Dwight Frizzell

Dwight Frizzell is an internationally recognized artist whose interdisciplinary work combines video, performance, installation, music, audio art and writing. He has been producing the “From Ark to Microchip” series with Jay Mandeville since 1984. Ark radio has been heard on KOPN, KCUR, KGNU, RESONANCE FM (London), RADIO NOVA (Paris), and WKCR (New York).

Dwight’s boyhood neighbor in Independence, Missouri was Harry S. Truman, who appears in Dwight’s work as a pianist, Atlantean King and time-traveler. Dwight released the “Beyond the Black Crack” LP in 1976, studied video art with Douglas Davis (1977), clarinet with Raymond Luedeke (1979) and metaphysics with Sun Ra (1980-1990). His work was exhibited at Biennale de Paris, World-Wide Video Festival (Amsterdam), and broadcast on NPR.

Dwight’s collaborative third-mind creations with writer Jay Mandeville includes plays, essays, and Ark scripts.  Their work was published in “Semiotext(e) Radiotext(e)” and “Experimental Sound and Radio” (MIT Press). They edited The Pitch newspaper in the early ‘80s.

Dwight’s music is available on Paradigm discs (England). He plays Buffet clarinets and Yamaha saxophones and wind controllers. His collaborations with Michael Henry include “Sonic Force,” where AFR A10 Warthog Attack Planes were used as musical instruments. Frizzell is a founding member of the Black Crack Revue, the newEar contemporary chamber ensemble, and the National Audio Theatre Festivals. He performed recently with David Ossman and Phil Proctor of the Firesign Theatre.

Hosts:


Thursday Night Special

Thursday nights are special!

First Thursday: Jasmine Jones hosts Next Step Forward, a spotlight on millennials of Kansas City who are within a marginalized group, but are using their talents, business, activism etc. to help bring positivity within their communities. This program exists to be a place that is inclusive, safe, fun, inspirational and educational not only for the listeners but for the guest as well.

Second Thursday: Shots in the Night radio theatre; hosted and produced by various members of Shots In The Night. In 2023 SITN has received seven awards for podcast productions in the 9th Annual Hear Now Audio Fiction and Arts Festival produced by the National Audio Theatre Festivals, Inc.

Third Thursday: People Power Hour, brought to you by KC Tenants, hosts a rotation of speakers featuring members and leaders from KC Tenants and other tenant unions across the country to analyze, inform, and inspire listeners about the power of tenant unions in America. Every episode will showcase a different lesson about tenant unions and America's problematic history with housing by providing in-depth historical analysis, testimonials and stories from leaders who organized in their  communities, and collectively brainstorming a vision for a better world where housing is treated as a human right.

Fourth Thursday: Sirisha Naidu and Taki Manolakos host Economics For the People, a journey to explore the transformative power of economics when it is harnessed for the working classes, to advance social justice, and to create an inclusive and equitable society. It is an open invitation to participate in collectively shaping and reimagining an economy that prioritizes the needs and aspirations of the working classes, marginalized communities, and individuals of different gender expressions, sexualities, and abilities. The show features diverse voices, experiences and perspectives that often remain unheard in mainstream conversations about economics, markets and numbers.

Fifth Thursday: The provocative "From Ark to Microchip", produced by Dwight Frizzell, mixes commentary, dramatic re-enactment, original music, historic voices, audio art and sound effects in a pan-historical, pan-cultural milieu. Programs in the program series have received several awards.

Note: These programs may be preempted by special presentations.

Listen live on KKFI
Every Thursday at 7:00pm

Logo - From Ark to Microchip

From Ark to Microchip

The provocative "From Ark to Microchip" mixes commentary, dramatic re-enactment, original music, historic voices, audio art and sound effects in a pan-historical, pan-cultural milieu. Programs in the program series have received several awards.

Listen live on KKFI
At 7pm on the fifth Thursday of the month (Fifth Thursdays in 2022 are March, June, September, December).