WKCR is very excited to celebrate––for the second time this year––the birthday of cornet, trumpet, and vocal jazz legend Louis Armstrong. A much beloved figure, Armstrong is equally well known by his nicknames “Satchmo,” “Satch,” and “Pops.”
Tomorrow, Sunday, July 21st, WKCR will honor the life and work of Bernice Johnson Reagon. Beginning with our Amazing Grace program at 8am, the broadcast will run through The Moonshine Show and our memorial broadcast will feature the music of Reagon including work from her time with the Freedom Singers and Sweet Honey in the Rock.
Tune in to join us in honoring an artist, scholar, and activist who left a profound impact through her music and teachings.
8am - 12pm on WKCR 89.9 FM
This Saturday, July 13, celebrate the birthday of the great Albert Ayler with WKCR. From 3-6 PM, host Rachel Smith brings in bassist Steve Tintweiss and producer Jeff Lederer to shine a spotlight on Ayler’s late recordings, particularly the July 1970 concerts at the Fondation Maeght—released in full on the 4-CD or 5-LP set, Revelations. Change the way you remember Albert Ayler. Tune in at 89.9 FM or wkcr.org.
In honor of an upcoming concert on July 20, at the Town Hall in collaboration with the Indo American Arts Council in NYC, join WKCR host Manisha for an interview with DR. L. SUBRAMANIAM & KAVITA KRISHNAMURTI during tomorrow’s Raag Aur Taal from 7-9 pm EST.
Tune in this Sunday, July 7th, from 2-7 PM EST as host Maki Nientao explores the life and music of pianist Sonny Clark, featuring an interview with author Sam Stephenson. One of the great jazz pianists to emerge from the Pittsburgh area (including Mary Lou Williams, Earl Hines, Billy Strayhorn, Ahmad Jamal, and Erroll Garner), Clark was a skilled accompanist as well as a swinging and soulful soloist whose music was profound through its clarity and straightforwardness.
WKCR is elated to announce a 24-hour broadcast in honor of the great saxophonist Albert Ayler. With a distinct sound and style revered by John Coltrane, Ayler was an icon of avant-garde jazz.
Tune in this Sunday from 2-7 PM EST for a look into the vast discography of guitarist and composer Jeff Parker. A career spanning numerous decades and genres, Parker is well-known for his prolific work with a multitude of bands, including the alternative instrumental rock group Tortoise, the jazz-funk ensemble of Isotope 217, and the free jazz of the Chicago Underground, as well as many other appearances on albums featured as a sideman.
Tune in on Thursday, July 4 as we celebrate the chosen birthday of trumpeter, vocalist Louis Armstrong with 24 hours of his music beginning at midnight. In his autobiography, Swing That Music, Louis Armstrong titled the first chapter “Jazz and I Get Born Together.” Dating his birthday July 4, 1900 (as his mother had always told him), Armstrong created a mythology that linked his own birth to the birth of Jazz and the birth of America.
Sun Ra visits WKCR! Is he eating ice cream? Yogurt? Who knows?
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