2026 Jazz Hero Derrick Lucas

For more than 35 years Derrick Lucas has been Rochester’s voice of jazz as music director and DJ at Jazz 90.1 WGMC, the city’s only full-time jazz station. A three-time JazzWeek Jazz Programmer of the Year, he hosts weekday mornings and his signature program, The Spectrum, on Sunday nights. He was named Rochester’s best radio personality by the readers of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle newspaper in 2025.

Lucas’s programming philosophy at WGMC embraces a wide range (or spectrum, if you will) of jazz, from bebop greats of the 1940s and ’50s to more contemporary artists. He often focuses on presenting the work of living musicians who can connect directly with audiences, sustaining jazz as a vital art form.

Lucas also sees jazz as a tool for community building, as the music historically has united people from different backgrounds and created spaces where barriers dissolve in shared appreciation. When not at the station or presiding over one of the concerts it presents throughout the year, he can be found in one of the restaurants or clubs presenting live jazz around Rochester.

During the Rochester International Jazz Festival in late June, Lucas embraces his highly visible role as “the Mayor of Jazz Street,” connecting listeners with the musicians and performances across the festival with previews of the event’s lineup and live interviews and programming from the festival. His indefatigable enthusiasm, deep knowledge, and welcoming spirit have kept Rochester’s jazz scene lively, and make Lucas a JJA Jazz Hero in 2026.