WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM and NPR to Produce Worldwide Radio Broadcast Of Landmark Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Concert September 17

Contacts: Chad Campbell, 202.513.2754, [email protected]
Joanna Fee, 973.624.8880, ext. 293, [email protected]

NPR's Korva Coleman and WBGO's Gary Walker Host Jazz at Lincoln Center Benefit Featuring Top Performers from All Music Genres; Broadcast to Air on Public Radio Stations Nationwide, in Europe And on XM Satellite Radio



(Newark, NJ and Washington, DC); – WBGO Jazz88.3FM and NPR are partnering to produce the radio broadcast of the historic “Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Concert," produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center and airing Saturday, September 17, 8PM-12M (ET).

The radio broadcast will feature all the performances and celebrity appearances at the concert, taking place to raise contributions for hurricane relief efforts. It will hosted by NPR News anchor and SymphonyCast host Korva Coleman, and Gary Walker, Jazz88's Morning Jazz host. Joining them on the radio broadcast as a special guest commentator will be New Orleans resident Nick Spitzer, folklorist and host of the public radio series American Routes.

The concert, to take place at the Rose Theatre in Frederick P. Rose Hall on Broadway, will be hosted from stage by actor Laurence Fishburne. The concert, led by Jazz At Lincoln Center Artistic Director (and New Orleans native) Wynton Marsalis, will feature a who's who of established and rising stars of the jazz world and beyond, including Norah Jones, Peter Cincotti, Diana Krall, Elvis Costello, Bette Midler, Dianne Reeves, Paul Simon, Herbie Hancock, Abbey Lincoln, McCoy Tyner, Cassandra Wilson, Jon Hendricks, Buckwheat Zydeco, Renee Fleming, James Taylor and many more. Also participating are such stars as Meryl Streep, Robin Williams, Bill Cosby, Ken Burns, Toni Morrison, Robert DeNiro and others. For a full list, visit www.jalc.org.

Tickets for the concert are available at 212.721.6500; the event will also include a silent auction featuring donations from Eric Clapton, John Mayer, LeRoy Neiman, Candlewick Press and others. A CD of the concert will be produced later in the year, to be released by Blue Note Records, with all profits also going to the relief fund.

The broadcast will enable listeners across the nation and around the world to support the cause of hurricane relief through phone or online donations. Full details will be available at www.npr.org and www.wbgo.org .

NPR Worldwide will provide the broadcast to members of the military and their families' stations overseas through American Forces Radio and Television, as well to the global community through numerous radio stations including the BBC, Radio France, NHK Japan and others in more than 100 countries. The concert will also be available as a live stream for on-demand listening at www.npr.org . WBGO/Jazz88.3FM, which serves the New York/New Jersey metro area, will broadcast the program in High Definition, and is among the numerous local stations broadcasting the program. XM Satellite Radio will carry it live as well on its channel 70 - The Real Jazz channel.

WBGO/Jazz88.3FM serves the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area with mainstream jazz, blues, and award-winning news and public affairs programming. Non- commercial WBGO is supported by nearly 20,000 annual members and has over 400,000 weekly listeners. WBGO also streams its broadcast signal to audiences worldwide at www.wbgo.org . Jazz88 was named the “Jazz Station of the Year" for 2001 by the Gavin Report and is also the recipient of the Blues Foundation’s “Keeping the Blues Alive Award” for Achievement in Non-Commercial Radio. WBGO is a publicly-supported, cultural institution that champions jazz, an American art form, and presents news to a worldwide audience through radio, other technologies and events. NPR is renowned for journalistic excellence and standard-setting news, music and entertainment programming. A privately supported, non-profit, membership organization, NPR serves a growing audience of 26 million Americans each week in partnership with more than 780 public radio stations. International partners in cable, satellite and short-wave services make NPR programming accessible anywhere in the world. With original online content and audio streaming, npr.org offers hourly newscasts, special features and eight years of archived audio and information.

High-resolution images of performers are available. Please e-mail Dana Barden, Jazz at Lincoln Center Public Relations Assistant at [email protected] .