Rudi Blesh

A supporter and propagandist for New Orleans jazz and ragtime, Rudi Blesh made an impact on the world of trad jazz. He attended Dartmouth College and then worked as a jazz critic for the San Francisco Chronicle in the early '40s and for the New York Herald Tribune starting in 1944. Blesh, who promoted jazz concerts early on, hosted the important jazz radio series This Is Jazz in 1947 (the broadcasts are being reissued by the Jazzology label). Although his narration comes across as a bit wooden and is full of cliches, it is due to his work that top New Orleans jazz artists were...