From full-band recordings to live performances and special events, WICN’s beautiful Studio 50 space is available on an hourly basis. Contact us for details.
You can stream this year’s Women’s History Month concert in full at your convenience! The show featured wonderful tributes to Anita Baker and Nina Simone, with a dynamite band backing vocalists Sympli Whitney and Valerie Stephens. Colors of Jazz host Bonnie Johnson put together this incredible lineup and emcees the concert. Hey Rim Jeon […]
Each jazz instrument has its history of legendary players. Think Miles on the trumpet; Coltrane on the sax; Monk at the piano. There are many such superb musicians who are universally revered for their craftsmanship and innovation. When it comes to jazz drummers, as well as a bandleader, Roy Haynes had an oversized reach of […]
The Brown Bag Concerts are produced by 90.5 WICN & Mechanics Hall. Brown Bag Spring 2025 Concert Series Wednesdays at Noon, March 12th, 19th & 26th Free Admission Mechanics Hall 321 Main Street, Worcester, MA, 01608; 508-752-5608 Broadcast live on WICN 90.5 FM and streaming at wicn.org For over 35 years, Mechanics Hall and WICN […]
The WICN Brian Barlow Concert Series, presented by Westboro Toyota, welcomes All of Me: A Tribute to Billie Holiday starring Samirah Evans on Friday, April 4 at 7:30 pm. at The Robert R. Jay Performing Arts Center, Founders Hall, Saint John’s High School in Shrewsbury. Doors: 6:30 pm Performance: 7:30 pm Cash bar (wine, […]
Close friendships between jazz musicians don’t always translate to a combination that creates a chemistry and bond, professionally and personally. Yet in the case of David “Fathead” Newman and R&B giant and bandleader Ray Charles, their friendship connected them to a decade-long musical relationship from which the most seminal work of Charles’s career was recorded. Both […]
WICN Public Radio is excited to bring you this fascinating 13-part documentary series examining the life of this American icon, including her early years, the evolution of her singing style, how her rendition of Strange Fruit played a key role in the beginning of the Civil Rights movement and more insights into her astonishing career. No […]
by Tom Lucci, Host, Standard Time, Mondays 3-6pm and WICN Board Member Nearly 500 enthusiastic jazz fans gathered at Jazz Congress 2025 on January 8 and 9 at the Jazz at Lincoln Center complex overlooking New York’s Central Park. Among them were yours truly, WICN Standard Time host Tom Lucci and Image Archivist Kofi Poku, […]
Support for WICN comes from the Greater Worcester Community Foundation. “Making more arts and creativity possible through the power of collective giving. Learn how you can help make more possible at greaterworcester.org/more.”
Melba Liston, a self-taught trombonist, arranger, and composer, represented one of the first mainstream gender breakthroughs in the 1940s after she stepped onstage with legendary bandleaders like Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie. As a female jazz musician, Liston would face the inherent challenges of a male-dominated stage and recording industry in the genre. The “on-the-road” […]