Every Voice and Sing
EVT Educational Productions

PRESS RELEASE

21 April 2007
New York, NY

OVER 240 STATIONS AIR EVT EDUCATIONAL PRODUCTIONS’ RADIO SERIES ON BLACK CHORAL MUSIC

Every Voice And Sing! the 5-part series on Black Choral Music that premiered on WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM in late January has to date been carried by 241 public radio stations and an additional 137 “repeater” translators. The series is a collaborative production of EVT Educational Productions, Inc., and WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM. It has struck an incredibly responsive chord among the general public, teachers, ministers. and of course, choir directors. Among some of the comments:

  • “...heard this incredible singing in one of your Every Voice And Sing! episodes about a month ago ... just humming, no words, but I can't get it out of my mind. How can I find it?”
  • “...wanted to share with you the overwhelmingly positive response we have been getting from our listeners about Every Voice, and Sing! ... The response has been incredible and we are now planning to re-broadcast the five-part series...”
  • “...looking forward to listening to the remaining episodes of Every Voice and Sing, and I hope they all will be repeated.”
  • “...still trying to find the right words to describe that historic and informative series on America’s great music heritage. It is simply fantastic! Will it be made available to schools, colleges and libraries?”
Michele Norris, award-winning journalist and host of National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, hosts and narrates the series. WBGO now has it available at www.wbgo.org as on-demand listening.

Every Voice And Sing! explores the importance of Black choirs in the birth, growth and survival of Black colleges and Black Choral Music 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 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.

Producers Eric V. Tait, Jr. and Ann S. Hayward most recently gave us the multiple award-winning 2-part video documentary, and 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.

DownBeat award-winning Jazz pianist, arranger and composer Onaje Allan Gumbs does 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.

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 on 88.3FM and worldwide on wbgo.org.

EVT Educational Productions, Inc.
212-281-2456
www.evted.org
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