Jazz legend Sonny Rollins gets 24-hour birthday salute from WKCR on Sept 7th

WKCR-FM honours the late saxophone great Sonny Rollins with a special broadcast from midnight to midnight on Monday. 

Here's the scoop...

WKCR is very pleased to announce a special broadcast celebrating the life and work of the renowned saxophonist Sonny Rollins. This special broadcast will run from midnight to midnight on September 7th on FM and HD radio and online, preempting all regularly scheduled Monday programming. Visit the WKCR site for info about the broadcast and other upcoming shows including a John Cage 24-hour birthday broadcast on September 5th. 

Hailing from Sugar Hill, Harlem, Rollins was immersed in the budding scene of hard bop right out of high school, collaborating with J.J. Johnson, Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Max Roach, Clifford Brown, and Miles Davis. In his autobiography, Davis writes,  “People loved Sonny Rollins up in Harlem and everywhere else. He was a legend, almost a god, to a lot of the younger musicians. Some thought he was playing the saxophone on the level of Bird. I know one thing–he was close. He was an aggressive, innovative player who always had fresh musical ideas. I loved him back then as a player, and he could also write his ass off…”

Over his many years and broad influence, Rollins became a defining voice in his craft through landmark recordings such as Saxophone Colossus (1956), Way Out West (1957), and The Bridge (1962). Beyond his legendary improvisation and lasting compositions such as “Oleo,” “St. Thomas”, and “Tenor Madness”, his dedication to this music manifested in pauses from the scene. Most famously, his two-year hiatus, during which he practiced on the Williamsburg Bridge to avoid disturbing his neighbors.

We invite you all to join us in celebrating the enduring legacy of Sonny Rollins through 24 hours of programming from one of the most transformative voices in the tradition of jazz. Listeners can tune in to our Sonny Rollins Birthday Broadcast on 89.9 FM or stream it live on our website, wkcr.org. Follow WKCR on Instagram (WKCR) and Twitter (@WKCRFM) for updates about this special broadcast and future events. As always, online listening is available 24/7 at wkcr.org via our web stream.

Ornette Coleman gets 24-hour birthday salute on WKCR-FM on Monday

WKCR-FM joins in the celebration of Ornette Coleman's birthday with a special 24-hour broadcast on Monday. Right on!  

Here's the scoop from New York's WKCR-FM...

WKCR is pleased to announce our annual 24-hour broadcast honouring what would have been the 96th birthday of Ornette Coleman. This broadcast will preempt all regularly scheduled programming on Monday, March 9.

Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman, born in Fort Worth, Texas in 1930, was an alto saxophonist, trumpeter, violinist, and composer who would became one of the giants in jazz music as a pioneer of what critics often regard as “free jazz.” What initially earned him labels such as “disruptive” or “a fraud” would write him into history as a genius and an innovator.

Coleman’s 1959 Atlantic release “The Shape of Jazz to Come” as well as his 1960 release “Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation” is often credited with profoundly steering the future course of avant-garde jazz, making him a key figure in the history of the entire jazz idiom. However, his influence was not strictly limited to jazz music. His last performance in 2014 shared a bill with the likes of Patti Smith, Laurie Anderson, Nels Cline, and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Despite his significance in the history of free jazz, Coleman sought to evolve beyond any musical categorization. In the 70s he took to playing with electrified instruments on albums such as “Prime Time,” and in the 80s albums such as “Virgin Beauty” and “Of Human Feelings” made heavy use of rock and funk rhythms.

To commemorate Ornette Coleman’s birthday and his importance on a world of artists that came after him, WKCR’s special broadcast will present an in depth look at his long and remarkable career. Listeners can tune in to the WKCR birthday broadcast of Ornette Coleman on 89.9FM or stream it live on the WKCR website. Follow WKCR on Instagram (@wkcr) and Twitter (@WKCRFM) for updates about this special broadcast and future events. Online listening is available 24/7 at wkcr.org via our web stream. 

Check out some interviews with Ornette Coleman below.