Tito Puente Birthday Broadcast

WKCR is pleased to announce its 24-hour birthday broadcast honoring the life and legacy of El Rey of Timbales, Tito Puente, airing from midnight to midnight on Sunday, April 20th, 2026, in celebration of what would have been his 103rd birthday. This special programming will preempt all regularly scheduled Sunday programming.

Date: 
Tue, 20 Apr 2027, 12:00am to 11:59pm

Billie Holiday Birthday Broadcast

WKCR is excited and honored to announce the 24-hour broadcast in celebration of the 98th 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.

Date: 
Tue, 7 Apr 2026, 12:00am to 11:59pm

Béla Bartók Birthday Broadcast

WKCR is pleased to announce a special broadcast in honor of Béla Bartók’s 145th birthday, from 9:30 am to 9 pm EST on March 25, 2026. The special broadcast will preempt all regularly-scheduled Wednesday programming and feature both his masterpieces and lesser-known works.

Date: 
Wed, 25 Mar 2026, 12:00am to 11:59pm

Nina Simone Birthday Broadcast

WKCR is proud to celebrate the birthday of one of the most important and iconic musicians of the 20th century: Nina Simone. As part of our annual tradition, we will air 24 straight hours of Nina Simone on Saturday, February 21st, preempting all regularly scheduled programming for the day.

Date: 
Sat, 21 Feb 2026, 12:00am to 11:59pm

Serge Chaloff Sunday Profile

Sid Gribetz presents Serge Chaloff on WKCR’s Sunday Profiles, February 15, 2026, from 2-7 PM.

Chaloff was a fleeting star on the baritone saxophone during his brief lifetime, one of Woody Herman’s “Four Brothers” and a bebopping legend as well. He was a sophisticated musician and swinging performer. Serge possessed a lithe, fleet, flowing conception propelled with a lighter tone and nimble execution on the big horn.

Date: 
Sun, 15 Feb 2026, 2:00pm to 7:00pm

Phil Schaap Memorial Broadcast

WKCR celebrates the legacy of the great Phil Schaap on the anniversary of his very first broadcast on our airwaves, which took place on February 2, 1970. This 24-hour program will feature archival selections of Phil’s programs and interviews for WKCR. Phil Lives!

Date: 
Mon, 2 Feb 2026, 12:00am to 11:59pm

Roy Eldridge Birthday Broadcast

WKCR is pleased to bring you our 24-hour annual birthday broadcast for jazz great Roy Eldridge, “Little Jazz,” who would turn 115 today. We will preempt all regularly scheduled programming to bring you a full day of the music of this influential player of the swing era.

Date: 
Fri, 30 Jan 2026, 12:00am to 11:59pm

Antonio Carlos Jobim Birthday Brodcast

WKCR is pleased to announce its annual 24-hour birthday broadcast honoring the life and legacy of legendary Brazilian giant, composer, pianist, guitarist, and bossa nova innovator, Antonio Carlos Jobim, airing from midnight to midnight on Sunday, January 25, 2026, in celebration of what would have been his 99th birthday. This special programming will preempt all regularly scheduled Sunday programming.

Date: 
Sun, 25 Jan 2026, 12:00am to 11:59pm

Johnny Griffin Sunday Profile

Sid Gribetz presents Johnny Griffin for five hours on the radio this Sunday January 18, 2026 on WKCR Profiles from 2-7 PM.

Johnny Griffin earned the nickname “The Little Giant” for his short physical height but big powerful sound on the tenor sax. Coming out of the blues and swing of his Chicago roots but also informed by the sophisticated developments of the bebop era, Griffin’s proficiency on his instrument and the fleet and darting lines of his attack make him one of our greats.

Date: 
Sun, 18 Jan 2026, 2:00pm to 7:00pm

WKCR x WJF Interview with David Murray

Tune in tomorrow, January 7, at 7 AM to hear an interview with jazz titan and multi-instrumentalist David Murray in advance of his performance at NYC Winter JazzFest. Host Rachel Smith talks with David Murray about the iconic quartets he has led and been a part of throughout his career, his creative and compositional process, and his latest two albums.

As always, you can listen at 89.9 FM on your radio dial or stream the interview online at wkcr.org

Date: 
Wed, 7 Jan 2026, 7:00am to 8:00am

Max Roach Birthday Broadcast

New York, NY — WKCR is proud to announce its annual 24-hour birthday broadcast honoring the life and legacy of legendary jazz drummer, composer, educator, and civil rights activist Max Roach, airing from midnight to midnight on Saturday, January 10, 2026, in celebration of what would have been his 102nd birthday.

Date: 
Sat, 10 Jan 2026, 12:00am to 11:59pm

Ben Webster Sunday Profile

Sid Gribetz presents “Ben Webster in the 1940s”, this Sunday December 21, 2025 from 2-7 PM.

Ben Webster was nicknamed “The Brute” due both to his sometimes tempestuous temperament and also for his vigorous power on the tenor saxophone. But he was “The Beautiful” as well, with a personal sensitivity within his soul, and an elegant, romantic approach on the softer numbers, projecting a breathy tone with “air to spare”.

Date: 
Sun, 21 Dec 2025, 2:00pm to 7:00pm

Rafael Ithier Memorial Broadcast

WKCR pays tribute to the life and work of Mr. Rafael Ithier tomorrow, December 17, 2025, from 5 AM through 3 PM (ET). Born in San Juan in 1926, Mr. Ithier began playing music as a child, following in the footsteps of his namesake Rafael Cortijo. He was drafted into the military in 1952; when he finished his service, he played with The Bourqueneers Mambo Kings in NYC before moving back to his Puerto Rico. There, he joined Cortijo's salsa orchestra, Cortijo y Su Combo. He founded El Gran Combo in 1962, where he would make his incredible legacy in salsa and Latin music.

Date: 
Wed, 17 Dec 2025, 5:00am to 3:00pm

Gigi Gryce Sunday Profile

We celebrate the centennial of Gigi Gryce (Basheer Qusim) with a five hour radio program to be presented by Sid Gribetz this Sunday, November 23, 2025, from 2-7 PM on WKCR.

Gryce became a leading figure in his brief career in the 1950s. as a saxophonist, composer, arranger, music publisher, and teacher and mentor to many musicians.

Date: 
Mon, 3 Nov 2025, 2:00pm to 7:00pm

Signal Maintenance

Due to scheduled maintenance our FM signal will be inaccessible today (11/17) from 8 AM- 4 PM. The work continues tomorrow (11/18) and Thursday (11/20).

Our webstream available via wkcr.org will remain unaffected.

Date: 
Mon, 17 Nov 2025, 8:00am to Thu, 20 Nov 2025, 4:00pm

10/25/2025 Hobo's Lullaby Interactive Map

The companion map to the October 25th, 2025 edition of Hobo's Lullaby is now fully live! In celebration of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy's centennial, host Ale Díaz-Pizarro, took listeners on a folk music tour up the Appalachian Trail, playing music from all 14 states on the trail from Georgia to Maine. The map is a digital, interactive version of the program, including historical and recording information for every song that was played on the program.

Date: 
Sat, 25 Oct 2025, 12:00am to Fri, 14 Nov 2025, 12:00am

Jack DeJohnette Memorial Broadcast

WKCR honors the life and music of Jack DeJohnette, who passed away on October 27, 2025 at the age of 83, with a 16-hour memorial broadcast. He was born in Chicago in 1942. He started his career not as a jazz drummer, but as a classical pianist. He fell in love with jazz by listening to the 78s that his uncle, who was a DJ, played on the radio.

Date: 
Tue, 28 Oct 2025, 5:00am to 9:00pm

Clifford Brown Birthday Broadcast

WKCR is pleased to announce our special broadcast celebrating what would have been the 95th birthday of American trumpeter Clifford Brown, broadcast on FM and HD radio and online for 24 hours on Thursday, October 30th, 2023. The broadcast will preempt all regularly-scheduled Monday shows.

Date: 
Thu, 30 Oct 2025, 12:00am to 11:59pm

New Music Centennial Broadcast

On October 22, 1925, Henry Cowell and The New Music Society of California would host their first ever concert- sparking the dissemination of “ultra-modernist” composition within the musical ecosystem of the United States. Cowell sought to “present musical works embodying the most progressive tendencies of this age”, shedding light on the compositions of Carl Rugges, Edgard Varese, Arnold Shoenberg, and more. Nearly one hundred years later, New Music has evolved far beyond the 300-person concert in LA’s Biltmore Hotel.

Date: 
Wed, 22 Oct 2025, 12:00am to 11:59pm

Dodo Marmarosa Sunday Profile

Sid Gribetz presents pianist Dodo Marmarosa Sunday October 12, 2025 from 2-7 PM on “Sunday Profiles”.

Michael Marmarosa was born on December 12, 1925 to a working class Italian immigrant family in Pittsburgh. Dodo was a childhood nickname, and he began taking serious classical music lessons as a young child. He also befriended slightly older Steel City jazz pianists such as Billy Strayhorn, and especially Erroll Garner. With Garner and other young musicians, he explored their developing mutual jazz interests.

Date: 
Sun, 12 Oct 2025, 2:00pm to 7:00pm

Thelonious Monk Birthday Broadcast

Tune in to WKCR on Friday, October 10, for our 24-hour birthday broadcast honoring the great Thelonious Sphere Monk (1917-1982). Born in North Carolina, Monk would move into the San Juan Hill (now Lincoln Center) neighborhood of Manhattan Pannonica de Koenigswarteriano at the age of 9 and would drop out of high school to pursue a career in music. In 1941, drummer Kenny Clarke hired Monk to be the house pianist at Minton’s Playhouse, the epicenter of “modern” music, and the rest is history.

Date: 
Fri, 10 Oct 2025, 12:00am to 11:59pm

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