Beginning July 6th, Jazz Overnight, heard daily on WNCU, will add two new charismatic, deeply knowledgeable veteran Jazz hosts, Lee Thomas and Greg Bridges. Both long time jazz experts from award winning station KCSM in California, Lee and Greg will program and announce new sets for our overnight jazz listeners at WNCU. WNCU welcomes Lee and Greg… new voices dedicated to bringing you mainstream jazz.

Greg Bridges

Born and raised in Oakland, California, Greg Bridges has been in radio for nearly 30 years. In addition to his live shifts on KCSM, he hosts Transitions and Traditions, a spoken-word and Jazz show on KPFA Radio in Berkeley. A seasoned Jazz writer, emcee and presenter, he also showcases music and spoken word artists at various venues in Oakland. An alumnus of San Jose State University, Greg began his professional radio career at KJAZ Radio in Alameda, California where he came into his own as an on-air announcer, interviewer and host of a variety of shows. The proud dad of two children, Simone and Miles, Greg was musically inspired by his drum playing father, the late Oliver Johnson. He moved to Europe in 1970 and spent 16 years drumming for Steve Lacy, Roswell Rudd, Roscoe Mitchell, Jean Luc Ponty, Archie Shepp and others. “Being in broadcasting has brought me many bright moments,” he notes, “Hanging out in a dressing room with Harry ‘Sweets’ Edison, sharing jokes and conversation with Miles Davis, receiving a gift in the mail for my newborn daughter from Betty Carter. There have been and continue to be many bright moments.”

Lee Thomas

Jazz host and composer Lee Thomas started his radio career with the legendary San Francisco station KJAZ and then at KNBR as well as NBC News in Burbank, CA. His Jazz epiphany came when his father brought home an album from a car show he attended. “Chrysler put out this anthology record that had Lambert, Hendricks and Ross on it along with Sir Charles Thompson, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Brubeck and others. The more I listened to it, the more I liked it. Soon a friend and I started going up to Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley and searching for Jazz albums in the used record stores.” Lee picked up a trumpet in his late teens and aspired to someday be a professional musician. He studied with John Coppola, Warren Gale Jr., Eddie Henderson, Woody Shaw and Joe Henderson. He has penned compositions for three albums under his name: Sea of Dreams, Passions of the Heart, and Convergence. Each recording showcases imaginative themes with superb solos by musicians like Billy Childs, Tony Dumas, Akira Tana, Pete Escovedo and others.