Rob Bamberger is a jazz historian and collector best known for his long-running program Hot Jazz Saturday Night, which has run for more than 40 years on

WAMU WAMU (88.5 FM) is a public news– talk station that services the greater Washington, DC metropolitan area. It is owned by American University, and its studios are located near the campus in northwest Washington. WAMU has been the primary Nati ...

Radio, 88.5, a

public broadcasting Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive f ...

radio station in the

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

area. Bamberger grew up in

Shaker Heights Shaker or Shakers may refer to: Religious groups * Shakers, a historically significant Christian sect * Indian Shakers, a smaller Christian denomination Objects and instruments * Shaker (musical instrument), an indirect struck idiophone * Cockta ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, and experienced an epiphany in 1963 after picking up for ten cents a two-record set of

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombone, trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-to ...

broadcast performances at a book fair at his elementary school. While working as an energy policy analyst at the

Congressional Research Service The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a public policy research institute of the United States Congress. Operating within the Library of Congress, it works primarily and directly for members of Congress and their committees and staff on a ...

, he began volunteering at WAMU and, in 1980, created his own jazz show, Hot Jazz Saturday night. On the program, he plays selections from the large jazz collection that fills the entire basement of his Arlington Virginia home, and discusses both the musicians and the music for the benefit of his listeners. Bamberger continues the show as a part-time employee of the radio station (with a short break after WAMU decided to jettison all programing besides news and talk, described in Hot Jazz Saturday Night). During that interregnum, he produced a similar program for WOWD in Takoma Park. He lectures on jazz at the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian and other venues, and has written the liner notes for dozens of jazz albums. He also as the lead author of Congressionally-mandated study of the deterioration of the archive of recorded music, with particular reference to pre-1972 recordings. After Bamberger retired from the Congressional Research Service in 2010, he studied for a Masters in Social Work to pursue a second career in senior care. He currently works at Iona Senior Services where he facilitates support groups for the children, spouses and partners of individuals with dementia and similar chronic conditions, and serves on the Steering Committee and faculty of the Aging Program of the Washington School of Psychiatry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bamberger, Rob Living people Jazz people People from Shaker Heights, Ohio Historians of jazz American radio hosts American radio producers Year of birth missing (living people)