In March 2016, I visited New Jersey , U.S.A to visit family but also to organise and host The Africa4u Awards for Africans in New Jersey and New York.
One of my fondest and most inspirational memories, was to visit The WBGO Jazz F.M Radio Station in Broad Street, Newark , New Jersey on a courtesy visit but also to appear as a Special guest on one of the Radio Shows hosted and produced by New Director, Mr Doyle Douglas.
As Mr Doug showed me round the building, I was deeply impressed by the range and the depth this great station had to offer , it was not just a radio station, it was a profound community hub with a long legacy spanning over 35 years.
They even had a library (Picture below) and at one point I was so overwhelmed, that I nearly forgot I was there as a guest for a Radio Interview.
Few Radio stations really stand out these days and it was such a pleasure to meet Mr Doug Douglas (The News Director) who has won many awards and continues to be an Ambassador for the people. Below is a picture of Doug and I after the interview.
I also caught up with Rhonda Hamilton, a native New Yorker and the Host and producer of “Midday Jazz” Rhonda is also the wife of the very famous International Jazz Icon- Michael Carvin. Picture of Rhonda and I below
WBGO JAZZ 88.3 F.M is A Radio Station for lovers of great Jazz Music.
For those living outside the States, log on to http://www.wbgo.org and save the link to your favourites. More information about the station can be found below
ABOUT WBGO JAZZ 88.3 FM
Newark Public Radio, WBGO Jazz88.3FM was the brainchild of an urban think tank whose members came together in Newark in the 1970s to affect change after the riots of 1967. Marshalling an extraordinary group of city activists, and with the help of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, they established the first public radio station in New Jersey in 1979 by convincing the Newark Public School System board to transfer its underutilized broadcast license to them.
WBGO was born as an independent, community-based, not-for-profit, public radio station that would champion jazz-an American art form that is also an important chapter in Newark’s cultural history. Jazz88 affiliated with National Public Radio (NPR) and went to a 24-hour broadcast day in 1980 when the only other full-time jazz station in the New York Metro market, WRVR (a commercial station), changed its format to country-western music.
Today, WBGO’s broadcast signal is heard by listeners on the air and via the Internet. Fans from around the globe tune in for jazz, blues, Rhythm and Blues, and award-winning news. Jazz88 has won the “Keeping the Blues Alive” Award and twice won the Gavin Report’s “Jazz Station of the Year” Award. The New Jersey State Council on the Arts has named us a Major Impact Arts Organization for over 16 consecutive years. The designation of arts organization reflects WBGO’s mission which extends beyond the radio station to important programs and activities that preserve, promote and present jazz.
In 1985, WBGO became a producer of syndicated programming for the nation’s radio stations. WBGO produced the weekly JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater for 23 years, and now co-produces (with NPR Music and Jazz at Lincoln Center) the next-generation in jazz programming, Jazz Night in America.
Jazz88’s involvement in producing concerts has been strong since 1981 when the station began hosting free jazz concerts in Military Park, bringing life to downtown Newark. The same park is now a city jewel ringed by the Newark Museum, galleries, the renovated WBGO studios and the elegant New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC).
Jazz 88’s dedication to preserving the uniquely American art form of jazz for future generations has spawned a Children’s Jazz Series. The series offers eight free concerts that are presented annually by top-name musicians who develop their programs specifically for young people, some of whom are members of NJPAC and WBGO’s Jazz for Teens educational program.
Jazz88.3FM’s daily broadcast can be easily identified by the passionate, extremely knowledgeable and idiosyncratic on-air announcers, frequent live broadcasts and on-air interviews with today’s hottest jazz and blues artists, and a news department whose drive time news reports and weekly magazine program, the WBGO Journal, are recognized for their reporting excellence every year.
WBGO’s studios are located at 54 Park Place in the heart of downtown Newark, New Jersey. The WBGO broadcast signal (from high on-top the Conde Nast building in midtown, New York City) reaches north to Rockland and Westchester Counties, NY and parts of Connecticut; south to Ocean County, NJ; east to Nassau County, NY and west to Morris County, NJ. The signal can be heard in all five boroughs of New York City. In addition, WBGO can be heard on the four New Jersey stations of New Jersey Public Radio, from midnight to 5 a.m.
Since 1996, Jazz88 has streamed its signal over the Internet on wbgo.org and programming is also available through mobile applications. Jazz 88 has become a true oasis to thousands of listeners (many of whom have become donating members, outside of the station’s listening area). Members from as far away as Malaysia, Turkey, Germany, Japan, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Taiwan, Brazil, Great Britain and most of the 50 states of the union echo a listener from South Africa’s e-mail to us, “You are so inspiring.”
WBGO is a 501(c)3 organization. WBGO is funded by more than 17,000 members each year, and by a combination of corporate, business, foundation, and governmental grants. Newark Public Radio is governed by a nineteen-person Board of Trustees.
TONY TOKUNBO ETEKA FERNANDEZ 