WKCR 89.9FM NY

WKCR pays tribute to the life and work of Al Foster, who passed away on May 28, 2025 at the age of 82. Aloysius Tyrone Foster was born on January 18, 1943 in Richmond, Virginia, where he began playing the drums at age 13. He began his career when he was only 20 years old, making his recording debut with Blue Mitchell. He is best known for his work with Miles Davis, who first heard Foster play in 1972.

Sid Gribetz presents a five hour tribute to pianist Harold Mabern this Sunday, May 18, 2025, from 2-7 PM on WKCR.

Mabern was born March 20, 1936 in Memphis and raised in that Southern town, surrounded by many great young jazz players in his school. Mabern’s own mentor and friend, only a couple of years older, was Phineas Newborn. His schoolmates and lifelong associates included Frank Strozier, George Coleman, and Booker Little.

WKCR is excited to announce a special 24-hour broadcast for May 22nd celebrating the 11th anniversary of the arrival of Sun Ra (1914-1993). The special broadcast will preempt all regularly-scheduled Thursday shows.

Tune in this Thursday, May 8 between 5am-3pm for WKCR’s Keith Jarret birthday broadcast and collaboration between our jazz and classical departments!

WKCR is pleased to announce a special broadcast in honor of two iconic composers, Johannes Brahms and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, on FM and HD radio for 24 hours on May 7, 2025. Split into two 12-hour segments, we will celebrate the birthday of Brahms from 12:00 am - 12:00 pm, and the birthday of Tchaikovsky from 12:01 pm - 11:59 pm. The special broadcast will preempt all regularly-scheduled Wednesday programming.

WKCR is pleased to announce our annual birthday celebration for the most recorded jazz bassist of all time, Ron Carter, broadcast on FM and HD radio and online 24 hours straight from 12:00 am to midnight on May 5th, 2025. This will include an exclusive broadcast from 8-10 pm, featuring interviews and a performance from Carter’s Foursight Quartet, live at the Blue Note.

Sid Gribetz presents Freddie Redd Sunday April 27 from 2-7 PM.

Freddie Redd is perhaps best known for his association with Jack Gelber’s groundbreaking 1959 off-Broadway play “The Connection”. Redd is perhaps least known as an active jazz musician for the following 60 years of his long life. For, he never sought publicity, traveled frequently, and, not favoring the constrictions of the recording studio, did not leave a long discography of commercial recordings.

WKCR is thrilled to announce our special 24-hour broadcast on April 25th celebrating the 108th anniversary of the birth of Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996).

WKCR is thrilled to announce a special 24-hour broadcast on April 29th celebrating the 126th anniversary of the birth of Duke Ellington (1899-1974).

Join us during Amazing Grace (8-10 AM) this Sunday, April 13, for an interview with Cheryl Wills, author of Isn’t Her Grace Amazing! The Women Who Changed Gospel Music. Host Rachel Smith will accompany the interview with musical selections drawn entirely from the discographies of the trailblazers in Wills’s work. As always, listeners can tune in at 89.9 FM or stream WKCR online at wkcr.org.

WKCR is pleased to announce our annual birthday celebration for celebrated bassist and pianist Charles Mingus, broadcast on FM and HD radio and online 24 hours straight from 12:00 am to midnight on April 22, 2025.

WKCR is honored to announce a special 24-hour broadcast in celebration of the 97th birthday of one of the most iconic and influential voices in jazz history, Billie Holiday. Tune in on April 7 to WKCR 89.9 FM for a full day of music from the legendary “Lady Day,” whose haunting, soulful voice left an indelible mark on jazz and the American musical landscape.

WKCR merchandise is now available to purchase! All of the designs available are limited edition and purchasable now through April 18th. The "Pixel Hoodie" features a brand new design while the "WKCR scribble shirt" and "'The Alternative' Tee" highlight iconic archival logos. If you didn't get a chance to support WKCR through our fund drive, purchasing merchandise is a great way to do so as all of the proceeds go to WKCR's operating budget!

All merchandise can be found by clicking the MERCH tab at the top of our page or through clicking the link below.

Tune in on March 30th from 2-7 for an over view of the career of Hazel Scott. The show will include live interviews with Dr.Cornel West, Grammy award winning pianist Michelle Cann, and son of Hazel Scott and Adam Clayton Powell jr., Adam Powell III.

Only on WKCR 89.9 FM NY & wkcr.org

WKCR is excited to announce our annual birthday broadcast of the legendary Bix Beiderbecke. Bix was born Leon Bismarck Beiderbecke in Davenport, Iowa, on March 10, 1903. He began playing piano when he was only two or three years old and could recreate almost any tune he heard by the age of seven. As a teenager, Bix taught himself to play cornet by listening to the Original Dixieland Jazz Band on his brother’s Victrola phonograph.

WKCR is excited to announce our annual birthday broadcast of the legendary Ornette Coleman. Born March 9th, 1930 in Fort Worth, Texas, Ornette Coleman had a searing, unrepentantly human sound and endless melodicism that fully embodied Bird's vocal angularity, the sprawling, rough-and-tumble expressiveness of the Southwest saxophone lineage, and the blues.

Tune in on March 2nd at 7 PM EST to hear Anupam Shobhakar's new album Liquid Reality and an interview with the artist held by the host

Tune in from 6pm-Midnight on Saturday 2/22 to celebrate 90 years of the Village Vanguard with WKCR, live from the legendary venue itself!

WKCR is very excited to announce our annual birthday broadcast in honor of an icon of the 20th century: Nina Simone. Listeners will enjoy 24 straight hours of Nina Simone on Friday, February 21st. Simone’s music was often labeled as jazz, but her genius defies the boundaries of genre. Artists such as Aretha Franklin, Lauryn Hill, and Tracy Chapman have cited her as an important influence. In fact, Simone was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.

Sid Gribetz presents the music of trumpeter Bill Hardman this Sunday, February 16, 2025 from 2-7 PM.

Hardman was a crisp trumpeter with the brashness and elan of the bebop and hard bop ethos, colored also by a lyrical and even romantic aspect in his tone. While perhaps not achieving tremendous fame, he was a valued figure in our jazz scene of his time.

Bill Hardman was born in 1932 (or 33 depending on the source) and raised in Cleveland, where he came up with musicians such as Tadd Dameron.

WKCR is honored to announce our annual 24-hour memorial broadcast for our very own Phil Schaap (1951-2021), held on the anniversary of his very first broadcast on WKCR back in 1970. The day will be full of archival programs––several of which have not been heard in years––to honor the legacy of the late great Phil Schaap. Born to jazz scholar Walter Schaap and pianist and librarian Marjorie Wood Schaap, Phil’s love of jazz started young.

WKCR is very excited to announce our 24-hour annual birthday broadcast for jazz great Roy Eldridge, “Little Jazz,” this January 30, 2025. We will preempt all regularly scheduled programming to bring you a full day of the music of this influential player of the swing era. Eldridge was born in Pittsburgh in 1911, to a wagon teamster and a gifted pianist. At the age of five, Eldridge was already playing blues on the piano. He dedicated himself to the trumpet, at the advice of his older brother Joe, at age 11.

WKCR announces a Lunar New Year Broadcast, this year combined with a Teresa Teng Birthday Broadcast, for 12-hours on FM and HD radio and online, from 12:00am to 12:00pm on Wednesday, January 29th. It will run from the last hour of Tuesday’s Just as Bad until the conclusion of Cereal Music. The broadcast will preempt all regularly-scheduled Wednesday programming within those hours.

WKCR is excited to announce a special 24-hour birthday celebration for Antônio Carlos Jobim, broadcast on FM and HD radio and online all day on Saturday, January 25, 2025 in celebration of his 98th birthday. The special broadcast will run from the middle of Mambo Machine until the end half of Saturday at the Opera at 12:00 am on Sunday.

Tune in to Jazz Alternatives this Tuesday, January 14th from 6-9 pm EST, to hear a selection of the great Peter Cox's wonderful jazz collection. Peter was an avid jazz fan and donated many of his materials to the WKCR library, allowing it to be as robust and unique as it is today and shareable to our airwaves. Kurt Gottschalk will be hosting the broadcast in honor of what would've been Peter Cox's 90th birthday.

Listen at 89.9 FM NY and HD, or stream it at wkcr.org.

WKCR is delighted to announce our 24-hour annual birthday broadcast for jazz great Max Roach this January 10, 2025. All regularly scheduled programming will be preempted to bring you 24 straight hours of one of jazz’s finest and most influential drummers.

Sid Gribetz presents a five hour retrospective of Grant Green this Sunday, January 5, 2025 from 2-7 PM. Grant Green was one of the all time greats of jazz guitar. His flame burned brightly for a time, but he is to a certain degree been a “forgotten” star. Green’s approach to the guitar was like that of a horn player. He played single note lines that were melodic and improvisational. His playing was free flowing and swung with a soulful spirit and deep grooves.

This Sunday December 22 from 7-9PM WKCR will broadcast a special memorial tribute to the tabla maestro, Ud Zakir Hussain. We'll be sharing two interviews with the great maestro and an excerpt from his 2020 performance at Ragas Live Festival and more.

After his passing on December 15, 2024, his collaborator for more than 50 years, John McLaughlin wrote, "The King, in whose hands, Rhythm became Magic, has left us… RIP my dearest Zakir, we will meet again.

WKCR is pleased to announce the return of the annual Bach Festival 2024. For eight days, starting at midnight on December 24th, both 89.9 FM and wkcr.org will exclusively broadcast the works of composer and organist Johann Sebastian Bach.