H. Johnson spotlights multi-instrumentalist Ron McCroby who brought jazz improv to the art of whistling

WABE’s H. Johnson has been a fixture on our station since 1978. As host of both “Blues Classics” and “Jazz Classics,” H. continually educates and entertains WABE listeners every Friday and Saturday night. Now, H. joins “City Lights” every other Friday to share a bit from his breadth of jazz knowledge. The segment, “H. Johnson’s Jazz Moment,” explores selections from the best of H.’s music collection along with tidbits from history, personal reflections, and his thoughts on the evergreen resonance of jazz. 

This edition presents a rare pedigree in the world of jazz, not to be mistaken for a novelty act — a jazz whistler. Specifically, we hear the whistling virtuoso Ron McCroby, who coined the term “puccolo” to describe his “instrument;” a conflation of “piccolo” and “pucker.” Also a clarinetist, saxophonist and flautist, McCroby would often whistle in a duet with other woodwind players, fluttering with seemingly effortless dexterity through trills, runs and long melodic passages. He also brought a masterful fluency in jazz improvisation to whistling, all the more impressive given the extraordinary breath and embouchure (mouth tension) control required in the practice. 

H. Johnson featured a recording of McCroby performing “All the Things You Are,” a jazz swing standard. A casual listener might understandably mistake McCroby for a piccolo, given how deftly he achieves top-of-the-register pitches and twinkling glissandos. Accompanied by drums, upright bass and piano, McCroby appeared with a similar ensemble in his breakout television performances on Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show” in 1982, catching the nation’s attention. Sadly, only a few such TV recordings and two albums survive of McCroby’s talent — like so many other bright stars of jazz, he passed on too soon in 2002.