This Christmas Eve, GBH takes listeners on an 8-hour journey through some of the most spectacular and rarely heard holiday music of all time with two legendary radio hosts – GBH jazz host Eric Jackson and rock programmer Oedipus. Christmas Eve with Eric Jackson and Oedipus airs on 89.7 FM in Greater Boston and worldwide at www.wgbh.org.
On Friday, December 24, Eric Jackson kicks off the live show from 5 pm to 8 pm sharing a unique mix of holiday songs interpreted by some of the jazz greats. Rock radio icon Oedipus takes over at 8 pm to bring listeners Christmas music they have never heard, rare tracks from rock, hip hop, classical, spoken word, ethereal, and more. And in between, the two radio greats will share the mic, co-hosting a Christmas Eve special unlike anything else on the airwaves.
Oedipus gained notoriety for hosting the first punk radio program in the country when he was a student at MIT in 1975. While heading up programming at Boston’s pioneering rock radio station WBCN, he helped the station break bands like The Ramones, The Clash, The Police, and U2.
Throughout the year, Oedipus vets hundreds of Christmas songs, but only decides what to play when Christmas Eve arrives. Oedipus has hosted an annual Christmas Event program at GBH since 2015. By kicking off the program with holiday tunes from the world of jazz, Eric Jackson puts a new spin on this anticipated program.
Between Eric Jackson and Oedipus’ picks, listeners are in for hours of unexpected Christmas magic, until the hosts turn over the airwaves to Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” at 1 am on Christmas Day.
