WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM | Newark Public Radio has the best Jazz programming on the air today. Their on-air personnel are knowledgeable; they play: the classics; "your" favorites; new artists; new music by legends and today's greats; and the music by very talented emerging artists!
WBGO's programming continues to also:
- educate through their community programs
- remain current and important to their audience by listening to them (i.e. an active community advisory board).
WBGO's special programs and on-air interviews never disappoint!
WBGO is a travel partner of ours and has been bringing avid jazz fans to the Newport Jazz Festival by bus for the last two summers. Our friends there work tirelessly to get the word out to listeners and to make travel to the festival easy and fun from New York, New Jersey, Brooklyn and Boston. We love working with them and are grateful for all they do for the jazz community!
Long before I worked in Jazz, I was a fan of Jazz. I lived in New Jersey, just outside of Manhattan, and WBGO was my window into a world of music beyond the 3-minute pop song. DJs like Michael Bourne and Gary Walker introduced me to music that was daring, beautiful, different and fun. They're still there, along with a stable of thoughtful DJs that's as good as you'll find on radio. For the past 20 years, I've have the honor of working in the Jazz arena. We've worked with WBGO on a variety of joint projects, and you know what? The professionals managing the station are just as good as the folks behind the microphones. In our partnerships with WBGO, I've found that they set the bar high, then proceed to deliver well above it. For example, we recently worked with the station on its annual Champions Of Jazz Gala. We thought it would be a terrific evening for our staff and clients, considering it was WBGO's 30th anniversary and DownBeat's 75th. Terrific was an understatement. The program, from start to finish, was a complete success. Every detail was handled beautifully. And as a result, WBGO, DownBeat and, especially, jazz all received an unforgettable evening. Several years earlier, we worked together on a feature on the great pianist Dave Brubeck. Michael Bourne did the interview. It ran as a cover story in DownBeat and as a radio interview on WBGO. Each of our interviews promoted the other, which created a terrific platform to propel the work and legacy of one of our greatest jazz artists. Each example required a great deal of communication and teamwork from our organizations, or we stood to fail miserably. It was never a concern with a partner like WBGO. The station does amazing work in the jazz community. We're proud whenever we have an opportunity to work with the staff of WBGO to promote this great music called Jazz.
