Unforgettable Bob Perkins’ Backstory: How The Content of His Character Stamped Him In Our Memory

On Sunday, January 19, 2025, WRTI Jazz Radio icon Bob Perkins passed away in the early hours of the morning, at age 91, at Jefferson Abington Hospital, near where he lived for many years with his wife, Dr. Sheila K. Perkins. He will always be remembered for his decades-long work as a radio broadcaster and as a devoted presence in the Philadelphia jazz scene. After pursuing various avenues of broadcasting news and jazz, with some serious writing thrown in to boot, he settled into his long-running jazz show at WRTI, where fans would tune in to hear the "BP with the GM" (Bob Perkins with the Good Music) play and comment upon carefully selected jazz from the mainstream of many genres and generations, and with occasional forays into the avant-garde and alternative music of various kinds.

Bob Perkins with the Good Music

Perkins' life, career, and legacy have been well remembered over and over again, very recently in the obituaries and eulogies prompted by his passing. In particular, on learning of his death, two Philadelphia musical icons captured the essentials. Bassist Christian McBride said, "I'm sure there have been generations of musicians who have been touched by [Bob Perkins'] knowledge and his wisdom. When it comes to this music known as jazz, those are two things you can never have an overabundance of." Singer Denise King, who as a youth was discovered sitting on her West Philadelphia stoop singing and scatting, and has risen to an international career with her emotive renditions of jazz songs, said of Perkins, "His dedication to music, as well as his ability to connect with musicians and listeners, will be his legacy. He's been a rock musically for so many people and for so many musicians and artists who he supported over the years. He was an icon, the last of an era [and] the last of a particular type of radio personality." In other words, sitting in a radio studio with some records and a microphone, Perkins became a Philadelphia legend, whose dedicated plaque is on the Walk of Fame on Broad Street, among many other acknowledgments.

Perkins' career as a jazz DJ spun out of his origins in Philadelphia, his early exposure to swing and bebop; a sojourn in Detroit, where his voice earned him credentials as a radio broadcaster; and primetime Philly jazz and news shows at WDAS and WHYY. As a result, he was elected president of the Pennsylvania Associated Press Broadcasters Association. In Philadephia, he accrued legions of fans and a place on the city's Walk of Fame on South Broad Street, along with John Coltrane, Clifford Brown, and other musical legends whose recordings and interviews he featured on the air. He also received a proclamation from former Philadelphia Mayor John Street and was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame. On a different note, as a newscaster, he earned the distinction of being one of a select group of news directors and editors nationwide invited to interview President Jimmy Carter. Their mutual advocacy of civil rights and their love of jazz may have had something to do with that.

The Backstory

With his mellow, soothing voice and flawless diction, many of us tuned into him almost as much to be reassured by his voice as to listen to his musical selections and the educational and journalistic perspectives he brought to them. On a personal note, when in the late 1990s, my father was elderly and dying, I would drive to New York from Philadelphia most weekends to spend time with him. On the way back, feeling a mixture of affection and grief, I'd tune in to WRTI, and there was BP! Perkins' voice was so warm and compassionate, I felt like I was getting a free psychotherapy session. And that was one of the life experiences that led me to see a "backstory" beyond his work as a jazz disc jockey.

That backstory to Bob Perkins' career is insufficiently acknowledged as a basis for his success. It is one of the stories of many African Americans who despite their frequent exposure to segregation and racism, lived a righteous and dignified life in the inner cities and small towns around the country. In my work interviewing jazz musicians, many of them black, I found that many came from stable families with deep religious roots, having great integrity despite the fact that they were demeaned and traumatized by racism. Perkins and his family were undoubtedly exposed to such humiliations. Still, again personally, whenever I would hang out with Perkins in connection with a story for All About Jazz, I was impressed by his strong sense of ethics and propriety, fulfilling the words of Martin Luther King regarding "the content of his character."

Every time I ran into Perkins, it was at a musical event where he served as an emcee or narrator, or else in his studio at WRTI. Off stage, he may have had his own fill of frustrations, failings, anger, and hurts that we all have. But I believe that what he wanted the world to see was an African American who represented his people with dignity and grace and also felt empowered to stand up for his rights and make his voice heard. That dignity and grace was what drew us to him in addition to his supreme knowledge of and love for the music.

Jazz has played a crucial role in black American History, and vice-versa. Although today jazz is international, multi-ethnic, and multi-racial, there was a period where practically all jazz musicians and most of the audiences were African American. Through his courage and wisdom and his astonishing voice, Bob Perkins was one of the key figures who helped make jazz accessible to everyone.

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