The "WRVR" call letters previously belonged to an FM jazz station in New York City broadcasting at 106.7 FM from 1961 to 1980. “Just Jazz” and “Jazz in Drive Time” were broadcast on WRVR (106.7 FM), in the Riverside Church on the upper west side of Manhattan. Thanks for the memories. Owned by Entercom, the station's studios are located in Southeast Memphis, and the transmitter tower is in Cordova, Tennessee, outside Memphis. I was luck for having the chance of recording, in 1980, 2 cassetes tape of the music played at this beloved nyc jazz radio station. nice I need to calm down !!! New York Jazz Radio in the 70s They will get no argument from me. By CHARLES KARP. It was sold, went country for a while and then died. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. All I remember is it was the weekend, and it was surreal. Would you be willing to share the old recording on YouTube? In 1977, WRVR jazz and Latin music DJ and jazz musician/conga drummer Roger Dawson created Walter Murch (2,131 words) [view diff] exact match in snippet view article find links to article music librarian and production assistant at newly founded radio station WRVR . Keith Mcdonald Charles / 08.05.2012 Kick it up a notch !! Im 72 now and still love jazz but WRVR will always live on in my mind even though its been long gone! No advertising or corporate sponsorship and infrequent fund raising. to be devoid of a jazz station…well, lets just leave it at that. Les Davis was one of the signature voices of ‘RVR. In 1980 the station switched formats, eventually becoming light rock WLTE-FM (which also became a very popular nyc radio station) But more than that, I called the show Just Jazz as a tribute to the greatest jazz radio presenter of all-time, the one and only Ed Beach. For an example of what to expect, this evening the station offered a heavy sampling of John […]. My older brother and I and some of his friends went to a “Save WRVR” Concert at Carnegie Hall. While every other teenager was listening to WKTU, I woke up to Les Davis. WBGO in Newark is public radio. Seems like Snarky Puppy is one of the few bands that reminds me of back then. I see they stream, so will definitely give them a listen. NY. The station plays pop and soft rock music from the 1970s to the present. Here is a sample playlist: As great as the music was, the deejays at WRVR were a big part of the emotional connection with the New York audience. WRVR gives up hard-core jazz. While news and politics impact radio programming and listener response to stations and personalities, RadioDiscussions will moderate any posts that are purely political by deletion, editing or moving the posts to the “Politics not directly related to Broadcasting” section. It has broadcast this format for at least 34 years as of 2021. My heart sank and they way it was done, in my opinion, was very unprofessional, considering the huge fan base at the time. He apparently taped their shows and then cataloged them. Although it isn’t 24/7, WKCR at 89.9 is IMO, has the best jazz programming in NYC. Felix and Tony both have Facebook pages for their shows, great group of people there, although I no longer indulge on Facebook any longer, but the group pages are fun. I tuned in and heard pipe organ, which was a little too Baroque for my taste. Koynor / 01.05.2012 Excelente la programacion. March is Women's History Month, and we take the time to honor the importance of women in our music and our organization. For New York City radio station which used the WRVR call-sign from 1961 to 1980, see, https://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=29, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WRVR&oldid=1011671954, Adult contemporary radio stations in the United States, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 12 March 2021, at 05:09. The WRVR-FM Collection in the AAPB spans the years 1961-1973 and includes 1,072 Just Jazz with Ed Beach episodes, as well as 2,443 other recordings that resided at Riverside. Before WRVR, for me it was Frankie Crocker on WBLS. The first radio station I found was WJJZ 106.1. I’m sorry thats right, they were commercial stations. I’ll give them a listen…. They persuaded the Newark Public School System board to transfer their underutilized radio license to the group. New York City’s WVRV-FM 106.7 was a full-time jazz radio station with a strong loyal following. I love “Rhythm Revue” as well. Could there have been so few of us who cared, because it seemed like there were a lot of people passionate about WRVR. As a New York Times reporter later observed, this was a rhetorical question only — ready or not, WRVR was switching formats, from jazz to country. How was your “station” structured? It was a moment in time that has never been recreated. "The River" branding is a local reference to the Mississippi River. Haul away all of the jazz albums, change the musical format on the fly, and retain the DJ’s. The station was deluged with calls from irate listeners. Paco on 92 WKTU…Paco Navarro was legendary in his own right when Disco was king. Van Jay hosted the midnight show and he opened every night with a theme song....an instrumental... and it was a tenor sax. There are music historians who profess that Jazz is America’s only native art form. Thanks Peter, and thanks for your comments. @poison21 Same here I really enjoy listening to his show on Saturday mornings and Tony Ryan on Saturday nights. On April 23, 1975, it switched formats to MOR with the call letters WQUD and was branded "Quad 104." In 1976 WRVR was purchased by Sonderling Broadcasting who wanted to change an urban music format. The American Archive of Public Broadcasting is doing the same thing on a larger scale. Move them next to the Jazz section, because, as the manger explained, “Hardly anybody ever goes back there.” The sad thing was that the statement was true. You are preaching to the choir–nothing has ever replaced WRVR, or even come close in my opinion, which explains why after nearly 40 years, so many fans still miss the station. I paid homage to the Sunday Salsa Show in a separate post. Cool Peg / 08.05.2012 5 mins in and lovin’ the tunes! The names at the bottom of the program list, Herschel, G. Keith Alexander, Batt Johnson, and especially the signature voice of the station, Les Davis, were true characters. At least 10 hours of jazz daily and the national treasure Phil Schaap. 104.5 originally aired religious oriented programs with the call letters WTCV, later they were easy listening with the call letters WAID. It’s not clear from your comment. Hack philosopher with love of sports, the arts, and all things that get your blood boiling. An abandoned building was purchased where they started broadcasting 18 hours of jazz a day in the shadow of WRVR, a commercial jazz station in New York City. It has not always been so. The Riverside Church used to own WRVR, the only all-jazz radio station in town, but last summer asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to … I played everything from Jean-Luc Ponty to Miles and Weather Report to Coltrane. Works with any device. I recorded it in july and 2 months later it disapeared. The 104.5 frequency originally aired religious-oriented programs with the call letters WTCV; later, it carried an easy-listening format with the call letters WAID. The f.y.e. New York area listeners are sure to recognize Rob’s voice as having hosted the best of Straight Ahead Jazz, Fusion and Latin Music on some of the city’s most popular radio stations of the 1970s and 80s — WRVR, WBGO, WQCD and KISS-FM, whose Pop audience Rob introduced to jazz. in the case of both stations, it was not just the ratings – it was, I believe, the demographics had changed to the point that it wasn’t economically feasible for either station to sustain any kind of ratings or financial success in the jazz market – thank God for ‘BGO! Thanks for your comment Inga! The station's license is currently held by Entercom Communications. Thanks for reaching out and sharing Eric. WBGO has gained some momentum the past few years with its web presence, and the programming is diverse and very solid. I think it was on the Prestige label. I will definitely give it a try! Bob James, Patty Austin, and a long list of other great players in the band. I was listening to RVR exclusively by 11th yr. of H.S. Materials in the collection are in a variety of languages, including English, Spanish, Hebrew, French, Indonesian, German, and Gaelic. I really enjoy the “Saturday Rhythm Revue” with Felix Hernandez, and “Evening Jazz” hosted by Nicole Sweeney. LISTEN LIVE At Work Or While You Surf. The first Saturday is assigned to traditional jazz; the last, to modern jazz. I could have write this article , I was so panicked and lost when the station came off the air ! I truly believe someone will open a station and devote it to a Jazz format, which would be beautiful to keep the genre alive, thriving and enjoyable for those that miss it and want it. The station is keeping classic jazz alive while promoting current and new artists. Thanks for stopping by Will, and for the nod to Snarky Puppy. (That station is now WLTW.). (The WRVR calls were moved to a radio station in Memphis, TN, that had once been owned by Viacom, but is now owned by Entercom.) I’ve researched podcasts to create canned content, but any prerecorded music that can be downloaded is a no-no. I will try do provide it for my friends who miss that jazz station as much as I do. I think the problem is many appreciate the sound but don’t show it in donations, which stations like those needed to stay alive. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. I have a reel to reel tape of a lady DJ doing the complete Mothers of Invention album called Absolutely Free. I was, and still am, a huge fan of Angela Bofill, and dedicated a separate post to her, and to some of the other “great ladies of jazz” and R&B. As others have said who were regular listeners there was nothing else like it. ( Log Out / But yeah listening to all the genres of Jazz was special and such a joy. I’m sure you’re correct that it wasn’t just about the ratings; the decision to change formats and drop jazz was hasty and misguided for many reasons. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. Grew up on that music. Teens and 20-somethings bought a lot of records, but the station also attracted an older audience which had more disposable income and should have appealed to sponsors of big-ticket items like cars and appliances. Audiophile quality jazz radio features the best cuts from jazz funk, fusion and other contemporary genres of jazz. During the 1960's and 1970's WRVR, was NYC's premier jazz radio station. Only it must have been a different time in the morning, as my clock radio clicks on, and I hear Les Davis say, “and here’s one from Johnny Cash.” I’m glad you recall the date. Do you have a way to transfer to digital format, say mp3, to upload to YouTube, or similar, so I can include in future posts? It was my entree to “jazz” and their heavy reliance/rotation of fusion artists and product served as a great transition platform for a kid who’d previously been heavy into disco and related dance music. Thanks for sharing. Right now they are having the annual Bach Fest which is 24/7 Bach through the end of the year. Please see the details here: https://americanarchivepb.wordpress.com/2018/02/08/historic-wrvr-fm-archives-to-be-digitized-preserved-and-made-available-in-the-american-archive-of-public-broadcasting/. When I was in middle school, my family moved to Pennsylvania. Thanks, I was listening to a R2R tape I have of the station but whoever recorded it must have, quite smoothly, removed the commercials. I’m in the process of converting it to digital format. That was the only station I had my car tuned into.! It was also the sister station at the time of WDIA (which is where the former WAID call letters—in reverse—came from). WRVR (104.5 FM, branded "The River 104.5") is an adult contemporary radio station broadcasting in Memphis, Tennessee. Loved RVR. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. It was rebroadcast in several other cities. “WRVR’s escape from New York was met with great fury by jazz fans here,” said James McBride, a writer and … Is it your audition, or one of the deejays from the station? “Just Jazz,” Mr. Beach’s show, played on WRVR (106.7 FM in New York), the radio station of Riverside Church, from 1961 to 1976. They will get no argument from me. + = Operated by Urban One under a local marketing agreement; sale pending. The tapes have long disapeared but the catalog exists. ( Log Out / Sounds like you enjoyed the music too. Play your favorite AM & FM station's live broadcast instantly on RADIO.COM. ). Thanks for stopping by Andrea, to share your thoughts on our beloved station. It was a magical event for me. It also explains why I’m so obsessed with trying to keep its memory alive. Broadcasting in stereo with 25,000 watts of power, WUMR is the only exclusive jazz outlet in the Memphis metro area. 1960s music is occasionally played, and every year from mid-November to December 25, WRVR plays varieties of Christmas music, temporarily replacing its AC format. I loved the Crusaders, Return To Forever, Weather Report, and many other cross-over artists featured on the station, as much as I did Cannonball Adderley, Miles, Monk, Trane, Les McCaan & Eddie Harris, Sarah Vaughn, Dinah Washington, and so many others. He passed away last year. Growing up in Brooklyn in the late 70's, while everyone was listening to Disco, Soul and Top-40, I became a fan of New York's legendary radio station, WRVR-FM. When I heard Country music playing I too thought somehow the WRVR station had drifted off and I would just tune it back in and be back to normal. The departure left a huge void for Jazz fans. Woke up in disbelief on September 9, 1980 to Les Davis announcing a Dolly Parton song. Listen To Smooth Jazz 102.7, A Radio Station Based In New York. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Historic WRVR-FM Archives Receives CLIR Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives Award More than 4,000 hours of cultural and political radio programming from the 60s and 70s to be made public Morningside Heights, NY – The Council on Library and Information Resources has awarded a grant of $330,000 to digitize, preserve, and make publicly… King Felix is a pretty good pitcher, but seriously, I think Felix Hernandez goes back to the “Salsa Meets Jazz” series at the Village Gate and, along with Rhonda Hamilton, represents a lot of broadcast hours at WBGO. I didn’t quite understand the criticism at the time, but some decades later, I get it. Harlem Late Night Jazz. May 24, 2007 #5 John1 said: One of the most interesting things about that day was Kick 106 kept some of the longtime jazz jocks like Les Davis doing country - one of the more laid-back, mellow country stations ever! The most important tool of indoctrination for me was the astonishing and late WRVR, 106.7 FM, a New York radio station broadcast out of the Riverside Church in Manhattan.Precisely, my young friends and I were obsessed with RVR's quirky and brilliant DJ Ed Beach, a true jazz scholar who made his detailed lessons on jazz history fun with a mad, Shakespearean delivery. WRVR 106.7 FM, New York. Home Services About News Contact WBGO is the current standard by which all jazz stations should be measured. I am slow in checking my email. LOC holds tapes from “Just Jazz with Ed Beach,” broadcast on WRVR, which will be added to the nominated collection for digitization. Let me know if you’re interested. The first jazz radio station to attempt to reach an audience beyond hardcore jazz fans full-time was New York's WRVR-FM, which was acquired by Sonderling Broadcasting in 1976. I’m pleased that there are still so many fans of the old station. However, if you were a fan, and miss the station, it’s now available streaming here: To get a flavor of the WRVR sound, you can search for audio clips or clones on the various streaming services. Ed Beach devoted entire shows to the recordings of jazz performers and composers, like Teddy Wilson and Duke Ellington, and to particular phases of jazz. I have an original reel to reel audition tape from 1974 if anyone is interested. Site powered by Weebly. When I eventually found out about the overnite ‘massacre’ I was truly broken. Thanks for visiting and sharing your memories Elliot. Prior to Entercom, the stations were owned by CBS Radio until 2006. When she’s on I’m guaranteed to hear something from back in the day! Check it out: https://foursquaremiles.wordpress.com/2018/05/13/wrvr-jazz-sunday-salsa-show/. WRVR Digital Collection. She is an over 25 year veteran of the entertainment / multimedia business. Thanks for stopping by to share your insights, Siddiq. During the 1960s and 1970s Ed's Just Jazz program was heard daily in the New York City region over the long lost and much missed 106.7 WRVR. WRVR and CD101.9 were commercial stations, so their demise was due to poor ratings.
[email protected], I bet every fan of WRVR has thought about recreating the station in one form or another.