“Bob Corritore Recognized for Grammy & W.C. Handy Award Nominations”
Public Radio Phoenix newsletter (Spring 2002)
by Jennifer B. Waters, Editor

If all you listen to on KJZZ is NPR programming, local news, and jazz, you’re missing out on another KJZZ gem. KJZZ is the exclusive home of Bob Corritore’s award-winning blues show, Those Lowdown Blues, which he has hosted on the station for 18 years. As KJZZ Program Director Scott Williams says, “He’s synonymous with the blues in the Valley … There’s nobody around who knows the blues, particularly the Chicago blues, like he does.” The show began as a one-hour pre-taped show on Sunday mornings in the first year. After the first year, the show was expanded to five hours and moved to its current Sunday night slot, which it has maintained as a cornerstone for local blues broadcasting for nearly two decades. Bob takes a very traditional approach to his broadcast, playing both old and new recordings: “I would hope that I present things that are stimulating to the audience and things that will open their minds and change their points of reference as to what blues is. I present the blues from a purist standpoint and in doing so, I hope that people can see the blues in its purest form.”
Bob’s talents, however, extend well beyond hosting blues programming every Sunday night.

He’s a musician in his own right as a blues harmonica player, is owner of The Rhythm Room, the Valley hot-spot for traditional roots and blues music, and is also a producer who has been getting special recognition this year. Kim Wilson’s recent CD, Smokin’ Joint, was partially produced by Bob and earned a Grammy nomination this year, as well as four W.C. Handy Award nominations. In addition to the Wilson recording, there are also four Handy nominations for the album Henry Gray Plays Chicago Blues. On this recording, Bob was sole producer for blues piano player Henry Gray, and also played harmonica. Another recent Bob Corritore production appears on the soundtrack for Big Bad Love, an upcoming film starring Debra Winger, Arliss Howard, Rosanna Arquette, and Angie Dickinson; and Rhythm Room Blues, that he produced last year, made #2 on the Living Blues radio charts and earned international acclaim in a number of publications, including a 4-star review in the Italian publication, Buscadero.

Congratulations are due to Bob for his recognition as a producer and musician in the world of blues. Bob — and Those Lowdown Blues — is just another example of our ongoing earnest commitment to bringing our listeners the rich quality and diversity of non-commercial public radio.

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