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We're All In This Together: A Letter From WBGO's Michael Bourne

Hiya —

It is quite possible that you’re like me at the moment.  We’re older.  Some of us have health twists.  Many of us are stuck at home during the current plague.  

And we’re all listening to WBGO more than ever before.
 

My aged brain also insists that I keep on working, doing especially what I’ve been doing for 35 of the 40 years of WBGO: juggling songs into Singers Unlimited every Sunday.  Our tech wizards have set-up a mic on my desk in my apartment in Manhattan with a connection to the studio in Newark.  I’ve started recording shows with new songs and favorite singers from the archives.  Broadway is shut down, but the great songs of Broadway and the great singing of Ella and Frank, Nat and Sarah resound nonetheless on 88.3FM and wbgo.org — the show(s) must go on!
 

I feel very encouraged and very inspired getting calls and e-mails from so many of you, including many of you continuing to send financial support.  Thank you for enabling WBGO to play the greatest music in the world — while also keeping all of us connected to what’s happening in the world.  We’re all in this together!  

Michael Bourne, who died on August 21, 2022, was a presence on the air at WBGO between the end of 1984 and the start of 2022 when he retired from full-time hosting duty. He is the host of the Singers Unlimited Podcast by WBGO Studios. Previously, he hosted the popular Singers Unlimited (1985-2022). He also hosted the equally popular Blues Break for several years. Michael is a senior contributor to Down Beat, with the magazine since 1969. Doctor Bourne earned a PhD in Theatre from Indiana University -- which comes in handy when he's a theatre critic for the WBGO Journal.