Blog
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I read 2-4 books a week, every week, to prepare to interview guests on Inquiry. I honestly can say that I have enjoyed almost all my conversations. NB: the ones I haven’t enjoyed took place years ago. Here are 10 of my favorite books by authors I have interviewed in 2021. Remember, books make great […]
In the arena of large jazz orchestras – whether it be Duke Ellington, Count Basie, or Dizzy Gillespie – the choice of an individual musician becomes a critical decision for any bandleader. Ray Brown, legendary acoustic double-bassist, DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame winner, and peer-less performer of his instrument, was the obvious choice for many […]
On November 26, 2021, WICN Public Radio, licensee of 90.5FM, Worcester, Massachusetts, filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission for the renewal of its broadcast license. Members of the public wishing to view this application or obtain information about how to file comments and petitions on the application can visit https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/public/tv/draftCopy.html?displayType=html&appKey=25076f917d0c2e17017d15092d4f2b61&id=25076f917d0c2e17017d15092d4f2b61&goBack=N.
As you look at all the seminal legends and stars of jazz that have performed and recorded for over 60 years, there are only a few currently active. An even shorter list, indeed, if you consider the list of performers still alive today who have intersected with jazz leaders from the 1940s and participated in […]
Jazz trumpeter and composer, Randy Brecker, has been at the center of seminal jazz-funk groups with his late brother Michael (on saxophone) through the mid-‘70s and early ‘80s. Brecker has helped shape the sound of jazz, R&B, and rock for more than four decades. Playing both trumpet and flugelhorn, he has performed all over the […]
If ever there were a jazz singer whose musical career could not be separated from the legacy of their own political and social positions, it would be Nina Simone. From early on in her performances and recordings, her establishment and approach as a Black female and individual artist, particularly during the late ‘50s and ‘60s, […]
As one of the greatest crooners and stylists of the Great American Songbook, Tony Bennett has been influenced by and taken vocal impressions from many singular, legendary jazz performers. Bennett’s well-known emotional and physical reaction to hearing the birth of Bebop through Charlie Parker’s rapid-fire saxophone soloing at Birdland one night in the 1950s would […]
A sweeping messenger of the widest of musical genre explorations (classical, traditional jazz, post-bop, jazz-rock fusion, funk, electronica, hip-hop, pop, and ambient); jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer Herbie Hancock is true to his own label as “cultural ambassador.” Early in his musical career, Hancock followed a seemingly unbroken trajectory through some of the most […]
August 27th, 2021 @ 6:30 PMDowntown Worcester, Behind The Hanover Theatre for Performing Arts. The Hanover Theatre, Worcester Downtown Business District, and WICN 90.5 FM are pleased to announce a safe and socially distanced return of Jazz at Sunset this summer in the lot behind The Hanover Theatre. Jazz at Sunset will be rockin’ this […]
When the Afro-Cuban jazz sound traveled to the U.S. in the 1940s, with roots rhythmically based on Cuban popular dance music and a percussion that, in fact, incorporated the earliest sounds of a syncopated beat from ancient Africa, it became a performance vehicle for many Cuban musicians. The initial prominent modern musical force in this […]