The WICN Blog
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By Doug Hall, WICN Contributing Writer As with standard jazz instruments, many players are responsible for popularizing them during different genre periods. For the vibraphone, there is no greater originator and virtuoso than Lionel Hampton. Hampton would become a pioneer in the use of the vibraphone as a soloist and later enjoy international fame as a […]
WICN Contributing Writer Doug Hall has a new podcast series through a partner community channel. Tune into the series below. In this first episode, Doug speaks with jazz pianist, composer, and Berklee Professor Laszlo Gardony about his life, career, and work. WICN Contributing Writer Doug Hall spoke with Phil Haynes recently for […]
Mark Lynch the host of WICN’s Inquiry had the opportunity to sit down and speak with several hosts and other members of WICN. If you missed hearing these interviews you can check them out below. We talk with WICN’S former General Manager of WICN: BRIAN BARLOW about his long and important history with the […]
Did you miss our 2nd annual Women’s History Month concert, or do you just want to listen to it again? Listen to the concert below in its entirety. If you missed the 2nd Annual WICN Women’s History Month Concert, aired live from Studio 50 on March 17, 2024, you can listen to it in full […]
Join us on Friday, May 3rd! Doors open at 6:30 pm Performance 7:30 to 9 pm. **Cash bar (wine, beer, hard seltzer) available. The Robert R. Jay Performing Arts Center – Founders Hall Saint John’s High School 378 Main Street, Shrewsbury, MA 01545 VIP Seating available – First 6 Center Rows The virtuosic […]
by Doug Hall, Contributing Writer During the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the late ‘50s and ‘60s, many Black musicians participated in the marches, demonstrations, and political activities of the times, lending their voices and stature to this seminal era in America. In particular, Black female vocalists Billie Holiday and Nina Simone were […]
By Doug Hall, WICN Contributing Writer In the music world, particularly in the R&B and Soul genres, the foundation of church gospel in the early lives of African-American vocalists is widespread. Aretha Franklin, Toni Braxton, Diana Ross, Whitney Houston, and Sam Cooke all had their musical beginnings in local neighborhood churches that served their communities, […]
By Doug Hall Often in jazz, when identifying the soaring range or virtuosity or power of a vocalist, these gifts are accepted as a skill set that is necessary to impart the depth and complication of song material. Through 1930s to her death in 1959, Billie Holiday, singing within a vocal range of barely […]
Common in the jazz world–and the wider music industry, to be sure–there are personal story arcs that are dramatically tragic, until the musician manages to rebound and reestablish their career. But if any one musician could carry a legacy that contradicted his early youthful Hollywood-handsome visage that hid a host of darker emotions, Chet Baker […]
“Swing” in jazz, for the audience on a dance floor, is often described as an emotional response, with foot-tapping, dancing to a rhythm and a propulsive “feel” to the beat. There is no greater contributor or bandleader for this big-band sound than the legendary Count Basie – jazz pianist, arranger and major influencer of this […]