It was a Love Supreme Friday on 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning, and hosts Paul B. and Buddy the God brought the kind of energy that makes you want to pull up a chair, pour a cup of coffee, and stay awhile. From a frank conversation about voter turnout to a deeply inspiring interview with one of North Omaha’s most visionary educators, Episode 53 of Season 4 gave the community plenty to think about heading into the weekend.
The show opened with some warmth straight from the chat. Viewer Aeros 402 set a tender tone early: “On a love note, my only daughter gave birth to my second granddaughter. They are both new and good. I feel blessed.” It was the kind of moment that reminds you why community morning shows matter — because sometimes the most important news is right next door.
But the hosts didn’t shy away from harder conversations. Paul B. read aloud a post from Raquel Henderson of the mayor’s office that stopped the room cold. Nebraska’s midterm primary had just wrapped up, and the numbers were sobering. “Only 339,320 out of more than 1.2 million registered voters in Nebraska showed up yesterday,” Paul B. read. “Posting on Facebook is not enough. Awareness without action changes nothing.” Viewer Sean McCarthy added context from the chat, noting that Douglas County’s average primary turnout hovered around 35% — and pointing to a structural problem: “One huge problem is so many of these positions don’t pay a living wage, so only those who can afford to hold those positions run.”
Buddy the God acknowledged the frustration but urged the audience not to get stuck in it. “We got to do both — we have to build our own ecosystems and continue to do the things that we’re about to talk about, but in the long run, we do got to figure this out as far as a nation.” That pivot — from what’s broken to what can be built — became the heartbeat of the entire episode.
Paul B. introduced a concept he called the “secondary matrix” — the deeper purpose humming beneath the surface of any meaningful initiative. He used a simple but powerful example: “In Dana Murray’s case, he teaches kids music — but the secondary matrix is to create critical thinkers who can go further in their fields because they have the discipline of musical training.” Buddy connected it to his own story, giving a shout-out to Omaha North High School’s nationally recognized engineering program. “I’m a product of the engineering program. That critical thinking is still within me — that’s the secondary matrix outcome of me just being an engineering student at Omaha North.”
And then came the main event.
Dana Murray, founder of the North Omaha Music Academy (NMA) — formerly known as Love’s Jazz — joined the hosts for a conversation that was equal parts vision, history lesson, and community love letter. Murray spent 11 years building his craft in New York City before returning to Omaha and planting his flag on North 24th Street, a corridor Paul B. called “the most important Black corner in Nebraska.”
Murray didn’t mince words about what that corridor could — and should — be. “Really, the area that has the most history and the one that can claim we are a cultural and arts district, for real, is the North 24th Street corridor,” he said. “Look at old pictures and you see on a Saturday morning, North 24th Street is filled with people just walking around and shopping, going to eat breakfast. It was a vibe. There was a unity, a love, and a togetherness that was there.” He outlined a vision of a self-sustained district complete with housing, eateries, entertainment destinations — and even a hotel to attract music festivals and conferences directly into the community.
Murray was equally candid about what holds North Omaha back. He pointed to Native Omaha Days as a missed opportunity, contrasting it with South Omaha’s Cinco de Mayo celebration. “Look at South Omaha’s Cinco de Mayo and how they champion their culture — it’s a festival that brings them together, but they invite everybody down,” he said. “One of the things I’ve tried to do was reach out and be a beacon for all of Omaha to come down to North 24th Street.” He noted that skeptics told him it would be nearly impossible — and that people proved those skeptics wrong, traveling from across Omaha and even Iowa for jazz performances at NMA.
NMA’s mission goes well beyond music lessons. Murray described a curriculum that includes live sound engineering, broadcasting, podcasting, and artist interviews — many conducted by the students themselves. “We’re also teaching who these artists were — who Buddy Miles was, what he represented for the community and for the world; who Victor Lewis was, why he’s one of the most recorded jazz drummers in history,” Murray explained. “If you give kids context, they connect the dots for themselves.”
The vision is ambitious. Murray spoke of a planned $20 million capital campaign — just the first phase — toward building a full NMA campus. His model? Omaha Performing Arts, which he said generates $40 to $50 million in annual revenue for downtown. “That’s what we’re trying to be for North Omaha,” he said. “What we have to sell in most Black communities is our culture. Our culture is equity. Our brilliance, our artistic genius is equity. The sooner we understand that, the better off we’re going to be — because then it’s going to be respected.”
Murray also noted that NMA is actively seeking music instructors who can do more than just teach technique. “The ‘why’ they’re doing it is everything,” he said. “The instructors we bring in have to have in their arsenal the ability to inspire another human being.” Interested candidates can reach Murray at dmurray@northomahamusic.org or his assistant Andrew Bailey at abailey@northomahamusic.org.
Viewer Pops summed up the room’s feeling perfectly from the chat: “I love this interview. This brother’s vibe is so cool and his intentions are admirable. First Sky loves the kids.” And Paul B. brought it home with a line that lingered: “My grandmother used to say, dance is the shortcut to happiness.” In a week that held hard news and hard numbers, the conversation with Dana Murray felt exactly like that — a shortcut back to what matters.
Tune in Monday morning for another edition of 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning — where the community shows up, speaks up, and lifts each other up, one broadcast at a time.
