Harrison Ridley Jr.

Harrison Ridley Jr. (October 22,1938- February 19, 2009) was a teacher and broadcaster on African-American music.

Ridley taught music history at Temple University and Villanova University, he was the host of a Sunday night radio show on WRTI (90.1FM) entitled, "The Historical Approach to the Positive Music." The "historical approach" Ridley took was to focus in particular on one artist, and use his entire four-hour (8pm-12am) program to give the listener a sense of that artist's contribution to the tradition. Often he would focus on a specific period in an artist's career, such as early (1920s-1940s) Duke Ellington or Miles Davis recordings from the 1960s. The show ran for more than thirty years and was very popular in the Philadelphia area. Ridley would often reference the fact that his phone lines in the studio were full of calls—local jazz celebrities had been known to call in during a show as well.

Ridley was also a record collector and archivist. In the course of fifty years of collecting, he amassed over 8,500 LPs, 3,000 78s, 200 45s, 300 CDs, and 6,000 books on African American history and music. He specialized in Duke Ellington albums (of which he had more than 600), and was also an expert on Benny Carter (he had 200 Benny Carter albums).^[1]

Harrison, a mechanical and building engineer employee of the Philadelphia School District for 39 years, also shared his passion for the "Positive Music" by visiting many schools throughout the decades and sharing his wealth of knowledge with students, parents and staff. Many students were truly inspired by his visits and would constantly ask their teachers, "When can Mr. Ridley come back and talk with us again?". Harrison would also hold occasional informational classes for PSD central office staff after the end of regular business so they could also reap the benefits of his expertise.

He did not use the term "jazz," opting instead for phrases such as "this music referred to as jazz," or simply, "the positive music." In this respect he shares a similarity with many other jazz artists and historians (Duke Ellington being the most prominent example) to resist using "jazz" as a descriptive label.

In his lifetime Ridley received more than 80 awards, including recognition from the Philadelphia City Hall and the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and an honorary Doctorate in Music from Villanova University (conferred in May, 2008). Ridley also worked as a consultant for the Library of Congress. Dubbed a "walking encyclopedia of jazz,"^[2] Ridley was in great demand on radio and television shows. He was also an archivist for the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts, an important institution in the Philly jazz scene.^[3]

Ridley died on February 19 2009, some weeks after a major stroke.

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