December 29, 2025 – Those We Lost in 2025

As the year comes to a close, we take a moment to remember some of the musicians we lost in 2025—artists whose voices and instruments shaped the music we carry with us, often without realizing how deeply they’d settled in.

There were so many losses this year that I could have easily put together more than one show. The music you’ll hear tonight is a culling—not by importance or influence, but by resonance. These are the songs that stayed with me, the ones that surfaced when I sat quietly and listened back.

Today’s show isn’t meant to be comprehensive. It’s personal. This is dedicated to all the people we’ve lost in 2025.

We’re living through a time in this country marked by noise, confusion, and a kind of willful ignorance and cruelty that makes everything feel louder and harder than it needs to be. The challenges are real. The suffering is real. And some days it feels like we’re drifting further from one another instead of closer.

In moments like this, music doesn’t fix anything—but it reminds us that care, imagination, and human connection have always existed alongside the madness. These songs carry evidence of that.

The show ends with Brian Wilson performing “Love and Mercy.” As 2026 approaches I believe that choosing to practice love and mercy in the new year is a rational response to a complex, wounded world, because they reduce conflict, preserve human dignity, and create the conditions in which real understanding and change can still occur.

Happy New Year my friends.

Dave

December 8, 2025 -Greenwich Village Folk Scene – 1960’s – Part 1

Dear Friends,

A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of visiting my dear friend John Abramson in Boston to collaborate on a show. John and I had been friends for over fifty years, sharing countless moments and, always, a deep love of music. Growing up in Forest Hills, Queens gave John a direct line to both the Doo Wop tradition and the folk music of Greenwich Village in the 1960s, and he spent much of our friendship turning me on to both genres. His knowledge was encyclopedic, his passion endless. This show grew out of that collaboration.

Just a few days after we recorded it, John was hospitalized, gravely ill. He returned home on Friday to be with his wife and passed away on Saturday night. This show is dedicated to John— to our friendship, to our shared passion for all kinds of music, and to the love I carry for him.

Thanks for listening,

Dave

Snakebit

It was the night after Depth Charge Challenge—
left him on his knees,
riding the porcelain chariot,
begging for mercy.
Tonight he was taking it easy.

His crew was copacetic—
Mingo’s facial wounds,
another casualty of the Challenge,
were healing fine,
superficial, leaving no scars.
And Toons was stringing together
three weeks of medicated calm,
staying straight
with Diet Pepsi and maraschino cherries,
working the Karaoke machine
like a gearhead in overdrive.
That gave Benny the freedom
to shift his attention to Savannah.

Available again,
and sadly celibate,
Benny had a crush brewing
on the new waitress at the Mumbling Walrus.

He’d never known a Southern gal—
that’s how she described herself—
and was captivated by Savannah:
the slow syrup of her Georgia roots,
the country twang in her hello,
the way she put herself together—
just enough makeup to suggest
she was from somewhere else—
red cowboy boots with tooled eagle wings,
a perky denim blouse, a pleated skirt
that skimmed her dimpled, almost-zaftig knees,
the tattooed snake coiled
around her inoculation scar,
her proper manners and flirtatious ways.
Damn, what’s not to like?

Savannah made Benny feel
like he was the most important guy at the bar,
that his order carried
the weight of global significance.

Benny was smitten.
He couldn’t take his eyes off her—
tracked her as she waited tables,
taking trips to the sandbox
(her word for the ladies’ room),

Benny was smitten.
He couldn’t take his eyes off her—
tracked her as she waited tables,
taking trips to the sandbox
(her word for the ladies’ room),
while he rehearsed the courage to say anything
besides Pabst Blue Ribbon.

When he lost sight of her,
he drank faster—
hoping she’d circle back,
talk sweet, and bring him
another beer.

It never crossed Benny’s mind
that her warmth was the job,
not the girl,
that she was working for tips.

But Toons knew—
hell, everybody in the place knew—
and feeling sorry for his buddy,
he climbed on stage
to make a point,
dedicating the next song to Benny.

He shook that wild red mane,
face twisted in the blues
of unrequited love,
and spat out the lyrics:

Oh what’s love got to do, got to do with it
What’s love but a second-hand emotion
What’s love got to do, got to do with it
Who needs a heart
When a heart can be broken.

The chorus hit again,
and Benny felt his name inside the words.
He knew then he was snakebit—
made a hasty exit,
leaving a handful of crumpled bills
on the table.

Out in the parking lot,
he could still hear Toons
howling through the chorus—
a voice cracked but faithful
to the last note.

Benny stood under the buzzing light,
a gentle shower blurring the neon sign,
thinking maybe love
was just another song
someone else had to sing.

Quebec City, Canada

November 3, 2025 – Piano Circus

You can also stream this show anytime at:

Dear Friends,

This week  Next To Silence enters the mesmerizing world of Piano Circus — six pianists seated around a circle of grand pianos, where rhythm becomes landscape, repetition turns to revelation, and minimalism meets maximal energy.

Piano Circus was founded in 1989 by six British pianists — Chris Fitkin, Timothy Seddon, Max Richter, John Metcalfe, Kate Halsall, and Joby Talbot — who came together to perform Steve Reich’s Six Pianos. The group emerged from London’s vibrant contemporary music scene, blending classical discipline with minimalist experimentation, and quickly became known for their daring six-piano arrangements and collaborations with composers across the UK, Europe, and the US.

Playlist for the week of November 3, 2025:

00:00:00  Chris Fitkin; Piano Circus — Sextet

00:09::48 Steve Reich; Piano Circus — Six Pianos

00:34:29 Kevin Volans; Piano Circus — Kneeling Dance

00:43:03 Timothy Paul Seddon; Piano Circus — 16

00:47:43 Robert Moran; Piano Circus — Three Dances: Lithuanian Spin

00:53:18 Graham Fitkin; Piano Circus — Log

01:13:28 Terry Riley; Piano Circus — In C

Next To Silence streams live at:

1700AM and on the web at PeaksIslandRadio.com

On:

Mondays Fridays @7:00PM

Tuesdays @Noon

You can stream past shows at any time.

Go to PeaksIslandRadio.com

Click on Schedule. Open NEXT TO SILENCE

And you will find a treasure trove of great music.

As always, any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks for listening,

Dave

October 6, 2025 – Autumn

Playlist for the week of October 6, 2025

00:00:00 Billie Holiday – Autumn in New York

00:06:05 Peggy Lee – Autumn in Rome

00:08:47 Van Morrison – Golden Autumn Day

00:15:19 John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman – Autumn Serenade

00:19:36 The Kinks – Autumn Almanac

00:24:28 Paolo Nutini – Autumn

00:27:17 The Marcus King Band – Autumn Rains

00:31:16 Nat King Cole Trio – ’Tis Autumn

00:34:23 Small Faces – The Autumn Stone

00:38:19 Clannad – Autumn Leaves Are Falling

00:42:02 Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band – Autumn’s Child

00:48:07 Leslie Odom Jr. – Autumn Leaves

00:51:16 The Flaming Lips – My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion

00:56:03 Ella Fitzgerald – Early Autumn

00:59:53 Cheryl Wheeler – When Fall Comes to New England
01:03:05 Jazzwaves – Autumn in Amsterdam

01:05:50 Paul Bley – Autumn Breeze

01:09:59 Woody Herman & Friends – Early Autumn

01:12:49 George Winston – Autumn Longing

01:16:18 Sonny Rollins – Autumn Nocturne

01:19:16 Edgar Winter Group – Autumn

01:23:08 Neil Young – Harvest Moon

September 22, 2025- 10 Jazz Albums that Changed History

This week’s show is built around ten jazz albums that didn’t just make waves—they changed the course of music history. These recordings stretch from the early roots of jazz to the boldest innovations of the modern era, each one a landmark that expanded what jazz could be. Tonight, we’ll move from Armstrong’s Hot Five in the 1920s, to Ellington’s Newport triumph, to Coltrane’s spiritual masterpiece, and beyond. Let’s lean in, listen closely, and hear the moments when the world of music opened a little wider.

Playlistst for the week of September 22, 2025:

00:02:12 Miles Davis (with John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans) – So What

00:11:33 John Coltrane – A Love Supreme – Pt. I: Acknowledgement

00:22:33 Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five – Heebie Jeebies

00:25:24 The Dave Brubeck Quartet – Take Five

00:30:45 The Dave Brubeck Quartet – Blue Rondo à la Turk

00:37:28 Charles Mingus – Fables of Faubus

00:48:59 Herbie Hancock – Chameleon

01:04:31 Ornette Coleman – Lonely Woman

01:09:28 Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong – Dream a Little Dream of Me 

01:12:32 Duke Ellington – Diminuendo in Blue – Live at Newport

01:28:15 Billie Holiday – You’ve Changed

A Reminder:

Next To Silence streams live at:

1700AM and on the web at PeaksIslandRadio.com

On:

Mondays Fridays @7:00PM

Tuesdays @Noon

You can stream past shows at any time.

Go to PeaksIslandRadio.com

Click on Schedule. Open NEXT TO SILENCE

And you will find. Treasure trove of great music.

Thanks for listening,

Dave

Jellyfish Donuts

The door pushes back with a soft groan,
and the air is sugared brine,
half bakery, half tidepool.

Glass lamps shaped like jellyfish hang above,

their glow steady, not quite natural.

The menu glints in chalk dust,

part joke, part warning,

a dare scrawled in sugar.

House Specialties — Today Only:

Seaweed & Salted Caramel Ripple -

kelp flakes tangled into sticky sweetness.

Beetroot & Black Garlic Glazed -

a purple-red bite with a shadow of earth.

Turmeric Pineapple Fire Ring -

golden heat meeting citrus sting.

Lavender Pickle Surprise -

floral calm ambushed by brine.

Sardine & Lemon Zest Cruller -

ocean breeze with a citrus slap.

Charcoal & Hibiscus Swirl -

ash-black dough bleeding crimson bloom.

Avocado & Wasabi Glazed Twist -

creamy green mellow, then the nose-burn.

Rosemary Grapefruit Crunch -

bitter pith under sharp pine needles.

Miso Maple Bar -

savory umami wrapped in tree sugar.

Dandelion Honey Puff -

a meadow fried into golden fluff.

Pumpkin Kimchi Knot -

spicy funk bound in autumn orange.

Cactus Pear & Chili Powder Jelly-Fill -

sweet desert sting at the heart.

And at the end of the counter,

a glass case with a handwritten sign:

Plain donuts — sold out.

Juneau, Alaska