Oscar Treadwell

Oscar Treadwell , called OT (born May 11, 1926 in Cincinnati as Arthur K. Pedersen , † April 1, 2006 ) was an American jazz radio journalist and presenter, internationally known primarily through the Charlie Parker dedicated to him -Composition "An Oscar for Treadwell".

Treadwell was first regionally, then nationally known for his membership in the Blue Wisp Big Band and as the resident pianist of the Blue Wisp Jazz Club in Cincinnati. He also worked on albums for the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and other artists in his hometown. He initially worked as an industrial clerk and consultant. However, Oscar Treadwell became better known for his career as a DJ, jazz historian and radio presenter, which began in 1947 and lasted for over 50 years.

Treadwell began his career on radio stations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania before moving to Cincinnati in 1960. There he began his radio broadcasts on jazz at the station WZIP in 1962 and from 1965 to 1973 at WNOP, until the station changed the broadcast format and his jazz program came to the station WGUC. There Treadwell moderated the jazz shows under his abbreviation OT from 1973 to 1995; after that his radio show came to the station WVXU for a year and a half. Until his retirement in 2001 he was in charge of the jazz programs of the broadcasters WAVE and WMKV. In 2005 Treadwell returned to WVXU, where he worked until his death in April 2006.

Oscar Treadwell, nicknamed "OT" by his fans, was an important member of the Cincinnati jazz scene. Through his radio programs, which he had been in charge of since 1947, he was also known and friends with many jazz musicians, such as Dave Brubeck , Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk . In his honor the compositions "An Oscar for Treadwell" (1949) by Charlie Parker and "Treadin 'with Treadwell" (1950) by Wardell Gray were composed . In 1955 Monk composed his title "Oska T", dedicated to Treadwell.

After his death, he was honored by the Public Library of Cincinnati, which Oscar Treadwell gave him in 1994 as a gift of many of his shows on cassettes and CDs. The library has released a CD called OT - A Celebration of Oscar Treadwell . Many of his shows from 1975 to 2005 can be heard online at the broadcaster's WVXU 91.7 Cincinnati website.

Web links

• Information from the Cincinnati Library
• CCM: Jazz Remembers Oscar
• Examiner.com - celebration of Oscar treadwell