Bob Perkins, the beloved Philadelphia jazz DJ known as ‘BP with the GM,’ has died at 91

Bob Perkins, 91, of Wyncote, the jazz DJ whose sonorous, deeply relaxing, and reassuring voice on the Philadelphia airwaves entertained and educated music lovers for more than half a century, died Sunday, Jan. 19, at Jefferson Abington Hospital.

Mr. Perkins’ death after a brief illness was confirmed by his wife, Sheila K. Perkins. Mr. Perkins, who suffered a stroke in 2019 and retired from the Temple University radio station WRTI-FM (90.1) in 2023, had been hospitalized since early January.

Mr. Perkins’ trademark slogan, known to legions of loyal listeners, was “BP with the GM.” It stood for “Bob Perkins with the Good Music.”

He reliably delivered just that every evening Monday through Thursday — and again on Sunday morning on his Jazz Brunch with Bob Perkins program — on WRTI. He exposed an appreciative audience to jazz greats such as Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, and Miles Davis, as well as like-minded younger artists.

“The old stuff,” he liked to say, “and the new stuff that sounds like the old stuff.”

Mr. Perkins was a 2003 inductee into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame. In 2016, a plaque with his name went into the concrete on South Broad Street when he was inducted into the Philadelphia Music Alliance Walk of Fame.

That year, WRTI station manager David Conant spoke for generations of Philadelphia jazz fans when he said: “Bob is jazz radio. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of the music and the musicians, and has known many of the greats. … Bob’s staying power is a testament to his greatness.”

Mr. Perkins put it simply at the time. Explaining the connection listeners felt to his comforting and authoritative presence on the air, he said with pride: “People call and tell me, ‘I didn’t like jazz till you played it.’”

His death marks the end of an era in Philadelphia radio. Mr. Perkins was the last of a group of trusted Philadelphia DJs associated with a specific brand of music over the course of careers of staggering duration.

That list of legends who have died this decade includes folk DJ Gene Shay; Frank Sinatra-focused Sid Mark, who was an early influence on Mr. Perkins, along with jazz DJ-producer Joel Dorn and TV news anchor John Facenda; and oldies icon Jerry Blavat. With the passing of Mr. Perkins, the last of those voices is gone.

Gerald Veasley, the bass player and president of Jazz Philadelphia, said Mr. Perkins was an obvious choice as a recipient of the organization’s first Hometown Hero award in 2022.

“He embodied the spirit of a true hero: putting others first,” Veasley said. “He used the airwaves to uplift music and musicians. His voice provided a comforting presence — like your favorite storytelling uncle. Though he never wanted to be the subject of the story, he became a hero in his own right.”

Mr. Perkins’ quietly confident, charismatic presence drew listeners in. “I first heard Bob when he was at WDAS and then WHYY. By the time he became a fixture at WRTI, I was already living in New York, but his stature was so big and so respected in the jazz community at large, you didn’t have to live in Philly to feel his presence,” bassist Christian McBride told The Inquirer.

“I was honored to be a guest on his podcast just a couple of years ago. We all will forever love, respect, and appreciate his commitment to the city of Philadelphia and this great American art form known as jazz.”

His passion for music came early. He grew up the youngest of five siblings at 19th and Gerritt Streets in South Philadelphia, on the same block as the illustrious jazz music brothers Jimmy, Percy, and Albert “Tootie” Heath.

Mr. Perkins’ father, DeForrest, could no longer work after being stricken with arthritis at 39. So he spent his time at home, tinkering with antennas for a small AM radio that could pull in stations from as far away as Chicago.

His youngest son listened by his side. “I was a radio nut,” Mr. Perkins said in 2016. “I remember sitting in my parents’ bedroom when they announced the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. We would listen to the Phillies games, and the A’s when they were here.”

His brother Joe schooled him on jazz, taking him to see bandleader Lucky Millinder at the Fays Theatre at 40th and Market Streets when he was 5. “We took our coats off and I sat on them so I could see over the ladies with the big hats,” he remembered.

» READ MORE: Talking all that jazz with WRTI legend Bob Perkins

Mr. Perkins graduated from South Philadelphia High School and studied radio with Philly legends like Louise Bishop at the American Foundation of Dramatic Arts. In the early 1960s, he sold insurance door-to-door in North Philly.

“I would always wear a suit and smoke a pipe,” he recalled in 2023. “I didn’t really smoke a pipe, but I figured that would help get me in the door. Like Sherlock Holmes, I looked trustworthy. And that really helped set me up for radio. It taught me to open my mouth to make a living and get people to like me. It got the nervousness out of me.”

In 1964, he followed his brothers to Detroit, where they worked in the auto industry. “By divine or dumb luck,” he recalled, the insurance building where he worked also housed a Black-owned radio station. He was soon on the air “playing [John] Coltrane and washing it down with B.B. King.”

Five years later, he came home, taking a job as editorial director at WDAS-FM, known as “the voice of the Black community.” He bounced around the dial, with a jazz show on WHYY-FM (90.9) in 1977, then a side gig at WDAS-AM (1480) in the 1980s, before settling in at WRTI in 1997.

Mr. Perkins’ enthusiasm for the music never waned and was contagious. He regarded Ellington as the GOAT, and counted Davis, Vaughan, Coltrane, Ella Fitzgerald, Anita O’Day, and Morgana King as favorites.

An irreplaceable fount of historical knowledge, Mr. Perkins’ show educated young jazz musicians, and offered seasoned Philadelphia players a platform.

In 2020, after the death of saxophonist Bootsie Barnes, who was a frequent guest on his show, Mr. Perkins said: “I always used to say he was as indigenous to Philadelphia as cheesesteaks, hoagies, Philly scrapple, and probably Billy Penn.”

That same year, Mr. Perkins recalled seeing pianist McCoy Tyner at a West Philly club in the 1980s.

“There were great musicians in the house, including Grover Washington Jr., who could play jazz like a fiend when he wanted to. And they were all just silent and watched and listened when McCoy played. It was like God was in the house that night.”

Mr. Perkins’ sense of wonder at music’s power as an avenue of self-expression sustained him throughout his life.

“I revere the people who play jazz because … they’re playing their life,” he said in 2023. “They must have lived something to produce that sound. Something inward. Some microcosm of themselves coming out. Extemporaneously! I think that’s magic.”

After he retired in 2023, Mr. Perkins, who was a founding board member of Jazz Bridge, the Philly-area nonprofit that supports jazz and blues musicians, launched the Stay Tuned with Bob Perkins podcast, telling stories from his life and featuring interviews with young musicians.

Last year, Mr. Perkins was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Montco Jazz Festival, presented by trumpeter and Temple director of jazz studies Terell Stafford.

Saxophonist Josh Lee, who performed a tribute after the award presentation, spoke for legions of Philadelphia listeners when he told The Inquirer:

“His choice of music shaped my taste in jazz. So much of what I love is based on the music that Bob Perkins played every night.”

Mr. Perkins is survived by his wife, Sheila. A memorial is being planned for spring.