Classical 95.9-FM WCRI

This week, Joe is featuring Composer/Arranger Michael Gibbs from his 1974 Act Records recording, titled “Big Music.”

Compass Hardware in Charlestown, RI, is the subject of this week's program with Skip Graf, General Manager. We talk about his role in this over 60-year-old, locally owned institution. It’s an amazing story of what originally started as a store that mostly sold coal to what has become a very diversified establishment. For more information, you can go to www.compasshardware.com

This week, Joe is featuring Pianist Chick Corea from his 2000 Stretch Records recording titled “Solo Piano: Standards (Part Two).”

Theatre By The Sea's third production of the 2026 season, Titanic, the Musical, is the subject of this week's program with Kevin Hill, Director, and Karen Kessler, General Manager. We talk about the musical and listen to some of the very interesting songs from the show that runs July 23rd to August 15th. For more information, you can call (401) 782-8587 or go to www.theatrebythesea.com

Join us as Ocean House owner and award-winning author Deborah Goodrich Royce has a conversation with New York Times Bestselling author Annabel Monaghan about her new book, Dolly All The Time
Author Bio:
Annabel is the New York Times bestselling and Library Reads Hall of Fame author of Dolly All The Time, It’s A Love Story, Summer Romance, Same Time Next Summer and Nora Goes Off Script, published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons. 
She is also the author of two novels for young adults, A Girl Named Digit and Double Digit, as well as Does This Volvo Make My Butt Look Big?, a collection of essays based on her column that appeared on the Huffington Post, The Week and The Rye Record. She has a BA in English from Duke University and an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania. She hosts an author series called Friends with Words and spent several years on the novel writing faculty at The Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College. She lives in Florida and Connecticut with her family. Her novels have been translated into 23 languages.
Book Summary:
A romance about a single mother who’s offered a Pretty Woman-type deal that’s too good to refuse.If they begin by pretending, can they end with something real?
Dolly Brick has never met a problem she couldn’t solve. Not when her mom left when she was twelve, and not at thirty-nine when she moves with her son back to Wickford, Rhode Island for the summer to keep her dad and brother from losing the family home.
So when she comes across Stewart Wickford—annoyingly handsome scion of the Wickford family—with a flat tire and at the wrong end of a very public, very humiliating breakup, it’s in her nature to help. But Stewart’s proposed arrangement ends up being more than either of them bargained for, because as public dinners and high society benefits turn into sunset boat rides and swinging on the porch, Dolly starts to feel something more than helpful. She’s never relied on anyone besides herself, can she really start now?
 
For more information about Katherine Center, visit AnnabelMonaghan.com, and for more on Deborah Goodrich Royce and her new release, Best Boy, along with information about the Ocean House Author Series, visit deborahgoodrichroyce.com

This week Joe is featuring Guitarist Jim Robitaille from his 2026, Whaling City Sound Records recording, titled “Sonic.”

Block Island’s Mary D. Fund is the subject of this week's program, featuring Marguerite Donnelly, Executive Director. We talk about her life on the Island, how the Fund got started, where it is today, and the major event coming up on July 18th...The 62nd Annual A Cappella Festival and listen to some of the music that will be presented. For more information, visit the Mary D Fund on Facebook.
 

In this week's WCRI's Kids Hour, your host Jamie listens to music celebrating America's 250th birthday. We celebrate the land, the music, the people, and more. We hope you enjoy!

This week, Joe is featuring Vocalist Ella Fitzgerald from her 1974 Pablo Records recording, titled “Ella In London.” 

This week, Newport Classical is the subject of the program with Oliver Inteeworn, the new Executive Director, and Elise Felker, Director of Marketing. We talk about their upcoming Festival season, which runs from July 2nd through July 19th, and listen to music related to those performances. For more information, you can go to www.newportclassical.org

This week on Jazz After Dinner, Joe features Saxophonist Sonny Rollins from his 1956 Blue Note Records recording titled “Volume Two.

The Kingston Chamber Music Festival is the subject of this week's program with Natalie Zhu, Artistic Director. We talk about the upcoming Festival and listen to some of the amazing music that will be presented from July 24th to August 2nd. For more information, you can go to www.kingstonchambermusic.org

This week on Jazz After Dinner, Joe features Saxophonist Sonny Rollins from his 1956 Blue Note Records recording, titled “Volume One.”

Theatre By The Sea's production of Grease is the subject of this week's program, with Nick Cortazzo, who plays Danny, and Andrew Tufano, who plays Sonny. We talk about the musical and listen to some of the show's very popular songs, which run from June 25th to July 18th. For more information, you can call (401) 782-8587 or go to www.theatrebythesea.com

Join us as Ocean House owner and award-winning author Deborah Goodrich Royce has a conversation with New York Times Bestselling author Katherine Center about her new book, The Shippers.
Author Bio:
BookPage calls Katherine Center “the reigning queen of comfort reads.” She’s the New York Times bestselling author of over half a dozen books, including How to Walk Away, Things You Save in a Fire, and What You Wish For. Katherine writes laugh-and-cry books about how life knocks us down—and how we get back up. She’s been compared to both Jane Austen and Nora Ephron, and the Dallas Morning News calls her stories, “satisfying in the most soul-nourishing way.” Her books have made countless Best-Of lists, including RealSimple’s Best Books of 2020, Amazon's Top 100 Books of 2019, Goodreads' Best Books of the Year, and many more. Bestselling author Emily Henry calls her summer 2022 book, The Bodyguard, “a shot of pure joy.” The movie adaptation of Katherine’s novel The Lost Husband (starring Josh Duhamel) hit #1 on Netflix, and her novel Happiness for Beginners is now a Netflix original starring Ellie Kemper. Katherine lives in her hometown of Houston, Texas, with her husband, two kids, and their fluffy-but-fierce dog.
Book Summary:
She wants him to help her woo someone else.Genius. Foolproof. Can’t go wrong.
After a lifetime of being bad at love, JoJo Burton vows to solve her intimacy issues once and for all at her sister’s destination wedding on a cruise ship. Armed with pop psychology, she diagnoses herself with a fixation on the neighborhood guy who was her first crush and first kiss (and who just happens to be a newly-divorced wedding guest). Determined to woo him for closure, she ropes in her childhood bestie, Cooper Watts, as her wingman. Cooper: who RSVPed no, but showed up anyway. Cooper: who moved to London without a word four years ago. Cooper: who broke her heart.
Shipboard antics abound in this witty, heart-tugging, childhood-friends-to-lovers romance, as JoJo and Cooper team up, fake flirt, slow dance, share a cabin, sing duets, get jealous, answer long-held questions, and finally, at last, discover truths about each other that will change everything.
 
For more information about Katherine Center, visit katherinecenter.com, and for more on Deborah Goodrich Royce and her new release, Best Boy, along with information about the Ocean House Author Series, visit deborahgoodrichroyce.com
 

This week on Jazz After Dinner, Joe features Saxophonist Sonny Rollins from his 1957 Blue Note Records recording, titled “A Night At The Village Vanguard, Vol 2.”

This special Conducting Conversations program features Artist Del-Bourree and Kristen Bach. We discuss their amazing artistic talents and their involvement with the local community. For more information, you can go to www.del-bourreebach.com

On this week's 95.9 Company Break, we speak with the Director of Marketing and Sales for StoneRidge Active Retirement Living in Mystic, CT, Jamie Cornell. She updates us on the latest developments at StoneRidge as we head into 2026 and 2027! Located just two miles from the riverfront, StoneRidge is a senior living community of doers and thinkers, artists and educators, lifelong learners, and dedicated volunteers. We support each other, learn from one another, and enjoy each other’s company. New retirement community residents tell us they’re surprised at how quickly everyone knows their name. Visit us, and it won’t be long before you feel connected to the people here. People who, like you, want to continue an active lifestyle in a corner of Connecticut close to their hearts. For more information, call 860-333-8995 or visit www.stoneridgelcs.com

In this week's WCRI's Kids Hour, your host Jamie listens to music from the first four Toy Story films as we get ready for the release of Toy Story 5. We take a trip back and hear all your favorites, including You've Got A Friend In Me, When Somebody Loved Me, and other pieces from these scores by Randy Newman!

This week, Joe is featuring Saxophonist Sonny Rollins from his 1957 Blue Note Records recording, titled “A Night At The Village Vanguard, Vol 1.”