WKCR 89.9FM NY

Tune in Wednesday evening from 6:00-9:00 PM to hear this week's edition of the Musician's Show, where we will be joined by drummer Whit Dickey. Throughout the 90s he performed and recorded with the groups of saxophonist David S. Ware and pianist Matthew Shipp. In 1996 he took a break from these groups and devoted his efforts to advancing his own compositions. This period resulted in the album Transonic, his first as a leader, recorded in 1997 and released in 1998 on the AUM Fidelity label. On it he is joined by saxophonist Rob Brown and bassist Chris Lightcap.

Tune in on Tuesday June 30th, from 9:30-10:00 pm to hear an interview with Elaine Lee, travel writer and author of the first black travel guide of this era–Go Girl: The Black Women's Book of Travel and Adventure. The book is a compilation of travel stories written by African American women including Maya Angelou, Gwendolyn Brooks, Audre Lorde, Jill Nelson, Alice Walker and Pearl Cleage. Lee talks with WKCR programmer Danielle Smith about representation in the genre of travel writing, what it's like to be a "wander woman," as well as some traveling tips.

Tune in to Live Constructions this Sunday, June 28th, at 10PM to hear a live set by an electroacoustic trio composed of Hans Tammen, Erhard Hirt, and Michael Lyttle. Tammen (electronics), Erhard (prepared guitar and electronics) and Lyttle (clarinet) use a set up of acoustic instruments and electronic gadgets to create sprawling improvised pieces, creating an eclectic combination of different timbres. The trio came into our studio last week to play a 40 minute improvisation, and then they spoke to us about their music and history playing together. Listen!

Artist Bios:

Tune in on Tuesday June 30th from 9:00 to 9:30 PM to hear an interview with Christopher Collins PhD, Professor of Radiology at NYU School of Medicine & Principal Investigator at NYU's Center for Advanced Imaging and Research, and NYU Polytech School of Engineering doctoral student Ting Wu about their research on mmwaves. Dr.

Tune in on Saturday, July 4th as we celebrate the chosen birthday of one of the foundational figures of jazz, trumpeter and vocalist Louis Armstrong. We will be preempting all regular programming as we honor Pops with 24 hours of swing. In his autobiography, Swing That Music, Louis Armstrong titled the first chapter “Jazz and I Get Born Together.” Dating his birthday July 4, 1900, Armstrong created a mythology that linked his own birth to the birth of Jazz and the birth of America.

Tune in this Saturday, June 27^th from noon to 6:00 PM for a celebration of what would have been Willie Dixon’s 100^th birthday, coming up on July 1^st. Dixon’s name has become synonymous with the creation of the Chicago blues. He wrote, produced, and backed some of the biggest names in the business from the late forties onward.

Tune in Wednesday evening from 6:00-9:00 PM to hear this week's edition of the Musician's Show, where we will be joined by drummer and educator Steve Johns. He was born into a musical family in Boston in 1960, and began playing drums at the age of nine. Since the early 1980’s he has performed and recorded with The Sonny Fortune Quartet, The Benny Carter Quartet, The Billy Taylor Trio, Nat Adderley, Jimmy Owens, Stanley Turrentine, Jimmy Heath, The Randy Brecker Quintet, Jessye Norman, Dave Liebman, The Ronnie Cuber Band, and many others.

WKCR mourns the death of Gunther Schuller, a remarkable composer, conductor, artist, teacher, musician, and innovator of music. Born in New York on November 22nd 1925, Schuller would go on to be a pioneer of uniting the genres of jazz and classical music and creator of the "Third Stream." Schuller died at the age of 89 on June 21st 2015 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Tune in to Arts and Answers Tuesday night, June 23rd from 9:30 to 10:00 PM, to hear an interview with Zvi Gotheiner, the artistic director of Zvi Dance. Gotheiner grew up in Northern Israel where he studied the violin with the Young Kibbutzim Orchestra until he began studying dance at the age of 17. He has performed with Joyce Trisler Dance Company, Feld Ballets/NY, and Bat Sheva Dance Company.

Komitas Vardapet is often considered the true father of modern Armenian music. In addition to assembling a 300-person chorus in Constantinople, creating definitive editions of Armenian liturgical music, and advocating this music throughout Europe, Komitas's greatest achievement may be as the country's foremost ethnomusicologist. Over his life, he recorded as many as 4,000 folk melodies (1,800 of which survive today).

Tune in to Arts and Answers on Monday, June 22nd from 9:30-10:00 PM, to hear an interview with Annie Holt, the executive artistic director of Morningside Opera, about the first performance of Harry Lawrence Freeman's opera, Voodoo, since its premiere in 1928. The concert performance will take place in Miller Theatre at 7:00 pm on June 26th and 27th. The performance is a collaboration between Morningside Opera, Harlem Opera Theater, and the Harlem Chamber Players.

Tune in to Late City Edition on Monday, June 22nd from 9:00-9:30 PM, to hear an interview with Dr. Stephen Tsang, Lazlo Z. Bito Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Pathology and Cell Biology, concerning his research in his opthalmology lab. Dr. Tsang and his associates were able to identify a mutation in the gene ATF6 that causes achromatopsia – a severe form of color blindness. Dr. Tsang speaks with WKCR programmer Danielle Smith about his research, gene therapy, and precision medicine.

Tune in to Arts and Answers on Thursday, June 18th from 9:30-10:00 PM, to hear an interview with Marc Silver, the director of 3 1/2 Minutes, 10 Bullets. 3 1/2 Minutes, 10 Bullets is a documentary that follows the aftermath of the murder of Jordan Davis and the trial of Michael Dunn. The film won the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Social Impact at Sundance and the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature at River Run. The film will be in theaters beginning June 19th.

Tune in to WKCR from 10am-12pm for an interview with James Melo, musicologist, librettist and pianist. Based on the upper east side, Mr. Melo has done work writing liner notes for New York's concert halls, record labels and writes regularly for scholarly journals and music magazines. Currently, Mr. Melo serves as the resident musicologist of the performance group, the Ensemble for the Romantic Century.

Join us as we honor the life, the genius, and the work of Ornette Coleman, who passed away Thursday, June 11th at the age of 85 in Manhattan. Born on March 9th 1930 in Fort Worth, Texas, Coleman would become an important voice and major innovator in the avant-garde jazz movement, with a career that spanned over 55 years. It is with a heavy heart that we announce the Ornette Coleman Memorial Broadcast. The Broadcast will be continuous from Thursday, June 11th until Wednesday, June 17th at 9:30 AM. All regular programming will be preempted during this time.

In remembrance of the legendary Kentucky folk singer-songwriter Jean Ritchie, who passed away this Monday at the age of 92, this week’s Hobo’s Lullaby will be dedicated to her life and her music. Tune in from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. this Saturday, June 6th to listen to some of the music that helped to ignite the folk revival of the mid-20th century and to celebrate the spirit of an incredibly influential folk musician.

Earlier in the year we celebrated Boulez's 90th birthday with a few days of his music on our classical shows. This week on Saturday Night at the Opera we will be focusing on his conducting first with Schoenberg's excruciating Moses und Aron with BBC Symphony Orchestra and Singers, then with Debussy's one completed opera, Pelleas et Melisande with The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and their Chorus. Jasper Hussong hosts.

Sid Gribetz presents the music of pianist Sonny Clark on Jazz Profiles, this Sunday, June 7, from 2-7 PM on WKCR.

Sonny was a pianist with a funky sound yet a crisp and swinging technique. His style also embodied an element of “cool” suited to the modern jazz of his period. As a composer, his songs were angular and sophisticated, but melodic and bluesy enough to be accessible. Many of his tunes, such as “Sonny’s Crib” and “News For Lulu,” endure in the standard jazz repertory.

Tune in to The Moonshine Show this Sunday, June 7^th, for a live set and interview with folk and bluegrass musician Vincent Cross. He will be joining us to play a few tunes and talk about his music. Then join him at the legendary Caffe Vivaldi at 7 p.m. for a solo set.

The Ragas Live Festival, one of radio’s most ambitious events, expands in its fourth year.

Over 60 world-class musicians will perform Indian Classical Music over a period of 24 hours, all broadcast on WKCR. This year it will now be followed by a free concert in Central Park.

Tune in to Late City Edition on Tuesday June 2nd at 9:00 PM to hear AC4 Director, Joshua Fisher, interview Andre Correa d'Almeida regarding his work on sustainable development and the need for a new "practice" paradigm that involves a multi-discipline perspective and conflict resolution intelligence.

Tune in to Afternoon New Music on Monday, June 1st, for an interview with composer and percussionist Lukas Ligeti. Ligeti has established a large body of compositions often combining influences of jazz, contemporary classical, electronic, and world music. His work has been performed by a variety of premier ensembles, such as the London Sinfonietta, the Ensemble Modern, Kronos Quartet, and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. He will be in our studio to talk about his music and thoughts. Listen!

Columbia University's Baseball Team has been at the NCAA Division I tournament in Florida this weekend. As of Sunday, May 31 at 10:20pm, they won their 4th game taking them into their 5th and last game of the tournament. This final game will be broadcast Monday, June 1 at 6:45pm. Jazz Alternatives will end early and normal programming will begin again with either 'Arts and Answer' or 'Caribe Latino.'

All updates will appear here as well as the @wkcrsports and @wkcrfm Twitter accounts as the information comes in.

Go Lions go!

Thursday's Afternoon Classical will be dedicated exclusively to the renowned German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, in celebration of his birthday. Born on May 28, 1925 in Berlin, Germany, the late Fischer-Dieskau would have turned 90 on this day. An incredibly talented, versatile performer, Fischer-Dieskau brought his clear and iconic sound to a wide range of operas, lieder, oratorios, song cycles, and more in a myriad of languages and styles.

Don't miss Gioachino Rossini's massive Guillaume Tell. Other than its beloved overture, Rossini's final score is a monumental achievement that places extraordinary demands on every part of an opera house. This week's recording is a 2010 live performance of the original French edition with Antonio Pappano leading the orchestra and chorus of the Academy of Santa Cecilia. The cast features Gerald Finley in the title role, Malin Bystrom, and John Osborn. Stepan Atamian hosts.

Tune in Wednesday evening from 6-9 PM to hear this week's edition of the Musician's Show, where we will be joined by multiple Grammy-winning trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard. Since he embarked on his solo recording career with his eponymous Columbia Records album in 1991, the New Orleans-born and -based artist has traveled many paths musically, including delivering adventurous and provocative acoustic jazz outings of original material, composing over 50 soundtracks and even, in 2013, debuting Champion: An Opera in Jazz.

Tune in to Afternoon New Music, on Monday, May 25th from 3 to 6PM to hear an interview with bassist and composer Mark Dresser. Dresser has played in a variety of jazz and avant-garde contexts, having recorded records with John Zorn, Anthony Braxton, Anthony Davis, and many others. He has also released a number of records as a leader, as well as several explorations into the limits of solo bass performance. Dresser came in to our station last week to talk about his music and his upcoming residency at the Stone. Listen!