NPR WCLK Radio and the Jazz Music Awards join forces with International Jazz Day to celebrate their 2022 Jazz Day World Concert
NPR Jazz Affiliate Radio Station 91.9 WCLK and the Jazz Music Awards: Celebrating the Spirit of Jazz today announces its partnership with international jazz day to celebrate his World Concert 2022, a Call for world peace and unity to United Nations Headquarters, held in the United Nations General Assembly Hall in New York City. Presented by UNESCO and the Herbie Hancock Jazz Institutethe concert will be webcast worldwide at 5:00 p.m. EDT/2:00 p.m. PDT/11:00 p.m. CET on Saturday April 30 at jazzmusicawards.com.
Hosted by Herbie Hancockco-host of International Jazz Day, the free global concert event will feature an all-star lineup including Marcus Miller, Gregory Porter, David Sanborn, Hiromi, Ravi Coltrane, José James, Terri Lyne Carrington, Linda Oh, Shemekia Copeland, Lizz Wright, Pedrito Martinez (Cuba), Youn Sun Nah (Republic of Korea), Alune Wade (Senegal), Joey Alexander (Indonesia), Helio Alves (Brazil), Laurent de Wilde (France), Ray Lema (Democratic Republic of the Congo), and Tarek Yamani (Lebanon), Erena Terakubo (Japan), harmonica player Gregoire Maret (Switzerland), harpist Edmar Castaneda (Colombia), clarinetist Kinan Azmeh (Syria), drummer Brian Blade, bass player James Kind, guitarist Mark Whitfield, trumpeters Randy Brecker and Jeremy Peltamong others.
“Since the inception of International Jazz Day, WCLK has supported Jazz Day and Jazz Appreciation Month every year,” says Wendy F. Williams, general manager of WCLK, who ran the jazz station for 27 years of its 48-year history. “We have always supported Jazz Day with special programming and interviews throughout the month. In addition to the station’s support this year, we have decided for the first time to broadcast not only the concert event but also the educational programs and events made available to us. Much like our mission for the Jazz Music Awards, Jazz Day celebrates many forms of international jazz. But more importantly, at this difficult time in our history, we support Herbie Hancock, UNESCO, and the global jazz community and their call for peace and unity.
In October 2021, Williams announced the inaugural Jazz Music Awards, scheduled for Saturday, October 22, 2022, at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center in Metro Atlanta, Georgia. The Jazz Music Awards will recognize a wide range of creators from the world of national and international jazz, from traditional and contemporary musicians, singers and major groups to composers, individual songs and complete albums.
Ahead of the All-Star Global Concert 2022, jazzmusicawards.com will join jazzday.com, unesco.org and the official International Jazz Day YouTube and Facebook sites to present a series of free online educational programs. World-renowned jazz artists, including multiple Grammy Award winners Arturo O’Farrill and Terri Lyne Carrington as well as Oran Etkin, Danny Grissett, Dan Tepfer, and others will lead masterclasses and presentations. A complete list and schedule of educational programs will be available at jazzday.com/education. The 2022 educational programs are presented in collaboration with the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice and JAM Music Lab University (Vienna), among other organizations.
Ahead of the global #JazzDay event at 3:00 p.m. EDT, UNESCO will celebrate the musical talent of women across the African continent with the second edition of its JazzWomenAfrica concert series. Organized in collaboration with the cultural agency ANYA Music (Morocco), JazzWomenAfrica helps to counter the under-representation and insufficient recognition of women in the music industry. There will be a panel discussion with female artists and music producers on April 29and at 11:00 a.m. EDT.
The global program for International Jazz Day 2022 also includes an extraordinary array of programs in more than 180 countries, with concerts and performance-based initiatives complemented by various social and educational activities. In Central Africa, the organizers and partners of the Biennale of Luanda/Pan-African Forum for the Culture of Peace will present an extensive series of virtual round tables, concerts, exhibitions and other events highlighting the contribution of jazz to the promotion of peace, uniting people and fostering cooperation around the world. In the Republic of Korea, the Korean Jazz Association and other partners have planned six days of freedom-themed concerts.
To learn about the thousands of other events scheduled in all 50 states and countries around the world, visit jazzday.com/events.
