PRESS RELEASE
21 August 2007New York, NY
EVT EDUCATIONAL PRODUCTIONS LAUNCHES EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH FOR RADIO SERIES ON BLACK CHORAL MUSIC
Citing the incredible response from College professors, teachers, Ministers, and the general public, EVT Educational Productions, Inc., President Eric V. Tait, Jr. today announced an extensive educational outreach for Every Voice And Sing! This 5-part series on Black Choral Music premiered on WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM in late January. To date it has aired on at least 242 public radio stations, and an additional 137 “repeater” translators. Mr. Tait, also the Series Executive Producer, said the educational initiative would include broadening the On-line educational components, interactivity, and accessibility of the Series on the Company’s web site (www.evted.org) as well as free distribution of the Series to a number of educational institutions, school systems, libraries and museums across the country. Institutions with broadband capability will also be able to access a specific link to download the Series. The series is a collaborative production of EVT Educational Productions, Inc., and WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM.
Michele Norris, award-winning journalist and a host of National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, hosts and narrates the series, and WBGO 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.
Writer-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 Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Ford Foundation. 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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