By Don Mopsick

The website for "Riverwalk, Live From the Landing," America's best-loved Public Radio jazz series has been newly re-designed. Now beginning its tenth year on Public Radio International, the weekly hour-long series features the highly acclaimed Jim Cullum Jazz Band and topics and personalities from the world of classic pre-WWII jazz and swing. The show is taped before a live audience at the Landing Jazz Club on the Riverwalk in San Antonio. Guests have included: Benny Carter, Milt Hinton, Bob Haggart, Doc Cheatham, Joe Williams, Bob Wilber, Linda Hopkins, Sweets Edison, Dick Hyman, Banu Gibson, Savion Glover, Yank Lawson, Kenny Davern, Warren Vache Jr., Ken Peplowski, Norma Teagarden, Howard Alden, Dan Barrett, Lionel Hampton, Jay McShann, Nicholas Payton, Clark Terry, and others. The show is hosted by folklorist David Holt and frequent narrators are William Warfield and Vernel Bagneris.

The content-rich website features: profiles and photos of guests, current show schedule (including tune lists) and current US station list, JCJB touring itinerary, and an extensive online CD catalog. A link to the site for Jim Cullum's Landing jazz club in San Antonio is provided. An exciting new feature is a page of links to RealAudio files on demand at www.broadcast.com which provide the web user with many hours of Riverwalk CDs and unreleased shows, including parts I and II of Riverwalk's highly regarded jazz transcription of Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess" featuring narration by William Warfield. There are also links to three radio stations broadcasting the current Riverwalk season in RealAudio.

The latest CD release on the Riverwalk label, "Deep River," is volume eight of the Riverwalk Vintage Jazz Collection, and features the JCJB with guest artists Clark Terry, Nicolas Payton, Topsy Chapman, and Nina Ferro. "Deep River" is a collection of hymns, spirituals, and Christian liturgical music done in the classic jazz style of the JCJB, as featured in their well-received Jazz Mass presented regularly in churches throughout the US, as well as on the Riverwalk series.

An independent film released in 1998 by October Films, "Still Breathing," features the JCJB on the soundtrack as well as in a brief on-screen appearance. The film will be available on video January 12 at Blockbuster and other outlets, followed by a probable run on TV pay-per-view and sattelite in 1999.

The Content Developer for the Riverwalk and Landing sites is Don Mopsick (mophandl@idworld.net), who is also the bassist with the JCJB. The sites are hosted in San Antonio by Nortel Networks. Riverwalk is produced for Texas Public Radio by Jim Cullum, Margaret Pick, and Lynn Cruise of Pacific Vista Productions (pvp@aol.com).