Friday, June 6, 2014

Friday Faves: Jazz Apps for Phone or Tablet

I love jazz.  I grew up with it.  My father was a big jazz fan, and my parents had jazz records and played them on the hi-fi when I was little.  This music is still comfort food to me, and I listen to it often, especially on Real Jazz (XM Radio), NPR - especially Riverwalk Jazz, and WCLK (local Atlanta jazz station).

I was delighted to find two great jazz apps for phone or tablet.

The first is JazzBird, and it is an app developed by Jazz Boston.  It is available as an app on iTunes and Google Play.   You will find a wide range of jazz stations to play via radio on your phone or tablet.  I have JazzBird Lite (free) installed on my iPad.  It is great except you can't play music in the background as your surf the web, read email, etc.  I am assuming this functionality exists in the paid version, but I haven't tried that yet.

The other app is JazzRadio.  It is free and available in iTunes, Google Play, and Blackberry World.  My beloved phone is a Blackberry, so I was especially excited to find this app!   JazzRadio has a huge range of channels, each focusing on a different type of jazz.  A few of my favorites include:  Classic Jazz, Cool Jazz, and Vocal Legends.  This app does play in the background while you do other things on your tablet.  I just found it and have listened so much this past week!

I hope you enjoy these apps as much as I do!

Pictured above:  the incomparable Louis Armstrong.

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