J. Michael Harrison

Radio tastemaker and curator championing progressive Black music, as well as music throughout the creative diaspora.

J. Michael Harrison is a celebrated radio tastemaker, curator, and cultural connector who has spent more than three decades championing progressive Black music and sounds from across the diaspora. As longtime host of The Bridge on WRTI, he has introduced audiences to cutting-edge jazz, soul, hip-hop, and global traditions, spotlighting artists who push boundaries and expand the canon. Beyond the airwaves, Harrison has curated concerts, festivals, and cross-disciplinary collaborations that showcase both masters and rising innovators, earning recognition from the Jazz Journalists Association and Philadelphia’s cultural community alike. An educator since his post–University of the Arts days, he has inspired youth through Temple University’s Intellectual Heritage Program, The Rosenbach, and work with iconic mentor Lovett Hines. His curatorial voice now extends into the Painted Bride’s Satellite Sound series, carrying forward the Bride’s legacy of fearless jazz presentation into the present while amplifying music as a force for resilience, creativity, and change.