PRESS RELEASE
1 February 2007New York, NY
WBGO JAZZ 88.3 FM PREMIERES 5-PART RADIO SERIES ON BLACK CHORAL MUSIC
WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM premiered “Every Voice And Sing!” Sunday, January 28th 2007. The 5-part series on Black Choral Music is a collaborative production of EVT Educational Productions, Inc. and WBGO of Newark, New Jersey.
Michele Norris, award-winning journalist and host on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, hosts and narrates the series. WBGO will air the series on consecutive Sundays at 10am through February, and also archive it.
Timely programming for Black History Month, the series is appropriate at any time. Every Voice and Sing! explores the importance of Black choirs in the survival and growth of Black colleges from before the Civil War through the post-Reconstruction eras. With unique stories, interviews and performances, the series traces the development of this music, from the early Spirituals and Work Songs, evolving into Blues, Jazz, and Gospel. That musical legacy is even reflected in today’s World music and Popular music genres, even Hip-Hop.
The programs also trace how Hollywood and Broadway influenced wide public acceptance of the music, and details the evolution of the music. They highlight how such diverse artists as Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, and Ray Charles, as well as Woody Guthrie, Take 6, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, James Cleveland, Cissy Houston, and Kurtis Blow, all connect to this Black Choral Tradition.
Producer/Director Eric V. Tait, Jr. most recently released the 13-part radio series, Then I’ll Be Free To Travel Home, about the Africans who created the 17th Century Burial Ground in Lower Manhattan, and the contributions they and their descendants made to the survival and development of New York and the nation. He is the recipient of the 2003 Lifetime Achievement Award in Broadcasting from the New York Association of Black Journalists.
DownBeat award-winning Jazz pianist, arranger and composer Onaje Allan Gumbs provides musical arrangements and scoring for the series. Duke Markos, esteemed for his technical direction of NPR’s JazzSet, provides sound design and audio engineering. Drs. Roland Carter and James Arthur Williams are the Series Advisors.
In addition to her work at NPR, Ms. Norris has also reported for the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and Los Angeles Times. A four-time Pulitzer Prize entrant, her numerous awards include the 1990 Livingston Award, and both Emmy and Peabody awards for her contributions to the ABC News coverage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Every Voice And Sing! is made possible by grants from the Ford Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. WBGO is a non-commercial, publicly-supported, cultural broadcast institution that champions and presents jazz, locally on 88.3FM and worldwide on wbgo.org.
EVT Educational Productions, Inc.
212-281-2456
www.evted.org
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