There's much to celebrate on WBGO this holiday season. We have two great Take Five editions (December 11 and December 18) filled with holiday music, plus the ongoing blend of year round music with the seasonal classics and unexpected renditions on 88.3Fm and our stream.
Starting at 8pm on Christmas Eve, straight through to 6am Boxing Day (the morning after Christmas), enjoy an uninterrupted mix of holiday-themed jazz and blues and holiday greetings from station staff members.
New Year's Eve at 8pm, tune in for Toast of the Nation! A WBGO and NPR tradition every New Year's Eve since the 1970s, Toast of the Nation is the perfect audio complement for your celebration. It's festive jazz you can party to, anytime. Spirited, improvised, and swinging, hosted by Christian McBride. We’ll hear:
- The Best Of -- Jazz Tiny Desk Concerts
- John Scofield’s Uber Jam Band At Berklee, 2012 Encore
- Dayme Arocena At The San Jose Jazz Summer Fest 2017
- Terence Blanchard At The 2017 Tri City Jazz Festival In Cleveland
- The Herlin Riley Quintet From Jazz At Lincoln Center, 2017 and
- Blue Note 2017/2018 Toast of the Nation Encores.
On New Year's Day, at 8 am and again at 6 pm, WBGO will air “Our Favorite Things – 2017,” a review of notable recordings from the past year as chosen by WBGO announcers Gary Walker, Rhonda Hamilton, Michael Bourne, Bob Porter, Bill Daughtry, Sheila Anderson, Simon Rentner and Director of Programming Steven Williams.