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.
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.
Pioneer Works is excited to present the 14th annual Ragas Live Festival featuring 24 hours of transcendent music in the Pioneer Works Main Hall. The entire program will be broadcast live on video at Pioneer Works' Youtube & WKCR 89.9 FM in NYC (audio only).
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.
WKCR is pleased to announce a special broadcast celebrating saxophonist Pharoah Sanders on what would be his 85th birthday. The broadcast will preempt all regular jazz slots and more, from 5-8:30 AM and from 12-10 PM.
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.
On Tuesday, September 23, WKCR-FM (89.9 FM / wkcr.org) will present its annual 24-hour broadcast honoring the life and music of John Coltrane, commemorating what would have been his 98th birthday.
WKCR is very pleased to present a birthday broadcast for avant-garde composer John Cage on the 113th anniversary of his birthday. The broadcast will run for 24 hours, preempting all regularly scheduled programs.
WKCR is elated to announce two very special birthday broadcasts, spanning a combined 3 days: Lester Young, known also as “Prez,” and Charlie “Bird” Parker. We celebrate each of these saxophone giants with a 24-hour birthday broadcast: Prez on August 27 and Bird on August 29. We bridge the two legends’ birthdays on August 28 by playing Prez until noon, then switching to Bird.
At the onset of World War I, approximately 380,000 African American soldiers joined the war effort with 200,000 of them deployed to Europe. Many spent time in France where they gained exposure to an accepting, celebratory, and seemingly colorblind attitude toward Black people–an incredible upgrade from the Jim Crow laws of their homeland. The French gained their own exposure to the exciting sounds of jazz music brought over by the 369th Infantry Regiment, better known as “The Harlem Hellfighters” and their band led by James Reese Europe.
Sun Ra visits WKCR! Is he eating ice cream? Yogurt? Who knows?
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