Live Broadcasts from the Village Vanguard
WBGO, Village Vanguard and NPR Music Join Forces for New Series

The Village Vanguard is arguably the Mecca of jazz performance venues.  Well into its seventh decade, the Vanguard is revered around the world for its rich history, its continued commitment to jazz, and its near-perfect acoustics.  Taken together, these aspects make the underground club a jazz musician’s favorite place to play in the world.  Next spring, WBGO, Jazz 88.3 FM celebrates its 30th anniversary as the premiere jazz broadcaster in the country, a champion for both jazz and award-winning news programming.  Last fall, National Public Radio (NPR) launched the highly anticipated NPR Music site, a showcase for partner stations like WBGO.  Now, this trio of music producers and presenters have come together to create a jazz experience that has never been done before - not quite like this.  

Live at the Village Vanguard is a newly launched monthly series from WBGO, The Village Vanguard and NPR that presents jazz programming in a completely fresh way, using multi-platform media to heighten the jazz experience.  “WBGO is a public media institution.  We are natural communicators, and our mission is jazz.  Social media platforms give us the opportunity to build on our foundation, to find and create new fans, and to reach out to people with a real-time connection to music made in the moment,” says WBGO Special Projects Producer, Josh Jackson.   

Music and social media is the core of this project.  From You Tube, to iTunes, to My Space, to music blogs, music fans are continuously finding more and more ways to access and enjoy music.  WBGO’s efforts in this project speak to the notion that jazz is not an exclusive genre on the margin of these expanding media trends and experiences.  Beyond your typical live broadcast radio experience, Jackson will be blogging during the concerts, in real time from inside the club, on the WBGO Blog: Jazz & Beyond (WBGO.org/blog).  Our broadcast team will upload photos and create exclusive content to connect personally with the public.  For those who love IM-ing, and texting, you can also join Jackson in a live conversation via the WBGO chat room, and discuss the performances as they happen.  Into Facebook and Snapfish?  Perfect.  You can view a constantly-updated photo gallery on Flickr, an online photo management and sharing application.

Jazz content currently accounts for 15 percent of the music on the NPR music site, and NPR believes this is an exciting way to reintroduce the genre to its overall audience. The Village Vanguard continues to blaze the trail when it comes to live performance.  Owner Lorraine Gordon did not hesitate when she was approached with the idea of a broadcast collaboration.  "It’s an honor and a pleasure to work with WBGO.  [W]BGO is a part of the structure of jazz today and the scene…very necessary."

Live at the Village Vanguard Schedule
Join us at the Vanguard, or from your living room for any of the following dates:
Wed. June 11th – Guillermo Klein Y Los Guachos
Wed. June 18th – Brian Blade and the Fellowship Band
Tues. July 1st – Uri Caine Trio
Wed. August 27th – Kenny Barron Quintet
Wed. September 3rd – Paul Motian/Bill Frisell/Joe Lovano
Wed. October 8th – Bill Charlap Trio
Wed. November 19th – Ravi Coltrane Quartet
Wed. December 17th – Cedar Walton Quartet

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Live Meebo chat room: www.wbgo.org/villagevanguard

Live blogging:  www.wbgo.org/blog

OR, get it the next day at WBGO.ORG/ONDEMAND and NPR.ORG/MUSIC.