Welcome to Divaville!

Divaville is a swellegant evening of music which airs every Wednesday from 7-9pm (Pacific) on KMHD-FM Portland 89.1 FM.

Join Divaville's Facebook page!

Hello, lovely Divaville listener!

First of all, thank you for caring enough about the show to have visited this site. It's the devotion of people like you that makes Divaville such a huge success. The staff of KMHD & OPB recognize that Divaville is one of the most popular shows on the station; we have brainstormed about how we might even syndicate the show in the future.

That said, I want to let you know that starting this Wednesday (July 14) Divaville will transition from a 3-hour show to a 2-hour show. The new broadcast time will be 7-9pm on Wednesdays.

KMHD is currently undergoing some programming changes, all of which are intended to make the station an even stronger jazz presence in our community. You can read about some of the exciting new programs

And you can see the new program schedule. (PDF file)

Before you send off angry letters to the KMHD staff, please know that I am *fine* with this. I am all for improving the strength and quality of KMHD, and I believe these changes are all steps towards that end. Besides, if you saw how hard I work during the show, you'd understand that this news comes almost as a relief to me. Besides, now I'll have time to grab a proper dinner after leaving work and before heading to KMHD.

If this news still upsets you, feel free to send me feedback by clicking the "Email Christa" link on the left. I can forward your comments to the KMHD staff. Or you can reach KMHD's Program Director, Matt Fleeger, at mfleeger @ opb.org. (Keep in mind that Matt is a really nice guy as well as an experienced jazz programmer and a fellow single-malt Scotch lover, so try to be kind to him.)

Feel free to also participate in the 'discussion' on the Divaville Facebook page.

Thanks again for your support of the show! I'll "see" you at 7pm on Wednesday.

Christa

Here are a few of my current YouTube obsessions!

Max and Harry Nesbitt make me so very, very happy with this song... "My Baby's Got Red Hair & Freckles":

* * * * *

This amazing video of the Ross Sisters (singing "Solid Potato Salad") always makes me feel like I need to sign up for a yoga class:

* * * * *

This is absolutely astounding. Billie Holiday does "Fine and Mellow" with Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Gerry Mulligan, Roy Eldridge, Doc Cheatham, Vic Dickenson, Danny Barker, Milt Hinton, and Mal Waldron. Unbelievable.

* * * * *

Utter goofiness from Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis and Carmen Miranda:

* * * * *

This is why I adore Gene Kelly so much:

* * * * *

This Bobby Darin clip is lifted from a movie about his life (which explains the weird breakaway in the middle of the song). Even when he blows the lyrics he's completely captivating. I love you Bobby!

* * * * *

The fashion show in this Julie London video is a hoot! Yowza!!!

* * * * *

I love Gene Kelly in "Singin' In The Rain", but Donald O'Connor steals the show in this bit. He's simply phenomenal:

* * * * *

This is an incredibly, tragically brief snippet of Tony Starlight's Dean Martin birthday tribute show. Tony completely embodies every character he takes on, and his Dean Martin had us rolling in the aisles:

* * * * *

I love the joy in the faces (and voices!) of Louis Armstrong and Danny Kaye! Even if you don't know anything about classical composers, I think you'll still groove on the cleverness of the lyrics:

I end every week's show with a tune by Betty Hutton. A lot of people ask why I'm so fond of this relatively obscure movie actress. Perhaps this video will help explain my obsession:

Can you name the artists in the strip at the top of the page?
You'll hear all of them --and more!-- on Divaville.

From left to right:

Bing Crosby
Betty Hutton
Frank Sinatra
Peggy Lee
Bobby Darin
Louis Armstrong
Fred Astaire
Cab Calloway
Dean Martin
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Carmen Miranda
Nat King Cole
Judy Garland
Billie Holiday
 

The next Divaville Party will be on Thursday, September 16. . Once again it will be held at Tony Starlight's Supper Club and Lounge. It is recommended you make a reservation!!