James Irsay will be remembered as a Prize-winning concert pianist and exceptional raconteur who specialized in historical recordings, with an emphasis on piano music. Yet he was just as likely to throw in music of any kind that sparked his interest into his radio programs. He wasn't a radio wallflower. Listeners enjoyed extended, unfiltered, free-flowing streams of consciousness on any subject at all.

When the subject was music and the recordings he played, James took an analytical path, one that ran through groves of highly personal opinion, gardens of historical and technical elucidation, and – wait for it – sandboxes of embarrassingly juvenile tomfoolery.

A musician since the age of six, Irsay studied with such world-class performers and composers as Jorge Bolet, John Ogdon, Sasha Gorodnitzki, Ernst Krenek, Peter “PDQ Bach” Schickele and Jacob Druckman. He performed with Itzak Perlman, Pinchas Zuckerman, Raymond Lewenthal, Alan Titus, and many more musical luminaries. His work at WBAI brought much recognition to his beloved station, including The Major Armstrong Award, several Corporation for Public Broadcasting Awards, and for National Public Radio, The Ohio State Award.