Now doing shows opposite each other, we developed a friendly rivalry. Just one editorial note; Spirits Known and Unknown preceded S,C&M. In the 1970s he established himself professionally doing voice-overs for commercials, the weather on television, and jazz shows on WRC-FM and National Public Radio. It is undoubtedly the best show for jazz up through 1945 in the country. Unfortunately WDCU became a victim of the District of Columbias budget woes. Now, a faction of supporters is petitioning Pacifica to fire Hughes, who must implement his changes, move the station, win back the confidence of his volunteer and paid staffs, and convince listeners that WPFW deserves their money, even though no ones sure what the stations schedule will look like in a few weeks. This email address is being protected from spambots. It is open to the public and. Joe Hinton, Funny How Time Slips Away, Katea Stitt, Morning Jazz: 12:26 AM. Music is one of the wonderful elements in being alive., Williams got her on-air training, she said in a recent interview with the Beacon, from the late disc jockey Jerry Washington, who was known as The Bama.. Washington, are you serious? Hughes looked haggard as he stepped out of the studioweathered, unshaven. Staffers and volunteer programmers at WPFW, the D.C. "jazz and justice" radio station that is also Washington City Paper 's neighbor one floor below, have declared no confidence in the station's. By mid-decade the lineup included Bill McLaurin, Whitmore John, Steve Metalitz, Tim Masters, and later Candy Shannon. Although Sutton was employed by WHUR, he volunteered to do a show on WPFW with his friend Wash sitting in with him. WPFW has been on a rollercoaster of internal management problems for the past fifteen years that the volunteer announcers have always managed to work around and continue to play music. We know that Miyuki is single at this point. Certainly, those are among the underserved communities Hughes was talking about. The bigger hurdle is Pacificas fundamentally broken model. (Not four days before a fundraising drive, certainly, which is when the new programming grid was to go into effect.). The human family is pissed.. @miyuki_williams . READ on for inf. A HUGE THANK YOU!to sponsors of WPFWs event, SPRING FOR JUSTICE held on Earth Day AT BUSBOYS AND POETS. The daily blues show at noon survived the changes, and an hour of jazz has been inserted in the afternoon. Then He Tested Positive for COVID. She remembers listening for the first time to vibraphonist-band leader Lionel Hampton and singers Dinah Washington, Roy Hamilton and Frank Sinatra, among others. Washington also benefited from the addition of three new FM stations in the 1970s that featured jazz: WHUR, WETA, and WPFW. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window). DJ Beloved, Reggie Steele, Aaron K. Gray. I had been employed as a union representative for a few years and decided to continue that career rather than jump into broadcasting full time. Miyuki Williams (pictured left) began her decades-long career as a DJ with a spontaneous phone call. A moment later, as the crowd quieted down, one man who identified himself as a listener suggested the contretemps has all the markings of an agent provocateur to destabilize the station. 202-588-0999 ext. Porter was offered a shorter once-a-week show that would have also featured a panel; he decided to walk. He called his show Dont Forget the Blues. You tune into WAMU, or WTOP, or WOL, or WNEW for news on your morning drive. My favorite show, however, was with a retired letter carrier, cab driver, and pianist who played only for family and friends, my wife, Sondras, father. He eventually returned to WPFW, where he'd been a programmer and a staffer beginning in the 1980s, and eventually became interim programming director. There was some community opposition to the sale, but not enough to stop the sale, and the station went off the air in 1997. Here are a few of their sendoffs. 1888PressRelease) March 01, 2012 Recreating their efforts which led to the Fall 2010 drive being among the most successful in recent memory, 'PFW Programmers Association members Miyuki Williams, Robyn Holden and Katea Stitt again mobilized the more than 150 volunteer DJ's in the intricate 'Buddy System' The objective is to create effective on-air pairings of programmers to 'pitch' together . The Caribbeana hosts Trinidadian baritone was the first voice heard on WPFW, spoken into a live mic during an equipment check in 1976. If I didnt take this time it would mean the Caribbean community would have nothing, Martin says. These things can backfire, which clearly they have, Reese says. Those additions wont be implemented, listeners learned later in the week, until the station has moved. . Is the WPFW community old? It was serendipity that started my broadcasting career. The pandemic, Williams noted, has led her to change her selection of songs for her weekly program. A part of WPFW died over the weekend By Clinton Yates December 3, 2012 When I left WPFW (89.3 FM) as an on-air volunteer nearly two years ago, it was because I was dreading this day. Hughes allegedly suspended him indefinitely, instead of the customary two weeks; he then transferred Daughtry to another position, Daughtry says, and eliminated that job soon after. Founded in 1946 by the pacifist journalist Lewis Hill and envisioned as a network of stations free of corporate or government influence, the Pacifica Foundation had begun seeking a D.C. outpost in the late 1960s, on D.C.s last remaining noncommercial FM frequency. Steve Hoffman hosted a blues show and Ernest White did public affairs. So did its half-focus on music: When it launched, WPFW played more than 100 hours of music each week, including international programs like Martins Caribbeana. Although Tell Me More already airs on WAMU-FM, D.C.s NPR affiliate, at 2 p.m., Hughes envisions it as a WPFW tent post. document.getElementById('cloak26045').innerHTML = ''; Daughtry was filling in on a Saturday for soul DJ Andrea Bray, and played Marvin Youre the Man by the jazzy hip-hop act Digable Planets, which contains the word shit, an obscenity that could have lead to an FCC fine. But the on-air relationship and the stories were made up. FM radio had a much clearer sound than AM but reached a smaller audience, partly because at that time fewer people had FM receivers. WHUR veteran Robyn Holden also joined the family of volunteer announcers broadcasting jazz and blues. Work Here City Desk document.getElementById('cloak26045').innerHTML += '' + addy26045+'<\/a>'; The New Thing, named after a term applied to avant-garde jazz, also sponsored photography, art, music, and karate classes. Kathleen Rolenz, Miyuki Williams, WPFW Host, Jerry Paris, WPFW General Manager and Lyn Dyson, DC Black Repertory Company. Coronavirus, Carry-out Critic Paulette Dozier,Sunny. (There was a one-year experiment with local sponsorship in the 1990s.) This website is an independent, community-owned media outlet with no organizational connection to WPFW or the Pacifica Radio Foundation. Radio is still the best way to discover jazz. I agree. I was so addicted to PFW that I started listening 24/7, started volunteering phone duty and pledging my financial support. In a decade or two, when Internet radio comes standard in every new car, we might all be listening to the same jazz programming everywhere. Nevertheless, in the early 2000s, the stations weekly cumulative numbers began to reach past 200,000. var path = 'hr' + 'ef' + '='; But changes with programmers and talk shows started changing at PFW in a way that was confusing to many listeners. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. We are here to serve underserved communities.. Support our Supporters Miyuki Williams Email & Phone Number - Wpfw | ZoomInfo The decade of the nineties was one of friendly rivalry between WDCU and WPFW. Downloads are convenient, but background and appreciation for the music is lacking. WGTB evolved into a free-form underground rock station while maintaining much of its jazz programming. Its listenership is aging and dwindling, its ledger red, and its lease is about to expire. or call 202-588-0999 ext 344. Evidently I passed his hipness test because he asked me if I would take over his show. As the staffer responsible for enforcing programming standards, Daughtry reported his own infraction. She added that I would start the same weekend as Felix Grant, who would be hosting a show on Saturdays. // Students at Howard University struck for the inclusion of Black Studies in the Eurocentric curriculum and jazz in the music program, where Donald Byrd would become its first director. The show is now three hours. All inquiries regarding your membership (pledge gifts, tax statements, membership status) please email. John Hughes has caused us to be on the brink of disaster, said Katea Stitt, one of WPFWs 12 paid staffers as well as a volunteer programmer. As a VISTA volunteer, I became connected to a community organization in Adams Morgan called The New Thing Art and Architecture Center, where I met Sondra Barrett, who was teaching African dance to children. The roots of the current face-off between management and programmers go back several yearsto a decline in listenership and giving that preceded Hughes tenure, and to a conflict between Pacifica and Daughtry that did, as well. Reprinted with permission. //--> It was a station for a majority black city newly empowered to run itself; it was thoroughly ideological, coming just after the civil rights and anti-war generations; it was a station for black thought and black music and the highest intellectual aspirations of both; it was a space for ideas and anxietiesnutty ones, maybe, to the radio-dial wanderershut out of the mainstream. Anthony went on to Sirius satellite radio until the merger with XM. She was an incredible artist who was incited to become an activist because of the killing of four little girls in a Birmingham churchShe sacrificed for the greater good.. Tune in and hear Miles, Aretha, Sinatra, Muddy Waters, or Eddie Palmieri! The New Thing Root Music Show kicked off what would be a golden age for jazz radio in Washington, DC, as jazz radio programming proliferated during the 1970s. Then again, even resolving the problems with Pacificas model wont change this: Consumption habits and media consolidation mean that radio is no longer a medium around which communities gather. 344VolunteersThis email address is being protected from spambots. W. Royal Stokes, a freelance writer for the Washington Post, had two shows. addy26045 = addy26045 + 'wpfw' + '.' + 'org'; Once artists reach a certain level of proficiency at ceramic design, playing an instrument, painting, etc. Everyone agrees that WPFWPFW to its most loyal listenershas to change. DC Black Fathers Matter Project - Posts | Facebook Watson didnt last long as general manager; few at WPFW have. CMS recognizes and celebrates the positive changes to the program schedule brought about recently since Katea Stitt and Miyuki Williams were put in charge of programming. Jimmy Gray did Black Fire, where he would tell stories though the music and rarely announce what he played. Today's Playlist Yes Greg. (City Paper has also occasionally co-hosted political debates with WPFWs DC Politics show, and City Paper Business Development Manager Sheila Alexander-Reid hosts a show on the station.) Mumble Sauce, About Us The staff that are members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists had seen their pay cut by 50 percent; eventually Hughes restored them to three-quarters pay. Weve Recently Both Come Out to Each Other as Bi, BetRivers Review Get Up To $500 In Bonus Bets, 5 Best Hemp Protein Powders Available in 2023, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. var addy_text39617 = 'news' + '@' + 'wpfw' + '.' + 'org'; Like Washington City Paper, which also has its office in the building, the stations lease is up at the end of December. Amy Goodman, who now hosts the progressive news program Democracy Now!the Pacifica networks flagship showgot her start at WPFW. This email address is being protected from spambots. I was now on the air with my friends Jamal Muhammed, Tom Cole, Miyuki Williams, Larry Appelbaum, Hassan Ali, Nap Turner, and Askia Muhammad. I hosted concerts with Wynton Marsalis and Sonny Rollins. Baseball The December numbers placed WPFW one slot behind the Arlington-based religious station WAVA-FM and tied with African-American talk station WOL-AM at No. He says the comments have ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous, and that hes even received some threats. Former volunteer programmer Clinton Yates made the same charge in his column for the Washington Posts Root D.C. website. It sponsored jazz cruises where Jazz90 listeners could hear Sarah Vaughan, Joe Williams, Clark Terry, Jay McShann, Benny Carter, and Phil Woods, and it cosponsored performances by Wynton Marsalis at Lorton and the DC Youth Center to enable the incarcerated to hear great music. In the last four years, a 2011 audit shows, the foundation has lost millions and gone through its own internal putsches. I was joined on WAMU by Gerald Lee and Russell Williams, two American University students who established a Saturday afternoon workshop called Sound, Color and Movement, later titled Spirits Known and Unknown. Myrrh Cauthen 50 . He passed the hipness test and we talked about the music. For now, Hughes plans remain half-realized. Another friend who really blossomed as a personality on the WPFW airwaves was Nap Turner. addy68494 = addy68494 + 'wpfw' + '.' + 'org'; . Miyuki Williams, one of the stations more prolific fundraisers, said last weekend on her Sunday Kind of Love program that while she was grateful for the extra hour she now has each week, she wished it hadnt been at the expense of some of the stations Sunday-night Latin music programming. Hughes, who is 61, has insisted in interviews and on the air that his proposed changes arent just in keeping with the stations progressive, alternative ethos; theyre about rescuing it. The Best in Jazz Radio | Open Sky Jazz //