#wkcr

[commiemartyrshighschool]

WKCR, the Columbia student radio station that typically concentrates on Jazz, is currently swamped on streaming platforms from people looking for on-the-ground reorting about the NYPD attack on peaceful protestors and encamped students. They are encouraging anybody who can to tune in via FM signal.

If you're out of range of their transmitter (and many even a little ways outside of NYC fit that bill) you can tune in to their FM broadcast through this site: https://mytuner-radio.com/radio/wkcr-899-ny-401019/

[antipocalypse]

Columbia student reporters are showing more bravery and integrity than Shafik. The protestors are embodying democracy more than the fucking president of their university.

Listen to Columbia’s student radio here or on FM radio at 89.9 WKCR.

[mando-abs]

Listening to WKCR about the situation at Columbia University in New York and the level of professionalism they exude during such madness is incredible. They’re going through so much and are providing around the clock coverage of what’s going on. Literally, fighting with NYPD to stay on air.

I mean I know I’m an English major, not a Journalism major, but I really want to highlight the amazing feat of non-stop student led information.

If WKCR are to see this post, you guys are my heroes.

[bittershins]

Rough record of WKCR report beginning ~9 pm

absolutely no guarantee of verbatim work here - I do not type fast on my phone and the stream was a bit choppy, so there are more than a few gaps. Thank you so much to the folks at WKCR for their brave work this evening.

[aeolianblues]

Also, from one campus radio station volunteer to all the other ones, exceptionally braver than me, putting themselves on the frontlines, broadcasting straight from the protests, getting themselves barricaded into their broadcasting booths overnight and continuing to be the only people bringing you live and on-the-ground coverage of the protests, I love you all.

CKUT, having covered the die-ins, coming live from the protests grounds at McGill, you have all my strength and love.

CJLO, for righting the disappointment we all felt in Concordia after earlier this year, thank you for your coverage of the Concordia protests, and supporting CKUT's coverage in Montreal.

WKCR, bravest of them all, putting themselves on the frontlines and bringing extraordinary coverage from Columbia. You are true journalists.

They're the future of journalism.

(A note about why some of these posts are coming from '[station]music' accounts: Meta, in retaliation to a demand from the Canadian govt to pay royalties for using news on their site (Bill C-18), decided to ban all news for Canadian accounts on IG and FB altogether. Of course, this did not touch commercial radio stations that simply play the same 5 songs over and over their breakfast shows, but every single campus radio station is now blocked in Canada, completely killing their reach especially to a younger, student audience. Many have made new accounts to continue posting about the non-news shows on air. There's never been a more important time to directly go to their websites for updates, and hell why not, throw them some donations if you can. They're the ones doing the good work in this time of need!)

[fanboy-feminist]

The reporting from WKCR has been unlike anything I've ever seen or heard. These students were so courageous and important. I also have felt so much anger and fear in the last few days/weeks (especially the last 24 hours).

This is going to be something that will implant itself in myself for the rest of my life.

[warhead]

[zef-zef]

SATURDAY, JUNE 24, 2023 - 4:00PM TO SUNDAY, JUNE 25, 2023 - 12:00AM

Join us tomorrow, Saturday June 24, from 4pm until Midnight, for a memorial broadcast in honor of German free jazz saxophonist Peter Brötzmann (1941-2023). Known for his expressive playing and forceful tone, Brötzmann worked with numerous musicians of the avant-garde, including Don Cherry, Andrew Cyrille, and Anthony Braxton, and was part of the legendary group Last Exit. WKCR’s broadcast will include live and studio material from across his over fifty-year career, as well as special live recordings courtesy of Last Exit affiliate Mitch Goldman.

[mirrorbreaks]

If you want to listen to WKCR’s on-campus coverage of the events at Columbia, you can listen to the hour-long recording here:

I’d highly recommend it, they call in to question the unsubstantiated narrative of ‘outside agitators’ that Columbia admin, NYPD, the mayor’s office, and a lot of media outlets are parroting without evidence.

[oblivionrecords]

Cecil Taylor illustration and design by Frank Olinsky, 1974

I’ve been searching for this Cecil Taylor flyer for the 25 years since I misplaced mine. Then, out of nowhere, saxophonist and composer Ras Moshe posted it on his Facebook page.

Why was I so obsessed?

Well, completely aside from the Cecil of it, I love the illustration. To my eyes, rarely do world class illustrators do justice to jazz musicians, especially of the free jazz variety. Many are just trace-overs of famous photographs, giving us very little fresh about the subject.

Frank Olinsky, a great friend* of mine and an Oblivion OG, was the artist. I introduced Frank to Cecil’s manager at the time, David Laura, to design the vinyl LP labels for “Spring of Two Blue-J’s,” and then this flyer.

My formative years in recording happened at Columbia University’s WKCR-FM, the co-sponsor of this concert; it was where David Laura came looking for someone to record Cecil’s Town Hall concert. I was out of the station by then, but one always has a special feeling for home.

When I was putting together the Oblivion release of “The Return Concert” I asked Frank about the flyer. He didn’t have it either, but did some new work to recreate a version that I eventually used on some posters.

And, not for nothing, it was the period in which I was recording Cecil a lot, most memorably The Return Concert at The Town Hall.

I’ve never met Ras, but I owe him a big “thank you!”

* Frank and I grew up together, went to college in New York City in the same era, and did some spectacular work together over the years, most famously with his co-design of the MTV logo with his partners.

[gregdotorg]

In 1987 John Cage needed a 3-min loop that sounded like a truck for the opera he was creating in Frankfurt. So he got 101 opera records, a bunch of turntables and audio engineers, and produced the thing live, on air, in three hours, at Columbia University's radio station, WKCR.

The result was called Truckera, and Laura Kuhn, the director of the John Cage Trust, just finished reairing the whole thing on her radio show, All Things Cage, on WXGC.

[a few minutes later update: I've been thinking about it, and Cage & Cunningham's loft was on 6th Avenue, so every piece of music he composed prob had the sound of trucks in it at some point.]

[fredseibertdotcom]

(Originally posted on LinkedIn December 13, 2022)

Side hustle? Actually, a hobby.

   My day job is producing cartoons, the longest of the "five lives" in my official biography. But the pandemic gave me a kind of freedom to revisit some of my past passions. In particular, my life in producing jazz recordings. No commuting to or from work, no breakfasts, lunches or drinks. At least four extra hours a day. Enough time to get into a little trouble. Some would say a side hustle, some would call it a hobby.  

   50 years ago, two friends of mine and I decided to start a record label –Oblivion Records– in the back of a hippie record store one of them owned. We suspended operations four years later, realizing our enthusiasm was no substitute for knowing how to run the business, and it wasn't until the digital music revolution of the 21st Century that I got our six records back into the marketplace where they've performed better than I could have imagined.  

   This year, I actively revived Oblivion with the digital drop of a two hour concert album I recorded in 1973. Composer and pianist Cecil Taylor (1929-2018) is one of the three major avant-garde, free jazz artists –along with John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman– who reinvented one of America's most vital and satisfying art forms. And word just came that the jazz bible DownBeat, will be the first to announce the album as one of the best historical releases of the year (UK's The Wire will follow, as will others*). On behalf of the concert musicians –Cecil Taylor, Andrew Cyrille: percussion, Jimmy Lyons: alto saxophone, Sirone: double bass– I'm honored.  

   Some –many?!– would ask "why?" Why release a 50 year old musical performance? Why release an album of an artists barely anyone has heard of? Why digital only, you make no money?  

   All good questions, I suppose, and my answers won't be entirely satisfying.  

   It's rare in one's life that you could be involved in history. At least, that's true for me. I've had some amazing, groundbreaking experiences in television, animation and streaming video; only time will tell how they fit into culture. But, time has already given a thumbs up judgement on Cecil and I was beyond lucky to have some tiny involvement in it. Over the past half century he went from being barely able to fill a small jazz club to a concert star of the highest caliber. He was a true artist who incorporated modern dance (yes, he also danced at many of his performances), fashion, and a completely unique approach to his instrument, his compositions and his band leading. He appeared across the globe to rapturous audiences –which, due to his steadfast vision, often included grumbling walk outs– and was in demand until he passed away in 2018. Remembrances and reassessments of his life's work followed from all over.  

   Cecil Taylor fit neatly into the Oblivion ethos. In the infinite wisdom of youth and the idealism of the early 1970s, Tom Pomposello, Dick Pennington and I thought the major companies were ignoring talented artists –including Tom– we thought we were worthy. Maybe we could show the world what they were missing. An ad in the back of a local Long Island music rag pointed us in the direction of a record pressing plant a few miles away, we bought a book that described how to design a cover, and edited a live recording of country blues legend Mississippi Fred McDowell to be our first release. More blues, traditional jazz and electronic (soon to be maligned as "fusion"), and Tom's American roots album followed in the next few years. We sold enough McDowells to keep it in print, borrowed money from ourselves and friends for the others, and even had a hit that basically put us down on the mat.  

   All along the way I recorded other jazz artists at my college radio station and one day I was asked if I could find some equipment to record Cecil's hometown "return" to New York City after years as Midwest university professor. You bet! It didn't matter that this was a no-pay gig. Honestly, I had to borrow the cash from my roommate/benefactor/recording assistant Nick Moy for the cab ride downtown, but the chance to work with a world class, world famous artist was more than A-OK for a 23 year old fan. Not for nothing, Cecil had a worldwide rep but this period was only the beginning of his actually becoming a global star.  

   So we're clear, Cecil's music was never for the faint of heart. An explosive, exacting style, once described by UK writer Val Wilmer as "eighty-eight tuned drums," his seeming random din was already shredding any semblance of "swing" that traditionalists were looking for in their jazz heroes. 

   Cecil released the second half of the concert, which fit neatly on two vinyl sides, on Unit Core, his own label (no other record company would have him at the time) as "Spring of Two Blue-J's." He had little interest in running a company, letting the album go out of print even after Gary Giddins of the Village Voice (one of its few reviewers) praised it as his favorite album of 1974. The first half of the recording sat neglected on my shelf for half a century. It was 90 minutes of sweet and sour cacophony that wouldn't fit neatly on the mediums of the time, and besides I lacked the proper equipment to even listen to it.  

   The digital age and the pandemic changed everything. Now, I could go to YouTube and  learn to use the recording studio built into my Apple computer in 10 minutes. The music could be mastered in the extra hours lock down had gifted me. And since streaming audio has no time limitations I could drop the release -the unreleased first set of the concert, and the original LP performances, more than two hours of music– in its entirety without any annoying fade outs along the way. (By the way, the nothing annoyed Cecil's aging fans and collectors more. Most of them hadn't bothered to figure out how to get their phones to play on their grand music systems.)  

   After I figured that stuff out –I was pretty nervous mixing my first music performances in decades– the rest fell into place pretty quickly. Tunecore, a streaming music distribution service, sent the files across the globe and Bandcamp allowed collectors to buy digital files.  

   Most importantly, my longtime creative colleague Alan Goodman agreed to write the digital liner notes (along with the music, they're available at the Oblivion Records website) and jazz promoter and publicist extraordinaire Lydia Liebman accepted the release for her agency.  

   Alan's extraordinary writing and Lydia's phenomenal efforts spread the story of the Cecil discovery worldwide. While the original LP was virtually ignored in its time, 50 years of global touring and the cultural expansion of an understanding public had its effect. The music was reviewed in dozens of publications around the world, not only in the music press, but in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, NPR and all sorts of general interest media. 

"An exhilarating set of Cecil Taylor's Jazz Arrives, 49 years later." Alan Scherstuhl, The New York Times  

"Filling in the Blanks of a Jazz Master's Career." Martin Johnson, The Wall Street Journal  

"The biggest bonus track ever!

"The 100th anniversary of James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’ has folks thinking about other thorny, dense, syntactically intricate classics, of 20th century modernism across all the arts.       "Cecil Taylor’s best work, his return concert included, belongs on that distinguished list.” Kevin Whitehead, NPR's Fresh Air  

   So back to the "why." Cecil Taylor was a important artist, if not a top-of-the-pops one. My partners and I wanted Oblivion to release artists who were significant, if not particularly popular. I had a chance to make my side hustle, my hobby, mean something. Is there anything more satisfying? Not to me. 

* PS: This just in. All About Jazz, The Quietus and Glide Magazine just named Cecil's "The Complete, Legendary..." in their best albums of 2022.  

[daveydoodle]

Watch "Abdallah's Delight" on YouTube

❤️ 🎶 NowPlaying on WKCR 🎶 ❤️

[steveconte]

Wes Montgomery was born 100 years ago today!! My jazz guitar hero - the greatest of all time. Tune in to WKCR FM 89.9 in the NYC area to hear their 24 hour special playing unreleased, live and rare tracks from the master. -it’s on NOW!! #wesmontgomery #jazz #guitar #wkcr #radio (at Bronx New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpeA8uduDbD/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[fredfilmsblog]

Smile!

FredFilms Postcard Series 5.6

Tom Pomposello was my great friend, first business partner (in Oblviion Records) and colleague. He passed away in a car accident in 1999, but I’ll always remember his hearty laughs and wry smiles.

.....

From the postcard back:

Congratulations! You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

Smile! A FredFilms public service

Tom Pomposello Polaroid Big Shot Photograph by Roy Langbord & Fred Seibert WKCR-FM, Columbia University 1974

Series 5.6 [mailed out June 15, 2022]

[fanboy-feminist]

Hell is hot but wherever Columbia President Minouche Shafik goes when she dies is probably hotter.