It was a Love Supreme Friday on 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning, and hosts Paul B. and Buddy the God made sure the mood stayed exactly that way. With Nebraska’s midterm primary results still fresh and the comment sections heating up, Paul B. made a deliberate choice right out of the gate. “There’s a lot of chatter going on on Friends of First Sky Omaha,” he said. “There’s a lot of back and forth, friends breaking up, all kinds of stuff happening over politics — and that just is like, okay, well, we have to make a decision. It’s going to be Love Supreme Friday today.” And with that, the show set its compass and never looked back.
The civic conversation didn’t disappear entirely, though. Buddy the God offered a grounding thought on voter participation that landed squarely. “None of this really matters if everybody voted,” he said. “That’s a pretty valid point — a lot of this doesn’t matter if everybody voted.” Viewer Kimber Snipes echoed the sentiment from a different angle, writing in: “I’ve been having conversations with people between the ages of 20 and 35. What I hear the most is most of them don’t really know what to do and know nothing about the candidates. I don’t think we should be slamming people for not voting when the system is really what has caused this. I think we need to have more education and deep dive discussions.” It was exactly the kind of nuanced community dialogue the show does best.
But the true heart of the morning belonged to a conversation with Dana Murray, founder and director of the North Omaha Music Academy — known to many as the NMA, and formerly as Love’s Jazz. Murray grew up in South Omaha, spent eleven formative years in New York City, and came back to Omaha with a vision that goes well beyond music lessons. Located on the storied North 24th Street corridor, the NMA is a youth music academy, a performance space, and, Murray hopes, the beginning of something much larger.
Murray didn’t mince words about what North 24th Street — the Deuce — can and should be. “There are a lot of districts in Omaha redeveloping — Blackstone, Benson, Little Bohemia,” he said. “But the area that has the most history and can truly claim to be a cultural and arts district is the North 24th Street corridor.” He was equally candid about the challenges, insisting that sentiment alone won’t get the job done. “A lot of stuff has gone up on North 24th Street that wasn’t sustainable, and I can’t get caught up in the emotion of redevelopment — the X’s and O’s have to make sense.” For Murray, that means housing, services, parking, destinations, and eventually a hotel capable of hosting festivals and conferences right in the community.
Paul B., who has long called North 24th “the most important black corner in Nebraska,” clearly found a kindred spirit. And viewer Pops brought it home with a piece of living history: “Artists like Fats Domino used to stay at your grandfather’s home when he came to town to perform. So yes, more infrastructure for the artist around the Deuce corridor would be a godsend.”
Murray also pushed back on what he called a “false sense of pride” that, in his view, sometimes keeps North Omaha from fully opening its doors. He pointed to South Omaha’s Cinco de Mayo celebration as a model worth admiring. “They champion their culture and invite everybody down,” he said. “One of the things I’ve tried to do is reach out and be a beacon for all of Omaha to come down to North 24th Street — and people have no problem coming from wherever they are to hear jazz or whatever we present. That taboo about the area’s ability to be an attraction was false — we’ve proven that.” Viewer Mark Manner backed that up firsthand: “When I go there it is the same people at shows at Waiting Room, Slow Down, and the Jewels. So people are coming from all around town and getting down at NMA, which I find impressive.”
At NMA, the curriculum stretches well beyond scales and sheet music. Students learn live sound engineering, broadcasting, podcasting, and how to conduct artist interviews — sometimes with the touring musicians who come through the venue. “It’s not just telling them ‘you can be this,'” Murray said. “No, you can be this right now. Once you remove those barriers, the sky’s the limit.” He also makes sure young people know the names that came before them — musicians like Buddy Miles and Victor Lewis, one of the most recorded jazz drummers in history. “If you give kids context, they connect the dots for themselves.”
Paul B. framed all of it through what he called the “secondary matrix” — the deeper purpose running beneath the surface of any meaningful work. “In Dana Murray’s case, he teaches kids music — but the secondary matrix is to create critical thinkers, create people that can go further in their fields because they have the discipline of musical training and the mind-expanding benefits of musical training.” Murray himself put it plainly: “Not all these young kids are going to become musicians by choice — some will become doctors, lawyers, business owners — but whatever they choose to do, they’re going to be better because they were aligned with artistry.”
Looking ahead, Murray announced plans for a $20 million capital campaign to build a true NMA campus — a North Omaha answer to what Omaha Performing Arts is for downtown. He also teased NMA Fest, which Paul B. called out with genuine enthusiasm: “When I’m comparing festivals, I’m saying this one to me is the one. If I was going to put a festival together, it’d be this — and it’s going to be huge.” Those interested in teaching at NMA can reach Murray at dmurray@northomahamusic.org or his assistant Andrew Bailey at abailey@northomahamusic.org.
The show wrapped with shoutouts to community organizations Core Science Bio Diagnostics and Heart Ministry Center, and a heads-up about an upcoming screening of Boots Riley’s film I Love Boosters at Film Streams. It was the kind of Friday morning that leaves you feeling like Omaha — especially North Omaha — is building something real. As viewer Pops signed off: “Thanks for another great week of shows. You and the Chat Chimers have made First Sky a true pillar in the community.” Hard to say it any better than that.
Tune in Monday morning for another edition of 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning — your community, your conversation, your start to the day.
