WABE Launches The Upside of Jazz, A New Podcast Hosted by Atlanta Pianist Joe Alterman

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--WABE announces the launch of The Upside of Jazz, a new podcast hosted by Atlanta-based jazz pianist, writer, and broadcaster Joe Alterman. Expanding on the acclaimed radio program of the same name, the podcast explores jazz not as a genre on the brink—but as a living, breathing feeling rooted in joy, resilience, and human connection.

A fourth-generation Atlantan on both sides of his family, Alterman once set his sights on becoming a New York jazz pianist—and spent nearly a decade doing just that. But over time, he came to an unexpected realization: he isn’t a New York jazz pianist at all. He’s a southern jazz pianist. That discovery—and the perspective that comes with it—forms the heart of The Upside of Jazz.

“I hear people say all the time that jazz is dead,” Alterman says. “But jazz isn’t a thing you can kill. Jazz is a feeling—and you can’t kill a feeling.”

Each episode of The Upside of Jazz blends music, storytelling, and cultural history, weaving together Alterman’s personal journey with the larger story of jazz itself. Drawing on the wisdom of mentors like Ramsey Lewis and Les McCann, Alterman explores why jazz has always spoken to people—even those who insist they “don’t like jazz.”

That question has followed jazz musicians for generations. As Johnny Griffin once said, “Jazz is music made by and for people who have chosen to feel good in spite of conditions.” Even the blues, Alterman notes, offer a kind of healing—echoing Louis Armstrong’s famous line: “It hurts so good.”

But The Upside of Jazz goes beyond the bandstand.

Listeners will travel back to Nazi Germany to examine jazz as a form of resistance and spiritual sustenance, explore the intersection of Jewish life and jazz through figures like producer Milt Gabler and Commodore Records, and hear intimate conversations with legendary artists including Sonny Rollins and Christian McBride. Along the way, Alterman shares the kinds of personal, often humorous stories that only happen around jazz—moments that turn heroes into humans and encounters into lifelong lessons.

“Whenever I meet one of my jazz heroes,” Alterman says, “two things happen: I hear one of their stories—and then I come away with one of my own.”

Designed for lifelong jazz fans and curious newcomers alike, The Upside of Jazz invites listeners into a world where music is both the disease and the cure, where history feels alive, and where joy persists—even in hard times.

The Upside of Jazz podcast will be available on major podcast platforms. For more information, visit WABE.org.