Feb. 5, 2002
All That Jazz & More
GW's Radio Program Brings Tony Bennett to Foggy Bottom
for a Live Broadcast Feb. 10; Hirschfeld Logo Unveiled
By Thomas Kohout
GW Presents Capital Jazz, the Universitys
five-month-old music and conversation radio program, kicks off the next
phase of its development Feb. 10, when it airs a special three-hour
live broadcast from the Marvin Center featuring special guest Tony Bennett.
The special broadcast is just one of many changes
to hit the radio show in the new year. In January, the program added
The Smithsonian Associates to its partnership that includes The John
F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The Duke Ellington School
of the Arts, ClearChannel Communications, and GW. At the start of the
year, ClearChannel offered an additional hour for the show. And just
recently, the partnership unveiled an image designed by world renowned
illustrator and devoted jazz enthusiast Al Hirschfeld to call attention
to the radio programs rapid success.
The weekly commercial-free broadcast hosted by Dick
Golden on Sundays from 11 am1 pm on WRC-AM 1260, will be
produced from the studios of WRGW in the Marvin Center for the Feb.
10 special. During the show, music legend Bennett will make his first
encore visit to the Foggy Bottom campus since receiving an honorary
doctor of music degree at the 2001 Commencement ceremony. The staff
of WRGW will lend its technical support for the broadcast and will simulcast
it on its Web site (www.gwradio.com).
Its a marvelous concept, says Golden,
a veteran of more than 30 years on the radio dial, about the partnership.
When you think of these preeminent institutions having a forum
where they all meet once a week and discuss something thats relevant
and dynamic and happening at these institutions.
Most of the programs include the participation of
two or three of the partners, including interviews and performances
by students and faculty from GW and the Duke Ellington School, as well
as archival performances from the Kennedy Center audio library.
Since its debut on Sept. 9, the show has featured
programs devoted to the music of George Gershwin, Tony Bennett, Quincy
Jones, and Johnny Mercer; the songs of New York; jazz in Hollywood;
the Kennedy Center Honors; and rare interviews with Duke Ellington,
W.C. Handy, and Ethel Waters artists who contributed to the very
rich history of traditional jazz, referred to as Americas classical
music.
In a way were trying to educate people,
explains Golden, about the goals of Capital Jazz. But
you cant be too didactic. The way you demonstrate this music is
playing it and listening to it. Im not a musicologist. I cant
explain the harmonics and the complexities. But you dont have
to know that. Thats the marvelous thing about it.
At the start of the new year, having received such
overwhelming responses for the broadcasts, representatives from ClearChannel
Communications offered an additional hour. GW Vice President for Communications
Michael Freedman and the partnerships other members were quick
to grab the extra time.
From my vantage point it [the program] has been
an embarrassment of riches, says Golden, who also serves as the
morning host and program director for WOCN-FM Ocean 104 in Hyannis,
MA. We started with 54 minutes, three minutes of news from CNN
at the top of the hour, says Golden. Now with an additional hour
at his disposal, Goldens excitement is brimming. The longer
the time you have, the more you can incorporate the music. What makes
it so difficult is that you want to balance the music and the talk.
The partnership also unveiled a new identity that
matches the goals of the radio show, as well as helping to get the word
out about the show.
This is an evolutionary process, says Freedman. The
show is growing almost every week and we wanted something that would
speak in a very eloquent and classy way to what our goals are for this
project. I think that Al Hirschfeld, at 98 years old, has hit a bullseye
in the creation of this visual image for Capital Jazz.
The illustration is a representation of Louis Armstrongs
first horn, a coronet that he was given to play when he was a resident
of the Colored Waifs Home in New Orleans. The drawing comes complete
with Hirschfelds trademark Ninas. Perhaps the
worlds preeminent caricaturist, Hirschfeld has hidden his daughters
name, Nina, in each of his illustrations since her birth. The number
adjacent to his signature refers to the number of Ninas
in the drawing. As a special gift to the University, Hirschfeld also
inserted a pair of GWUs in the horn.
Its a lot of fun when we show the horn
to people, says Freedman. They see the Ninas
first and then they see the GWUs in there. This is
really an historic Hirschfeld drawing.
This is just about the most enjoyable project
anyone could be involved in, Freedman says beaming. It allows
you to enjoy listening to the radio. I may start listening to it with
half an hear while reading The New York Times or The Washington Post,
but after a few minutes, I put the paper down and pay full attention
to the show. Its that kind of a show, and thats very special
and very unique in the market. I think we have created that through
this partnership. Thanks in large part to Dick Golden and the support
of President Trachtenberg, something very special both for the community
and for GW has been born.
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu