Author: Jazz90.1

JazzKidz Week #31 – The History of Ragtime

By: Jaclyn Breeze — Ragtime is one of the oldest types of jazz, and is usually played on the piano. It started in the 1890s and was influenced by the music of Polish composer, Frédéric Chopin, who lived from 1810-1849. Ragtime is recognized by its syncopated style. Usually in music, the downbeats (strongest beats) are…

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JazzKidz Week #30 – Nina Simone

By Jaclyn Breeze — Nina Simone (born Eunice Waymon) was a singer, pianist, and composer, spanning many genres including classical, gospel, jazz, and pop. Her music was often inspired by classical music, with Bach being one of her main influences. Nina was born in North Carolina in 1933, and she wanted to be a concert…

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Changes To Jazz90.1 MemberCard

(w/o) The Jazz90.1 MemberCard is on the move….to digital! Beginning with donations received after January 1, 2025, the Jazz90.1 MemberCard will be completely digital – saving postage and plastic – and ensuring that your dollars go even further to support Jazz90.1. Moving forward, physical MemberCards will no longer be sent to you, and all benefits…

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JazzKidz Week #29 – Quincy Jones

By Jaclyn Breeze — Quincy Jones was a trumpeter, composer, conductor, producer, and bandleader. Born in Chicago in 1933, he began learning stride piano from his next-door neighbor when he was five or six years old. When he was in his teens, his family moved to Seattle, where he learned to play trumpet and started…

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JazzKidz Week #28 – Glenn Miller

By: Jaclyn Breeze — Glenn Miller was an American conductor, arranger, composer, and trombonist in the early 1900s. He was born in 1904 in Clarinda, Iowa, and had one of the most popular and successful bands of the century. He started playing trombone in middle school and played for the town orchestra. During high school,…

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JazzKidz Week #26 – Son House

By Jaclyn Breeze — Edward James “Son” House Jr. was a blues singer and guitarist. He was born in Lyon, Mississippi in 1902. He was very vocal in his early teens about how he hated the blues. When he was 25 years old, he was with one of his friends and heard someone playing bottleneck…

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JazzKidz Week #27 – Ma Rainey

By Jaclyn Breeze — Gertrude Rainey, known as Ma Rainey was a singer born in Georgia in 1886. Called the “Mother of the Blues,” she combined vaudeville (a comedic theater style) and southern blues to create her own style that influenced many singers to come.  She started performing when she was around 14 years old…

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Jazz90.1 Announces New Broadway Host

Jazz90.1 WGMC-FM is excited to announce that Dawn Kellogg will join the station as its new Broadway host in January. Dawn will step into the stations already successful “Two On The Aisle – Broadway at Its Best” program, following the untimely passing of Kim Corcoran this summer. The show – which has been on the…

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JazzKidz Week #25 – Art Blakey

By: Jaclyn Breeze Art Blakey was an American jazz drummer. He was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA, and was a full-time musician by the time he was in 7th grade. He played piano at clubs and was learning to be a band leader. In his teens, he switched from piano to drums and soon…

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Jazz90.1 Recognized By The New York State Broadcasters Association

Jazz90.1 WGMC-FM was recognized by The New York State Broadcasters Association with two “Serving New York” awards – one for our work with GRASP (Greece Residents Assisting Stray Pets) promoting the need to find homeless animals new forever homes, as well as The Greece Central School School District and our annual School Supply Drive –…

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JazzKidz Week #24 – Jason Robert Brown

By Jaclyn Breeze — Jason Robert Brown is an American pianist, composer, and playwright born in 1970. After growing up in New York City, he attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester. He is best known for his Broadway works, including Songs for a New World, The Last Five Years, 13 the Musical, Parade,…

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JazzKidz Week #23 – Wynton Marsalis

By: Jaclyn Breeze — Wynton Marsalis is a trumpeter, bandleader, and composer born in 1961 in New Orleans to a family of musicians. He began trumpet at 6 years old and was playing in his church band at 8. He studied classical trumpet and was playing with the New Orleans Philharmonic by the time he…

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JazzKidz Week #22 – Louis Armstrong

By Jaclyn Breeze — The cornet is a brass instrument that looks similar to a trumpet but is more mellow and a bit smaller. Trumpets have straight bells, and cornets are a little cone-shaped, which produces a different tone quality. In older jazz bands, the cornet was preferred over the trumpet, but after the swing…

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JazzKidz Week #21 – Miles Davis

The trumpet is a brass instrument. The oldest trumpet dates back to at least 2000 BC when they were used to signal events. They began being used for music later on and are now often used in classical and jazz. Players vibrate their lips on the mouthpiece (called buzzing), and use the three valves and…

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JazzKidz Week #20 – Joshua Redman

By Jaclyn Breeze Joshua Redman is a tenor saxophonist and composer. Born in Berkeley, California in 1969, he began playing saxophone at age 10. He was in music groups throughout his school years, then went to Harvard for Social Studies, graduating high in his class. He was accepted to Yale Law School but deferred his…

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JazzKidz Week #19 – Toshiko Akiyoshi

By Jaclyn Breeze – Toshiko Akiyoshi is a pianist and composer born in China to a Japanese family in 1929. When she was a teenager, her family moved back to Japan, where a local record collector introduced her to jazz. She immediately decided that was what she wanted to study. When she was in her…

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Remembering Kim Corcoran

We are heartbroken to announce that Jazz90.1 DJ Kim Corcoran has died. She was 69 years old, and passed away on July 26. Kim had been with Jazz90.1 for over ten years, and served as host of the popular “Two On The Aisle – Broadway At Its Best” program heard every Sunday afternoon. Born in…

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Jazz90.1 Receives Largest Equipment Donation In Station’s History

(w/o) Jazz90.1 is pleased to announce the largest donation of equipment in our 50-year history. The station was gifted a new broadcast transmitter by Greece Community Broadcasting Inc. earlier this year. The new transmitter – which replaced the failing transmitter purchased in 2004 – was installed and went on the air in May, thanks to…

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