WBGO Jazz 88.3 Celebrates Jazz Appreciation Month, 33rd Birthday & More!

[McClairPR]

WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM Celebrates Jazz Appreciation Month, Public Radio Music Month, International Jazz Day and Its 33rd Anniversary with Live Broadcasts of the Northeast's Best Student Ensembles, April 9-23 at 2 pm on Afternoon Jazz

Newark, NJ, April 9, 2012 - April is a month for celebration in the jazz world, and WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM has a full schedule of special events and concerts to commemorate not only the 11th anniversary of Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM), Jazz Day (April 13), International Jazz Day (April 30) and Public Radio Music Month (PRMM), but also its 33rd birthday (April 9). To mark the occasion, the station kicks off the seventh annual JAM Festival, a series of live, in-studio broadcasts featuring student jazz ensembles from across the Northeast.

WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM listeners will have the rare opportunity to hear live performances by the next wave of jazz stars from leading jazz education programs, which were selected for the caliber of the musicians that emerge from the schools. The distinguished institutions include faculty comprised of legendary musicians, and each program presents studies that focus on developing students' improvisational, compositional and performance skills.

The JAM Festivalkicked off April 9 with the New Jersey University Sextet and will continue throughout April from 2:00 - 3:00 pm during Afternoon Jazz. The complete line-up is:

Monday, April 9: New Jersey City University Sextet
Tuesday, April 10: Julliard Jazz Ensemble
Wednesday, April 11: Manhattan School of Music
Friday, April 13: New York University Wayne Shorter Ensemble (PRMM Jazz Day Showcase)
Monday, April 16: Berklee College of Music's Berklee Global Jazz Institute
Tuesday, April 17: SUNY Purchase
Wednesday, April 18: William Paterson University
Thursday, April 19: LaGuardia High School Big Band
Monday, April 23: The New School for Jazz & Contemporary Music

"These jazz education programs are led by some of today's top musicians who are teaching, nurturing and mentoring the next generation of performers that will one day take their places on the stages of jazz clubs, festivals, concert halls and other venues around the world, " said Thurston Briscoe, WBGO Vice President of Programming and Production. Briscoe joined forces with Martin Mueller, Executive Director at The New School, to create the student jazz festival seven years ago.

In addition to the student performances, WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM's JAM schedule will include The Checkout Live at Berklee featuring Ingrid Jensen, April 12, 8:00 pm; the annual Jazz Leadership Society brunch at NJPAC's Nico's, with Catherine Russell, April 22, 12:00 pm; The Checkout Live at 92 Y Tribeca featuring Third World Love and Jason Lindner's Now vs. Now, April 26, 8:00 pm. The station also aired the Craig Taborn Trio live from the Village Vanguard on April 4.

To wrap up Jazz Appreciation Month, Public Radio Music Month and birthday celebration, WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM teams up with International Jazz Day on April 30 to broadcast Herbie Hancock's sunrise performance in New Orleans; the concert will be aired on WBGO at 6:30 pm that evening. In November 2011, during the UNESCO General Conference, the international community proclaimed April 30 as International Jazz Day, which is intended to raise awareness in the international community of the virtues of jazz as an educational tool, and a force for peace, unity, dialogue and enhanced cooperation among people. http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/...onal-jazz-day/

The Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History designated April Jazz Appreciation Month to draw greater public attention to the extraordinary heritage and history of jazz and its importance as an American cultural heritage. In addition, JAM is intended to stimulate the current jazz scene and encourage people of all ages to participate in jazz-to study the music, attend concerts, listen to jazz on radio and recordings, read books about jazz, and support institutional jazz programs.

Public radio stations and their supporters throughout the music community are celebrating Public Radio Music Month to highlight the partnership between public radio and music. Throughout April, stations will partner with musicians and listeners to feature live concert broadcasts, exclusive interviews, in-studio performances and more. WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM and other participating public radio stations are tastemakers, teachers and curators of local culture who bring innovative new sounds from emerging artists as well as the best in classic jazz.

Founded in 1979, Newark Public Radio, Inc. is a publicly supported cultural institution that champions jazz at WBGO 88.3 FM in Newark, New Jersey and worldwide via wbgo.org. WBGO is the recognized world leader in jazz radio and one of the most respected jazz presenters in the country, and offers award-winning news and innovative children's programs. Beyond reaching 400, 000 weekly listeners (including 17, 000 contributing members) on air, online and via mobile devices, WBGO presents live broadcasts from prestigious jazz venues and produces acclaimed programs for NPR heard by millions. WBGO is Jazz Week magazine's 2010 Major Market Station of the Year.

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[Mike Schwartz]

I'm pretty sure I heard WBGO right from the very start.

Morning drive guy Art Vincent "The AOJ" (Art of Jazz)

[PHILLYQ]

I also started with them in the beginning, I remember that they used to sign off at midnight. Now I hardly listen to them, I go to WKCR or a cd in the car. BGO's ideal seems to be 1950s-1960s Blue Note(minus any avant-garde) and whatever fits that model. It's sad to me that they play only a narrow slice of a gigantic pie.

[hornplayer]

I also started with them in the beginning, I remember that they used to sign off at midnight. Now I hardly listen to them, I go to WKCR or a cd in the car. BGO's ideal seems to be 1950s-1960s Blue Note(minus any avant-garde) and whatever fits that model. It's sad to me that they play only a narrow slice of a gigantic pie.

If you listened more, you'd hear a wide mix. BGO plays what their members request, pretty much. We "own" the station. If more avant-garde lovers supported the station, more a-g music would be aired.

[kurtdaniel]

This station is cool,, they play really nice music which suites my taste.. Perfect for my music lesson..