Jammin & Slammin Polkas

Hosted by Kevin Dziuba

Polka radio lives or dies on the person behind the microphone. A playlist alone will not carry three hours; what carries it is somebody who knows which band recorded which arrangement, who remembers the hall it was cut in, and who can tell you why a particular version of a standard is the one worth hearing. Every show on this schedule is built that way — put together by hand, week after week, by people who have spent decades inside this music.

Jammin & Slammin Polkas closes out Sunday with the highest-energy hour on the schedule. The selection favours the push-beat end of the catalogue — fast tempos, hard trumpet lines, and the arrangements that were built to keep a floor moving rather than to reward close listening.

There is real craft in programming an hour like this. Play nothing but up-tempo numbers and the ear stops registering them; the trick is placing a slower side at the right moment so the next fast one lands. This show gets that right more often than not.

Two midweek afternoon replays keep it available for listeners who cannot make Sunday night.

About the Music

Polka in North America is not one style but several, and the differences matter to the people who play it. The Chicago-honky sound leans on trumpets and a driving push beat; the Eastern style favours a fuller horn section and a smoother swing; the Cleveland-Slovenian tradition puts the button box at the centre and takes the tempo down a notch. Add the Polish-language repertoire, the crossover bands, and the younger groups mixing rock and jazz phrasing into a two-step, and a well-built show has more range than most listeners expect on the first hour.

Times shown are Eastern. Shows are pre-recorded unless a live broadcast is announced, and the schedule can move at short notice when a host is broadcasting from a festival or a hall. If a show you are following is not where you expect it, check the programming grid, which is kept as current as we can keep it.