One of the great discoveries that came out of my move to Rochester in 2011 was the great local radio station here, Different Radio WRUR and, specifically, a show that airs 6 – 9 p.m. Friday nights called “Rejuvination.”
Deejay Scott Wallace spins up a sublime collection every Friday of some of the most soulful soul music that exists. We’re talkin’ Soul Children, Tower of Power, Isley Brothers, Kool and the Gang, James Brown, Minnie Riperton, Sam Cooke, Solomon Burke, Junior Walker, King Curtis, and on, and on, and on.
And Wallace won’t shy away from good soul music from white artists, either. He’ll crack out a Laura Nyro tune from time to time, for instance, and this always furrows my brow a bit. But it fits. Nyro is, at heart, a soul singer. Says it right there in her most famous song. Stoned. Soul. Picnic.
And sometimes, he’ll play a little Jimi. I’m telling you, the man’s appreciation runs broad and deep.
I’ve been saving Wallace’s playlists for a couple of years now, and when I have time, I try to find those songs in Spotify, and I add them to my own playlist called, what else, “Rejuvination.” But Wallace’s own collection must be so deep because from time to time, I cannot find the track. Occasionally, Spotify errors out: “We’re sorry. The only person who owns this track is Scott Wallace of Rochester, New York.”
Okay. I exaggerate. A bit. But I’m telling you, the man’s collection is deep.
With the Trump Plague, we lost “Rejuvination” for a while. WRUR replaced it with some campy show featuring New Orleans music in the “shuckin’ and jivin'” genre. It was not what I was in the mood for. Each Friday night at 6, I’ve asked my trusty Amazon device to queue up WRUR, and every time since mid-March has been a letdown.
I mean, obviously, I’d rather the man stay at home through this as we all have had to do. But man, that Friday night jolt of gettin’ on the good foot sure would have made this easier.
Now, I work at home, and I work nights. So had my meetup mic had been open at 6 p.m. last night, my co-workers would have heard a 52-year-old man jump and holler.
Because Scott Wallace is back.
I drank in yesterday’s show like I’d been lost in the desert and someone just brought me a tray of margaritas. What a cap to the week.
