Listen Closely Lounge
- Uncle Phil
- Oct 2, 2019
- 4 min read
The Listen Closely Lounge begins its musical journey from the perspective of a fellow Playlist Practitioner whose musical palate is consistent with that of our own. He’s been sharing his music catalog for close to two years now through his Bigwickie podcast which consists of series such as “I Miss WJZZ,” “Can I Play Something for You?,” “Would You Like a Sample?” and “Bridge Builder,” all broadcasting variations of jazz sprinkled with hip-hop and showcasing his diverse music collection.
What started seemingly as happenstance has turned into something a little deeper and with purpose. While living in Washington D.C., Bigwickie, aka Steven (Steve) Whitted, was sharing a large house on Capitol Hill with three other roommates and one day while playing some jazz records, he went to close his door as to not disturb the others. But his one roommate, a young white woman from Nebraska working on Capitol Hill, asked the then 22- year- old Steve to keep his door open so she could listen. From that point on, the two got together weekly to sip wine and listen to music.
A few years later when Steve moved back to Detroit, he was in a conversation with one of the owners of the newly opened Half Past Three Lounge about music and asked about the possibility of him playing some music from his collection there. The owner agreed and Steve “officially” became the first “DJ” of the Detroit landmark now known as TV Lounge. He was given free reign of the music he could play as part of the agreement so Steve went about playing sets that included music from Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, Omar, A Tribe Called Quest and any other artist that he liked and made him feel good. It was a feel good moment that had him finish his set one night with an hour-long mix of songs from Prince. The staff then requested he finish each one of his sets with Prince. For years other requests came from friends asking him to share his musical palate with others and that is what finally led Steve to create his Bigwickie podcast shows.
While you might not hear much Prince on the Bigwickie podcast, you will hear a mix of the aforementioned artists on any of his shows. He still plays what he likes and what makes him feel good but with more conscious thought because with each one of his shows, Bigwickie wants to educate you as well as entertain you. His mission as the “Jazz Emissary,” a title given to him by a friend and fan of his shows, is to explore the full range of what jazz is and its derivatives, particularly hip-hop. “Would you like a Sample?” is a list of the original jazz tunes that Bigwickie uses to quiz the listener to match the hip-hop song that sampled them. Not only does this educate the die-hard jazz listener how jazz influenced another genre, but it also, and one could argue, more importantly, educates the die-hard hip-hop listener how they have been unknowingly influenced by jazz. “And you say you don’t like jazz?” Bigwickie muses throughout his show to those who have uttered those words before. He challenges you to re-think your statement as well as listen a little deeper to try and hear what the producer heard when deciding to sample the song.
“Can I Play Something for You?” plays songs with more of an R & B swing to them, once again showing how jazz is the foundation that fuses the other styles. “I Miss WJZZ” is a dedication to the daily playlist of the Detroit institution, the former radio station 105.9FM,WJZZ! Bigwickie takes you down memory lane when the radio station was the soundtrack to one’s daily activities. He also inserts songs of today that he guesses would be on the WJZZ playlist if the station was still airing. And his last series, “Bridge Builder,” is the one that Bigwickie brings his two loves together for some beautiful music, jazz and hip-hop. This series was designed to “bridge together the gap between jazz and hip-hop” and does so with an array of songs that display both sounds in the music and exposes that Steve has been digging in his daddy’s records.
With all his shows, Steve takes the time to educate who the musicians are on the songs so that you go and explore that musician’s work and expand your catalog and musical palate. This is one of the Bigwickie’s “7 Ways to Enrich your Jazz Knowledge” that he gives you on his initial broadcast of “Can I Play Something for You?” One of the other ways was to talk with some friends and exchange music with them which is what Bigwickie and Sips, Sounds & Smoke did. Bigwickie invited us to be his very first guest on his Bridge Builder Vol. 5 broadcast, his first on any of his broadcast. His playlist was already planned so we just followed the suggestions he gives at the start of his music set and lit some incense, grabbed our elixir, sat back, and enjoyed the sounds. We talked music, discussed plans for future collaborations but mainly just enjoyed the sequence of the songs selected and had a happy ears experience! We were thankful for the experience and to have Bigwickie and Bridge Builder Vol 5 to be our first representation of a Playlist Practitioner. Tune in and have yourself a happy ears experience!
Uncle Phil
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