Sundays are unique to the week. 

And for many, Sunday mornings hold a special place as a time to reset, reconfigure, and reevaluate. 

Sunday morning is also a time that people establish traditions – routines involving newspapers, coffee, sunrises, family, breakfast, and of course, music. 

Fitting then is that WEMU’s traditional music program, the Sunday Best, is broadcast every Sunday morning. 

Hosted since February, 2012 by Nik Thompson, the Sunday Best is a program devoted to honoring traditions, while striving to start new ones every week. 

As a mission, the Sunday Best aims to air forgotten classics – whether it be a gem from the 1920s, or a jewel from 2005.  The focus is on music steeped in original American traditions – building block sounds – from jazz, ragtime, stride and barrelhouse, to blues, bluegrass, jump, jive and country.  We’ll even touch on early R & B and other soulful precursors to rock and roll. 

Almost nothing is out of bounds.  Prepare to think differently.  The music aired during the Sunday Best is exceptional in that it can be found in few places outside of a discerning soul’s personal collection. 

Never forgotten is the music of Fletcher Henderson, Miff Mole, Bix Beiderbecke, Lonnie Johnson, Art Tatum (and Hodes, while we’re at it), Blind Willie Johnson, Catfish Keith, Charlie Poole, Woody Guthrie, Joe Henry, Joe Turner, and Otis Spann.  Just to name a few. 

Thank you for being a part of WEMU’s Sunday morning tradition – and for letting us be a part of yours.