WBGO Blog

  • The Other Side of Montreal

    July 5, 2009. Posted by Amy Niles.

    Add new comment | Filed under: FIJM 2009, Places and Spaces

    No, its not what you are thinking....

    Spend a little time away from the stages here at Jazz Fest, hang out in the press room at the festival and what do musicians talk about? Why, the wonderful food in Montreal of course. Read more

    © 2009 WBGO

  • Cafe Society: The Wrong Place For The Right People

    July 2, 2009. Posted by Andrew Meyer.

    Add new comment | Filed under: Books, concerts, Discovery, News, Places and Spaces, Real Life Stories

    Cafe SocietyOne of the features airing on the WBGO Journal airing Friday night, 7:30 on July 3, 2009 is an interview with Terry Trilling-Josephson, the widow of Barney Josephson.  Drawing on interviews she did with her late husband, Terry has put together a new book about his life and Cafe Society, the groundbreaking Manhattan nightclub which broke down the barriers between the races in the 1930's, on stage and in the audience.  In addition to the interview which airs on the Journal, here's an hour-long special featuring the full interview with Terry and including musical selections from some of the jazz and blues artists who played Cafe Society or the club that marked Barney Josephson's return to the New York music scene, The Cookery.

    Andrew Meyer

    © 2009 WBGO

  • HONOR! Sacred Ellington with Jessye Norman, Soprano

    March 10, 2009. Posted by Becca Pulliam.

    Add new comment | Filed under: Places and Spaces, Revue

    ellington_sacred1

    Genesis!  Exodus!  Leviticus! Deuteronomy!

    Duke Ellington composed three Sacred Concerts, and in his lifetime each was performed once – the first at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco in 1965, the second at St. John the Divine in New York in 1968, and the last at Westminster Abbey in London in 1973. Ellington's funeral took place at St. John the Divine at 112th and Amsterdam Avenue. It is a huge space, with a seating capacity of thousands who can look up and up and up to the vaulted ceiling. The cathedral has recently reopened after a thorough restoration. This past Saturday night, Carnegie Hall's HONOR! Series restaged music from the Sacred Concerts at St. John the Divine, and it was a sold out crowd. Read more

    © 2009 WBGO