Phil Schaap, Iconic Jazz DJ And NEA Jazz Master, Dies At 70
Schaap was one of the leading jazz scholars in America and the genre's foremost evangelist. He died at 70, after a long battle with cancer.
The voice of was as distinctive as the trumpet of Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk's piano, or the sumptuous saxophone harmonies of the Duke Ellington Orchestra, but he didn't didn't make his mark as a musician. Instead, Schaap was one of the leading jazz scholars in America, and the genre's foremost evangelist. He was a radio host, a record producer, a concert programmer, an educator, a reissue producer, an archivist and a researcher, and served many other functions beyond those. His voice was the sound of an authoritative, passionate himself.
