WBGO Blog

  • Berklee, NPR Music, and WBGO to broadcast and webcast second season worldwide

    October 10, 2012. Posted by Brandy Wood.

    Add new comment | Filed under: Berklee, chihiro yamanaka, dayna stephens, jaleel shaw, Jazz Education, JazzSet, josh jackson, npr, walter smith III, wbgo

    WBGO, NPR Music, and Berklee College of Music are teaming up to present a second year of The Checkout – Live at Berklee. The series brings critically acclaimed, New York-based Berklee alumni back to their alma mater for concerts in the Red Room @ Cafe 939. The shows will be webcast live worldwide in high definition over NPRmusic.org and in New York over WBGO-FM as a special edition of The Checkout, the acclaimed multimedia show featuring what’s new on New York’s jazz scene. They will also be archived, and available for on-demand listening, at NPRmusic.org, and WBGO.

    Chihiro Yamanaka
    Chihiro Yamanaka

    Year two of The Checkout – Live at Berklee will debut with pianist and composer Chihiro Yamanaka’98 on October 18. The series continues with saxophonist and composer Dayna Stephens’01 on November 15, alto saxophonist Jaleel Shaw’00 on February 7, 2013, and tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III ’02 on March 7, 2013. Concerts and broadcasts will begin at 8:00 p.m. ET. Tickets to the live performances at the Red Room @ Cafe 939 are $10 for the general public and $5 with a Berklee ID. Tickets are available at cafe939.com.

    “Boston is a major incubator for jazz, and this series aims to underline that fact,” said Josh Jackson, host and producer of The Checkout. “WBGO and The Checkout are delighted to return to Berklee. We look forward to showcasing these young talents as they pursue their artistry and inspire future generations.”

    Chihiro Yamanaka is one of the most exciting jazz pianists and composers of her generation, and is the leader of the Chihiro Yamanaka Trio. 2012 has been a milestone year: she performed in the Mary Lou Williams Women In Jazz Festival at the Kennedy Center, in a concert featured on JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater, at the Iridium Jazz Club and Dizzy's at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, at the Regattabar in Boston, and in a benefit concert at Carnegie Hall. Yamanaka’s new CD, Reminiscence is her second U.S. release. Reminiscence reached the #1 spot on the Japanese jazz charts and won the Nissan Presents Jazz Japan Award for Album of the Year.

    © 2012 WBGO

  • The Checkout: Live

    July 6, 2011. Posted by Brandy Wood.

    Add new comment | Filed under: 92Y, 92Y Tribeca, bassist, Ben Williams, jazz, Jazz Alive, josh jackson, npr, npr music, Pedro Giraudo, The Checkout, wbgo

    Last month, The Checkout: Live at 92Y Tribeca made its debut.  The first performance in this new series featured Dan Tepfer and Noah Preminger.  You can hear excerpts from that performance during The Checkout on July 19, 6:30pm on WBGO Jazz88.3FM and online at wbgo.org.92Y562-WBGO-logo-07The next installment takes place Tuesday, July 19 at 8pm with Ben Williams Sound Effect and Pedro Giraudo Jazz Orchestra

    “By definition the bass player is a pivotal figure in jazz, a steward of tonality as well as tempo. Determining a good one can require close listening: that quality reveals itself in the cohesion of the band as well as in the handling of line and phrase. All of this was accounted for in Mr. Williams’s set, which also involved a pair of harmonically sound original compositions and a balance of tradition and novelty.” -Nate Chinen, New York Times

    Ben Williams (Photo Credit Jati Lindsey)

    Washington, DC-born, New York-based bassist Ben Williams’ is celebrating the release of his debut album State of Art out on Concord Jazz. The album is a result of Williams’ first prize in the 2009 Thelonious Monk International Competition for double-bass. Recently, Williams has been touring with vibraphonist Stefon Harris & Blackout, a R&B and hip-hop-tinged group, which calls on Williams’ unique connection with go-go, from his native Washington, DC to inform its sound and pianist Jacky Terrasson’s Trio. State of Art marks Williams’ first album as a leader and features tenor/soprano saxophonist Marcus Strickland, guitarist Matthew Stevens, keyboardist Gerald Clayton, drummer Jamire Williams (who also appeared with the bassist on Terrasson’s Push) and percussionist Etienne Charles, joined on three tracks by alto/soprano saxophonist Jaleel Shaw.

    “An opulent listening experience of modern, orchestral jazz, brimming with passionate improvisations, deliberate contrapuntal melodies and plush harmonies.” — John Murph, DownBeat Magazine

    Pedro Giraudo

    Since his arrival in New York in 1996, Pedro Giraudo has performed and recorded in a wide variety of musical projects and prominent ensembles, ranging from tango to jazz, in addition to his own Pedro Giraudo Jazz Orchestra. He has collaborated with 9-time Grammy® award winner Paquito D’Rivera, Grammy® award winner Pablo Ziegler, Latin American icon Ruben Blades, as well as with Branford Marsalis, Kenny Garrett, Regina Carter, among many others and has performed in venues such as The Blue Note (Japan & USA), Birdland (Austria & USA), Kennedy Center (Washington DC), Iridium, Jazz Standard, Jazz Gallery, Blue Note, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall (NYC). His latest CD, his fifth, is titled Córdoba — the name of his home city and province in Argentina— released in June 2011 on the ZOHO Music label.

    Tune in, log on , or stop by to listen.

    © 2011 WBGO

  • Terence Blanchard Quintet: Live at the Village Vanguard

    February 19, 2009. Posted by Joshua Jackson.

    Add new comment | Filed under: concerts, jazz, live at the village vanguard, live at the village vanguard. terence blanchard, living with music, music, npr, photos, podcast, wbgo

    Terence Blanchard at the Village Vanguard

    Get the Terence Blanchard Village Vanguard experience at NPR Music.
    Listen to the archived concert performance.
    Download it. (right click, then "save as")
    See some pictures of the show.
    Hear an interview with Terence Blanchard.
    Check out the full Live at the Village Vanguard archive.
    Support what we do.

    © 2009 WBGO