Posted in Shows on Jun 30th, 2008
“Willis Conover did more to crumble the Berlin wall and bring about collapse of the Soviet empire than all the Cold War presidents put together,” jazz writer Gene Lees once said. Working for decades as a broadcaster for the Voice of America, Conover was perhaps the most influential jazz DJ of the 20th century. He brought the music into eastern Europe and other areas of the world where jazz was either repressed or commercially unavailable, helping to bridge the cultural gap between Western and Communist-bloc countries. In addition to the many fans he garnered around the globe, he…
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Posted in Jazz Notes on Nov 17th, 2007
In advance of this weekend’s program on Voice of America jazz DJ Willis Conover, listeners and visitors to the site may want to check out the Night Lights archives for these two previous programs: Jazz Goes to the Cold War. which takes a look at how the U.S. State Department employed jazz…
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Posted in Shows on Nov 12th, 2007
“Willis Conover did more to crumble the Berlin wall and bring about collapse of the Soviet empire than all the Cold War presidents put together,” jazz writer Gene Lees once said. Working for decades as a broadcaster for the Voice of America, Conover was perhaps the most influential jazz DJ of the 20th century. He brought the music into eastern Europe and other areas of the world where jazz was either repressed or commercially unavailable, helping to bridge the cultural gap between Western and Communist-bloc countries. In addition to the many fans he garnered around the globe, he…
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Posted in Books, Jazz Notes on Jun 26th, 2007
Terence Ripmaster has published a new biography of longtime Voice of America jazz DJ Willis Conover. Conover’s broadcasts were heard around the world (though not in America, due to Congressional restrictions) and brought jazz into Eastern bloc countries where…
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Posted in Shows on May 19th, 2007
In the 1940s and 1950s the jazz format emerged on radio, and with it a number of colorful, laidback on-air personalities who helped disseminate the new sounds of bebop and early R & B. In response, musicians sometimes wrote and recorded tributes to these DJs. In this program, inspired by the passing of longtime DJ great Oscar Treadwell, we’ll hear Charlie Parker’s…
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