the script was updated accordingly. The script was revised a few more times before recording began.
Two segments per day were recorded from November 9 to 11. Each time, I streamed the recording sessions on Twitch.
Click here to download the finale’s aircheck scope or listen below:
I’m sad the show is over, but relieved that the hard work is behind me. So much time and effort went into each show, so burnout was inevitable. While this isn’t quite how I wanted to end, I’m grateful to WCWP station manager Pete Bellotti for allowing me a proper ending. Here was Pete’s complimentary statement on the WCWP Alumni Association Facebook group hours before air:
A salute to Mike Chimeri … yes, his birthday (Happy Birthday!!!!!) ….but to his final Instrumental Invasion tonight at 9p on 88.1 FM WCWP. There are no words to describe how important Mike will always be to WCWP as a talent, alum and human being. I am truly grateful for Mike’s friendship and I speak for many by saying THANK YOU! Time for some R & R and the next project that you will execute with class, professionalism & superior skill.
Cheers my friend!!!
Pete Bellotti, 11/17/23, 1:05 PM
Thank you very much, Pete.
Thank you, the listener and reader, for reading these recaps and listening to the airchecks. See you all on Twitch.
MikeChimeri.com 